Transparent concrete

Although the technology has been around for a couple of years now, transparent concrete is only starting to permeate the retail market now. The advantages range from the purely aesthetic (it's easy to imagine Agent Provocateur changing rooms being made of the stuff) to the practical (windows that will never break!). Either way, wherever lighting installations play a part, this stuff is going to be popular...




Photos from Technovelgy, Oh, Gizmo, Archicentral and Hacked Gadgets.

Fernando Brizio: The "target" table

Fernando Brizio is a Portuguese designer that likes to get very hands-on with his projects. Check out his "target" table as a case in point (forgive the pun - I've had a long day). He shoots arrows into bases using an old fashioned bow and then flips them over so that the points of the arrows carry the weight of the table. Put quite simply, my life would be better with one of these next to my bed.

Sweethearts...

Although I'll choose cheese over chocolate any day of the week, I'm charmed by these little chocolate moulds from Cox & Cox. They'd be great to have around the house in case of a dinner party. Instant handmade treats to be served with coffee. And speaking of coffee - how twee and kitsch are these heart shaped sugar cubes? £12 and £22 respectively.

Shop in the spotlight: A Outra Face da Lua (Vintage clothing)

I've been looking for a 50's summer dress for a while now and can't believe I overlooked this little gems of a shop. A Outra Face da Lua is a vintage and retro shop in Lisbon and is crammed to bursting with one-off originals. *swoon*. I can't wait to go home again because I'm going to be making a bee-line for this place...

The Portuguese alphabet

Aren't these print by Portuguese graphic artist Sara Marques de Oliveira original? She's built up a complete series of prints using the alphabet and choosing something typically Portuguese (for example, M=Mar, which means Sea) to represent eah letter. A must for typography buffs.

Unusual vase

One last installment from Portuguese designer Alessandro Beda. I should point out that I don't know the guy but I've been blown away by his originality! I love these tiny vases - certainly something different! If you like kitsch, how cute would this be in a bathroom?

Alessandro Beda: original tap-inspired jewellery

After posting about his weird and wonderful chair, I took a more in depth look at Portuguese product designer Alessandro Beda's portfolio and came across some other gems. How original are these tap rings? The taps actually twist!

Alessandro Beda: The world's weirdest chair

I work in East London, land of edgy cocktail bars, graffiti, PR agencies and Trendy Hoxtonites wearing skinny jeans, hats and cardigans. The other thing this part of London (where most offices are housed in old warehouse studios) has in abundance are chair design studios which means it takes something quite extraordinary to make me sit up (excuse the pun) and take a look. What do you think of this chair by Portuguese product designer Alessando Beda? The chair uses 100 gas shock absorbers to ensure that it moulds itself to the shape and size of the person sitting on it.

Stairway to heaven...

My relationship with gravity is patchy at best. I've been known to fall off my own shoes - when I wasn't even walking. So suffice to say, given that turning my ankle and tripping are regular events, I sometimes view stairways with trepidation. I think it all goes back to my schooldays when I tried to sashay down the stairs at school in an alluring fashion to impress a boy I had a crush on and instead turned my ankle and rolled down the stairs to end up at his feet. To add insult to injury, my skirt flipped up, displaying my Lion King panties to him and all of his friends. For about two years afterwards, every time I walked near them I'd be treated to an acapella version of "In the jungle". Ah, good times. However, I digress. I've been trawling through the Lavish Locations website looking for ideas of things I can do to my tiny kitchen and have found so many awesome staircases that I wanted to share. Sit back and let their brilliance visit your faces.

Social networking by Iv Orlov

I wanted to include this print by Iv Orlov because when I saw it on FitaCola, I was struck by the fact that my head could be superimposed on any of those little characters! Every so often I stop and ponder the amount of time I spend online. And then I write about it in my blog. Anyone see the problem here? As India Knight says, social media have made social cripples of us all.

A modern monastery

Given the choice between living in a historic building and a glass-and-metal penthouse, I'd probably plump for the former. And I'm always interested to see places that have managed to convert their period buildings in a modern way that's still sympathetic. Take a look at the Convent of Loios in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Evora. The bedrooms have been made by converting the original nuns cells and use every architectural detail (check out the reading nook created in an old fireplace!) to make what were originally sparse rooms containing nothing into comfortable places to stay. Pretty original!

Taking colour-coordination to a new level with loo roll

If you've spent a lot of money building a bathroom with a strong colour scheme (or, for that matter, if you'd gone down the budget route but still want it to look good), Portuguese brand Renova have come up with a crafty way to ensuring that every last detail matches: coloured loo roll! This is going to prove massively popular with all of those with serious attention to detail issues. What do you think? Cool and unusual or a bit too far?

Shop in the spotlight: Anthropologie online

As with Alice in Wonderland, it looks like every blogger from here to infinity will be showing their picks from the new Anthropologie Online store (hurrah!) and I'm not one to long be left behind the herd. Feast your eyes on this loveliness (all I can think is just 10 days until payday!)

Masculine vs feminine interior decoration

Is it possible to decorate in a purely masculine way? Or do we just associate stark minimalism and an absence of clutter with men more than women? This Lisbon apartment was redecorated by Portuguese interior designer Carina Barreto according to a brief specifying that it should be along contemporary lines that mixed style, comfort and functionality. The result is definitely worth a look in the interiors porn sense but I'm not sure I'd like to live there. I find the use of a very basic monochromatic palette interesting, especially when highlights are added in the form of blocks of colour but it reminds me of a high-end office. What do you think?