Modern Home Design with Contemporary Extension Exterior

Many terraced houses have a side return that's usually used for garden storage - but could be used to widen what is traditionally a long narrow back room. Here, the extension size is minimal, but the impact on the house is big, So, it's an inspiration in creating a modern home design with contemporary extension exterior.

When you plan your new extension, plan the garden at the same time - and get the work done as one job, if you can. For example, buy a flooring material for inside and out that matches (this helps stretch the space further visually), and plant around the extension. This will increase privacy and improve the view from indoors.

The Art Institute's Modern Wing beckons Chicago design tourists

Cassie Walker -- Interior Design

Joseph Rosa sidles up to the security guard standing next to Patricia Urquiola's felt-flowered Antibodi chaise longue. "No one has touched anything, have they?" he asks in a voice that sounds parental, not just curatorial. Who can blame him? The curator of architecture and design at the Art Institute of Chicago, Rosa worked with Renzo Piano Building Workshop to fashion this corner of the Modern Wing into galleries for his department. At 8,000 square feet, the space is the largest of its kind in the world. Every inch has been carefully considered. So if a tourist touches the Urquiola chaise, it's more than a gaffe—it's a personal insult.

I've met Rosa for a tour. Even on a rainy day, light pours into the entrance of the Modern Wing—along with umbrella-toting visitors. As Piano partner Joost Moolhuijzen would explain to me afterward, "It really is about how you embrace the city and make the museum welcoming to the people who have never set foot in it." He says that the greatest challenge was to balance the desire for a light-flooded space with the sun-averse preservation of art. The solution was what he calls a "flying carpet," a series of angled aluminum blades running across the roof's skylights to protect the galleries from direct sun. Today, of course, that's not a problem. I dry out as Rosa and I walk toward the galleries. "At MoMA, they tell me, when you change design objects, it's actually in a public corridor. Here, you have an identified zone that's lockable." A good thing, since he plans on changing exhibitions twice a year.

Out of the 250,000 pieces Rosa had to choose from, dating back about a century, we look at some of his earliest selections: a preliminary model of the nearby Inland Steel Building by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, plans for Australia's Newman College, circa 1915, by Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin. But most visitors don't linger too long in the past. After a quick glance, they follow the siren call of the sound track to Ordos 100, Lot 006, Inner Mongolia, China, a digital video that illustrates how an imaginary family would live in a house by the architecture firm MOS. The crowd then drifts loosely toward Being Not Truthful Always Works Against Me, graphic designers Stefan Sagmeister and Ralph Ammer's kinetic image of a spiderweb that distorts and twists according to the promptings of a motion sensor. Rosa gives some serious consideration to two children playing in front of the piece. "We'll probably leave this one up," he says.

One of Rosa's responsibilities is to show how the relationship between architecture and design has evolved. I ask what criteria should be used to evaluate Xefirotarch's model for Sur, a summer pavilion built for the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, New York. Or what about Hella Jongerius tableware? After some careful thought, he answers, "I think the general public sometimes feels, I don't know enough about this to comment. But do you like it? Does it strike a chord in you? That's how knowledge grows." Rosa plans to push the conversation forward with temporary commissions from designers such as Florencia Pita of Mod and SCI-Arc, whom he calls "an inventive thinker, to say the least." Looking for acquisitions, he says, requires seeking out new issues and aesthetics.

We walk toward the final gallery, home to an impressive selection of contemporary chairs including Ron Arad's Rover, made from a car seat, and the red wire tangles of Fernando and Humberto Campana's Corallo. On one side of the room, an angular LED sculpture by Yves Behar gently pulsates. Donated by Behar himself, it's uncannily reminiscent of another recent addition to the city: UNStudio's temporary pavilion across the street in Millennium Park, which I had walked through on the way to the museum.

Rosa was a key player in the commission of that pavilion as well as one by Zaha Hadid Architects, so I ask about them over lunch at Terzo Piano, the restaurant on the third floor of the new wing. The two firms are "building from the past into the future," Rosa says. On the phone from Amsterdam, UNStudio principal Ben van Berkel describes his design as partly an ode to Daniel Burnham, whose master plan for Chicago is celebrating its 100th birthday. "Within the vision of the Burnham plan, there was this idea of diagonal vistas," Van Berkel explains. "Now you look up and see towers rising on the lake shore, rising in a diagonal manner." The cantilevered roof of the pavilion, he adds, could be interpreted as a riff on Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House in nearby Hyde Park, yet the pavilion's lighting—which he designed to glow with more intensity as more people walk past—adds a futuristic twist. "If there's no communication between the public and the architecture you make," Van Berkel says, "I think you aren't really making architecture."

