Small Space Pillow With a Pocket

So my wife found this, and I quite like it. As you know we have covered all sorts of items that have additional storage capabilities — here is another.

The PJ Pocket Pillow — say that three times fast — by Fawn & Forest is a great little pillow. The pillow comes printed with one of several very minimal designs: elephants, squirrels or lemons. It has a real Asian look to it and in fact it is based on Japanese anemone boxs that are traditionally used to house family heirlooms. The pillow actually has a secret — it has a pocket. It’s a great place to stash pjs, a small blanket, remotes or anything you would like to conceal.

The pillow’s Asian looks won me over right away and adds the functionality of helping you to keep your small space tidy.It’s a great find!

Small Space Apartment: Optibo

In May I had two posts about Sandy Lam’s Spaceless balcony furniture. It is a system of furniture that collapses into the space beneath it so that you can use the space for a variety of purposes. I was thinking that it reminded me of something I had seen before. When I did some digging, I found it.

Although not exactly the same Optibo is a similar concept. Optibo is the product of Swedish ingenuity I think it’s a bit like a Swiss Army Knife apartment. Although Optibo has been around for several years, I thought it would be relevant here.

Optibo was a research project on future housing and multifunction furniture. The furniture in the apartment lowers into the floor via hydraulic stage equipment. Yes its hydraulics for your couch, well not exactly. The project basically created a dwelling in a 25 square meter apartment. By concealing furniture in the floor it created a space that could transform itself thereby utilizing the space very efficiently.

As far as I can tell, they are not selling the concept yet, but it is a very noteworthy small space.

Small Space Stamps: Charles + Ray Eames

I just wanted to remind everyone to start getting in line now — think of the iPhone release in New York. What are you lining up for, some new object of lust from Apple? No, stamps!

Charles + Ray Eames stamps to be more precise; they are coming soon. The official Post Office release date is June 16, 2008. They are some truly lust worthy stamps and just thinking about them makes me want to write letters to everyone I know.

Then again, I’m not sure I actually want to mail these stamps. Maybe I will stick them around my house on my ordinary furniture and let it dream of greatness.

Small Space Floating Furniture: Cantilever Style

While doing some of my regular trolling of sites, this weekend I stumbled on an image of the cantilevered desk (pictured above).

It is a really fine piece of furniture. I love how the use of built in furniture allows for what is really quite a large piece of furniture without feeling large. The floating volume of the piece allows the room to appear more open and less cluttered.

Built in furniture is not inexpensive and good cabinetmakers are quite rare. However, the added home value of built in furniture can make it well worth the investment. Just remember to keep built-ins classic and clean so what ever it is, it will never look dated. This piece is a great example.

Eastvold Custom Woodworks created the desk. Check out their site for more of beautiful designs.

Via Mid-Century Modernist

Small Space Living Classic Reborn: The Pretzel Chair

With my deep and abiding love of all things mid-century modern, I’m not sure I could let the weekend go without mentioning The Pretzel Chair.

The Pretzel Chair is one of George Nelson’s classic designs. It is a lovely gracefully bent wood chair. The chairs were produced from 1952 to the 1980’s. To commemorate what would be the 100th birthday of Nelson, Vitra is producing a limited edition of 1,000 chairs.

Such a handsome chair certainly deserved a resurrection, even if for only a brief time.

Small Space Etsy Find: More-Light South Third Street

Light is important in small spaces. Keeping your space well lit can help it seem more airy and spacious.

Why not keep your small space illuminated with style? While browsing Etsy’s furniture category I stumbled on the seller Resurface. Resurface makes lamps, some pretty stylish lamps actually. One of my favorites is the More-Light / South3rd model. It’s a simple one-bulb hanging lamp with a printed canvas shade. The shade, which is 16x9 inches, is a print of a photograph of graffiti from South Third Street in Brooklyn.

Small Space Pop Up Furniture: Sandy Lam’s Spaceless Update

On May 8, 2008 I had posted about Sandy Lam’s Spaceless balcony furniture.

Sandy added a comment directing readers to her new site with more detailed info about Spacless. I just wanted to take a moment to say check it out. There is a great deal more information and videos, like the one above.

It’s a great idea and worth a second look. Thanks Sandy.

Small Space AV Cabinet: Big Twin Cub

Almost exactly one year ago I bought an old turntable at a church sale. I know it was a year ago because we volunteer there every year and it’s coming around again next week. The turntable was a sweet old-school Bang & Olufsen — it’s in nice shape and in its original box! So in this year, I have not used it or even removed it from the box.

My problem is I have no place to put it. That’s where Curt Menissner and the Big Twin Cub come in. This slick little AV cabinet stores your old and new AV gear without looking like one of the many cheesy entertainment centers out there.

