How We Found a Place to Stay in Milan During Salone del Mobile 2010

Ok, so the story goes like this. The idea of going to Milan in order to participate at the Furniture Fair hit Michael in the week previous to the event, which made finding an affordable hotel or apartment impossible. Which is why, if you remember, he tried to get help from Freshome fans all throughout Facebook and Twitter. That was a good call, after which we had a looot of good solutions from you guys concerning affordable accommodation. We really didn’t expect such a feedback and we would like to thank each and everyone of you.

In the last minute, we decided to stay at Sam, a Freshome reader who we only knew from the comments he left us and a few ulterior Skype chats. He offered to accommodate us for free during Salone del Mobile.  Believe it or not, this turned out to be a great decision (for us, at least), as our stay couldn’t have been any comfier.

He said some of the items and arrangements in his apartment were inspired from our blog, so we decided to enlarge the circle of inspiration and share it further with you guys- at Sam’s permission, of course. Here are the pictures:

A few comments are in order. The metallic letters and numbers all have a certain significance. I particularly related to “42″, which is the “answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything” in the book called “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. Now that is cool. In case you are wondering, “PAWA” stands for “power”. According to Sam, cooking is HARD, a statement which you will see being turned into an interior design component in the kitchen photos.

Sam, if you are reading this, thanks again for everything and feel free to comment in case there is anything we left out.

This is the kitchen …where Sam decided to place the word HARD, because it’s hard to cook for him.

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Cool Balancing Boxes Bedside Table from Porro Furniture

I have to say that I love this bedside table from Porro Furniture called "Balancing Boxes". It was created by the Swedish design group "Front", whose four members include Anna Lindgren, Katja Sävström, Sofia Lagerkvist and Charlotte von der Lancken. The concept of boxes providing storage and acting as a table top surface is an insightful idea. The way the boxes pivot on themselves melds both art and furniture into one statement. More information: here.

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Google’s Sydney Office

It is nothing new and we have seen them before. Google offices do make people go green with envy and at times make them rethink their choice of a workplace. This awe that it creates on a viewer is no accident. In fact, it is part of a bigger business plan. Google is one of the first companies in the valley that focused on an ‘ultimate employee experience’ and it is one of the reasons why the industry elites flocked to it in huge numbers during its early days. Even today, Google believes in creating truly special work environments. Take for instance their new Sydney office. One glance at these images, and you feel it is all there. Be it the vertical garden at the reception or the cricket pitch inside the office, everything oozes ‘googleness’. Watch this video where the lead designer of Google’s Sydney office (Angela Ferguson, of Futurespace) talks about the approach they took during this project.

If you are too lazy to watch the video, here are some image captures…

Video Courtesy: IndesignLive.com

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Moose Shower Head , Milan 2010

Predictable enough, while we were visiting the furniture showrooms in Milan, we noticed a huge line of people who were taking photos of this particular design. We initially spotted the deer head and afterwords figured out that this was actually a really cool shower.  We salute this idea and we think it’s for those people who do not consider showers should be taken lightly. The stylish sculpture has a majestic and king-like feel, while the simple and spotless shower cabin sustains its uniqueness.  What do you think? Do you find this to be daring and original or way too exaggerated for a bathroom element?

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Interesting Eco-friendly Flooring Idea From Bleu Nature

Living green is now not a challenge anymore. One of the great examples of it is the End Grain Driftwood Flooring designed by the talented people from Bleu Nature. The great flooring is made of driftwoods that are collected from the beaches of France. The group from Bleu Nature does the combing of the beaches twice a week, ending them to collect the right piece for their project that ended into an eco-friendly and made to order flooring that are saw-cut or worn saw-cut finish. This idea looks awesome, and to be honest I’d also love to see a rug with this pattern on it, don’t you ? – Via – Furfin

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Eun Ji Byeon's Turn Rotary Faucet Saves Water

It is great to see that more and more designers are jumping on the "Green" bandwagon and making genuine efforts to design for a sustainable future. A few years ago, no one would give a second thought on how much water we consume while washing our hands, but now all this is changing. Case in point, Eun Ji Byeon's Turn Faucet which aims for "Eco-precision." The faucet has a rotary dial with settings like 5, 10, and 15 seconds, so that you don't waste H20 in the name of cleanliness! A great way to dial down water wastage, don't you think?

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22 Inspirational Restaurant Interior Designs

Perhaps there is nothing more therapeutic than a fine dining experience. Culinary sophistication and high standards make for a memorable time for anyone in a restaurant. But we design freaks seek more and often end up lusting over great interiors at places like these. Right now we are admiring some fascinating restaurant designs photographed by a Russian firm IndoorPhotos. Seems like a lot of time and money has gone into making these spaces perfect for food and conversations. Not only do they manage to lure a large number of food junkies, their interiors serve as good inspiration for home dining spaces too.

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