With that axiom in mind, I look around the restaurant, an 8,500-square-foot space by Dirk Denison Architects. Everything is flexible, from the floating credenza and banquette at the entry to the rolling painted aluminum-and-steel dividers that allow the dining room to be quickly changed into any number of configurations for private entertaining. The restaurant is specifically meant "to feel like it's in a museum," Dirk Denison says. Hence the Piano-inspired white palette and the vitrines displaying contemporary representational ceramics. Curvy chairs by George Nelson "bring sensuousness to a space that is otherwise very rational," Denison explains.

What a fitting description for the entire experience, I think—until I revisit the galleries a week later. Behar's LED piece still glows and, behind it, window shades rise to let in softly filtered afternoon sun. "What an un—Art Institute—looking room," one visitor remarks. "That's the idea," his companion replies. If Rosa were here, his parental sternness would surely transform into paternal pride.

FTF Design Studio - Rack

The simple act of carrying a pile of firewood in his arms gave designer West Chin the idea for Rack, a sleek U-shaped container that can cradle objects such as logs, towels, or magazines. Crafted from white Corian, it comes in four sizes starting at 14 inches wide.

In the Shadow of Versailles

France's most celebrated château has a new neighbor, the renovated Ecole des Beaux-Arts by Platane Architecte

Seth Sherwood -- Interior Design

Talk about a French paradox. For decades, half of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Versailles—a prestigious school of fine arts, founded in the late 18th century near the famous château—languished in a charmless 1950's concrete annex at complete odds with the lovely things created inside it. Worse, small windows sealed off the building from the outer world, undercutting the school's philosophy of total openness to students of every background, to the local community, and to arts of every variety. "It was very, very ugly," architect Platane Beres says with a chuckle. "It had utterly no character."

A complete redo of the two-story, 5,000-square-foot structure proved to entail a series of delicate balancing acts for Platane Architecte. The city of Versailles, which runs the school, envisioned transforming the boring front of the building—south-facing and sun-baked—into something monumental that would engage the public and admit more light. The new facade would also have to make sense in the context of Versailles's grand baroque architecture. At the same time, however, Beres needed to keep students' and teachers' needs in mind. That meant screening harsh direct sunlight and shielding ground-floor studios from distracting pedestrians. One potentially attractive solution, a glass curtain wall, was therefore out.

Then Beres had his eureka moment: "We have to use stone!" In this case, what he calls the "noblest of all building materials" is a sand-colored limestone that allowed him to pay homage to the many stone edifices of Versailles. His design, however, resolutely avoids mimicking them or quoting styles from the 18th and 19th centuries. No dandified flourishes. No throwback frills. Instead, his rhythmic facade is composed of six tall stone panels that alternate with six tall windows. It's both monumental enough to valorize a venerable institution and restrained enough not to overpower the quaint, villagelike surroundings.

Beres didn't stop there. Knowing that the scheme would admit too much light, he installed a floating stone panel just a couple of feet in front of each of the six windows. Because the panels' dimensions match those of the windows almost exactly, the powerful southern sun is prevented from assaulting the interiors head-on, but its rays seep around the edges of the stone, creating indirect light. The configuration also keeps the school cool in summer while reducing noise from the cobblestone street.

While the stone slabs between the windows are the regular, flat variety, Beres used a CNC milling machine to carve seemingly random protrusions from the slabs that compose the floating panels. These smooth bumps, he says, make the surface "strange, weird, like a planet or a human body. They have a very sensual aspect. People want to touch them." The sculptural forms, he continues, allude to the sculpting and other arts going on inside. Pedestrians are seduced into further contact with the structure by the brief diagonal glimpses of the school's interior caught between the panels and the windows. "You can't quite see the things going on inside, and you wonder what they are. Your curiosity is aroused. But you don't bother the students," he explains.

The school's north-facing rear facade, which looks out on a private courtyard, is the polar opposite of the front one: no direct sunlight, no street life. Beres played up the contrast, knocking down the concrete wall and replacing it with virtually unbroken glass. There's no stone in sight. Yet not content with a common curtain wall, he added angles to his: The surface looks as if it were constructed from a gigantic sheet of clear origami paper. Whereas the front of the school is opaque, tactile, and muscular, the back is transparent, hands-off, and delicate.