In addition to looking good, you can feel good about the Big Twin Cub as well. It’s constructed of sustainable materials including bamboo plywood, paper-based fiberboard and post-industrial recycled denim fill.

There is also a matching bench, the Little Twin Cub. Check them out.

Small Space Bookshelf: Tetrad

Yes we own too many books. I don’t know what that means because you can never have too many books. But we do have a large number of books relative to the small space we live in. We are always looking for creative ways to store and display our books.

The Tetrad is a great example of functional fun. This Tetris-inspired bookshelf is a 10-block set of Tetris shapes that can be arranged in any configuration you desire. The pieces can be attached to each other and/or the wall. The shelves are constructed of birch plywood with multi-colored metal backings.

And just in case you’re wondering, the bottom row does not disappear if you fill the line.

Small Space Child’s Chair

Children sometimes dwell in small spaces. I don’t have any children yet, but someday when I do, I think I’d like them to have beautiful furniture. I’m not really excited about much of the bright ugly plastic kids’ furniture out there.

I can’t help but thinking that surrounding children with style must rub off on them, right? And conversely, surrounding children with cheap plastic junk — well you do the math.

The Felt Chair from Bookhou is a great piece of stylish furniture for children. It’s a wonderful steam-bent ash wood child’s chair. The chair has a removable industrial felt cover. The chairs are also quit reasonably priced at $220 CAD.

If you’re going to have kids, they may as well be stylish right?

Small Space Seating: Cube 6

The ability to comfortably accommodate guests in a small space can be a challenge. Even seating those impromptu guests can be an exercise in creativity. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some reasonable seating options for multiple guests that are less homely than folding chairs and store in a smaller space?

Well Naho Matsuno may have the perfect solution in the Cube 6. The Cube 6 is a small birch plywood cube that pulls apart to reveal 6 small stools. They are small and I doubt they will win any awards for comfort, but as a small space seating solution they just may. The Cube 6 looks like it would require a learning curve to get it all back together — its reminiscent of puzzle cubes I’ve seen.

If seating is an issue in your small space, the Cube 6 may be just the ticket for you.

Small Space Pop Up Furniture: Sandy Lam’s Spaceless

Small Space living presents many challenges — not the least of which is, well, space. There just never seems to be enough. Even outdoors, my “back yard” is hardly the size of a small car.

Sandy Lam has developed some pretty intuitive solutions for increasing the useable space on balconies. Spaceslees is a system of furniture that pops up from the decking of outdoor balconies. It does not actually pop, you do need to lift it, but the pieces fold into the decking beneath their up-right position.

Currently, there are two pieces in the Spaceless collection — a table and a bench. The pieces fold flat when not in use allowing the space to be used for other purposes. When there is a need for additional furniture, you simply lift them out of their in-deck storage.

Small Space Wardrobe

Functional furniture can make a tremendous difference in small space living. If you have to give up space to any piece of furniture it needs to perform its intended function flawlessly. The Wardrobe by N.J. Dean is one such piece.

The Wardrobe is an efficient elegant piece designed with limited space in mind. The Wardrobe is 23.6 x 26.8 x 68.5 inches. It is not a large piece. It is designed in such a way so that when closed it looks like one solid piece — a standard stylish wardrobe. Its design is modern with a definite Art Deco flare. The Wardrobe is actually two separate pieces — the “door” section and the “back” stationary section. The door section has a telescoping rail to hang clothing, three compartments and a large bin at the bottom. The back section has adjustable shelves that allow you to take advantage of the space beneath short hanging items.

The Wardrobe is an excellent example of very space-efficient design. It’s a great wardrobe that has enough space to contain a sizeable amount of clothing in a stylish package.

Small Space Japanese Dining Cube

I keep spotting this great Japanese dining set all over the web. I really wish I could read what they have to say about it, but alas I do not speak Japanese.

It is a beautifully crafted wood dining set comprised of two interlocking benches and a small table. The best part is that when not in use, the set closes up into a neat cube. The Japanese have long been dealing with limited space and subsequently they have some amazing solutions.

This set is just another in a long list of Japanese items perfect for smaller living. The set is listed at Dinos for $84,000 yen, which converts to about $820 dollars. Not cheap, but certainly not over the top either.

Marais AC Chair

As spring approaches, I can’t help but think of sitting out on the patio listening to the sounds of the city.

I am thinking this year of upgrading our outdoor furniture; I’d like to adopt a French outdoor-café theme.

I have been eying Marais AC Chairs for some time. I love the chairs and the stools. There is something intriguing about these chairs. They somehow are able to simultaneously stir up feelings of an elegant classic French café and the rugged aesthetic of industrial furniture.

The chairs were designed in 1934 to be originally used on ships. They are crafted of sheet steel in varnished gunmetal grey. They are also available in powder-coated colors.

