Just arriving in London pre-design week, the last thing i expected fresh off the plane was to end up on a boat in a London canal exploring IKEA color sorted floating displays with actors lounging and cooking in them… IKEA turning a section of Regent’s Canal in Islington into a floating night market to launch their colorful new collection. The floating night market was inspired by the vibrant night markets of Asia. Upon arrival, we found ourselves in a black and white pavilion making fantastic use of patterned textiles and put our names down for a boat ride to visit the floating showcases and enjoying cocktails while awaiting our ride.
Once our boat was ready, we were gondolier-ed along the canal in a black and white boat (all IKEA fabrics and pillows) to visit moored boats housing color-themed selections from the new IKEA ranges and even got a taste of a Swedish crayfish party on board! The IKEA floating market is open to the public tonight for one night only (Friday, September 14th)! We hear general admission has sold out, but you can find out more from the event facebook page. See our boat ride photos of the floating market on the next page!
TO PAGE 2 of "IKEA's Floating Market"! ----->
Tags:
boats
-
gifts
-
home
-
ikea
-
london
-
shopping
*notcot in
tech
-
1 Notes
This series of Unexpected Combos posts is sponsored by P&G Downy. See the first post on Porsche Ice Cubes too!
There are so many approaches one could take to a mashup ~ for whatever reason mine tends to be start with an evil mwuahahaha kind of mad scientist kind of laugh in my head, followed by trying to figure out what fun items around me might fit together. In this case, 2 of the new Plumen bulbs arrived - “the world’s first designer light bulbs” (So gorgeous! But simply hanging them from a regular light to show off their fun shape didn’t seem like enough!) ~ and i’d been playing with lightbulb fixture connectors/splitter/plugs (and wondering how big of a tree of them i could make with lots of bulbs at the ends!) ~ and there was the Blue Lounge Mini Dock that allows your iphone/ipad/ipod to stay off the ground when charging… and when you put them all together ~ along with a simple ikea lamp base… i ended up with this fun iPhone Charging Lamp! Where the bulbs are as much a part of the lamp as the rest! Something almost antler like about the bulbs viewed this way ~ and rather mesmerizing as it lights up a room ~ perfect little stand to charge the iPhone, light the room, and control my music from it as the phone streams to speakers over airplay… so iphone charging DJ lamp? Take a peek at more of the silliness on the next page!
TO PAGE 2 of "Unexpected Combos: Plumen + iPhone Lamp"! ----->
Tags:
accessories
-
gifts
-
home
-
ikea
-
ipad
-
iphone
-
ipod
-
lighting
-
shopping
-
technology
Apparently IKEA has released what may be the coolest styled ingredients cookbook ~ “Hembakat är Bäst” (Homemade is Best). Filled with 30 recipes for baked goodies broken down by ingredient… i’d love to see this in person! Rumor has it that it’s free in swedish IKEAs? (Anyone have one? or an extra?) The photos by Carl Kleiner are absolutely amazing! Don’t laugh, but its been quite the mystery guessing from the precise geometrically laid out ingredients what these pictures might MAKE! So much google image searching as i guess and see! (Don’t worry, i’ve put the google image search links in for you, so you can play along at home as well!) See the images i found at Carl Kleiner’s site on the next page ~ and if you have a copy, or can help me find a copy, do drop me a comment? Thanks!!!
TO PAGE 2 of "IKEA + Carl Kleiner = Hembakat är Bäst"! ----->
Tags:
books
-
food
-
ikea
-
photography
-
recipes
-
sweden
It’s that time of year again ~ IKEA’s spring/summer goodies are out, and i’m once again fascinated by what they are doing design wise for low cost outdoor solar lighting. Here’s what they had going last year ~ and to be honest, and an upclose look at them unboxed… and a year later, the ones in my patio, some are holding up ok, some really just dont last long lighting the world up at night anymore. Perhaps i need to swap some new rechargable AA’s in. I’m intrigued by the new additions this year though ~ from floor lamps and desk lamps to pendant lamps and even snake like lighting tubes… do you use them indoors? but in strategic locations that get lots of light? They are apparently approved for outdoors, so it could make for a cute little patio set up… and it looks like you might even be able to turn the table and desk lamps on and off… so charge them up and only pull the switch when you need it outside? (Will this make the battery last longer?)… take a peek at some larger pics on the next page!
