A real polly pocket workspace

This bookcase cum office design definitely fulfills my childhood fantasies of living/working out of a closet box. A little like how Polly Pocket (below) lives.

To make this yourself, just attach a set of bookcases (on wheels) attached along one side and you get a compact, self-contained office nook when opened. In its closed state, it's far tidier than any tidy desk you can make. You may want to plaster the back of one with wallpaper. A deeper bookcase could be attached at one side that will serve as the desk. Brilliant! (via Martha Stewart Living and Chic & Charming)

A Personal Injury Warning System

Designed by Jonathan Corum of 13pt, the Personal Injury Warning System consists of symbols that illustrates all the injury that Jonathan has received in his life to date. Each symbol is indexed by the date that he would have benefitted from such a warning. Do check out his interesting website!I think perhaps this First Aid Talking Kit would come in handy for someone like Jonathan. This kit is separated into individually labeled and color-coded injury packs so the user has all the supplies and easy to follow instructions for managing a specific injury. By the touch of a button, the kit narrates step-by-step instructions to manage the injury, pausing and repeating when necessary for accurate response. (via petit elefant)

They didn't study

A friend sent me a link to this website. Think some of us can identify with the pain and humour in it. Think this would make an excellent silkscreened pillow case?

Inspiring rooms

I am feeling inspired by these gorgeous rooms I found in House Beautiful today. These wonderful rooms share something in common....an amazing abundance of light and a clever use of colour and interesting elements to add visial interest and focus to the rooms.

Colour swatch book

Have you ever felt blown away or suddenly inspired by a colour you see in your everyday surroundings? The colour swatch book by Julie Alexis is an inspiring and beautiful documentation of the colours in NYC. Wish she would do one for every city and come up with a unique colour palette that represents each place! (via swissmiss)

Sweatpea and Willow

More exquisite furniture links to share, this time from London-based furniture company, Sweetpea and Willow. Here, you can find the most gorgeous classic French reproduction furniture at relatively affordable prices.

From the look of their new website, they seem to place a huge emphasis on customer support which is always important for online purchase like this when you are spending quite a fair bit without really getting to see and touch the products for yourself. What's more, they ship to almost anywhere in the world! Tempting....very tempting. Do check them out!

Glorious splash of colors

I just love the way colour has been so skillfully applied in this newly renovated traditional 1934 home in Minneapolis. The bold, assertive and uplifting colour palette, consisting of brilliant fuchsia, gold, citron green, and orange, was inspired by the living room’s original stained-glass windows.

A wonderful balance and harmony in the room was maintained by limiting the strong vibrant colours to the window treatments and furniture upholsteries. The rest of the elements such as the ebony-finished wood and white marble floors, simple black ceiling lamps and the stark, white plaster walls remain neutral but dramatic. (via Chic and Charming)

(above) The fuchsia-and-gold horizontal stripes on the living room’s Louis XVI settee is echoed in the treatment of the windows

(above) The shock of pink in this room plays really well with the black iron table and white plaster walls and marble floors.

(above) The sexy lipstick hue of the dining-room chairs that amplifies the fuchsia accents in the living room is framed like a pretty picture by an elegant archway.

(photographs by Susan Gilmore for Traditional Home)

The Paradise

Aptly called The Paradise, this shabby chic pub is located in Kensal Green, London. It consists of a Georgian style bar, dining and study areas. Amazing styling work here. I would love to own every single chair in this place. The quirky room with purple wallpaper upstairs has got to be my favourite room.

Photographs from Light Locations

Lace buttons

Aren't these lace buttons simply gorgeous? They are designed by UK-based textile craft designer Laura Walker. Laura has a special interest in embroidery which she expanded on by designing and making ceramic buttons. Her buttons are available in a range of sizes and colors through GlimseOnline. (via The Style Files)

The French Bedroom Company

When it comes to style, I think the French are probably the ones to beat. If you are looking for some unique furniture to transform your bedroom into a glamourous boudoir, do check out The French Bedroom Company.

Here are some thing currently on my wish(ful)-list...

Provencal ratten screen

Provencal Kidney Bedside

Silk and Satin sheets

Genevieve Mirror

Costes Chandelier

Quirky sweet shop

These are some pics of a quirky sweet shop in Covent Garden. This is the way I always imagined a candy store should look like. The shop can be hired by the hour or closed for a full day for photoshoots. I just love the colours and glass jar displays at the back.
Photographs from Light Locations.

