Collezione Sospesa by Moreno Ratti

My obsession with all things marble continues, this time finding its focus on a new trio of minimalist vases designed by Moreno Ratti for Marmo Trilogy. Crafted in Carrara marble and blocks of resin, Collezione Sospesa would perfectly offset showy springtime blooms now that the season has arrived.

Designing Death with MT Objects

[all photos via MT Objects]

Between organic tree burial pods and a booming funeral concierge business, it seems we have quite the morbid fascination with a beautiful afterlife. Now, pastel-hued, ceramic funerary urns by Mexico City's MT Objects make it possible to die as artfully as one lived.

Color-Changing Accessories by The Unseen

As children of the 80s and 90s, we're all familiar with fabrics that change color with body temperature. I can recall a magical pair of unicorn mittens, not to mention an entire gym class spent breathing on my best friend's t-shirt to watch it transform. But, now, British label The Unseen has upped the ante with a line of luxury accessories available at Selfridges that not only responds to temperature, but to a whole host of environmental factors including wind and air pressure.

Last-Minute Gifting & Shipping for Slackers

[image via PBteen]

Admit it: You kind of dropped the ball on Christmas shopping this year. Now you're faced with the choice of either joining the harried masses at your local mall or pulling an all-nighter to make DIY gifts that will surely go unappreciated. Thank heavens, then, for two-day shipping!

Here are three retailers that aren't offended by a little slacking off this holiday season, plus my top gift pick from each. All three shops have reduced, or totally done away with, shipping fees to make sure you get all the gifts you need by Christmas Day. Happy last-minute shopping!

One Gift: Big Top Bookends by Imm Living

The 'One Gift' series is a different kind of holiday gift guide. Every few days leading up to Christmas, I'll be handpicking just one truly amazing gift to inspire you as you shop this holiday season. The full series (plus guides from years past) will be collected here. Happy gifting!

Here's one for the kids or just the kid at heart. Big Top Bookends by Imm Living are miniature resin replicas of Jeff Koons' ever-iconic masterpiece. Add a pop of color to the library of your favorite bookworm this Christmas with a mismatched pair, or infuse a little one's nursery with some functional modern art. Each costs $55, but you'll get free shipping when you order two, and the bookends will arrive by Christmas Eve if you order now.

Note: Some colors are sold out or unavailable at the link above. You can purchase the green bookend here, chartreuse here and orange here for $50 or less.

Crazy-Unique Disposable Tableware for Holiday Entertaining

[photo via Wasara]

The holiday season means holiday parties and, for anyone generous enough to host, dishes... loads and loads of dishes. Of course, with all of the beautifully designed paper, plastic and bamboo plates lining the shelves of your local Target, it's pretty easy to avoid a sink full of suds. But even rimmed in gold, are disposables really special enough for the holidays? I've found three options that go above and beyond—way beyond—to definitively answer, "Yes!" Did I mention it's all eco-friendly, too?

Arthur Arbesser Throw Blankets for Hem

Just in time for blustery temps and holiday gifting, Hem (the Berlin home furnishings brand I simply adore) has enlisted womenswear ingenue Arthur Arbesser to design some awfully dreamy-looking throw blankets. Made of 100% New Zealand lambswool in two geometric patterns and four colorways, a contrasting pair of these cozy beauties is taking the top spot on my Hanukkah wish list at the moment.

Memphis-Inspired 'Super' Notebooks by Write Sketch &

from top: Super! Confetti / Super! Joy / Super! Sprinkles / Super! Squared

If you keep up on design trends, you know that all things Memphis are back in a big way! So it goes with Write Sketch &'s very first collection of Italian-made notebooks. A tribute to Ettore Sottsass, Alessandro Mendini and other members of the Memphis Group, Write Sketch &'s Super Collection is comprised of four notebooks, each sporting two different cover designs and each as brightly colored and hectically pattered as the next. 