Classrooms and studios, meanwhile, evoke blank canvases. Beres ripped up the old industrial floor tiles to reveal smooth concrete, which he painted a pure white. Walls and ceilings got the same paint job. The only major concession to color and furniture is a pair of vast red rectangular shelving units that slide along tracks in the floor of the hangarlike multipurpose studio on the ground level. The movable units double as walls, allowing teachers and students to manipulate the atelier's size and layout.

Especially striking is the diffuse, balanced, cool white light that fills the interior. For Beres, this effect—achieved by the contrasting north and south facades—creates the ideal environment for making and displaying art. "It's as if you're floating in light, enveloped by light. Any object that you put in the room, even yourself, your body, becomes a figure highlighted against a white canvas," he says. The artist becomes the artwork, a beautiful French paradox par excellence.

Modern Bedroom Interior Design | Bedroom Interior Design

Modern Bedroom Interior Design

Bedroom Interior Design


Modern Bedroom Interior Design


Modern Bedroom Decoration


Modern Bedroom blue Colour


Blue Modern Bedroom

Bedroom Design Ideas- Decorating Ideas For Modern Bedroom

Whether you have just shifted to your new home or want to give a makeover to your old master bedroom,you need some exclusive ideas to make your bedroom design stand out.Having a spacious bedroom does not necessarily mean that you need to fill it up with an array of furniture.It only needs to combine all the bedroom designing elements together to create an ambience.Bedroom has to be warm and cozy to ensure good night's sleep.

Decorate in Style

If you choose to decorate your bedroom by yourself instead of hiring a professional interior designer then you need prior research work.Giving your bedroom a new look is not a tough job provided you have some creative ideas up your sleeves. You will find myriads websites ready to offer innovative interior design ideas.Traditional or contemporary,oriental or western or simply eclectic – pick your style first. Decorating by style reflects good taste and artistic sense.It will also help you proceed in a systematic way while choosing furniture,fabrics and other decorative items for your bedroom.

Color is the Key

Choose colors for your bedroom wisely as colors play a key role in creating the desired mood.If you want to make your large bedroom feel comfy and warm you need brighter shades like orange, lemon yellow or rosy pink.You can think of contrast coloring schemes as well.But for smaller rooms it is advisable that you do not go overboard with colors.Lighter and cooler shades like cream,pale blue or light purple are just fine with small bedrooms.

Furnishing Fundamental

It is needless to say that your bed is the focal point in your bedroom.It is better to divide the bedroom into different zones especially when you have a large one.It makes the entire decorating process easier.Large bedroom with wide windows require larger furniture while smaller bedrooms call for space saving furniture and low-lying beds.
High king size bed
with double mattress and fluffy pillows will perfectly fit in to a large picture.Position the bed against the wall in a way so that anyone entering the room cannot see it from outside.In this respect a well-decorated hotel room can be a good inspiration for designing a bedroom. Place a chic looking chest or cabinet at the foot of the bed to keep television on top of it.It also adds little more privacy to the sleeping area.
Choose large wardrobe and wall-mirrors for the dressing zone. Small wooden desk with table lamp and set of cushioned chairs in a corner can ideally create a cozy reading or lounging area in your bedroom. When it comes to selecting bedside tables and lamps go for round shaped ones rather than square ones if you go for traditional style.Modern bedside lamps come in varied shapes and size to choose from.

Textile Texture

Pick fabric wisely for your bedroom as it relates to comfort as well as privacy.Bedroom windows need double layers of curtains.Long and heavy drapes are to bar the sunlight and cold. Thin light-colored linen curtains ensure privacy while allowing ample sunlight during daytime.For pillow and cushion covers choose fabrics with attractive colors and fine texture. Bedroom is all about rest and comfort.Wide range of fabrics with different textures and price range are available in the market.So,look for variety of fabrics as much as possible before you select one for your bedroom.
Use your imagination and bedroom design ideas to create your own style statement.Hang intricately designed tapestries or a colorful painting with soft wall-lamps focusing on it at the head of the bed.You can not buy anything that appeal to your senses.Choose pieces of art work and tapestries depending on the mood and style of your bedroom design. Placing potted plants by the bed or window brings soothing touch of nature as well.Flowers and floral art works also add to the romantic charm of a bedroom.To be precise,a good amalgamation of your creativity and interior decorating tips given by experts is sure to create the spark in your bedroom decor.

bedroom interior design | Bedroom Interior Design Ideas

bedroom interior design

Bedroom Interior Design


Bedroom Interior Ideas


Modern Bedroom Interior Design


Bedroom Interior Design

Your Bedroom interior design is crucial because the bedroom is the inner sanctum sanctorum of any house. A bedroom is the place you go to relax and just unwind after a long and sometimes stressful day.

