Wow! This is an awesome idea…Dutch architect Hofman Dujardin came up with a fold-out balcony…so cool! When it’s in its closed position, it becomes part of the exterior wall and acts as a window. Some mechanism (not clear how it works, exactly, nor am I clear on what the whole assembly looks like from the interior) allows the window/partition to fold down into a balcony. So cool. I want one!

Via Swissmiss.

I love raw stones. J.L. Ricci has a nice, simple line of rings that use raw stones. She is interested in the healing power of gems, which isn’t really my cup of tea, but I think her work is beautiful!

Artemide makes the Miconos family of lamps, designed by Ernesto Gismondi. They look like something straight out of 12 Monkeys and I think they are fantastic.

Brooklyn-based Jeannie Choe and Steven Tomlinson of The Design Can are producing some interesting work! I remember seeing their Self-Portrait Mirrors around a while back…Love the idea behind the Self-Destructo candle – it comes with an LED on one end and a wick on the other. When you get tired of looking at the LED light, you flip the candle over and light the wick and the candle eventually self-destructs. I’m also a big fan of the Aorta vase…

I have been riding Habitat decks for a few years now. I like that they are an east coast company. And their graphics have always been very nice. They have recently taken more inspiration from actual images of flora and fauna as opposed to iconic representations of those flora and fauna. And the Danny Garcia shapes flip around really well for me.

They recently released a Bamboo Panorama Series which uses 15% bamboo (1-ply of 7) in addition to the traditional hardrock maple construction. Bamboo is a very sustainable resource because of its rapid growth cycle. They also offer a hemp-ply construction which uses a hemp fiber layer to reinforce the maple construction.

I love the organic nature of Rebecka Fröberg’s jewelry. So beautiful and delicate!

I used to love playing chess when I was a kid, but I don’t get the chance to do it much anymore. After years, I finally played a game with a friend recently and drove her crazy because I kept agonizing over my moves (it’s a high-stress game, man!). Anyway, I love Augusto Ghibelli’s “Book of Chess”, which has updated the traditional pieces with graffiti signifiers. At the end of the game, the pieces and the board fold up into a ‘book’, which you can store on your bookshelf. Available at Yoya Shop.

The DIY Shoe from Patagonia is an incredible idea. The shoe comes in a few panels with leather strings in a bag and you build it yourself, straight caveman style.

The Very-Nice Chair by François Azambourg, available at Domeau & Pérès, is a very intricate and incredibly expressive chair. But expressive in a strict and rational form instead of in a wild and freaky form.

Lovely illustrations from Matt Gaser. His personal work borders on the fantastical…which makes sense, because professionally, Matt worked as Senior Concept Artist on the video games for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and is now working for Lucasfilm Animations as a Concept Artist and Matte painter.