IKEA sent us a sneak peak of some products to come this April – here are our favorites:

The KNUBBIG table lamp by Michiko Nakata (above), with floral graphics on clear and frosted glass spheres. We love the bright colors of the GUNVOR fabric by Anna Salander (bottom left) and the very sweet BARNSLIG cushion by Maria Vinka – a pillow for keeping your hands and feet warm. The design and colors of the cushion remind me of kids pajamas.

Kirsten Hassenfeld is a Brooklyn-based artist who works with paper, creating super detailed, sculptural light objects. Her Dans la Lune exhibit just closed at Rice University’s Rice Gallery, but I thought it was worth a mention here. Dans la Lune is a French idiom that references daydreaming, which is a great description of Kirsten’s over-the-top sculptures of imagined opulence. From a distance her sculptures look like chains of gems and crystals, but as you get closer, detailed images emerge.

Yvonne Laurysen of Lama is a Dutch designer focussed mainly on textiles. I came across her website today, and was really impressed by her felt rugs, each of which is created by cutting and assembling pressed industrial wool felt. The felt slices are randomly assembled, allowing for a natural pattern to emerge.

Lama makes furniture, too – check out the Loft light and the Sinus table and chair set.

2008! Can you believe it? I hope you all had a great holiday and new year and are rested up and ready for 2008!

Getting right back to it…Johanna Lindgren is a Swedish designer who works mainly with textiles (both making textile prints, and using textiles in innovative ways in her products). The P.O.C. light would be awesome in a commercial space somewhere as an alternative to a chandelier…Johanna has also experimented with wall textiles and screens (the light and top screen in collaboration with Helen Högberg). My favorite is the Slinga (bottom right). Made of industrial felt, it’s a nice alternative to wallpaper or bare walls!

Hung Ming Chen is a young designer from Sweden with a few lovely products. I think the bird light is fantastic – it can be clipped on to an existing light bulb and instantly create some visual interest in a room. Also very clever was his trash can – simply two wooden pieces with built-in clips – slot them together and create an instant trash can. More work is available on his website, Hommin.

Via Style Files.

I saw Bertjan Pot’s Non-Random Light over at Style Files and had to post it here. I’m sure you’re familiar with his Random Light, which he designed in 2002 for MOOOI. Both are made from epoxy drained fiberglass. Check out his website for other smart products, such as the lights made from halved fruits and vegetables. I’m not sure how the fruit was preserved (maybe resin?), but it sure looks cool!

Marieke Rongen is a young Dutch designer who makes some gorgeous light fixtures! She plays with texture on the inside of the lamp shade, as well as with unconventional materials like concrete and copper.

The chair below is called Wear Memory and references your grandmother’s doilies. It looks to me like the silhouette of the doily is burned into the chair, but I’m not sure from the image.

Via Bloesem.

There’s not a lot of text (read: none!) on Afroditi Krassa’s website, which leaves me to my own devices and wanting more information. Her products are sassy and beautiful. I would love to hang one of her “Bright Lights” (top) in my living room…

The chord is often the most unsightly part of a lamp. The Chord Lamp by the young Swedish firm, Form Us with Love, takes the chord and integrates it into the design. Use it with a funky bulb, and you have a beautiful fixture. Also very nice is the SwopIt, an acrylic side table that comes apart so that you can change the textile swatch sandwiched between the two acrylic pieces.

Design firm Boiler has created some beautiful light fixtures that are inspired by plant-life, in both form and function. The fixture to the left (untitled) casts beautiful shadows through its flower-like symmetry. The Protea (right) mimics thermo tropic plants – the individual pieces of the lamp shade move away from the bulb when it’s hot, and close in on the bulb as it cools down. The result is a very dynamic light fixture.