Therefore, it is important then that the bedroom is designed to fulfill your needs. Not only does this room need to look good to the eyes but also must be soothing to the soul.

A bedroom design can be a challenging task because not only is the bedroom a very romantic place but in this age where stress takes its toll on many, a good night's sleep is an increasingly rare commodity.

Before you begin tearing down the walls, it makes sense to talk over the design plans with your partner, if you have one. A romantic bedroom should reflect both people's ideals.

Add some personal flavor that touch both of you at the same time. Pictures from a vacation or a picnic or from a romantic getaway can be great. Make sure that the lighting is just right for both of you.

If one of you likes to read late into the night, it may be better to install personal lighting. Soft lighting can create a good mood and some soft rugs can complement it. If you like, you can add an incense burner or potpourri to get you in the mood.

A bedroom is a place for rest and relaxation. The bedroom interior design needs to take that in to account. The beds that you choose should have adequate dimensions to accommodate you easily.
The mattresses should just feel right. A lot of people are increasingly falling prey to sleep disorders, and improper beds are contributing a lot of pain directly and indirectly in their cases.

Make sure that the coverings are just right. Duvets, quilts, comforters and sheets should not be very heavy. They should also feel good to your skin.

Bedrooms are our last refuge; they are where we end up after a long day at work and play. They need to be our own and their designs need to reflect who we are.

Bedroom designs, therefore, require definite planning and a lot of thought. A bedroom interior design needs input from the bedroom occupants and a lot of creativity, so get yourself a good designer and rest assured that every dime is well spent in the long run.

The bottom line: whether you redo your bedroom interior design yourself or hire someone, make sure that the overall look and theme match you and your partners personalities. Again, it cannot be emphasized enough-there are few rooms in the home as important as the bedroom. If you like your bedroom interior design, it will go a long way to enabling you to live a happy and stress free life.

master bedroom interior design | Bedroom Interior Design

master bedroom interior design

Bedroom Interior Design


Master Bedroom Interior Design


Master Bedroom Indeas


Master Bedroom Decoration

How To Decorate Master Bedroom 5 Tips

How do you go about decorating a master bedroom? There are several key decisions that need to be made, and all are of equal importance in your bedroom interior design and decor.

First, determine how your furniture is going to be placed in the master bedroom. Is a sitting area a possibility in the space? What size bed do you have, or plan to have, and will it fit comfortably into the room? I have worked with clients who want to increase the size of their bed, but it doesn't fit well in their room. You want to have about two feet minimum on either side of the bed for easy access.

Determining the focal point of the room is key in decorating a master bedroom as well as other rooms. When you walk into the space where are your eyes drawn? It might be a beautiful view out a window or door wall, possibly the largest wall in the room, or it could be a lovely fireplace. Whatever the case, place the bed so that it is on the focal point wall or facing the focal point whenever possible.

You might consider painting the focal point wall an accent color, either a deeper shade of your selected wall color or another color in your palette. Just remember as you select these shades that the overall effect of decorating ideas for the master bedroom is soothing and calming.

Avoid overcrowding your master bedroom with furniture and clutter. If you have inherited an antique bedroom set that can barely be squeezed into your space, eliminate one of the pieces and use it in another room. Utilize the drawers in nightstands, dressers and the space in your closet keep thing out of sight. Scout around your house or do some shopping to find unique pieces that can be used as storage.

If your master bedroom suite is large enough to accommodate a sitting area, select a chair (or a pair of chairs) that are comfortable and upholstered, with soft edges and corners.

The next bedroom decor idea for the master bedroom is the color palette for the space. Most of the time you will find that neutral type colors on the walls work best, as they have a soothing presence. Note that 'white walls' were not mentioned. There are literally hundreds of shades of neutrals that will give warmth, interest and cohesiveness to the master bedroom decor and serve as a backdrop to the accent colors in the room.

The accent colors when decorating a master bedroom should include at least one, preferably two colors that appear in other rooms of your home. That way you are being consistent in your color scheme from room to room. It is perfectly fine to introduce a new color in the master bedroom makeover, as it gives the space personality and uniqueness.