Culture Lab Design Pop-Up Pairs Renowned International Designers with Detroit Artisans

Recyled Hanging Tire Planters designed by Kelly Behun and made by Cass Community Social Servies. Photo by Marvin Shaouni. / Ceramic Disks designed by David Stark and fabricated by Victoria Ashley Shaheen. Photo by Susan Montagna.

You know by now that I normally keep local coverage to my dual hometowns of Boston and Tel Aviv, but when a city with as blighted a reputation as Detroit is doing something amazing design-wise, it deserves some recognition! Enter a soon-to-be-released line of products by Culture Lab Detroit, an organization fostering conversation and collaboration between Detroit and the international design community.

Named Culture Lab Design, the product line has a "green space" theme that includes planters, vases, lighting and even a set of gardening overalls produced by internationally renowned designers in collaboration with Detroit artists, businesses and manufacturers.

The design teams participating in the project are David Stark with Victoria Ashley Shaheen, Kelly Behun with Cass Community Social Services, Estudio Campana with Todd Erikson, Sebastian Errazuriz with Samuel Arambula at TechShop, and Paola Navone with Andrew Ward at Line Studio and makers at Detroit Denim and Detroit Sewn.

Pantone Cafe Pops Up in Monaco

[all photos via Wallpaper]

There's a Pantone Cafe in the French Riviera, and it is everything! Inspired by Lawrence Herbert's iconic color matching system, the pop-up cafe is serving color-coded fare at the Grimaldi Forum on Monaco's Larvotto Beach through September 9. Sidle up to the saturated counter and order yourself a 18-1531 Pantone Parma Brown prosciutto sandwich, a 16-1364 Vibrant Orange cold-pressed juice or a 13-0221 Pistachio Green eclair.

The Well-Appointed Pup

I don't usually get personal here, but would you look at that face? How can I keep it quiet any longer? We've adopted! Charlie is a three-year-old terrier mix who has brought me more joy in the past two weeks than I ever could have imagined. Besides a propensity for lunging at cats and that one time he threw up in the car, Charlie has been nothing but the perfect pup—calm, loving, smart and a total mama's boy. I truly lucked out with this little guy!

Of course, with dog ownership, comes a whole host of dog accessories, so Charlie's connection to the world of design isn't all that tenuous. In fact, everyone from Etsy craftspeople to design stalwarts like Alessi have dreamed up some pretty clever products catering to man's best friend, so I've gathered up some of my top picks for you below.

click the image icons to shop

Colorfully Twisted Bluetooth Speakers by Soundfreaq x Clashist

all photos courtesy of Soundfreaq

I'll just put it out there that I'm no gadget geek. I usually stream music straight from my iPhone out of pure laziness and ambivalence to sound quality. But the new Soundfreaq x Clashist Collection is getting me a little too excited about bluetooth speakers. I mean, they're just so pretty!

For the bold new collection, Soundfreaq, an award-winning maker of wireless speakers, has collaborated with L.A.-based fashion label Clashist. Known for its high-impact digital prints, Clashist is bringing three designs—Oil Slick, Sand Art and Utopia—to Soundfreaq's speakers. Each print is featured on Soundfreaq’s Sound Rise and Sound Platform 2, and on custom pouches that are bundled with Soundfreaq’s ultra-portable Pocket Kick.

New Mademoiselle Lighting Collection by Lladró

[all photos courtesy of Lladró]

I've never been one for kitschy figurines, but iconic Spanish porcelain brand  Lladró has gone refreshingly modern with its new Mademoiselle lighting collection, and I kind of love it. Transforming  its figurines of ladies into functional objects, the new collection includes four individual hanging lamps and three chandeliers with 9, 18 and 25 lights combining the four models.

Barcelona Photo Diary

One benefit of having moved to Tel Aviv is being a hop, skip and a jump away from Europe. As I mentioned before, I took advantage a couple weekends back with a quick trip to Barcelona, a destination that's always been at the top of my must-see list for its bevy of surrealist buildings by Antoni Gaudi and its Catalonian tapas spots. With my expectations set high, the food was a disappointment, but the architecture—and the culture of great design that permeates the city—was not. Take a look...

