Manhattan beach, California provides the perfect setting for this incredible 3-story villa owned and designed by Steve Lazar of LAZAR Design/Build. Guests are welcomed to the gorgeous contemporary villa by an amazing array of Mangaris wood steps, accompanied by a small flowing river complete with actual riverbed stones. The villa’s exterior is embellished with stained and polished Mangaris wood which allows the home to blend perfectly with its natural surrounding. Huge windows and sliding glass doors allow for plenty of natural light as well as a relaxing coastal breeze that radiates throughout the villa. Read more …

In the Fall of 2002, Koncept set out to design and develop innovative products for home and business. Since then, the company has amassed a line of elegant LED desk lamps that are gaining national attention. With their Gen. 3 LED lamps, Koncept brings key improvements in light quality, brightness control, usability, and efficiency. Newest to the fold is the Equo LED Desk Lamp. Read more …

If you haven’t been to Craft & Commerce in Little Italy, grab your friends and run there! Your first impression will be the rustic-cool design. Everything from the wall of books back-dropped by broken mirror in the dining room, to the credit card number cut-outs at the bar, all dimly lit, contribute to the maniacal and mysterious energy of this place. The crafty drinks being served up at the bar complement the unique ambiance of the establishment perfectly. Between the Absinthe and the Mezcal, you’ll definitely start feeling further and further away from your everyday bland vodka concoctions. In fact, they don’t even serve vodka. Read more …

From table runners to the runway! It seems an unlikely leap, but that’s exactly what happened when Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld set his eyes on the stencil-like Cubic lace design manufactured by Chilewich for their tabletop collection. Lagerfeld chose the lace design for Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2011 ready-to-wear show at Paris Fashion Week last month. Read more …

D’espresso is a hip new espresso bar located near Grand Central Station in New York. Designed by New York studio Nemaworkshop, the interior was built to resemble a library… turned on its side! To achieve this appearance, one of the interior walls features herringbone-pattern wooden flooring while the opposite wall has pendant lights which protrude horizontally. The back wall, as well as the floor and ceiling, all are covered in custom tiles printed with sepia-toned life size photographs of books. Read more …

Designer Jakub Szczesny of Centrala Designers Task Force in Warsaw, Poland was sourcing material for furniture for the Rooted Design for Routed Living: Alternative Design Strategies project when he discovered concrete cloth. Frustrated with the materials he had been working with prior, Szczesny knew he had found what he was looking for when he stumbled upon this new material. Slowly, he created some pieces, which he then tested outdoors, eventually coming up with some organic shapes that blended well into nature, called “relics” by local workmen. Read more …

Recently a trend for “urban living” has carried over to the interior of the home as more and more homeowners are opting for a contemporary loft-style design within the home. This design is typically marked by high ceilings, natural lighting, cement flooring and walls, and exposed overhead mechanical ductwork, bringing that contemporary feel of the city right into the comforts of one’s own home. Read more …