Lighting is the next significant element in decorating a master bedroom. Generally you will have a combination of lighting. Task lighting includes a light next the the bed for reading; you'll have mood lighting, which could be a chandelier or ceiling fan with a dimmer switch. You may also have a lamp or two in the room for warm, moderate lighting. Try to stay away from one overhead light with a bright, glaring globe. Definitely not a mood setter!

The specifics of accessories such as bed dressings, window treatments and artwork are very personal, according to your home's style and decor when decorating a master bedroom. For example, having an array of pillows in varying shapes and sizes looks inviting and romantic, and would look great in many decor styles. However, if your style is contemporary to modern, it will look out of place.

Other master bedroom decor and makeover ideas include the use of small area rugs in the room, both for comfort and decor style. Window treatments should allow light in during the day but provide for privacy at night. Soften the windows/doorwalls with fabric, such as a valance or side panels. Bed dressings are available in every size, pattern and price point, so the decision there will depend upon the decor style you are creating. Not sure what your style is? Find out more here!

The most important concept for decorating a master bedroom is to make certain that you have the things you love surrounding you. When you walk into that room, you want to feel absolutely comfortable, safe and secure, and that includes seeing the artwork and accessories that you love. No matter where you live or how often you move, surrounding yourself with the things your love in the privacy of the master bedroom will help make the house your home.

Vilagrasa - Ash

For those increasingly rare public spaces with no smoking ban in effect, Ash cigarette receptacles are truly smoldering—made of steel painted matte black and trimmed with polished stainless steel. Select one of two sizes: 47¼ inches tall by 11 2/3 wide by 4 deep and 44½ inches tall by 15 wide by 9½ deep.

Big Man on Campus

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design

When Thomas Heatherwick won a competition to design the Aberystwyth Arts Centre at Aberystwyth University in Wales, he was reluctant to dilute the rural character of the site with a single monolithic building. Instead, he built eight small ones nestled among the pine, oak, and birch trees. Seven of the eight 850-square-foot structures contain two identical studios; the eighth one is a single.

The school provides the studios free of charge to artists-in-residence or rents to small creative start-ups and local artists. "One of my reasons for renting was because of the light in the studios. It's so beautiful," says painter Mary Lloyd Jones, who works on her abstract canvases there.

Heatherwick's master touch was to use a futuristic stainless steel just .005 inch thick, about the same as a Coke can. Sourced that thin, the material was less expensive, but unfortunately it was neither rigid nor insulated. To firm it up, Heatherwick Studio passed the sheets between two wooden rollers in a contraption akin to a Victorian mangle, the type of clothespress common back when Aberystwyth was founded in 1872.

The machine gave the ultrathin stainless a crinkled appearance reminiscent of the foil walls of Andy Warhol's New York studio, the Factory. The designers then sprayed a CFC-free rigid polyurethane foam on the back of the metal for insulation. Resulting panels are not only affordable, solid, and well insulated but also accommodating of the timber-framed structures' eaves, windowsills, and other details. In addition, the nonuniform surface reflects jumbled glimpses of the surrounding forest and the sky.

"As the young trees and grass begin to mature, the units will feel further embedded in the environment," Heatherwick says. "We're like architectural tailors, building simple forms with an extraordinary skin."

This isn't his first go-round with metal manipulation. He used 55 tons of hot-rolled steel for a Longchamp boutique in New York and wrapped a boiler house at Guy's Hospital, London, in woven stainless. It's not likely to be his last either. His upcoming show at London's Haunch of Venison gallery includes five aluminum benches produced by the world's largest extrusion machine.

Humanscale - V3

The V3 wall station provides a space saving, ergonomic solution to accommodate multiple computer users in health-care environments. The wall-mounted, track-based unit supports a computer monitor, keyboard, and CPU. Because the system is on a vertical track, it can be positioned to adjust to most users easily, whether they prefer standing or sitting. The track extends up to 70 inches high.

AIS Lends Extreme Makeover: Home Edition a Helping Hand

The office furniture manufacturer's donation including 24 workstations, three private offices, four teacher stations, a conference table, 43 desk chairs, and 80 storage units, is valued at over $275,000.

In its second partnership with the ABC television network's Emmy Award-winning reality television series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Affordable Interior Systems has donated office furniture to the newly rebuilt The Fishing School in Washington, D.C.

The youth development organization for children ages six to 13 was rebuilt by IA Interior Architects as part of the hit show's upcoming seventh season. For their part, AIS donated 24 workstations, three private office set-ups, four teacher stations, a conference table, 43 desk chairs, and 80 storage units, valued at over $275,000, and installation services for three floors of the school by Maryland Office Interiors.

