
The brainchild of designer Patrick Turner, Thout Design's portfolio features a thoughtful collection of clever, space-saving, clutter-clearing designs with a sense of humor. Take "Forked Up," pictured above; part of the UtiliTILE series that frees up valuable kitchen space, it's useful tile for storing your utensils in a fun and space-efficient way. It makes setting the table is as easy as pulling out as many utensils as you need; magnets ensure that the utensils stay up there until you need them.
The rest of the UtiliTILE series is dedicated to the idea that it's nice to have shelves for all the things that otherwise clutter your space, but it's even nicer to have shelves that disappear when they aren't in use. It's a compact, modular, flexible system that offers an easy, elegant way to save space and do more with less. Hit the jump to see more.
::Thout Design...

Here’s a new shop paradigm for you: Shop according to the revealed ingredients of every object. Because those ingredients sure look yummy with a range of products made from sustainable wood, cork, bamboo, organic and recycled materials. Monica Potvin in Barcelona and Anu Suominen in Finland have joined forces and created ‘a new version shop presenting a collection of objects for living made as sustainable as possible’.
Matteriashop is finally a shop that guarantees eco-smartness as well as fabulous design.
Through close collaboration with designers all over the globe, the Matteriashop offers a unique transparency and behind-the-scene information on each carefully selected product, taking into account its entire lifecycle. Monica Potvin explains:...

Table for two? This suave, utterly cute little table is an ingenious space saver, with two chairs that fold right in to the tabletop and base. In the same vein as
Hans Olsen's dining set, the table's minimal footprint, when not in use, is ideal for small spaces and the romance of gazing into the eyes of whomever you happen to enjoying
batter-blasted organic pancakes or
organic yogurt with.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; with something like this, even dwellers of the smallest spaces can have a place to sit down and enjoy it (and, in true TreeHugger spirit, we bet it would work for lunch and/or dinner, too). Sadly, this piece itself isn't currently available, but the clever concept itself is definitely worth a closer look.
::Amazon UK via
::Apartment Therapy...

How smart is this? Perfect for small spaces and a truly clever design, Hans Olsen designed this dining set in 1953 for Frem Røjle Møblefabrik, and it "serves as the quintessential model for the holistic integration of form and function. The design is certainly as progressive and relevant today as it was 60 years ago," according to the
Design Addict description on eBay.
Imagine what the world would be like, how much less stuff we'd be dealing with, if everything needed to be designed just once every 60 years. Get up close and personal with more pics after the jump.
::eBay via
::Apartment Therapy: San Francisco
...

While TreeHugger knows that using what you've got 'til it's gone is the greenest way to go, but we all have to replace our old faithful with new favorites eventually. When that time comes, we want you to know some of the good green ways to go. On this list: dining tables.
Used as homework workstation, family gathering place and console for gourmet display and dinner parties galore, your dining table has to work hard, so having one that's durable, versatile and comfortable is important. Apartment dwellers might want to look for the smaller footprints, while families can use more surface area of larger models for more function. No matter what you need, watch out for formaldehyde, polyurethane and other toxic glues and finishes -- which you won't find on this list -- and keep your eyes peeled for wood from sustainable sources, and green alternatives to trees, like bamboo. Choosing a new dining table won't happen every day, so making it count and making it green are important; some of our favorites are below.
...

West Coast Green – when they billed it as the biggest green building conference on this coast, they weren’t lying. It was huge and the lineup of speakers was excellent. There were roughly 4 tracks a day with at least 40 different sessions going on at the same time so there was no way to come even close to seeing everything. It was amazing!...

Brooklyn-based designer Sarah Cihat scours garage sales and thrift shops, looking for ceramics that she can give a second life to. She takes the discarded dishware and reglazes it, turning old and frumpy cast-offs into fun, funky, artful dishes. Fond of the silhouette, most of her work features animals, people and things like anchors and skull-n-crossbones in colorful contrast the ceramics' new glaze; says the designer, "Each piece represents a rejection of more brand new products filling shelves and storage closets. Rehabilitated Dishware is a subtle statement of the importance of recycling and the renewed value of unwanted things."
Her work is available from a
list of stockists from New York to Los Angeles, and via
Rose and Radish online. Hit the jump for more pics from her gorgeous new collection.
::Sarah Cihat via
::design*sponge...

TreeHugger never tires of finding examples of companies and designers that have discovered that there is a better way to do things. Safer, healthier materials, designs that will last for generations and manufacturing that considers the planet and its people are all hallmarks of this "better way" and the latest example we've found is Austria-based
Team 7.
Their wide variety of classically-inspired modern furnishings is made largely with wood, which all comes from sustainably-certified forests; when it comes to manufacturing, the company has earned the Austrian Ecological Quality Certification for their ecologically-friendly production practices. Because they're concerned with indoor air quality, minimizing harmful off-gassing, and keeping toxics out of their furniture, only very low-VOC finishes are used, and PVC is not allowed -- go
here for more details on their sustainable production practices.
As for the various collections, they're beautifully modern; sleek and warm without being overdone. The
Magnum dining collection is above; several more are below the fold. Their portfolio also includes living room, bedroom, kitchen and kids, which will have to wait for another post.
::Team 7...

