Karim Rashid is a brilliant designer, and I’m proud to say grew up (partly) in Canada and went to the same university I did (Carleton, here in Ottawa). He lives in a space EXACTLY as you would imagine – filled with vibrant colours, bold patterns and alot of white. See for yourself.

 

Bilyana Dimitrova	Bilyana Dimitrova
Bilyana Dimitrova	Bilyana Dimitrova
Mark Luscombe-Whyte	Simon Upton

I love bold artwork – and using words as art is a great way of making a statement. It’s an in-your-face approach of getting a message across or just a fun way to decorate a wall. Whatever the motive, here are some ideas of how to use words (or text) as art.

Art Rep Team	Fox-Nahem Design
Ken Hayden	Living Etc.
Pierce Allen	Pierce Allen
Zege	Zege

Dutch designer Maarten Baas has quite the imagination. I was totally blown away when I saw his work. He is so talented and creative that Moooi adopted his Smoke designs and his furniture has been bought by museums and collectors such as Philippe Starck. Did I mention he is only 29 years old?

SMOKE
Burned pieces of furniture, preserved with clear epoxy.

CLAY FURNITURE: Industrial clay, hand-modeled on top of metal ‘skeletons’, surface painted with colored lacquer.

“HEY, CHAIR, BE A BOOKSHELF!”
All kinds of products became a bookshelf, coated in P.U. coating.

I have had this link of a Russian artist’s website for a while. I think I had seen it on NOTCOT. This art, while weird, is hauntingly beautiful.

I love seeing how people group objects together to form a vignette. Whether you do it with objects similar in colour or objects of the same form or just plopping a bunch of knickknacks down on top of a dresser, I like to think of it as art. And it’s something you can switch around often to keep things interesting in your home. I know – I do it ALL THE TIME.

Michael Formica	Judith Miller
House and Garden	Homes and Gardens
Metropolitan Home	Napanee Design