AIS had previously furnished over 20 office spaces in the rebuilding of the Keiki O Ka Aina Family Learning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii for the fifth season premiere of EMHE. AIS exceeded its previous donation for The Fishing School project, which represents the show's largest build to date. The show is set to air sometime in November.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design

Desu Design - Taru

The white serving platter is arguably the little black dress of the kitchen—an on-call basic of which one can't have enough versions. But the Taru platter, with its striking interplay of lines, angular forms, and textural geometry, bursts out of the standard mold. Crafted of a non-porous high performance resin, the durable platter is 11 inches square.

Child's Play

With an arts center for little Parisians, Matali Crasset makes effervescence effortless

Raul Barreneche -- Interior Design

From 1873 until the 1990's, a cluster of redbrick buildings in gritty Montmartre was the epicenter of death in Paris. Today, the municipal mortuary, renovated by Atelier Novembre, is among Europe's biggest artists-in-residence complexes, christened 104 Cent Quatre after its location at 104 Rue d'Aubervilliers. Studios and workshops for hundreds of painters, sculptors, musicians, and dancers as well as industrial designers now occupy former coffin-making shops, stables for horse-drawn funeral carriages, and garages for later hearses. Art openings and hip-hop parties bring plenty of life to lofty skylit halls once devoted to the departed.

The action is no longer adults-only with the addition of the Maison des Petits, or House of the Little Ones. Established for children of both the center's creative denizens and the residents of one of the city's poorest and most ethnically diverse arrondissements, this isn't a day-care center. Parents or babysitters must accompany the under-6 clientele. Originators conceived of a welcome center where children learn by playing together in the Montessori style, with an eye toward discovery. Young and old alike are exposed to the creative process as mothers and fathers socialize on the sidelines, and new moms are encouraged to come in for nothing more than to change diapers and talk to fellow grown-ups. Resident artists and designers have an open invitation to create toys and games, though there is no formal programming.

Filled with the sounds of children playing and adults chatting, the 1,500-square-foot space is the work of Matali Crasset Productions. Known for whimsical, colorful interiors and furniture as well as her signature Joan of Arc bowl cut, the prolific Matali Crasset envisioned the Maison des Petits as a surrealist garden with organic forms flourishing inside a hard-edged perimeter: a glass storefront system in front, original steel-framed industrial windows in back, and white built-ins along the sides. Upper cabinet doors swing sideways to reveal cubbies. Underneath, identical-looking doors angle downward to become padded seats, perches for adults keeping an eye on children. On top of the built-ins, acoustical panels with rows of lozenge-shape cutouts create a "shell of possibilities," Crasset says. She organized the space within according to children's ages, rendering different zones in distinct bold colors.

Pea green is for the youngest visitors. In the middle of the floor, they enjoy what she calls the "navel," its soft, sunken center ringed by a low-to-the-ground plastic-laminate surface. Infants crawl around inside, supervised by adults sitting on squishy green ottomans. When the playpen is not in use, four wedges clad in matching green laminate fill in the center to create a large round table.

Blue comes in three shades. Above the "navel" hangs a circular canopy constructed by stretching midnight-blue fabric over the spokes of a frame, umbrellalike. The same fabric wraps the tops of four sky-blue "activity mushrooms," as Crasset calls them. Surrounding the infant zone, they indeed look like enchanted toadstools from a cartoon fairy tale, and children aged roughly 2 to 6 use the shelves around these freestanding finned structures to play games, make crafts, or finger-paint. A turquoise archway near the entrance of the Maison suggests the outline of an actual house. Inside the ghosted structure is a make-believe kitchen where the children can pretend to cook. "They respond immediately to objects that have imaginary potential," Crasset says.

A working kitchen is wrapped in bright orange walls. Crasset chose similar lively shades for padding on a bench and the fold-down seats and for plastic stools that resemble jolly orange gas cans, complete with handles. The stools store not fuel, however, but books and art supplies.

These stools line the lower end of a worktable with a yellow top that zigzags down from 28 to 15 inches in height—children and adults always get equal billing at the Maison des Petits. Right outside the standard restroom, there's even a pair of pint-size potties.

Caroline Swift - Glass Baubles

Through two decades in fashion, including a stint as head knitwear designer at Benetton, Caroline Swift shuttled around the globe, sketchbook in hand. Then she had an epiphany. Disillusioned with the pressures of the garment business, she moved to South Asia and volunteered teaching English. After returning to her native U.K., she channeled her creativity into baking cakes. She began making her own plates for photo shoots when she found herself struggling to find exactly what she needed. Suddenly, Swift was in the midst of Career Number Four.

