Top Five Bizarre Furniture Designs

While the furniture we supply at LivingInteriors definitely leans toward the more conventional side of taste, we are not averse to admiring the eccentric designs of others. A quick look on the internet reveals a ton of weird and wonderful furniture designs made for everything from serving wine glasses to... driving.

Check our top five oddball furniture designs!

• Human Furniture

Not literal human flesh - that would be ghastly. Instead we have a finely carved pair of stiletto heels holding up a circular table top with indentations to hold your wine glasses. It’s an ace design and one which could easily be carried around at a whacky dinner party!

• Edd China Breezy Sofa Car

Remember this? Clever chap that Edd.

• Slither Into Your Seat

If you happen to have a strange adoration of snakes and scorpions then you’ll be in good company with these intriguing chairs.

•   Tiger Sofa

No thanks.

•  The Infamous Cheeseburger Bed

This cheeseburger bed has made quite the name for itself over the years and despite being home made it ended up changing hands online several times.

Got a personal favourite you'd like to share with us on Facebook and Twitter? Let Living Interiors know!

Weird and Wonderful Wallpaper

Wallpaper is an essential part of contemporary interior design but it wasn’t always considered as such. In fact, the BBC ran a rather informative three part series titled ‘The Story ofWallpaper’ back in 2013 as part of its ‘Fabric of Britain’ feature on BBC4. Unfortunately it seems to be currently unavailable on iPlayer but if you happen to come by it, Living Interiors recommend taking a look.

Today, wallpaper often makes up a core focus of our homes, leading us to consistently chop and change design to keep up with the changing tides of style. With individualism at the fore, many people have let loose on their walls with a bold sense of the weird and wonderful. We’ve scoured the net for some of the strangest wallpaper designs set to stone... check them out below...

·         Set Nature Free

Astonishingly, a green wall is actually a thing and can really help purify the oxygen levels in your home. Your wallpaper will literally be a vertical garden in itself but as you can imagine, maintenance would be key. Here’s an image taken from a shop designed by Korean architectural auteurs Mass Studies.

Source: http://www.massstudies.com/

·         Bananas!

Potassium junkies, Andy Warhol and scratch and sniff fans rejoice! For only a few hundred dollars you can live in a domestic banana smelling jungle!

Source: http://www.flavorpaper.com/wallpaper/detail_in_cat/52/88/B-A-N-A-N-A-S

·         What Sharpie’s Were Made For

This might be the single most economically striking work of wallpaper art we’ve seen yet. For $10, Charlie Kratzer from South Lexington, Kentucky illustrated a plethora of vivid images across his basement walls to create a truly singular interior atmosphere. Check out this news story here and marvel at his work!

·         Piero Fornasetti Montage

This marvellous montage of Fornasetti images makes for a wonderful testament to the late Italian painter, sculptor and decorator. Visually appeasing for casual onlookers and art aficionados alike.  

Source: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/471189179734513890/

·         Can You Feel the Force?

... of this surprisingly tasteful Star Wars wallpaper?

Source: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/471189179734195483/

What’s your favourite oddball wallpaper? Let Living Interiors know on Facebook and Twitter.

Wallpaper Television... Surely Not?

Think back to your first television, or maybe the first widescreen set you welcomed into your living room. Bulky, heavy and let’s face it, probably not all that attractive but those days are long behind us (well, save for the odd few who refuse to upgrade). Modern flat screen models offer a seamless integration into your living aesthetic, often pinned to the wall or hidden behind an elaborate cover to mask their presence. Still, imagine if your television was a chimerical part of your actual wallpaper? Sounds like science fiction nonsense, right...

LG say otherwise, in fact, they’re so confident in their technology that they premièred a proof-of-concept prototype of their *hopefully* upcoming bendy wallpaper television which measures in less than 1 mm thick. Seriously, this beautiful OLED display weighs 1.9kg and is thinner than the width of your fingernail, better yet; it’s held up by magnets and can blend in perfectly with your wall display.

Prefer a bit of heft to your viewing?

The easiest way to understand this concept is to consider fridge magnets, except instead of sticking your TV to your fridge – you’ll be provided with a magnetic mat which sticks to your wall to mount the television on.

The OLED format display is hot stuff in the tech world and indicates a broad opportunity for televisual experimentation. Living Interiors are particularly excited about this development because it’s another bold step in reclaiming the living room from technological clutter. The television is no longer a huge eye sore taking away the attention from the beautiful wallpaper and carpet design you've put so much effort into. If the TV is disguised, what’s the problem? Bring on the future...

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The Cult of the Portland Airport Carpet

The things people manage to elevate to cult status never ceases to amaze but there was something truly charming about the whole Portland International Airport carpet affair.

For those unaware, the ‘PDX’ Carpet is quite possibly the most recognisable airport carpet of all time, building a strong emotional resonance with travellers since it was laid down in 1987. For many it signified adventure while for others it meant the familiar sight and smell of home.  Sadly in 2013, the carpet was finally stripped and laid to rest but for many its legacy lives on in the form of remnant cuts, tattoos and a bizarre range of merchandise.

The carpet is rather dated by today’s standards but it maintains a sense of late 80s charm with its dark blue lines, red and purple dots and light blueish-green floor colouring. As a means of farewell to the cult carpet, Portland Airport held a massive PDX Carpet festival within the airport as a global farewell. Over 40,000 people came together took ‘foot selfies’ of the carpet, which you can explore here. That bizarre merchandise we mentioned? Just take a look here; people seriously loved this naff old rug.

What’s the closest emotional bond you hold with a carpet or rug? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter.

