This creative chair is made from steam bent hardwood and an industrial felt cover… and to be honest, it looks pretty comfortable! The price at the time of writing is $250 USD from their website.

It looks like it only comes in grey, which is a bit of a bummer considering it’s a children’s chair, bolder colors would have been a good option.

After buying a new HiFi system, I needed an equally beautiful place to keep it! My old melamine (ikea-style) media cabinet just wasn’t cutting it anymore so I decided to have a furniture builder friend of mine build me this unit.

The unit is made of walnut and walnut veneer on plywood with 3 extra thick marble tiles on top (I bought the marble at the flea market last year so that turned out to be a good buy after all). :)

The design is my own, or at least I think it is… when you look at as many design books/websites as I do (and I’m sure you DO!) it gets hard to tell when ideas are your own or if you’re just pulling things from memory!

Well, here are a few more pics, enjoy!

Solid Wood Dining Table

Today I came across this dining table…

It’s called the Maru dining table (by greentea design) and it’s made of solid 3″ thick reclaimed wood planks, over a 100 years old. I don’t know whether to classify it as old or new… I’m leaning towards new and modern because these pieces definitely show a sleek modern line and their Asian inspiration. They look great!

Another benefit is the fact that they are made from reclaimed wood so there are no additional trees being cut down for their production, so on top of being unique and beautiful, these tables are very green… and while they’re not the cheapest tables on the market, they’re not expensive either (especially considering how massive and sturdy they look) so maybe we’ll even see a few pop up in the design magazines. (just remember you saw them here first)!

The REX folding chair, designed in 1952 by Slovenian designer Niko Kralj as a way to bring good design to the masses, the REX chair turned out to be a great success and is still being produced and enjoyed around the world.

At about $120 new this chair certainly won’t break the bank and because of it’s high quality construction it’s sure to last for many years.

In fact, my wife’s cousin lent us a pair for a small gathering we had last weekend and I’m still trying to come up with a way to convince the missus that we need our own! :)

This is one of the few pieces I can whole heartedly recommend to just about anyone because for the price of a cheap Ikea knock-off you can get an original, world class design and quality that will not only look good but also last for decades. It’s without a doubt my pick of the year and a perfect gift for yourself or that design lover in your life. I just wish I featured it in November.

Another of my all time favorite pieces… the George Nelson Platform Bench. This gorgeous piece of furniture is probably one of the most practical and versatile pieces of mid century modern furniture you can buy.

Made of Maple (one of my favorite floor woods by the way) this bench is strong, light weight (considering it’s made of wood and not plastic) and should be able to stand up well to humid environments… this makes the George Nelson Platform Bench (or sometimes called a “slat bench”) the perfect accessory for any modern interior.

It can be used as a coffee table, spare seating, bathroom bench (my bathroom’s too small for furniture but some of you might be lucky enough to have the room), dressing room or bedroom seating and so on. Bottom line; it’s practical, super practical… and looks fantastic.

At almost $700 for an original, you might want to keep an eye open for 2nd hand furniture stores or cheaper reproductions. They’re expensive.