Red Hot Entertaining

Red is popping up on runways this fall as the must have accessory color, and it's a trend worth carrying into the home - just in time for Valentine's Day.

This laminated and lucite ice bucket with lucite tongs plays up the season's animal print trend in our favorite hue. ($48) Pair it with the matching tray to give to someone you really like. ( $70)

Or bag the bar but embrace the print with this pillow. ($110)

All from Seacloth.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

With a name that cute, how could you not browse its online catalog.

From bath towels and totes, to baby bibs and blankets -- everything from Rub-a-Dub-Dub is bright, festive, and a little funky. The monogram accessories are my fave.

Check it out.

--allie

Tags: modern store, modern design, bath accessories, baby accessories

Savon loveseat

At the end of a long, hard day, many of us just want to go home and relax in a hot, sudsy, bathtub. But lets be realistic -- our days don't end when we get home. There are meals to cook, laundry to fold, bills to pay, and at least an hour dedicated to getting ready for the next day.

The long soak surrounded by candles fades away as the 11 o'clock news begins. Thanks to Flavour Design Studio you can now watch the news from the comfort of a tub -- well, sort of.

Starting at $3500, the Savon antique clawfoot cast iron bath tubs are converted into loveseats. Upholstered in sensuede with matching pillows, they definitely make a wonderful conversation piece -- but just home comfy can they be?

--allie

Tags: modern loveseat, modern design, bath tub sofa, fun furniture, antique tub, avant garde design

Laminate Rugs

Designed for Polystyl by recently graduated textile designer Arzu Firuz, this deep cherry vinyl floor laminate became a floor covering masterpiece when carved with intricate rosace motif. And for those with more practical concerns, a rug like this will keep allergens at bay.

Firuz is already known for her reinvention of everyday items as objects of beauty.  And, for those with an eye toward collecting, she is certainly one to watch. She was showcased at the 2007 Maison et Objet as one of six up-and-coming designers.

Dark Wood. 72” diameter.

$350 at Vivre.

Style Finder

We may not be able to eloquently describe our "style" when an interior designer asks, but we know what we like when we see. If that's not enough, get your style pinned down and explained to you. It takes just a few minutes with the Style Quiz from Merillat.

The interactive online quiz churns out 11 fun, interactive questions to help the aesthetically unsure define their style and find the right products for minor home improvements or total renovations. I'm a "Modern Contemporary." I was lead to a mix of cabinetry, hardware and door selections complete with a photo gallery of rooms I might like. The designs are heavy on cabinetry, as one might expect form a cabinet manufacturer, and more transitional than really modern or even contemporary.

In the end I was most impressed with the products and the easy navigation of the site. Choose a product your interested in. Then easily select finishes, styles and applications. Images appear quickly as you make your selections, and it's just as easy to change your mind.

This site is a great spot for people planning a remodel to visit. Tons of content, easy to use, lots of products. They also have a 3-D design planner that looks very promising, but i couldn't use it. PC users only.

Magic Box

The Magic Box is a versatile 'box' that changes the stereotypes of prefabricated houses and extension rooms by combining qualities such as transparency and simplistic form with high versatility.

The Magic Box also creates innovative life styles and business environment-- lucky Magic Box owners use their small palaces for just about everything. 

"Magic Box's basic form is a cube structure which can be used in various ways, such as detached living quarters, cottages, stores, offices, cafes, etc. Magic Box provides very modern, cute, and charming space." -Hayahiko Takase, AIA

RELATED LINKS:

All Pre-fab articles & info on Behind the Curtains.

Trendspot : Onyx

Trendspotters that we are, PC brought you the new look of back-lit onyx as reported in the NYTimes. Today, lo and behold, we came upon yet another example of the warm and modern look.

Design stars MASH custom made an onyx clad desk for each of Century Plaza Tower's twin lobbies in NYC. The glowing stone maintains a space-age feel in a reigned in minimalist shape that's anything but overpowering - as a giant lighted desk may well be. This trend is a definite one to watch, and we'll be ready to tell you how it wiggles its way into residential settings across the land.

Deck the Urban Garden

When I lived in New York, most apartment rooftops were fondly called "tar beach." People would schlepp up folding chairs, towels, water bottles, and voila! Outdoor urban style. No more. Blogger Anne Robert (pictured) (prononced Ro-bear) has created a wonderful site My Urban Garden Deco Guide to inspire if not coax urbanites to expand their living space by embracing the outdoors.

The genesis to her site is similar to Pure Contemporary's story: wanting to furnish her fabulous Parisian rooftop -- she scoured zillions of sites to find nothing but tired and kitchy designs. Compromise on design doesn't sit well with daughters of designers! As she searched she saw a revolution in outdoor design going on. "It's no longer just about 'eliminating the in-out deco divide' as magazines say," Robert explained to me. "It reaches far deaper into the way we live in the city. Architects and designers are making outdoor space one for a whole new set of targets not just the green fingured." Gourmet lovers have options for fabulous outdoor kitchens; Techies and Revelers can find great outdoor stereo , TV and cinema set ups, exciting lighting; the artful are sculpting gardens, potting sculptures and even including photography outdoors.

Not a city dweller? Don't fret. These objets de sa désiree -- will fit right into your backyard.

--diane

Tags: Modern Outdoor , Patio Gardens, Anne Robert, Modern Design

Modern Lighting Trends

Lighting a home is tricky. Theatrical displays and high contrast looks seen at trendy clubs and restaurants can be a disaster in a residential setting. But done correctly, a high impact lighting scheme can dramatically change a space.

A Vancouver home designed by Omer Arbel has backlighted onyx-clad walls that define the kitchen and the home office above it.

This image from the NYT article by Elaine Louie, Making Dark Rooms Glow.

BOOK: 150 Best Loft Ideas

Although loft living once meant converting old industrial warehouses, today it has evolved into a style and approach for modern living spaces. New ideas on how to design, build, and decorate a home are always of essential value to architects, designers, and homeowners alike. 150 BEST LOFT IDEAS offers an extensive collection of lofts from New York to Chicago, from Tel Aviv, Israel to Johannesburg, South Africa, from Barcelona, Spain to Buenos Aires, Argentina. These unique lofts are devised by distinguished international architects and designers who have worked to achieve practical, innovative, and stunning solutions adapted to the specific needs and particular tastes of their clients. This compilation expresses the diversity of current trends in loft design and provides an inspirational source of ideas for those active in the field of design or interested in catching up on the latest in contemporary residential architecture.

150 BEST LOFT IDEAS features inspirational full-color profiles of 150 exciting lofts across the globe. Organized into five sections, the book opens with one lvel, open plan lofts. The next chapter looks at the use of levels and partitions to make the most of the volume and space, followed by the introduction of specially-built objects and the use of color to identify different areas of the home. Chapter four features some of the most ingenious solutions for making the most of space and light, and the last chapter showcases a selection of unusual conversions.

ISBN 9780061348273, Hardcover - $29.95 On-sale : February 5, 2008