Manhattan Map by Famille Summerbelle

You may be familiar with Famille Summerbelle's handcut paper maps of Paris and London. They just announced that a new Manhattan map will be available on Oct. 5. We love these maps, especially the intricate details. They let you look at the same print hundreds of times, and still discover new and wonderful surprises.
@ Famille Summerbelle, $60

Style Counsel: Joan Weissman on Rugs

Artist Joan Weissman creates gorgeous, custom rugs that are inspired by a wide range of things: lotus flowers, native Caribbean palms, ginkgo leaves, rock formations, even vintage Japanese kimonos.

She works one-on-one with clients to create handmade custom designs in silk, wool and hemp. Her designs are also translated to terrazzo tile, which is ideal for highly-trafficked areas that require extra durability. Her designs have graced several well-known interiors, including the Grand Hyatt in Seattle and boutique hotels, Neiman-Marcus, public buildings and fine homes throughout the country.

As our longtime friend, we've turned to Joan for design advice countless times over the years and have always benefited from her expertise. We invited her to share her insights about what to consider when buying and designing with rugs.

Top: Bayahibe, hand-tufted wool( top) and Lotus, Tibetan hand-knotted wool/silk
Above: Kyoto hand-tufted wool (l); Leaf Stripe, Soumak with natural dyes

All images © Joan Weissman Custom Rugs

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Trend Spy: Sharpie + Magic Marker Walls

We spotted these walls designed by London artist Charlotte Mann and her handy magic marker earlier today at Freshome, and realized that a mini-trend is in the works: Drawing on walls with a Sharpie to create astonishing murals.

Mann is shortlisted for the British Design Awards 2009 in the Surface Design of the Year, and it's easy to see why. We're simply blown away by her work, and inspired to buy a few Sharpies and roll up our sleeves.

Her work instantly reminded us of Charlie Kratzer's incredible basement murals that popped up on design blogs a a few months back. He created these DIY masterpieces for about $10, the cost of a few Sharpies.

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Jeddah Chair

Love this. This may be a strange association, but this fantastic chair reminds us of a line in Milan Kundera's novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The author describes a central character, Tereza, as being sent to her lover "in a bulrush basket." That phrase has stuck with us for years because we could never quite visualize it. But perhaps she arrived in a pretty basket-chair much like this.  

The Jeddah chair which is designed by Sardinian artist Angelo Figus as part of an exhibition called Domo. 
[via Elle Decoraction and Design Boom]

Dieter Rams' Sound Design Sense

Browsing thru the Mid-Century Modernist blog recently, we found some gorgeous images of Dieter Rams 'Snow White' series for Braun.

His groundbreaking designs for turntables, phonographs and other electronics is widely claimed to be the basis for Apple's design sensibility. Check out this Gizmondo comparison if you're curious or skeptical about his influence. 

Rams described his spare, elegant and functional style with this motto: Weniger, aber besser which translates as 'less, but better.' He also laid out his guiding design principles, which are commandments all designers should obey:

• Good design is innovative
• Good design makes a product useful
• Good design is aesthetic
• Good design helps us to understand a product
• Good design is unobtrusive
• Good design is honest
• Good design is durable
• Good design is consequent to the last detail
• Good design is concerned with the environment
• Good design is as little design as possible

For more, visit MoMA's collection of his work and the Dieter Rams Flickr group.  

Moustache Mugs by Peter Bruegger

Are you in the mood to channel Fu Manchu? Charlie Chaplin? Hercule Poirot?
If so, there's a mug for that, thanks to artist Peter Bruegger's Moustache Mugs. The mugs showed up at the Designers Block, a part of London Design Week 09, and are made of fine bone china. Each mug features two famous moustaches on either side, in case you have a sudden whim to change your look. (You can find other fun mustachenalia we posted earlier here.)
 
