Design

Photo via Shutterstock Lake Superior and other bodies of water around Minnesota have been found to contain a disturbing amount of chemicals, including prescription drugs and even cocaine. A recent study by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has found that local lakes and rivers are chock full of DEET, BPA, prescription and even illegal drugs. The 10-year study examined surface waters from the Minnesota area, finding contaminants even along untouched shorelines. Read the rest of Minnesota Lakes Are Contaminated with Cocaine and Antidepressants Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: cocaine in Minnesota Lakes, eco design, green design, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, sustainable design, water pollution USA

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Guest Blogger #964, Entry #2441, May 21, 2013 We’ve all been in one of those hotel rooms that is just too hard to leave. Most of the time, when we stay away from home, there is something not quite right. The pillow is too hard, the air conditioning is too noisy or the sheets are making us itch. But just occasionally, it seems, a hotel hits the nail right on the head and presents us with our perfect bedroom. When you’ve found it difficult to drag yourself home from your break, you might be tempted to recreate a little of the designer glamour and style that you enjoyed so much in your hotel bedroom. Well, luckily for you, it’s not too hard to capture that iconic freshness and the inviting designer touches of hotel bedrooms in your own home, if you know how. Hotel style master bedroom amenities Image via: Greg Wilson Here are some tips for designing your very own hotel style bedroom at home. Keep it simple, stupid: The KISS analogy has as much of a place here as in any office. The idea of creating a hotel style bedroom is to keep things crisp, fresh and unfussy. Whilst you can certainly add your own designer touches, sticking to coordinating colours and clean lines for the basics is essential for success. Load up on cushions: For a fairly simple, plain scheme, get the hotel look with piles of dressing on the bed. Go for multiple pillows with coordinating cushions, bolsters, a bedspread and a throw for a smart, classy look. Turn your bedroom into a hotel getaway Image via: Laura Britt Design Invest in quality: Invest in the very best quality bedding, soft furnishing and other materials wherever you can. High thread count Egyptian cotton will give you the feeling of spa style luxury, whilst satin, faux fur and velvets will add depth and interest to the textures within the room. Sitting pretty: If you have the luxury of a bit of space in your room, take a leaf out of the hotel designer’s handbook and include some occasional seating or other useful furniture, rather than just a bed. Hotels are great at encouraging you to sit down and relax the moment you enter the room, so consider if you could include an armchair or dressing table and stool as part of your room makeover. Create the ultimate master bedroom in your home Image via: AMW Design Studio Make everything handy: Another thing hotels are extremely good at is putting everything exactly where we need it. Notice how there is always a bedside table for your cup of tea or glass of wine and how there is a handy place to lay out your clothes overnight if you don’t feel like hanging them up. Emulate this style and the effective use of available space, and you’ll be well on the way to a hotel style room. Make it yours: Just because you are aiming to create a hotel style bedroom doesn’t mean that the end product needs to be bland and devoid of personality. Inject your own taste and style into the room with some well-chosen accent colours, statement ornaments or artwork and make sure whatever you bring into the room complements rather than clutters. For more bedroom ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Materials: Akurum Abstrakt kitchen cabinets and Ikea red pillows Description: Akurum Abstrakt 36" wide x 24" deep x 15" high cabinets, which would normally be used above a refrigerator, were placed on the floor on a 1-1/2" high base covered with a matching Akurum base kick ripped down to size. Holes were cut in fronts of 2 of the doors in the corner cabinet and trimmed out with the iron-on Ikea trim strips. The 2 kitty cats in the household each have their own cubby space with red Ikea pillows inside the corner cabinets. Additional cabinets of the same size are installed around the remainder of the room perimeter and topped with custom cushions and red Ikea pillows to make window seats with storage inside the hinged door Akurum Abstrakt cabinets. ~ Lynn Bichler Architects, Mequon, Wi More hacks on IKEAHackers.net

Life is only on Earth. But not for long.

We continue our ICFF coverage with more snapshots of the bold, the colorful, and the quirky design on display through today in New York City. We’ll be covering some of these pieces and designers in more detail as the days pass, but for now, here’s another dose of eye candy to satisfy your seemingly insatiable design sweet tooth! Can you say Boroque Modern? Jonathan Adler’s Bridgette chair, with polished brass legs. Sleek and white dressers from Blu Dot. From Mexico City, anything but mellow yellow at the DFC booth. Recycled cardboard Nomad architectural wall from Mio. We loved this typographic wallpaper from Loboloup. Blue velvet chair from Jonathan Adler. Tyvek pendant lights from Artecnica. Wendy Morrison Design’s “crochet” rug. Outdoor furniture line from Markamoderna Areaware’s very realistic pink piggy bank.