The Outdoor Collections Making Us Long For Warmer Weather

It’s almost time, in most of the northern hemisphere at least, to spend as much of the day outside as possible. (This is, we understand, both a statement of fact and a piece of wish fulfillment.) And while we have typically struggled to find effortlessly great outdoor furniture, the new outdoor dining and lounging collections from Danish design company Skagerak — which joined another Danish furniture mainstay, Fritz Hansen, to officially become Skagerak by Fritz Hansen last year — is a serious contender. Their new Pelagus series, named after the Greek word for sea, evokes a deeply relaxing, maritime atmosphere. But with their clean Scandinavian lines and unfussy simplicity, these tables, chairs, and sunbeds could fit in just about anywhere.
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Studiopepe rugs Muuto

Studiopepe’s New Rugs for Muuto Were Inspired by 1960s-Style Land Art

Muuto is such a staple of the Scandinavian design set that it’s hard to believe the Danish company is only now releasing its first tufted rug collection. A new collaboration with Milan-based duo Studiopepe is exactly what we’d hoped for from both. Using the “tension" between Scandinavian and Italian design as a starting point, studio founders Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto combined common features of both: high-quality materials, graphic shapes, and simple yet impactful gestures, which in this instance meant filleting one of the rug’s four corners.
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10 Things We’re Looking Forward To at This Year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair

Stockholm functions in many ways like a mini-Milan, which comes, in part, from being a city with an incredibly high baseline of appreciation for design: There's a predictably excellent emerging design showcase at the fair; there are exhibitions around town in the most wonderful and surprising locations (see this year's new experimental showcase at Älvsjö Gard, a never-before-used 16th-century manor on the fairgrounds); there are exciting launches from local talents, such as Fredrik Paulsen and Note Design Studio; and there is, if you can squeeze it in, an abundance of studio visits and sightseeing field trips you can take to round out your design education while you're there. (Let this be the year I finally make it to the Ragnar Östberg–designed City Hall!) Here are 10 of the things we're most looking forward to at Stockholm Design Week, which this year runs from February 6-12.
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16 Talents to Watch From This Year’s Stockholm Design Week

Stockholm was one of the few design fairs that slid in under the wire, early in 2020 before the world shut down. So it makes even more sense that the fair's organizers decided to exercise prudence and call this year's edition off. Greenhouse, the section of the fair that's typically home to design schools and talents to watch, was presented digitally, while some of the schools — including Konstfack and Beckmans — banded together for a group show in town.
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This Scandinavian Design Duo Just Launched 86 Cozy Pieces to Get You Through the Winter

2020 was necessarily quiet, all things considered, which makes it all the more special to come upon a fully realized vision like NJRD, the new Scandinavian home goods brand by Swedish duo Bernadotte & Kylberg. The studio was commissioned by Scandinavian retailer Nordic Nest to create an expansive debut collection that includes 86 pieces: striped and geometric rugs, ridged tableware in pastel porcelains, and recycled cotton throws in two different color schemes — one in blacks and whites, one in pinks and mustards — inspired by Sweden’s coolly colorful landscape.
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In Lucas Morten’s Hands, Scandinavian Design Becomes Something Much Darker

Swedish designer Lucas Morten’s Klot chair is sculpted from Styrofoam and his Skal vases are formed from stiffened burlap cloth. These improbable materials are the result of his general curiosity about life and his constant search for beauty. “The whole philosophy behind my objects revolves around breaking the Swedish heritage of ‘functionality first’,” he says. “I’m really inspired by the total beauty that can be found beyond practical aspects and interested in what that kind of beauty means to the human being.”
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Mario Tsai Chinese design

Though He Designs for Of-the-Moment Brands, Mario Tsai Isn’t Inspired By Trends

When Hangzhou-based designer Mario Tsai was growing up, he’d take apart the electronics in the house. Luckily for him, his parents were forgiving. He’d also collect old, tossed-out electric components and scrap pieces of wood to make new things. “I made many things that adults would consider strange,” he says, but that early freedom to explore has proven foundational for his design practice. A research-centered approach is the basis of Mario Tsai Studio, founded in the summer of 2014, which produces elegant, contemporary furniture and conceptual lighting design.
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Sorry, Hygge Hive — Mattias Sellden Just Took Nordic Design Out Of Its Comfort Zone

For Swede Mattias Sellden, the first step towards making a name for himself was, for better or worse, admitting that he wanted to. “For me, even showing what I do was a hurdle. I still don’t have a website and I started my Instagram only in August of last year — three months after my graduate exhibition.” Sellden chalks this reticence up to the Nordic code of conduct known as Janteloven, which he describes as “the very Swedish notion not be a show-off.”
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If You’re Looking for a New Set of Flatware, Your Search Stops Here

When I first set out to do this story, it was purely for selfish reasons: I was looking to replace a now out-of-stock Ikea flatware set (with bizarrely tiny forks) that I'd purchased as a cheap placeholder years ago. Why not share the results of my search? For fun, I polled some design friends on Instagram and that's when the floodgates opened. You guys. I had no idea people had so many opinions about flatware.
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All the New Things We’re Coveting From Bolia, The CB2 of Europe

From an American perspective, Bolia looks something like the CB2 of Europe, but possibly better, partnering as they do with top-notch designers like Vera & Kyte, MUT Design Studio, and Meike Harde and ably translating trends into something truly covetable. Their latest collection is no exception.
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Week of April 30, 2018

A weekly Saturday recap to share with you our favorite links, discoveries, exhibitions, and more from the past seven days. This week: It may be Frieze week but some of the coolest works can be found in smaller galleries around town. Plus, how to refresh your house for spring, the coolest color-coded museum in Copenhagen, and the $10,000 table that's currently at the top of our wishlist.
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Hem, Our Go-To Destination for Accessible, Scandinavian-Inspired Design, Just Popped Up in NYC

America has a furniture problem: If you are young, aesthetically minded, and upwardly mobile but not quite rich, where do you buy your furniture? When you're looking for something with more staying power than Urban Outfitters, a greater cool factor than CB2, and less ubiquitous than West Elm, where do you turn? For the last few years, whenever we've been asked that question (which is, to be honest, all the damn time), we've answered: Have you heard of Hem?
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