Finally, fun & sexy eco design is available not just in New York and London but has made it to Barcelona.
Damaris & Marc are the two local designers who create and produce their designs themselves, to make sure the materials they use are as sustainable as possible. To do so, the designers use a mix of technology and craft which results in beautifully made objects for the home. All products are produced locally in their workshops in Barcelona. To underline their responsibility as designers towards the planet, parts of their profits go towards humanitarian projects. Every time a significant amount has been set aside, the two designers personally take it to a chosen project. For the next one they'll be heading to an orphanage/hospital in Mongolia with which they'd like to collaborate. Their motto is '"Qui no s'arrisca no pisca" (who doesn't dare, doesn't win). Damaris & Marc believe in observing the world and acting personally rather than passing the responsibility to others, says Damaris....

We wish to say congratulations to
Nani Marquina for 20 years (
watch video here) of brilliant work in the world of carpets! We mentioned Nani Marquina’s
carpet collection made from recycled bicycle inner tubes and the
Emiliana felt slippers but it’s time we give you the whole story about this fabulous Barcelonian carpet designer.
For each product, a kind of poetic product life cycle assessment is being done: '
each product always tries to give a synthesis: of who thinks up the product, of who makes it, who looks after it and all those who enjoy it.' What we love about these carpets, apart from the fact that they are simply gorgeous, is that they are almost always made from natural materials such as jute or wool, which makes them 100% biodegradable. The very strong point however lies in the ability to join East and West by carpet. Nani Marquina’s carpets are hand-made in India, Nepal or Pakistan and guarantee that no child labour was involved in producing them. ...

Sebastiano Oddi, graduating student at the University of Brighton, cooked up the idea of the Edible Plate:
"Mange2 is an edible picnic container for two people. By manipulating the gaseous structure of bread Oddi has designed a wholly edible container that results in near zero waste. It currently has been produced in 8 different flavours.
It can be seen and perhaps tasted at
New Designers in London July 12-15. via
::Notcot...

What happens when a product designer/carpenter gets together with a forester? –Sustainable furniture. Since 2003 René Müller and Nina Griesshammer work under their company's name
Woodloops based in Germany and Spain. Beautifully sculpted wooden shapes form everyday objects such as chunky stools and tables, elegant beds and also more abstract forms such as the
Forest Beads to sit on.
But the team doesn’t stop here and also designs booths for trade fairs and my favourite piece from their collection: the folding ruler called
wood_stock.
Each piece of this traditional folding ruler is made from a different timber. On one side it shows the scale, and on the other side it tells you from which tree the wood comes from with beautiful graphics of its fruits and leaves. Different series of woods from different temperate zone are available. Each ruler is a ‘small pocket dictionary’ of 10 different woods. Of course the ruler as well as all their other products are made from FSC-certified wood. For prices, please contact Woodloops directly.
::Woodloops
...

That lil’ ole
macadamia nut is versatile chap. Maybe he has heard of all the things that
bamboo has been up to, and wants a piece of the action. We’ve discovered that he can make it as
cooking oil,
suncream,
shampoo,
body polish, and even as a
renewable energy. So I guess it should come as no surprise that he still has a few tricks up his husk. Which bring us to Husque. Designer Marc Harrison and architect Paul Fairweather established the company back in 2003 to tease a few more secrets from the macadamia nut, which grows natively only along a 600 km (370 mile) band of the Australian east coast. They grind up the shell of the nut, mix it with a unspecified polymer, polished the inner surfaces with a polyester, and give their products a final sheen with a rub of macadamia oil. The nut is said to make up 80% of the finished vessel. Not recommended for getting up close and personal with hot food/liquids or dishwashers, but nevertheless very funky.
::Husque, via
Haute*Nature. ...

Released into the wild a few month back was the Confetti range from Zak Designs. Very sharp looking homewares made from recycled melamine. Melamine is very durable plastic with a tight crystalline structure that for the most part resists the staining, delaminating, and pitting that is common to other plastics. I have a bowl that has been on every overnight outdoor trip I’ve made in the past 24 years. And it still looks like new. It is quite a tricky thing to recycle brittle, thermoset plastics like Melamine (and the ABS found in most computers and peripherals), so hats off to Zak Designs, for their patent pending process. But we find their press release of earlier this year somewhat disingenuous, when they state, “As a global company, Zak Designs has always maintained a strong commitment to the Earth and the environment.” Particularly given that was the sole environmental statement we could find on their entire website. And nowhere do they indicate if the recycled content is post-industrial or post-consumer. Maybe it is just their production waste reprocessed. We do like showcasing greener products here, but also welcome a greater degree of transparency from companies claiming a ‘a strong commitment to the environment.’ Oddly the range is not on their web, but
Amazon, amongst others, have been selling it.
::Zak Designs. via
Great Green Goods. ...