The 2000 Year Old Pazyryk Rug

Whether your aesthetic preference lays in tradition or modernism, there’s something universally alluring about the history of design. Persian rugs for instance laid the foundation for modern carpet design and carry a lot of historical weight both socially and artistically. One of the oldest Persian rugs to maintain its original condition is the 2000 year old Pazyryk rug which resides in St. Petersbury’s Hermitage Museum.

This beautiful work of antique weaving was left completely untouched in a Pazyryk burial mound located Serbia’s Altai Krai Mountain’s for two millennia. Excavated in 1949 by Russian archaeologist Sergei Rudenko, the rug drew significant attention for its elegant design and it’s West Asian BC origins. An exact date that the rug would have been crafted is unclear but the quality of its preservation is really quite profound.

The design itself is rather fascinating with a series of griffins weaved into the border followed by another border inward depicting 24 fallow deer walking in single file. When the rug was discovered, it was situated next to a female mummy wearing an Indian silk tunic raising further questions about the rugs’ exact origins. Respected textile expert Ulrich Schurmann believes the rug is of Armenian descent while the Persians have stated it’s an artefact from the Achaemenid Empire. Regardless, the area of its discovery is well documented as a trading hotspot between China and Central Asia, so who knows where it may or may not have been?

It’s a beautiful piece of history and one that shows how deeply rooted our contemporary approaches lay in classic Persian design.

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Industry News Bulletin

Here are some articles that Living Interiors have found this month:

Lots to choose in paint or wallpaper

If you are planning to decorate, choosing between paint and wallpaper will probably be the decision that has the most impact. Factors such as the size of the room, the use of the room and the light will affect your decision, but there are some pros and cons to that apply to either paint or paper. Painting walls is easier than wallpapering them but paint can chip and marks show up easily on a one-colour expanse.

http://www.bordermail.com.au

Wallpapers to Decorate Kids Bedroom

Using wallpapers to decorate rooms is becoming more popular and admiring these days. Wallpapers can be considered as an easy way to make your room look more trendy and stylish. Decorating your kid's room with wallpaper will be one of the best ideas for you to make their look room more lively and dynamic. There are a wide variety of wallpapers for your kid's bedroom in the market. Make sure that you are selecting wallpapers for your kid's bedroom by taking their Interest and opinion into account.

http://www.boldsky.com

Tired Victorian terrace becomes ultra-stylish family home

Secondly, there are the interior finishes, which display Miranda’s acute sense of colour and fabric. Choosing elegant, muted tones from Farrow & Ball ranging from greys to duck-egg blue, offset with similarly subtle fabric-textured wallpapers, all the rooms blend elegance with comfort, with highlight colours provided by silk cushions, glassware, and paintings.  Personal touches include the huge Bampton Design sofa that can take five sprawling boys at once, and the sliding cover for the vast television, “because I hate to see a big TV in a room if you’re not watching it”. Attention to detail includes different fittings — all from CP Hart — in each bathroom, from a plain Duravit basin downstairs to the curvy, rather deco glass-topped double basin in the master bathroom.

http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk

Restored Queen Anne home opens its doors for Sacramento tour

Now, the house feels like it’s always been this way — a gentile Sacramento beauty. A morning glory-style Edison phonograph, an heirloom passed down through Lathe’s family, greets visitors to the parlor along with several vintage photos of the couple’s two families. Gorgeous wallpapers — reproductions of Victorian originals — decorate the walls. In a corner stands an ornately carved fireplace mantel, one of the few original features rescued from the old home. It didn’t burn because it had been taken by a disgruntled former tenant who later sold it to Lathe.

http://www.sacbee.com

This Industry News Bulletin was brought to you by Living Interiors

New Albemarle Wallpaper collection from Cole & Son

Named after an infamous bohemian private members club opening in London in 1874, just a year before Cole & Son was founded, the collection evokes the glamorous and poetic area of the 18th and 19th Century. Each of the nine designs references a cultural icon or gem of the time.

Baudelaire

The print references the fashion for gilding with ornamental gold leaf and other precious metals. The elegant pattern of feather plumes is designed as a panel and features burnished metallics on a range of neutral grounds.

Chatterton

Featuring decorative fern leaves and exotic fruits printed in cool chalky hues of white and stone on coloured grounds. The print is based on an old archive design, re-colour and re-invented for the contemporary interiors.

Wyndham

Cast in moody fashion tones of slate grey, peacock blue, old gold, carmine and pearly grey. Wydnham was inspired by the decorative mouldings and gilding on display in the London theatre of the same name..

Albery

A modern twist on the trend for antique decorative glass, using ornamental elements from the archives to create a bevelled mirror design. Printed on a foil backing, this design comes in six subtle reflective shades of edged silver, rusted bronze, faded blues and amethyst.

Aldwych

An updated rococo style design from the archives, named after the famous London crescent and theatre. Features elaborate leafy scrolls and is printed using highlights of textured glitter, in dramatic charcoals, gods, crimson, jade and ultramarine.

Blake

A classic surface printed damask layered over subtly patterned grounds of deep red, rich gold teal, graphite and pewter.

Byron

An elegant damask featuring gilded peacocks in precious mineral hues of emerald, copper, teal, pewter and graphite. Inspired by the Victorian love of ornamental birds, the print is opulent and exotic.

Piccadillly

A humorous take on the blue and white tile, Piccadilly creates a striking pattern of intricately decorated tiles in traditional colours of blues, turquoises, yellows and black.

Coleridge

A popular archive design, re-coloured in chalky ground shades of stone, white, ochre and camel, with highlights of china blue, leafy green and sooty charcoal. A graceful arrangement of leaves and budding flowers, makes up this very handsome wallpaper.

Find these and other Cole & Son wallpapers, on our website – www.livinginteriors.uk.com