Marais AC Chairs are available this season from Pottery Barn with optional cushions.

They chairs are stackable, up to eight high, which makes them perfect for small spaces.

Small Space Pets: More Cat Products

I have a cat — if you are a regular reader, you know this. I have already introduced you Koneko, my cat.

We are always looking for quality cat products and furniture not made of cardboard carpet tubes. Enter Square Cat Habitat, a new manufacturer of modern bamboo cat furniture.

There are several pieces available; all made of renewable bamboo with removable / replaceable carpet inserts.

The Bastet is a freestanding shelf with scratch pads on each side and a carpeted top. The Buddha is a wall-mounted carped shelf that can be used as a window perch or staggered for a climbing play area. The Itch is modern minimalist wall mounted scratch pad.

All three pieces can be customized with wide array of carpet inserts to match your décor. These cat products that look like they are made in this century — once again encourage me and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

An Assortment of Valets to Simplify Your Life

Mark Wilson Valet
I’m the type of person that likes to have my clothes laid out in the morning. I frequently need to wake up at four-o-clock. I don’t like to count on my ability to grab the brown belt and not the black, or worse yet, insure my socks match when I’m only half awake.

I have considered my options and I want a butler. But after running the numbers, I’m not sure a manservant is in my future. That reality is oh so disappointing, but I will endeavor to persevere.

After reconsidering my options, more realistically this time, I think I may have to settle for a Danish valet. I know from English manservant to Danish valet is quite a step-down.

In all seriousness the valet is a very often-overlooked piece of furniture. I know what your thinking — small space living is cramped enough, and you want to add more furniture. In short, yes.

Small space living is all about organization that streamlines your living conditions. Used properly, a valet can serve several proposes. Most have a drawer or tray that can be used to store your wallet and keys. Once you make a habit of always placing the contents of your pockets in the same place, it makes life much simpler. A valet will also help to sharpen your creases and let the crumples out of your clothes.

There is a wide array of valet options available. Some are simple racks, others have small storage areas and still others are chairs with clothing racks and seats that open for storage. The price is also varied; you can buy a simple valet for $50 or a designer model for $6,000.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Mark Wilson produces a handsome valet in cherry, maple or walnut with bright nickel fittings and a faux ivory handle. It is the valet pictured at the top of this post.

Horchow Chair Valet
Horchow sells a wonderful valet chair — not for everyone’s décor, but it has a rugged classic look. The seat lifts for storage. I do like the chair valets as they provide a nice place to sit and tie your shoes.

Wegner valet chair
I also love the Wegner valet chair. This is a classic piece of Danish modern furniture. The sticker price of the new production version of this chair is likely to cause you to need a chair. It can be found used from time to time at around a third of the cost. It is a truly great design. The seat lifts to reveal additional storage, but the seat also becomes an additional hanger.

Valets are a unique piece of antiquity from a simpler time, and sometimes that can be very refreshing. And we could all use a bit more elegance in our lives. Now if I could just find a valet that also makes a perfect dry martini. Then I could feel better about not having the manservant.

Small Space Living: Personal Update

Yesterday I achieved an important personal milestone, my first post written for another blog, Furniture Fashion. I will be contributing articles on a regular weekly basis to their blog.

Furniture Fashion is an established blog reaching a large audience. In keeping with the trend toward smaller living, Furniture Fashion has added a section specifically dealing with the topic.

I am excited about having the opportunity of write for another blog. I have high hopes that the relationship will benefit both blogs.

Please hop on over to Furniture Fashion and check it out.

More Small Space Folding Furniture: The Pick Chair

Folding chairs by and large have not changed much in the past fifty years. Studio Dror has a whole new angel on folding chairs that we think work perfectly for small space living.

The Pick Chair consist of wood veneer over a hinged metal frame. They look different from your average folding chair, but nothing too innovative, until you unfold them. Each chairs unfolds flat into a long piece of hanging art.

If the chairs were hanging on a wall you would never think they were anything more than art. Until you needed a seat — then you simple remove the art, fold the chair and sit down. Perfect for small space living — extra seating that hangs in plain sight as beautiful art when not in use.

More Multi-Function Furniture: Mag Table

Small space living means making the most of every resource you have. We have touched on multi-function furniture in the past and today we have another update.

The Mag Table by Offi is a functional and beautiful piece of furniture. Constructed of a single continuous piece of bent birch, walnut or white plywood. It works well as a bedside table or next to a sofa or chair. The table has a classic modern look and coordinates well in wide selection of decors. The table also has a bent area perfect for storing magazines.


So where’s the multi-function? The Mag Table can also stand on its end. In this position it can be uses as a higher accent table and it also works well as a laptop table.

The Mag is a great table with multiple uses and a slender modern look. If you are looking for a good multi-function table the Mag could be just what you need.