Bowls made of drilled river rock, vines turned into sculpture and lighting salvaged from old factories around the world are just some of the unique treasures found at Artefact Design & Salvage in Sonoma, California. The showroom features antique architectural pieces, objects crafted from salvage, large-scale organic forms and all sorts of products that can't be found anywhere else. The products are collected around the world and include a growing line of furniture and objects designed by founder Dave Allen.

Allen's journey in salvage collection began in 1997 when he left his corporate job and started off on a new life specializing in architectural antiques. Over time he built his business from a series of yard sales to an international operation that sends him around the world scavenging for both salvaged items and new products from Borneo, Java, Bali and other parts of Malaysia and the Philippines. His blog on the Artefact Design & Salvage website is an informative and frequently amusing adventure. Check out the gallery below for a few of his treasures.

Versace has been a brand in transition for a while now but new CEO Gian Giacomo Ferraris has been shaking things up lately. His latest move is an announcement that the Italian fashion house will lose 350 jobs worldwide by the middle of next year as part of a cost-cutting initiative that also includes a thorough evaluation of Versace's store network. The brand recently decided to close stores in Japan, formerly one of the biggest luxury goods markets.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is expected to post a pre-tax loss of €30 million ($44.4 million) on revenue of €273 million. This is a sharp contrast to 2008 when Versace posted a net profit of €9 million on sales of €336 million. Part of the decline is due to a fall in sales in the company's wholesale business and the financial collapse of IT Holding SpA, which produced clothing for Versace under brand licensing agreements. Versace re-launched the secondary line Versus at Milan Fashion week earlier this month.The brand will move forward with new runway designs and will instead focus its fat trimming in the areas of production, distribution and logistics. That's good news for Donatella Versace, the brand's designer who also holds a 20 percent stake in the company. Her daughter Allegra Versace Beck has a 50 percent stake bequeathed to her by her late uncle Gianni Versace and her other uncle Santo Versace has the remaining 30 percent of the company. Ferraris came aboard this spring after Donatella Versace's repeated battles with Giancarlo Di Risio.

Even the most stately of grand buildings can use a little pepping up. Our sister blog ShelterPop recently took a tour of the Empire State Building to check out its newly renovated lobby, part of a $550 million dollar building-wide renovation project. The old lobby projected a certain shabby grace but the building's common spaces had had lost their Art Deco grandeur. Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners took on the project which included a couple of years of hardcore research. They were able to uncover and recreate a beautiful celestial mural on the lobby ceiling. The new mural shows a 1920s spin on a celestial sky with sunbursts and stars that resemble the industrial gears, cogs and wheels of the Machine Age. The original mural is still tucked away beneath the new ceiling in case it can be restored with some future technology someday. ShelterPop has pictures of the creation of the new mural and of the final results.

This bold sign with some other hot neon will be part of the "Design of the Century" auction on September 29, 2009 at Bonhams & Butterfields in Los Angeles. The sale will included Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Mid-Century Modern pieces all with a slant on California design.

Some of the neon pieces for sale were also used in movies and television shows. Featured works will include a 1970s animated enameled steel Beer Mug sign, used in the films "Cinderella Man" and "Transformers" (est. $3,000 - 4,000); a Japanese animated neon and wood sign: SLAM DUNK, used in "Kill Bill" and "Austin Powers 3" (est. $3,000 - 5,000); three illuminated 1970s style steel channel letters forming the word SIN, with dual-colored light bulbs used in television episodes of "Dirty Sexy Money" and "My Name is Earl" (est. $1,800 - 2,500); a painted 1970s wood and neon sign forming the phrase PRAYER CHANGES THINGS, used in the film, "Starsky and Hutch" and the television show, "Saving Grace" (est. $1,800 - 2,500); a circa 1950 double-sided metal and neon forming the word COCKTAILS, used in the film, "Collateral", as well as in television episodes of "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Crazy for You" (est. $1,000 - 1,500); a 1990s two-part illuminated aluminum sign forming the word LUCKY, used in a music video for recording artist Maxwell, a television episode of "CSI" and commercial for Pepsi and the film "Collateral" (est. $3,000 - 5,000); and a 1950s vintage single sided enameled metal and neon Ice Cream Cone sign used in a music video for rapper Snoop Dog (est. $3,000 - 5,000) as well as several vintage 1950-1970 neon bar and cocktail signage pieces.

