A selection of new items that would make great gifts for everyone in the family, even the pet. Cigar ashtrays, pet bowls, glasses holders and a very cool ride on toy for the toddler.
Modern Pet Bowls: Phorm Dishes by Unleashed Life are great looking dog bowls of cast resin with a stainless steel insert. Available in three sizes and three cool colors. Buy them here.
Bit Bike Ride-On Toy: Made from curved wood, aluminum and EVA, the BIT is an artisanal toy with cutting-edge technology for the world of today. By Glodos of Barcelona for Kid O. Measures 26.7" L x 8.2"W x 12.5" H For ages 12 months +. Buy it here
Pinocchio Eye Glass Holders: By 25togo, these wall mountable eyeglasses holders are made of carved wood to emulate pinochhio's nose. They simply stick on the wall. Maple or Cherry. Buy them here.
This modern looking, smart thermostat, the Nest, has been getting a lot of coverage on design blogs and in the news recently - and with good reason. In addition to being great looking, the technologically advanced thermostat saves energy, learns from your behavoir and is wi-fi connected so you can even program it from a downloadable mobile app when away from home.
NEST PROGRAMS ITSELF AND SAVES ENERGY Nest is the first thermostat that learns from you. Stay comfortable when you’re home, save energy when you’re away.
Builds a schedule: Nest programs itself in about a week. It creates a personalized schedule based on the temperature changes you’ve made. This flexible schedule adapts to your changing life.
The Leaf: The Nest Leaf appears when you set a temperature that saves you energy–and money. The Leaf guides you in the right direction and helps you be energy-efficient.
Auto-Away: About two hours after you’ve left the house, Nest will sense you’ve gone and adjust the temperature to avoid heating or cooling an empty home.
Energy History: Nest shows you how much energy you’ve used and if your temperature adjustments, Auto-Away or the weather affected your energy use most.
NEST SENSES AND LEARNS FROM YOU Nest SenseTM is a combination of sensors and algorithms that help Nest understand what’s happening around it. It’s all built in.
Activity sensors: Nest's activity sensors have a 150° wide-angle view so Nest knows when to set itself to Auto-Away.
Temperature sensors: Three temperature sensors track your home's heating and cooling. A one-degree difference can reduce energy use up to 5%, so precision is important.
Weather aware: Nest uses its Wi-Fi connection to keep an eye on current weather conditions and forecasts so it can understand how the outside temperature affects your energy use.
Senses your approach: Walk up to Nest and it'll light up, but not too brightly. Light sensors automatically set Nest's brightness so it won't blind you at night.
NEST KEEPS YOU CONNECTED
Real-time control: Control your home’s temperature from your laptop, smartphone or tablet. Make adjustments in real-time, miles from home.
Your Nest Account: Log in online or download the Nest Mobile app to your smartphone. You'll be able to see and adjust your schedule, change the temperature and check weather.
Automatic updates: Software updates will load automatically as long as Nest is connected to your Wi-Fi.
Secure, private & reliable: Nest is completely secure and uses public key cryptography. Its security features include HTTPS, SSL and 128-bit encryption.
NEST IS SIMPLE TO USE Since Nest programs itself, your job is easy.
Just turn the ring: Turn the ring to your preferred temperature. Nest will learn what you like and build a personalized schedule.
Save energy all year: Teach Nest good habits in the first week and it'll keep them up all year long. Just turn Nest down at night or when you leave the house and don't turn the temperature up too high or down too low. After a week, Nest will remember you.
Basic Specs: • The brushed stainless steel ring around the exterior reflects any surface so the Nest blends in with any wall style or color.
• A bright LCD screen has a 320 dpi display in a 1.75" diameter
• Built-in rechargeable Lithium ion battery
• The Nest measures 1.44" deep and 3.20" in diameter
The Kokon Kennel and the K-Bannette Kennel are indoor homes for small pets that are modern, ecologically friendly and double as decorative planters for flowers and greens. Created by Sebastian Haquet and Thomas Lanthier of Pousse Creative, the small pet homes can function as stylish modern hideways for dogs and cats or as litter boxes hidden from view. They come with flower pots or planters in the top and a comfy pillow. A plastic tub can easily be inserted to hold kitty litter.
The Kokon Kennel
This modern home for your small dog or cat can serve as a hideaway with comfy pillow, which comes with the product, or as a litterbox (simply fill a plastic tub with gravel). The back has a door which opens easily to clean the litterbox or interior of the space. A planter is integrated into the top of the kennel so you can cultivate plants and flowers for natural decoration.
Made of roto molded plastic and environmentally friendly (recycled and recyclable), it's available in white or brown. Made in France. Buy it here. The K-banette Kennel
Sold in an easy to build kits, the K-banette is made of wood, is ecological and respectful of the environment. It comes with four flower pots that fit into the top of the kennel. If you decide to use K-banette as a litter box, simply fill a plastic tub with litter gravel. To easily change and clean the tub of litter, you just have to open the trapdoor in the back for access.
Available in natural wood or white laminate with a taupe front panel. Made in France. Buy it here.
above: Sebastian and Thomas of Pousse Creative
Founded in 2010 by Sebastian Haquet and Thomas Lanthier, Pousse creative is a company based near Lille in northern France. Thier brand has a desire to create simple and innovative products that enhance the connection between Man and Nature.
Designer Monique Engelund designed this stunning birdhouse and feeder for menu, inspired by the famous 1929 Barcelona Pavilion, designed by the legendary German architect Mies van der Rohe.
above: Meis van der Rohe's 1929 Barcelona Pavilion.
In keeping with van der Rohe’s spirit, it exudes geometric simplicity and is made of an extraordinary material: robust and durable acacia wood from sustainable European forests.
The feeding table is beneath the roof, where the bird food can be placed on two spikes, while the bird bath sits out in the open:
A stylish outdoor element for your garden that will make all the other birds chirp with envy.
Price approx $175 USD.
The Barcelona Bird Pavilion can be purchased here Or here Or here Or here
Russian design studio Art Lebedev is always designing clever items, some as concepts, some as produced items. One of their latest concepts is something I wish would come to fruition. Check out the design process and final protoypes of their Power Strip Svintus with 17 snout-plugs (or Power Pig with 'snoutlets' as I like to call it.)
Task: to play up a conventional piggy.
Svintus power strip is a multi-snout cutie that you will not want to hide behind a couch. It’s a pink, fully functional device with seventeen snout-plugs.
Spiral cord evolved from a pig tail:
The built-in circuit breaker protects from overload (Circuit breaker disguised as a mono-nipple):
The Design Process:
Release date: September 30, 2011
Credits: artistic director: Artemy Lebedev art director: Timur Burbayev designer: Kirill Musienko industrial designer: Alexei Sharshakov modeler: Alexander Pozdeyev visualizator: Philipp Gorbachev
A special shout out to Technabob for bringing this to my attention.