Focused on delicate china and nature imagery, her signature line quickly grew beyond tabletop to include accessories. Glass Baubles, a string of three dangling 5½-inch-wide vessels, are handblown in Italy in Mandarin, lime green, pale rose, or black-amethyst. Stoneware Flowers, handcrafted in the U.K., are one-of-a-kind natural-colored or charcoal-gray blooms 3½ inches across, including removable centers. Black or white Porcelain Hanging Flowers, ranging from 1 to 3 inches in diameter, come 30 to a string. And white Porcelain Leaves, paper-thin at approximately 2 by 3 inches, are sold in strings of 40.

Applied Science

Edie Cohen -- Interior Design

Restoration Hardware 's polished-nickel pendant fixtures; photo by Art Gray.

The Lab Gastropub on the University of Southern California campus represents big news for two Los Angeles institutions. One is USC itself, which is moving away from cafeteria-style dining halls, toward venues that look like they belong in the private sector. The other is AC Martin, a 103-year-old architecture firm with a nascent interiors division that's now completed three food-service commissions from the university.

Slate-topped teak communal tables and teak benches, all custom by Lily Jack. Chemistry formulas on a blackboard set into beveled subway tile from the Tileshop. Photos by Art Gray.

Attracting students, professors, and downtown residents alike, the "laboratory" theme was conceived by Christopher King, director of interior architecture, with Joanne Camacho, senior graphic designer, and it informs every bit of the 2,200-square-foot interior. Remember blackboards from Biology 101? Here, slate tops the five communal tables. How about the chemistry formulas memorized during midnight cram sessions? The one for caffeine has a special place, inside the rims of coffee cups. King hit local shops for test tubes, beakers, and science books, used as accessories. And a black-and-white image of an old-fashioned microscope, enlarged to 10 feet high, is printed on wall covering. Take a closer look.

Thomas Paul - Curiosities

Vintage prints of plants, birds, and insects, along with displays at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, inspired the latest pillow collection, Curiosities.Each cushion displays large birds or botanicals on the front, with a more graphic array of insects or eggs on the back. They come in two sizes: 12 inches by 20 inches and 22 inches square.

Doing Good and Doing Well

"Pro bono" means getting more than you give

Craig Kellogg -- Interior Design

A computer rendering of a kitchen in a two-family duplex that William McDonough + Partners has designed for the Make It Right Foundation New Orleans; courtesy of William McDonough + Partners.

Brad Pitt would seem to be a patron with money to burn. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Pitt phoned a number of architects he admired and asked for help with prototype houses for displaced Ninth Ward residents. There was a catch, though—no one would earn a cent. Cradle to Cradle eco evangelist William McDonough, who advised Pitt on ground rules for his Make It Right Foundation New Orleans, cited the often-overlooked component of the profession's mandate for sustainability: the "social sustainability" of giving back.

William McDonough + Partners is now completing plans for a Make It Right duplex. Being "associated with doing good things" is important to the firm, communications director Kira Gould says. She adds that McDonough viewed the duplex as a chance to explore modularity and to work on a residential scale in a long-ignored community. "Does it hurt," she jokes, "when Brad Pitt is on Larry King Live, talking about Make It Right?"

A computer rendering of a kitchen in a two-family duplex that William McDonough + Partners has designed for the Make It Right Foundation New Orleans. Heat-treated lumber pilings that supply flood protection; courtesy of William McDonough + Partners.

The opportunity to give back obviously has extra appeal in a difficult economy, with many projects indefinitely on hold. "Designers are looking to put their passion into something worthwhile," HLW managing principal Chari Jalali says. It was Jalali who ultimately authorized a $15,000 donation of architectural services to turn a Los Angeles warehouse into a depot for Trash for Teaching, which brings recycled materials into children's art classes.

Some of those items, such as paper rolls and ballpoint-pen caps, actually became creative construction materials for the project, which represents both the paid and the unpaid efforts of HLW. Consultants and contractors that the firm patronizes also chipped in for a total of $150,000 in donated construction costs, Jalali estimates. "We caught everybody at an opportune time, because they were slow," she notes.

SPG Architects's health clinic for the Kageno foundation in the Rwandan village of Banda; courtesy of SRG Architects.