Of course there's also plenty of fine design too including a painted metal, brass, glass and marble floor lamp for Arredoluce by Angelo Lelii (est. $15,000 - 20,000); a signed mahogany Hand and Foot chair Pedro Friedeberg (est. $8,000 - 12,000); African Fantasy, a circa 1950 oil on canvas by Adrian (est. $3,000 - 5,000) and bent plywood and cast aluminum Fly Ply dining table, 1994 by Ron Arad (est. $10,000 - 15,000). The piece on offer is representative of Arad's signature cutting edge style, which is currently on exhibit at The Museum of Modern Art in New York during the designer's first major US retrospective. The sale will also feature a group of studio glass and ceramic pieces of art by renowned makers Peter Voulkos, Beatrice Wood, Steuben, Dale Chihuly, Glen Lukens and William Morris.

In conjunction with fall the 20th Century Decorative Arts auction, Bonhams & Butterfields, will hold a cocktail reception titled "An Evening with John Nyquist" on September 24, 2009. During the evening's festivities, guests will have an opportunity to pose questions to two of the firm's 20th Century Decorative Arts Specialists: Angela Past and Jason Stein, as well as mingle with noted California Studio Craftsman John Nyquist. Works from the September auction will be on view throughout the reception.

Reception: September 24, 2009, Los Angeles
Preview: September 25-27, 2009, Los Angeles
Auction: September 29, 2009 at 1:00pm, Los Angeles

Earlier this week we saw Vivienne Tam's latest digital clutch for HP but the busy designer also has a new line of custom upholstered furniture with Rowe Furniture that debuted this week in Las Vegas. The pieces in simple and spare styles. use fabrics designed by Tam that include botanical, geometric and herringbone patterns with Asian influences and will incorporate her famous Mao print. More looks at the new pieces over at Shelterpop.

Since the W Hotels brand launched in 1998 their properties have featured a reinterpretation of the classic hotel Presidential Suite, dubbed the Extreme Wow Suite. Now W has commissioned Paris-based architect / designer Patrick Jouin to create the Extreme Wow Suite of the future, taking technologically advanced customization to the max. The resulting design includes hidden details and elements of surprise in addition to every imaginable luxury. The main feature of the suite is a large pod (above) housing a bathtub that can move around to capture different views, containing movable screens that will display greeting messages, time, temperature and information on the location city. The concept suite was just unveiled in Sao Paolo, Brazil as part of a special touring exhibition entitled "Le Paris de Patrick Jouin."

Managing to be both modern in design and comfortable for curling up in, the Imola chair is one of the new offerings from BoConcept. The exaggerated swoopy lines give it a look that is a bit playful without being too cartoonish. The chair is part of the 2009/2010 BoConcept collection and was designed by Henrik Pedersen. It starts at $1,699 and is available in a variety of fabrics and leathers.

I was already loving the look of The Sky Lodge, a boutique five-star condo hotel in Park City, Utah, before I spotted these really cool screen-style doors that divides the bathroom from one of the three bedrooms in the penthouse suite. It turns out that those screens have a very interesting story, and it made me love the property even more.

But first let me back up and say that Sky Lodge's penthouse is where I'd want to a host a party during Sundance, since it's got 2,736 square feet inside, and almost as much -- 2,600 feet -- outside in the form of an enormous wrap-around deck with views of the mountains and Park City, all easily enjoyed from the hot tub. (Check it out in the gallery.) I'll further digress and say that while this suite runs approximately $5,000 a night during the winter season, if you visit during the summer, you can get this three bedroom suite for around $1,500 a night.

Back to the doors: they're made from an opaque ecoresin, into which is embedded beads and coiled copper wire. It turns out that these are "Ithemba", a product of 3form USA's "Full Circle" program, which attempts to marry environmental consciousness with social awareness to create beautiful design products. The beads and woven copper are created by South African women who are impacted with HIV, they recieve training in business skills, job skills training, marketing assistance while they're earning a living by maintaining traditional crafts. "Ithemba" means hope in Xosi. Just knowing this made me enjoy my time in Sky Lodge's Amatsu spa all the more.

If you're not in the market for a screen or a door, check out the cuff bracelet in the gallery below, which you can order here.

Rare Bugatti Type 57s from the '30s and '40s sell for several million dollars at auction, so the design seems like a solid basis for a new concept car. French graphic / industrial designer Bruno Delussu has come up with the brilliant Bugatti Stratos (above), a retro-futuristic homage to the Type 57 mixed with the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Mille Miglia along with a touch of the "futuristic optimism" of industrial designer Raymond Loewy's (1893 – 1986) amazing Art Deco steam locomotives. Noting his total lack of a need to adhere to practical restrictions of actual production, Delussu comments, "Often sports cars are compact, nervous and aggressive. I wanted the opposite. That's why I prolonged the frame and created a voluptuously streamlined [shape] that glides smoothly through the air like a hand over silk."