MINDCRAFT15 at Milan Design Week

[all exhibition photos by MINDCRAFT/Julie Herring]

The Danes are clearly no slouches when it comes to design. (I mean, they practically invented mid-century modern.) So, it's no surprise they took home a "Special Mention" from the Milano Design Awards last week. Recognized this year for a fabulous combination of individual works and exhibition architecture, MINDCRAFT annually shows off the best off Danish craft and design during Milan Design Week.

Curated by the Danish-Italian design duo GamFratesi, MINDCRAFT15 was set at Milan's Chiostro Minore di San Simpliciano, where a 500-square-meter mirrored floor was installed to reflect both the contemporary design on display and the historic architecture of the old cloister.

An Energy-Efficient Alternative to the Edison Bulb from Buster + Punch

[photos courtesy of Buster + Punch]

At every hip, ambiently lit restaurant  we visit, my oh-so-practical husband never fails to comment on the silliness of Edison bulbs. I, of course, love the warm glow of an old-fashioned light bulb filament, but I can understand the impracticality of Edison bulbs in the age of energy-efficient LEDs.

Enter the new Buster Bulb from British design group Buster + Punch! Calling itself the world's first designer LED bulb, the Buster Bulb mimics the industrial feel of an Edison bulb with a 3-watt dimmable LED. The LED uses only 5 percent of a traditional bulb's energy and lasts 10,000 hours, but more importantly, it just looks so dang cool!

The teardrop glass housing is available in  warm gold, smoked grey or bright crystal, and the bulbs are finished with a satin metallic sheen. A patented resin light pipe on the inside allows the bulb to provide ambient lighting in a room while also throwing focused spot light onto tables and surfaces below.

Those of you in Europe can view the Buster Bulb at Buster & Punch's London showroom or Stockholm store, while the rest of us can purchase the £39.99 bulb online.

Get the Look: Marble & Brass

Last week, I posted 14 glamorous interiors in marble and brass, and I promised you a way to get the look without undertaking a major renovation. Well, here you have it: loads of marble and brass products to adorn both your home and your body in just about every price range. Click on the arrows above to scroll through them all.

The Luminose Lamp for Dog Lovers

all photos via Luminose

One of the perks of moving out of our pet-unfriendly Boston apartment and to the canine-compatible city of Tel Aviv is that I can finally (finally!) adopt a pooch of my own.  My cat-loving husband says he's on board, but I know in his heart of hearts that he would much prefer a Luminose table lamp to the real deal.

No walks required, just an adorable little table lamp that shifts positions to mimic the personality of a live dog. (I mean, any dog lover will recognize that butt in the air pose, which was a favorite of my childhood pup, Snickers.)

The Well-Appointed Catwalk's Top 5 Posts of 2014

If looking back at 2014 has taught me anything about my readers, it's that you're an eclectic bunch. From my very own wedding style and decor DIYs to Indian architecture and flags with a culinary twist, it's seems your love of design is just as varied as my own. So, without further ado, here are the five most popular posts of 2014.

1. Organic Architecture by Robert Harvey Oshatz

Whoever said a house should have four walls? Certainly not Robert Harvey Oshatz. A recent cameo on Portlandia (and a subsequent piece on Houzz) introduced Oshatz's curvaceous Fennel Residence to the public, but it turns out the rest of his work is just as wildly wonderful.
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Ringing in the New Year in Style

flats / tote

I'm still adjusting to posting from a different time zone (let alone, ya know, living in one), but I think I've scheduled this post just right for you.

Anyways, I can't lie: I hate New Year's Eve. From spending the night sick at home to getting locked out of a party at midnight (no joke), I just seem to have terrible luck on the most overrated of all holidays. But maybe some sparkly goodies would make me feel better? Worth a shot!

Is there anything more perfect for ringing in the New Year than Kate Spade's champagne bucket tote and toast flats? Well, maybe a glitter-coated bottle of the real stuff...