Winners of Julia Staite Greeting Cards Giveaway sponsored by Imagekind

Congratulations to Samm and Charissa for each winning a set of greeting cards with drawings by artist Julia Staite, sponsored by Imagekind.

Happy Mother's Day!

Papyrus armchair

ohh....I just love the warm honey colour (below) of these arm chairs by French designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. Named the 'Papyrus', these chairs were designed for Kartell and launched at the Milan 08 furniture fair last month. Made from transparent polycarbonate, the Papyrus armchair is inspired by the linear, well-defined structure of vintage chairs. For more info and pictures, see here.

Taking the 3-in-1 coffee to the next level

Coffee, sugar and spoon in one, this tubular design by designer Hye-Yeon holds both the instant coffee and the sugar/creamer in one neat package. When the contents are poured out, you simply use the package itself as a spoon to stir your brew.

Good to the last drop

I just love it when a designer pays attention to small details when they design a product, be it a building or a pencil. Like this yogurt spoon by Nojae Park that is designed to allow yogurt lovers to dig the last ounce of yogurt from their cups. (via swissmiss)

A good reminder for designers

This video excerpt is given by Allan Chochinov (of Core77 fame) at the PSFK Conference New York 08. While what he says is nothing revolutionary, I have to admit that I do allow myself to forget some of these fundamental values of a designer, take myself too seriously and doubt the neccessity of "process".

Quote from video

"You have to make a lot of shit if you want to create something of significance. The attempt is to “clever” your way to a solution without cranking out a lot of work. You need to give a shit about what you do. Need to make your work personal. In this time of focus groups and user testing, with the tyranny of the user going on, I think we’re starting to commoditize creativity and turning ourselves into problem solving machines and innovation specialists. Forgetting there’s a reason they called us in the first place. The students able to find a place that was personal not only were more successful but they had a lot more fun. Don’t work on shit jobs, only create artifacts and services of value…" (quote via Design Sojourn)

Mother's Day Giveaway - greeting cards featuring work of Julia Staite

I was recently browsing through pvuk when I came across the work of UK based freelance illustrator Julia Staite. Really love the colours in her whimsical and childlike mixed media collages.

I decided to order some of her work printed on some lovely greeting cards through Imagekind . The cards arrived in the mail today and I was so blown away by the quality of the paper and print. And Imagekind was lovely enough to send me 2 extra sets of prints as a giveaway on Laissezfaire and my baby's blog, Pupsik!

If you would like to receive a set of 5 greeting cards from Imagekind featuring the work of Julia Staite, please drop an email to ztansl@gmail.com with the subject title "Mother's Day giveaway" by 10 May. Please include your name and contact number in the email. I will pick 2 winners at random on May 11th, Mother's Day. Open to Singapore residents only. Thank you Imagekind!

(above) Mother's Day Giveaway

Simply put

(via Design Crush via ffffound)

Atypyk

This reminds me of the almost edible products by Lush and I just love it! Designed by French group Atypyk this cheese sponge is one of the many witty and unconventional ideas they have. And lovely packaged too!

Honey packs

Yup! Another honey post for honey and lovely packaging addicts out there! This lovely design is from littlefury. Love the colour and the "cassette tape like" packaging of this product that is so different from the conventional round honey jars/tubes we usually find. Not sure whether something as beautiful as this will be practical enough to store honey on the kitchen shelf though. One thing for sure, the ants will definitely love it!

Buy-1-get-1 free sale at Annechovie!

I am so excited to share this on Laissezfaire. The incredibly talented and lovely artist Anne Harwell of is doing a special buy-1-get-1-free sale on her etsy store. Yes, you got it! Buy 1 print, get one free. Buy 1 box of notecards, get one free. The only stipulation is that the free item claimed must be of the same type and of equal or lesser value.

Just go to her Etsy store, make a purchase and then, in the notes to seller section, type in the item desired as your free gift. Anne will include the item you have specified in the shipment. This is a great time to stock up on some great gifts for design lovers. The special offer is only good until April 30th, so go check out her Etsy store now!

image above: COURTNEY BARNES CHAIR featured in Domino Magazine's website.

Vera Wang's wedding stationary

Did you know that the wedding fashion diva Vera Wang has a stationary collection? And do I have to say how gorgeous it is? I just love these wonderful vintage and handmade-looking lasercut pattern notes. I can just see these details taken off one of her exquisite gowns.