Occasionally whiz-kid designers beat the pros at their own game when it comes to concept cars. At the very least they open up a world of possibilities that the car companies themselves may be too timid to explore. (See our earlier reports on the Audi Shark and the Chanel-mobile, for example). The latest entry comes to us from Iran, where despite all the unrest creativity still flourishes. The razor sharp new Lamborghini concept by Iranian designer Emil Baddal is an angular evolution of the Gallardo. It's bound to please some purists and offend others with sharper angles and lines and an edgier ethos all around, as these things go, but we think the Lambo by Baddal is badass.

After many years of planning, Hotel Missoni Edinburgh is set to open in June, and is now accepting online bookings. The 136-room hotel is a collaboration of Rosita Missoni, one of the brand's founders, and The Rezidor Hotel Group. The hotel's palette is officially described as black and white, with splashes of color throughout, but as you'd expect from Missoni, the overall effect is more exuberant rather than restrained -- it's about layers of patterns and textures, in rich colors and in black and white too.(See lobby photo above.)

If this sounds chaotic, overall, design lines are kept modern and simple, which should balance out the effusive use of pattern and color. Still, I'm not sure I'd want to pack anything other than basic black in my suitcase without the aid of a stylist, lest I clash with the hotel!

In any event, black wardrobe works just fine to attend Edinburgh's Fringe Festival, the largest arts festival in the world which goes off August 7th-31st-- always a late summer highlight. With its central location, Hotel Missoni should make a fine base of operations for the festival, and as of now, still has rooms available.

Next up for the Hotel Missoni brand? A property in Kuwait, slated to open in Fall 2009.

Henrybuilt, the American high-design company known for its sleek, hand crafted lines, has just launched a series of closet designs that will be custom to each client and built to order in the company's Seattle workshop.

Weaving together its trademark modern design with unsurpassed functionality, these "closets" (it seems they should get a new, much fancier name with all the included bells and whistles) feature wooden valet trays, leather-lined storage compartments, hand crafted leather pulls and an integrated lighting system -- so you'll be sure to look as good in whatever's in your closet as the closet itself.

Prices available upon request from Henrybuilt, which has a New York studio in addition to its Seattle shop.

The Red Dot Award is of the more desirable "good design" awards out there. Emphasis is always on form and function. You'll find that most award recipients are often excellent selling products. The award is given by the Design Zentrum Nordheim Westfalen in Germany. This year two Tag Heuer watches received Red Dot Awards, and this is the fifth time in seven years that Tag Heuer watches received such Red Dot Awards for good product designs.

The two watches that received the award are the new Tag Heuer Grand Carrera Calibre 36 and the new Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500M with the Calibre 5 movement. The Grand Carrera Calibre 36 is an odd watch with a sound design concept for measuring 1/10 of a second accuracy in its chronograph complication - in a unique manner. The best way to appreciate it is to view the video here. It is a cool concept, but isn't going to be a high volume seller like the Aquaracer 500M.

The new Aquaracer model is very well done - really advancing the concept of a "professional diver watch" for Tag Heuer. You can read more on what I think about the Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500M here. It has an automatic movement, 500 meters of water resistance, and comes in various colors and materials that each have an strong industrial feel to them that is still inline with being a tasteful timepiece. Fair award recipients if you ask me.

Via Europa Star.

Ariel Adams publishes the popular watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

The Muse Hotel in New York City is a true gem. The pretty little boutique hotel is located on West 46th Street, near Times Square and the theater district, and now, even New Yorkers will be frequenting it's chic lobby. Why? They've opened a terrific new restaurant: Nios.

We checked out this swanky new hotspot on opening night - May 13th. Click through the gallery of the opening party for quotes from Puccini Group's Robert Polacek, one of the designers, and Kimpton Group's master sommelier Emily Wines about the decor and the fabulous wine selection.

I've seen a wide variety of rings but none quite as arresting as the dream house rings from Philippe Tournaire. The rings are miniatures of actual buildings rendered in 18-karat gold and platinum rings. The brand which has a boutique in Paris is bringing its creations to the U.S. The Villa de Reve collection of rings may not be the most wearable pieces I've ever seen but who can argue with this level of craft. The brand will also make custom pieces, tiny metal and gemstone versions of private homes for clients. The ring shown above is the Maison Lafitte.

[via National Jeweler]