An article in Canada's Globe and Mail led me to wacky Vancouver furniture designer Judson Beaumont. His company may be called Straight Line Designs but his designs are anything but dull, the dressers, cabinets and cases turn simple wood furniture into something delightfully silly. Beaumont tells the Globe and Mail he was inspired by the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the pieces have a gleeful quality that appeals to children and the young at heart. His pieces aren't cheap, they start at $1,500 but at least you won't go into your neighbor's house and find they have the exact same furnishings you do. The cabinet here is a new design known simply as Oops.Posts with tag wood
Judson Beaumont Furniture
An article in Canada's Globe and Mail led me to wacky Vancouver furniture designer Judson Beaumont. His company may be called Straight Line Designs but his designs are anything but dull, the dressers, cabinets and cases turn simple wood furniture into something delightfully silly. Beaumont tells the Globe and Mail he was inspired by the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the pieces have a gleeful quality that appeals to children and the young at heart. His pieces aren't cheap, they start at $1,500 but at least you won't go into your neighbor's house and find they have the exact same furnishings you do. The cabinet here is a new design known simply as Oops.Forest Reflections, Wood from the Deep
Forest Reflections gets their wood from a unique source, virgin timbers which were submerged in the Great Lakes and surrounding areas. The wood has a long history, hundreds of years ago, lumberjacks from France and England shipped timber eastward on log rafts many of which broke up on the journey sending up to one third of them to the waters' bottom. The wood was preserved underwater and salvage and recovery techniques make it possible to retrieve this beautiful wood. Georgian Bay Wetwood uses sonar, GPS and other techniques to find the vintage hardwood. The company believes they can find enough submerged logs in the Great Lakes region to supply their business for many years to come.
These woods, flamed birch and blackened oak are historic and environmentally friendly options. The flamed birch trees were cut hundreds of years ago almost to extinction along the U.S. and Canadian border of the great lakes. Such beauty isn't cheap, the line starts with the small end table at $1,230. They also do custom configurations.
Gallery: Forest Reflections
Handcarved Cherry Utensils
The kitchen is a great place to express style and get original without making too much of a commitment in regards to expense or permanence -- you can easily change up the look of things by switching around small details like what utensils you have sitting on the counter or hanging on the wall. These wooden mixing spoons and spatulas by David Hurwitz are handcarved out of cherry and, to me anyway, have both antique and modern contemporary vibes going on. Available in a variety of stains and shapes, this is one of those items where no two will ever look exactly the same. One of these would make a great gift for anybody who loves to cook.Gallery: Cherry Utensils by David Hurwitz
Via Wists
The Splinter, A Wooden Supercar that's Faster than a Porsche
Think "wooden car" and images of an old-fashioned toy or model car are more likely to pop into your head than a real-life sleek fast supercar. The Splinter, however, is changing that by not only being a sportscar made of wood that's stylish and sleek but also by being fast -- faster than a Porsche or a Lamborghini.
It's fast partly because of the goodies under the hood and partly because it's just so much lighter than its steel and metal counterparts. Built of a combination of maple, plywood, and MDF it can turn out 700bhp and has a top speed of 240mph. Not too shabby.
There's no price set for this wooden beauty just yet, or color options (I say if you're going to buy a wooden car then don't hide it with a paint job at all), but look for more info as the car is scheduled for release later this year.
Gallery: The Splinter
"Forward in Time" Wooden Floor Clock
This design strikes me as something out of a dream -- a little curvy and abstract, slightly warped and out-of-whack looking, but in a very peaceful and artistic way. For being a modern contemporary design it also has a nice "warm fuzzy" vibe. It's the "Forward in Time" wooden floor clock, and created by Brian Hubel it's made of thick-skinned black cherry with ebony accents on the clock face. Available in the extremely limited edition of only 5, this clock stands 70"H x 23"W x 13.5"D and goes for $6600.
Via Wists
Scott Morrison Rocker Cradle
This Rocker Cradle from Scott Morrison is a classic revisited. Morrison, who lives in Montana in a house on a mountain, specializes in creating unique wood furnishings. This chair updates a 1700s Windsor style nanny rocker by using spindles that connect the shapes of the base and the rail creating a harmoniously fluid sculptural effect. The rocker is made using a variety of hand tools and is done with an attention to detail that takes into account the unique personality of the wood. Each piece is also hand rubbed with a mixture of tung oil and resin for a protected finish. The chair in English Walnut sells for $10,500.
Conversation Wooden Spheres
These solid wooden spheres are so surely going to start conversations in your home they're even named Conversation Wooden Spheres. It doesn't say what kind of wood they're made of, but the woodgrain is clearly visible and they appear to be left natural in order to let it shine through. Sitting one (or a couple) of these large spheres in a room will bring a nice touch of contemporary, warm, and natural energy to an atmosphere. Suggested placements include everything from groupings next to the furniture or fireplace to sitting on top of a mantel or coffee table. Do you suppose they're truly a sphere and are apt to roll away randomly from their assigned spots? That could be dangerous! Available in 2 sizes, 10" and 15" diameters, $98-$239.