The economy was no better in New York when the AIA chapter invited such nonprofits as the U.S. Green Building Council and Architecture for Tibet to solicit volunteers at a free lunch. An unprecedented 250 hungry design professionals showed up for the sandwiches and camaraderie. A job-seeking graduate, Sophia Vincent, credits the event with introducing her to Engineers Without Borders, which asked her to volunteer on a library for a Kenyan village. The project cost just $7,400. To save money, lava-stone blocks were quarried nearby, and locals baked the bricks.

SPG Architects is doing pro bono work in Rwanda. A veteran of 30 shop interiors for Polo Ralph Lauren, partner Eric Gartner encountered a little resistance to the Ralph-esque earth tones he'd planned to paint a health clinic for Kageno, a foundation supported by Donna Karan and Meryl Streep. "When the images came back showing a kind of canary yellow, we were moderately shocked," he admits.

Gluckman Mayner Architects's New York public-school library, funded by the Robin Hood Foundation and featured in a book to be published in 2010 to benefit the San Francisco nonprofit Public Architecture; photo by Peter Mauss/Esto.

The clinic is part of an SPG master plan for a small village of buildings, from classrooms to ecotourism bungalows with composting toilets. As the job ballooned to 36,000 square feet, Gartner found it hard to say no. "How could we really tell them that enough was enough?" he asks. Fortunately, the effort remained recession-friendly for SPG, as four staffers committed to working late, unpaid.

Because Fougeron Architecture is a small firm, Anne Fougeron sometimes gives a quarter of the hours on a project as a gift in lieu of pure pro bono. She sees her work on Planned Parenthood clinics in California as a political statement as well as a good deed. In the spirit of openness, the renovations incorporate panels that are, where possible, transparent. She often finds herself advocating for materials that may be more costly to buy but will look fresh longer, since funds for maintenance can be scarce, especially now.

The MacArthur Health Center in Oakland, California, one of more than a dozen Planned Parenthood clinics that Fougeron Architecture has redesigned; courtesy of Grey Crawford. A Branchelier, which Michelle Workman Design adapted for the Los Angeles bedroom of a lupus patient; courtesy of Denice Duff.

Her friend John Cary, executive director of the San Francisco nonprofit Public Architecture, asks firms to donate a minimum of 20 hours per year to deserving clients, and the organization's 600 affiliates are likely to give $25 million in services in 2009, up from $20 million last year. But that's not the end of the story. "We have no qualms about presenting this as a business opportunity, because it can certainly lead to paying work," Cary says. He adds that Public Architecture projects are typically a manageable 3,000 to 5,000 square feet.

Pro bono projects can of course be even smaller. Michelle Workman Design decorated a Los Angeles bedroom for a young woman with lupus. Michelle Workman clearly relishes her role in the healing process, but she also made sure to have fun within the $5,000 budget. That translated into white silk taffeta curtains with black banding and a bed with a tall headboard upholstered in white linen with black welting. For chandeliers, she came up with a less expensive version of her own Branchelier, which she sells in her store, Red House Interiors.

Passive cooling diagrammed for an Engineers Without Borders library in Usalama, a Kenyan village between Nairobi and the Indian Ocean. The exterior's lava-stone blocks, quarried nearby, and bricks, baked by the locals; courtesy of Engineers Without Borders, New York chapter.

Elaine Griffin Interior Design's namesake principal, whose Design Rules: The Insider's Guide to Becoming Your Own Decorator is coming out in November, has spearheaded 11 glammed-up pro bono renovations in partnership with Oprah Winfrey. "Oprah always says that beautiful things lift you up and nurture you," Elaine Griffin notes. Fortunately, she found her own generosity mirrored by large donations of labor, materials, and furnishings, albeit not her usual custom upholstery, Pratesi sheets, and French antiques.

Tears came to her eyes when female ex-cons at a halfway house in Bridgeport, Connecticut, or cancer patients at the Gilda's Club New York City support facility marveled at faux flokatis or sank into squishy sofas. Paying clients don't always express that kind of gratitude.

Christmas Dinner Table Decoration Ideas

When decorating for the holiday season many people remember to decorate the yard, the Christmas tree and the mantle, but what about the dining room table? You want your dinner guests to be transformed into the holiday season mood immediately upon entering the dining room. Decorating the table for the Christmas dinner is a great way to make the day even more memorable. I will admit that red, green, white, gold and silver are still my favorites and probably always will be. The Christmas Day is near and I wanted to share a few Christmas table decoration ideas