This would be a good time for commiserating with friends over lunch with a glass of wine. How to keep the Chardonnay cool while waiting for them to arrive? A terracotta wine cooler works nicely. As you might guess from the picture, this is ancient technology. Drench the un-glazed clay vessel in water, insert the wine bottle, and place the set-up cooler in a shady place for a bit. If you want to prevent the white wine from getting nasty-hot, just the evaporative cooling does the job nicely. Tips: - Use a wine bottle that was pre-chilled in the frig and the cooler sustains the chill. Styles vary immensely, but the function is identical as long as most of the surface is unpainted and unglazed. Ten bucks seems to be a minimum price. Pictured is a "Traditional Hexagonal-shaped Terracotta Wine Cooler with Saucer" from UK based
Weston Mill Pottery We notice that most of the retail outlets offering the terracotta coolers are out of Europe; and, the US listed products are often "Made In China". You might ask an art student to make one for you; or, check out the garden store for some cylindrical clay pots that would fit a 2-liter wine bottle. Image credit: Weston Mill...

The child of the
Industrial Woodworking Corporation (who make some excellent sustainable office, home office & health care-environment furniture of their own), Knú is a soon-to-be-launched online-only company committed to creating sustainable, modern, contemporary home and office furniture for retail sale. While the official launch isn't until September 2007, you can still
check out their website to see what they've got up their sleeves; if you like what you see (and we do), you can preorder whatever catches your eye with a 10% discount on the sale price and 50% discount on shipping. "
Knú Desk #4" (pictured above) might be our favorite; not only is it made with FSC-certified wood veneers, zero-VOC water-borne PVA adhesives and 40% recycled/100% recyclable steel (as are all of their pieces), it might be the first desk we've ever seen that looks like it might take flight if you don't hold it down. Hit the jump for more pics of their work, including a dining set, bookcase and more desks, and check out their website for more on their
environmental commitment (they're also a 100% carbon-neutral company) and
read their blog for more on their company and products.
::Knú and
::Industrial Woodworking Corporation via
::2modern Design Talk...

If you’re looking to jazz up your workspace or home this winter, we say focus on the walls. We guarantee your room will feel instantly decorated.
TreeHugger picked its favorite wallcoverings not too long ago, and we have a few more ideas to add to the list that we grabbed from Domino. The first is embossed paper made of eco-friendly bamboo pulp. With a texture like sturdy cardboard, you can leave it white or paint it a bright color to get the juices flowing. They come with a peel-and-stick adhesive so that the tiles can easily be removed. These “Bud Wall Flats” can be found at
Inhabit, along with a few other styles. The second idea we liked from Domino was recycled metal tiles. Made from 100% reclaimed aluminum or brass, their texture adds an extra element to your room. They are easy to install and maintenance is a simple quick wash with mild dishsoap and water. These tiles can be found at
Eco-Friendly Flooring and are available in several different finishes. Via
::Domino...

Milkweed & Doublebutter are the design & fabrication studios of David Larabee and Dexter Thornton. New on the scene, the studios' opening reception was just a couple weeks back, on November 17, and the first line of furniture mixes an assortment of materials with modern shapes and clean lines. We're fans of Elephant, the dining table (pictured above), which features a bamboo ply top, though the collection also mixes in medium-density fiberboard, native hardwoods and PaperStone, a post consumer paper product. Also featured in the collection are a bed, side chairs & stools, dressers, credenzas and shelving and tables of various sizes and shapes. The furniture is available from
One Home Design,
P Design Gallery and directly from the designers. We're looking forward to more good things from this duo.
::Doublebutter via
::Core77...

This gives new meaning to the term "dining table"- it eats the leftovers. Lift the lid in the centre and dump them in, and the worm composter takes over- "A living ecosystem of worms, sowbugs and bacteria are invited to this table. They are a part of the digestive system that starts with a person discarding food leftovers and shredded paper into the portal at the top. The bacteria and sowbugs begin breaking down the waste and the worms soon join in to further digest it into a rich compost that sprinkles out of the bottom of the fabric bag that hangs beneath the table. This compost is used as a fertilizer for plants, such as those at the base of the table." So you don't miss any of the action, an infrared camera sends images to the LCD screen imbedded in the tabletop. Reduces waste in two ways- composting it and who wants to eat after watching the screen? ...
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