Via Daily Dose
Mirror Collage Plasma TV Cabinet
Some plasma televisions are works of art in and of themselves and to hide them would be a shame. But most aren't so fabulous and are better kept out of sight when not in use. There are lots of clever ways to conceal a flat-screen television - I've seen them behind panels, paintings and drapes as well as inside pop-up entertainment centers. But as far as a remedy to the unsightly black hole of the television, this one gets points for creativity. Wood-framed beveled mirrors of different sizes overlap in an artful arrangement that not only hides your flat-screen television, but adds light and space to your room. The overall dimensions are 71"W x 11"D x 51" and the cabinet will accommodate most 50" plasma televisions. $4649.
Harp Chair
Now I haven't had the luxury of actually sitting in this chair, but based on the looks of it and the fact that it's largely made of string makes me think it's probably very comfortable. Designed by Jordan Hoveltskov in 1963 the harp chair is surprisingly simple: it's a lounge chair made of 2 pieces of solid wood (your choice of natural ash, black stained ash, American cherry, or natural oak) combined with string. That's it. It does look a little like a harp from certain angles, but don't get your hopes up -- it doesn't play music. $1128-$11250
Via Design Mind
The Loopty Loopy Loopita
Try to say "Loopty Loopy Loopita" ten times fast -- it'll put your tongue in a twist that looks something like this chair I bet. Every so often a design puts off a vibe that's pure happiness, and to me this is one of those designs. The name obviously inspires laughter, but the chair itself looks like a big orange peel to me -- which inspires more laughter. What does it look like to you?
Designed by Victor Aleman, it's flexible as far as how many "loops" you want and how far apart they're spaced, and it's made from a single piece of red oak coated in high-density foam. Talk about interesting seating arrangement possibilities by mixing and matching several Loopty Loopy Loopitas together in the same room! Definitely not for the serious at heart.
Oooms Wooden Memory Sticks
Some things, cool or creative as they may be, just strike me as hilarious. And these Wooden Memory Sticks by Oooms had me laughing out loud when I first saw them. Maybe it's because they're so life-like that it brought to mind visions of shoving a stick into my computer and expecting it to store my data for me. And they look so realistic because they are real -- they're handpicked branches from the woods that are professionally handcrafted into USB storage discs.
Available in 256 mb, 512 mb, 1 Gb, and 2 Gb memory sizes and measuring about 2cm x 2cm x 10cm, they cost between 45 and 80 euros each. All laughter aside, it's a really neat idea.
The Water Lily Dining Chair
The Water Lily dining chair is perfect for people who enjoy contemporary decorating but want to keep a taste of the traditional mixed in. Handcrafted by New Leaf Furniture, the chair backs are steam bent American Black Walnut planks (you can also get them in other sustainable woods if you prefer) that provide both ergonomic comfort and unique beauty. Wood planks also form the legs, which hold up a firm but comfortable padded seat cushion in a happy modern print. Designed to complement the Water Lily dining table, these Water Lily dining chairs will also work well with many other table designs. $1482Periodic Table
This Periodic Table is almost as simple as things can get, really. It's just four pieces of wood stuck together and painted, but somehow it works. Designed by One & Co., this piece was part of the launch of the new San Francisco-based furniture company called 'Council' last month. The metal coated wood block coffee table is made by coating a 48" x 48" x 13" block of wood with your choice of silver (natural, black, or pink). The resulting appearance is modern and bold, while keeping an organic feel with the natural wood-grain staying easily visible.
I love the design, but hate the colors.
Table from the World's Oldest Wood
One of the reasons that people enjoy collecting antiques is that their pieces have a history, a story to them, which a lot of ultra-contemporary pieces don't have. And the older a piece of furniture is, the longer its story. A unique table owned by a couple in Colorado goes beyond antique and no doubt has a far more interesting story to tell. It is made from the world's oldest wood, estimated to be 45,910 years old. The wood is blonde, with "lustrous finish as shiny as freshly washed glass" and originated from an ancient Kauri tree in New Zealand, although it laid buried underground (without rotting or petrifying) for centuries. The wood is hard with an amazingly fine, artful grain. The extremely rare wood from these trees is expensive to begin with, but one as old as this is pretty near to priceless.Thing Tank Mobiles
The thing that I find most appealing about Thing Tank's mobiles is the way they cast delightful shadows on the walls. The simple mobiles are available in a variety of abstract designs, Asterisk, Cheese, Grass, Truss and the Tee Vee shown here. They come in either mahogany plywood or white acrylic and are fully assembled. Prices range from $160 to $180 and you could probably also customize these by hanging light little ornaments off the individual pieces.
