Skip Hop ~ it’s not just for babies and parents. Well it is, and they make great Home and Nursery Essentials for the Modern Parent, but when I got my hands on some samples, i knew it had far more potential! So, i’m sure you’ve seen the Splash making its rounds around the the design blogs for its gorgeous design by Scott Henderson (former head of Smart Design and member of the MINT collective, you probably know his work on OXO kitchen products)… but what happens when your baby outgrows these designer goods? (or if you’re like me, and not quite ready for baby making, but love the design?) The Red Splash is for bottle drying, and the Toolbox is for diapers… would you have guessed if i hadn’t told you? More thorough reviews and tons of images after the jump.

But, seriously, anything that is baby proof, is probably art proof. (The thickness and high quality of the plastics used impressed me) Skip Hop’s products are in a unique realm of Parenting Products… they are actually useful before or after parenting… and incredibly well designed as well. So if you’re looking for baby shower presents, these are some they won’t have to give away when the kid grows up… not to mention the packaging is as well designed as the products themselves (see images below).

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BathBoat! Inverted boat turned into bathtub. Brilliant! This 2005 piece by the dutch designer, Wieki Somers, is the centerpiece of the bathroom featured in today’s NYTimes Style Magazine, “Design is the New Art … For the cutting-edge design dealers Didier and Clemence Krzentowski, home mixes business and pleasure.” which Rugenius posted to .org… and i had to find out more. So more images below for all!

Now about that boat. The concept is so ironic and beautiful. After all, traditionally speaking, if your boat is filling with water, not exactly time to be lounging around, no? Somer’s actually states that “Floating on the water and bathing in the water deal with so much similar feelings and elements that they are combined in one installation. By turning a small boat inside out it becomes a bath.” How poetic? Seriously, gorgeous, amusing pictures below. Oh, and also, love how she sees the bath tub “feet” as something reminiscent of a stand for dry docking your boat.

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Rugenius found this great german fishloft…. brilliant enough to need to be featured here as well. So you love your fish in your pond? So you cant see them enough? FISHLOFT! I can’t help but wonder though, will they really swim up the “loft? Will algae not grow all over? I guess it gives you REAL motivation to keep the water crystal clear? Will you wake up to cats and birds swatting at the loft? So if anyone has one, or gets one, let us know!

THABTO’s Buckle Up Products are genius in the Buckle Up Product line they have a key holder and dog leash… via Core77

Today’s finds make me want the throw a lego cocktail party. Apparently lego readily facilitates this by offering Ice Cube Trays, Coasters (can’t you imagine people marking their drinks/coasters by putting the lego guy of their choice on it to claim it?), Bottle Opener+Corkscrews, and Salt and Pepper Shakers that are heads. More images below. (and check out the bottom of the bottle opener, i’m disappointed that i cant attach it to the corkscrew when i’m not using it.)

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The long awaited DesignSponge SHOP has now arrived! Grace’s dream project is now a reality, and you’d be silly not to go check it out ~ with limited edition exclusives by some of her favorite designers (I’m a huge fan of the work of Karin Eriksson, so loving these salt, pepper, olive sets) ~ and 10% of all ad revenue going towards charity (artists will take home 100% of profits, d*s takes NONE). Additionally, every piece you see in the D*S Shop was designed exclusively for the shop in a limited-edition run and will sell for no more than $100 (before shipping). I think it’s a brilliant and noble idea ~ and to see this all go from designs in the real world - to design blogs - and then giving back by offering design to the real world… makes me happy. Congrats, Grace!

[Also, riveting interview with Grace of d*s over at the ThisNext blog]

Long time readers know i can’t pass up posting most Tord Boontje pieces, so when i came across this Moroso ad in a magazine, had to scan it in… and upon checking out the latest collection at Moroso, also fell for Closer, which you see to the left. The chair in the forest is Nest.

Previous posts on Boontje: Those hot pink tattoos, incredible Kvadrat booth in Copenhagen, and a homage to his floral imagery.

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For the bean bag lovers, and those who don’t know how to make good use of empty corners, here’s a fun idea. Rlos Design.

Remember the classic Nivea Creme tin? I have had one of the tiny travel sized ones in my car for a while now - so cute - so practical. Nivea held a creative competition with Italian Design Schools to design limited edition tins… Nivea Decorate

I’ll spare you the usual roundup list people do when telling you about how wallpaper is making a comeback, and vinyl stickering as art on walls is the new hot thing. Well the market is getting flooded with such products - i’m not complaining, its fun to see so many great options popping up… latest one to show up in my inbox is dVider. Any press release that begins with “Acknowledging the inner child in all of us…” has my vote. No one should deny their inner child. Things i love about this line? nice to have the rollovers when browsing the stickers to see the different colors, and a nice selection of nature/animal/silhouettes/patterns to choose from, and the mix and match potential is really fun.

WINDOW ZOO!!! Brilliant idea - great packaging - in a nutshell, you buy some bird silhouette decals - they come, you place them where you want - take some great shots of it - and if you send pictures back, they send you more! In one sense its mass produced street art - in another sense its a great distributed consumable form of city beautification.

p.s. don’t they remind you of our tags?
& RUGenius woke me up with this find, and we’ve been chatting about it for a while - it is also up at Wooster. Additionally - sorry about the spontaneous posting hiatus i took this long weekend. Been overworked and overextended with too much to look at and do lately - so when i suddenly found myself in Santa Barbara Sunday… realized i just needed a day or two away from emails/web to get reset. So i’m back!

I woke up to the poster that RUGenius put up on .org… and it’s been stuck in my head since. This eco-war of sorts we are globally dealing with - often seen like man and machines against nature - i love the way Substratum has taken on the subject of nature in these two posters (might actually need to purchase them both for the studio when i’m done posting this). Their “personified representation of the harmony nature intended between Land and Sea” is just perfect… as is this unison of sea creatures to represent a tree of life…

[While i’m obsessing about their posters - they also have shirts, as seen over at Josh Spear’s]

A little late on the get go today - but just found this table in my inbox, and while i think we have probably all seen it around, love the way its put together. Something so clean and crisp about the way the legs are fused to the top. by Maandag Meubels of Netherlands.

“Allow your plants to take care of themselves” - it sounds so freeing the way WetPot describes it, and is probably exactly what most of us need for extended vacations… it is a smart elegant solution, and i love that the clarity of the glass exterior lets you see how much your plant may be dehydrating soon. While i love it in the pics and new - my one question would be, will algae grow there? You know how it happens in fish tanks - and your plants will need sun… But in concept, its great, and even something that could be built in to normal looking pots, with a thin old styled thermometer strip to check water levels through. [via the Notcot/ThisNext tags below, as recommended to us by macandrew]

Flat packed. Sheep. Lamp. By Back4.