A RADIATING JEWEL

If you're thinking this is an über cool sculpture, you're only half right. It's a design radiator disguised in a gorgeous, organic form that makes most old-fashioned radiators jealous. Designed by Italian designer Giovanni Tomasini for Hotech, Bloom is inspired by art and nature with an advanced exclusive technology that ensures high performances and low consumptions. Although their primary goal was “to free the aesthetic shape from its function”, the technique we developed and applied to allow them to improve the thermal yield. In the hydraulic version, the heating circuit takes an amount of water 20 times lower than a conventional radiator. And in the electric version, a portable radio thermostat gives full control of the temperatures and complete functions programming.

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A Very Eco-chic Home

• Written by guest blogger Ellen Spencer

Going green has become the buzzword: you need to keep up the eco-savvy routine even while decorating your home. Lately, chemicals used in and around the house are attracting a lot of flak; they interfere with our physical well being and can cause illnesses like migraines, allergies, colds, respiratory diseases and also cancer. Hence, it is absolutely crucial to change the way we live and aggrandize our interiors to support ecological sustenance. So if one of your New Year's resolution is to help the environment, here are a few pointers that will help you design an eco-chic home. (Reclaimed wood dining table and recycled Crystal Chair from Canvas).

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Making Recycling Fun

I'm all for lending a helping hand to the environment and recycle as much as possible. But it's hard finding recycling bins that are pleasing to the eye, and more importantly, don't take too much space. But that's all changing now with containers like Leco, a new, exciting and colorful solution created by Italian company Flussocreativo. Inspired by the look and functionality of Lego building blocks, these bins can be stacked in different ways to save room. The collection is made up of four different containers: two large ones to hold paper and plastic, and a couple smaller ones for aluminum and glass. Who said you can't be green and have fun at the same time?

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Relighting The Past

If you're into revitalizing old and forgotten treasures, you're going to love these phenomenal lamps by Ursula. Her unique boutique EarthSeaWarrior by Ursula specializes in the reconstruction of artifacts and industrial relics. She's really into using “specimens left behind by nature and/or machine and uses them to redesign whatchamacallits for the neo-nostalgic collector.” I'm smitten by her witty mix of color cloth cords with the distressed look of the vintage lamp parts. One of my faves is the one below where the base and mirror were upcycled from an old car lamp. Here's to another another fine example of repurposing someone else's trash into one-of-a-kind gems. Two thumbs up for Ursula!

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A New Lease on Life

There's nothing like a great idea, especially when it comes to helping the environment. I just came across this genius credenza, in Recyclart, where colorful plastic crates were repurposed into a witty piece of furniture. Isn't crazy fun? Here are more wonderful ideas how to rehash old and found objects and give them unexpected uses for your home.

Basket Case

I'm all for keeping things neat and organized, and more often than not, made fun off for my conviction. I just feel we can lead better lives when things are in their right place. There are many ways of organizing a household, but baskets have been a staple of tidiness. Unfortunately, it's hard finding cool and out-of-the-ordinary baskets that are easy to the eye. But browsing through the latest issue of Wallpaper magazine, I found the neatest-looking line of baskets by Sebastian Herkner. His Bask collection is the perfect hybrid between the traditional weaved baskets and the metal frame versions. The idea came to him after visiting a company producing paper yarn in Spain. Together with a Bavarian basket maker and the paper company, Sebastian developed a technique that allowed him use the yarns for three-dimensional objects, hence giving birth to these gorgeous pieces.

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Instant Impressions

There's no excuse to live with boring empty walls, especially with all the hassle-free products available that add instant coolness to them. Blik, the world’s first removable wall graphic company, produces really unique, different, and a lot less permanent solutions than wallpaper or paint. Their latest ones are these self-adhesive fabric tiles that are eco-friendly and non-toxic. You can choose from a variety of patterns, but if you decide you want to create your own, they can easily reproduce it for you. You can also check their amazing line of wall decals here.

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Clock Wise

Here's to a passionate duo of woodworking and design professionals who work from home to create these one-of-a-kind time pieces. Everything started with one small and unforgettable clock, but as they became inundated with requests to make more, they decided to start their little Toronto-based enterprise known as Clockeee. Made of durable birch plywood with water-based lacquer stain, they have created four different collections: Industrial, Summer, Zen and the most recent, Life. Clokeees are fully customizable to your needs and made with the environment in mind. Neato!

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