@ Peter Bruegger's site, £11.95.
[via Design Boom]

Vintage Style Parlor Games

Games of strategy, chance and skill can bring a design bonus to a room, especially when they've got a vintage feel. Dart boards, backgammon and chess sets are well-established decor items. And we've seen croquet and bowling pins on mantles, as well as colorful carom boards and Chinese checkerboards hung on the walls of a studio or family room. Similarly, primitive Parcheesi and checkerboards can also look amazing on a wall. And there's an added benefit: The games are also fun to play.

Above: Game of six pins, $70 and Changeable Portraits, $25 @ Victoria Trading Co.; Bauhaus chess board @ MoMA, $230 Carrom board game @ Overstock, $36. Below: Folk art game boards @ Wisteria, $64 each/$229 set of 4.

1. Eames house of cards @ MoMA, $25; 2. Indoor bocce ball set @ Boho Bocce, $65; 3. Antique style bingo game @ Victorian Trading Co., $50; 4. Bar, cafe and plane bingo @ Perpetual Kid, $86; 5. Head Games puzzle blocks @ SF MOMA, $25; 6. Crisloid cage bingo set @ Zontik, $143; 7. Vasa cube set @ MoMA, $350; 8. Umbra wobble chess set @ Velocity, $250; 9. Ancien Tarot de Marseilles and Parlour Sibyl @ Amazon, from $23; 10. Stretch Run Derby @ Victorian Trading Co., $25.

Tokiobot Clocks

These cute little clockbots recently made a splash at the New York International Gift Fair 2009, and it's easy to see why. Their fun expressions and colorful bodies would make a splash anywhere ... on a desk or countertop or bedside table. Tank, the chubbier bot, is an alarm clock and stands about 4" tall. The leaner, meaner Tokibot is named Oilpan, and he's a tiny time-keeper that measures about 2 3/4"tall. They've also got cousins who look like them, but double as keyrings.
@ TOKYObay, $38

Ali Sandifer Furniture

The Ali Sandifer furniture collection has the hallmarks of great design: Clean lines, inventive forms, attention to functionality and gorgeous aestethics.

Based in Chicago, the company uses domestic woods -- walnut, ash and rift white oak -- harvested from sustainable forests, which are finished only with natural oils and sealants. The collection reminds us of equal parts meticulous, earnest Amish craftsmanship combined with the rough-hewn ingenuity from the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest. In short, it has a wholly American sensibility that's pretty fantastic.

Shown: Sheila storage/media unit, $2,800, Zaide coffee table, $2,400; George club chair, $2,100 and the Tele side table, $1,200 @ Nest Living

Missoni Towels

Wrapping oneself in the trademark bright stripes and patterns from Missoni, the Italian design house that's famous their knitwear, would be a delicious treat fresh out of the shower. Yes, their towels are a splurge, but they'd start each morning off in cheerful, luxurious high style. And, they're a great way to get a Missoni fix if you can't afford a sweater.
@ Stitch, from $250/set of 5 towels or $190/beach towel

Mobile Homes

Q. What's better than a visual pun?
A. A visual pun that you wouldn't mind staring at for long periods of time.
This mobile with little red houses was created from wood and wire by Ben Light.
@ The Future Perfect

Simplified: Sawhorse Tables & Desks

[UPDATE: If you're looking for sawhorses, Urban Outfitters is now selling an olive-painted metal pair for $38.]

Maybe it's their simplicity or dynamic legs. Or maybe it's that they look effortlessly classic and functional.

In any case, we've noticed a lot of sawhorses tables + desks for sale right now. The look is incredibly versatile, thanks to countless opportunities to mix & match the materials used for the legs and table top. (Back in college, we fashioned a huge but useful desk with splinter-y plywood legs and a hollow core door.) Here's a look at sawhorse tables and desks on the market now.

Distressed desk, sawhorse worktable and dining table, details below
Sungkai worktable @ West Elm, $549


Walnut cocktail table @ Jonathan Adler, $1,250
White or ebony beech + nickel plate @ Williams-Sonoma Home, $1,850
Distressed oak + white desk @ Wisteria, $999
Engineer dining table @ cb2, $399
Architect's desk with glass + gray oak @ Mecox, $1,950
Sawhorse worktable @ West Elm, $449