TO PAGE 2 of "IKEA Solig Solar Lighting 2010"! ----->
Tags:
gifts
-
green
-
ikea
-
outdoors
-
shopping
-
solar
IKEA PS Collection 2009 is stunning ~ those of you following NOTCOT.org may have seen a bit of this collection as it launched in sweden ~ and as the playful animations about the design stories behind the collection began to circulate. While the anticipation for this collection is not yet over (the collection wont be available in the US until August 2009) - but it's official US launch was at ICFF, so i finally got a chance to check it out in person! This year the theme is "Never Ending Design Stories" - the press release says: "The new collection is all about stories. Stories about our roots, of empowering people, of innovative ways of minimizing the use of resources and maximizing our responsibility for our world." And the products reflect this beautifully with so many playful, unique, pieces that manage to dance the line between mass produced and full of character. You can see some of my favorites above ~ and on the next page take a peek at pics from the IKEA booth at ICFF 09, as well as the full catalog of products, and a peek at the history of the PS collection.
TO PAGE 2 of "IKEA PS 2009"! ----->
Tags:
furniture
-
home
-
ikea
-
shopping
*notcot in
playful
-
3 Notes
I have an impulsive need to indulge my inner child... especially when shopping... like when wandering through IKEA, i got terribly distracted by the kids toys, particularly how fun these new Sandig beach toy sets are! And the 99 cent shovel/super scooper claw thing... great quality, and adorable ideas ~ i picked up three of the four 2.99$ sets with the justification that i needed to take pics of them to show you. Granted, i don't think kids should be encouraged to eat sand/dirt, i think these are quite fun for those who know better. First kit ~ Ice Cream! A little bucket with an ice cream scoop, 4 cones, and 4 cups... Second kit ~ Baking! Three pans that would be so fun to incorporate into sand castles... like a bundt cake castle? Compete with cake knife, etc... Third set ~ Bricklayer! The mold to make bricks, smooth out the cementy wet sand, etc... can you imaging the possibilities? And the Fourth set i passed on was the gardening one... usual bucket, rake, shovel... not too exciting, but still cute. Anyhow, take a peek at the pics of these sets close up on the next page ~ i was impressed with the quality and design details ~ and for the price was tempted to buy up a bunch and run around the beach giving them away to kids...
TO PAGE 2 of "IKEA Sandig"! ----->
Tags:
beach
-
gifts
-
ikea
-
kids
-
shopping
-
toys
Been obsessively shopping for solar lighting far too much the last few months ~ first as xmas gifts, and now for my patio space... so many look the same, and i was surprised how few clean modern options there were out there ~ also pricing was all over. Just noticed at MoCoLoCo that the new IKEA Summer 09 collection is on its way~ and after some IKEA site searching found all the new summer pieces here and all of the solar lights here! One nice thing about the IKEA selections, they all run on replaceable rechargeable batteries and use LEDs! Take a look at all of the fun designs on the next page ~ i can't wait to play with some when they get into the stores!
TO PAGE 2 of "IKEA's Solar Lighting"! ----->
Tags:
gifts
-
green
-
ikea
-
lighting
-
outdoors
-
shopping
-
solar
On silly discoveries i was probably far too excited about today ~ IKEA now has minis of those giant blue bags! The big blue ones are still 59 cents, and perfect for everything from laundry, gardening, costco, moving and more... and these new mini totes also have the double straps (long shoulder length and short handles). These little ones are only 49 cents ~ and although they weren't actually out with the other big blue ones, asking the check out woman, she had some in her station in a drawer! Unfortunately i didn't have my big camera with me, but here are a few quick snapshots from the IKEA Emeryville store today, and a few more to give you some context about the size (its base is pretty much about the size of a dinner plate) ~ see the rest of the pics on the next page!
TO PAGE 2 of "IKEA Mini Blue Bags"! ----->
Tags:
bag
-
green
-
ikea
-
reusable
-
reusable bag
While wandering through IKEA today, i finally gave in and had to take pics and buy one of the adorable kids Spoka Lights. These little ghosty night lights come in three shapes/colors and are squishy silicon rubber ~ its cordless with a recharger ~ and you push its head to turn it on and off. Designed by Bodrul Khalique. What was unexpected when i saw them was the packaging, they come in cute graphic bags, and inside the bag there is even a small pocket stitched inside for the cord. Supposedly on a full charge it can last 4-6 hours and light diodes are not replaceable; diode life approx. 50,000 hours. See more pictures on the next page!
TO PAGE 2 of "IKEA Spoka Ghost Light"! ----->
Tags:
gifts
-
home
-
ikea
-
lighting
-
shopping
Browsing IKEA's latest today... they've jumped on a few trends i've been liking for a while... so naturally much like the laptop station that they made 10% of the original price... funny to see that they have taken to the vinyl stickering (i had kind of expected them to get on this one sooner since its so cheap/easy to produce)... and one trend i've been loving for apt dwellers that move frequently and don't want to worry about damaging the walls, yet want to mount that flat panel tv - the floating wall tv shelves, i'm kind of liking this Stiby one above that is $500... and there is also the Benno after the jump that is a mere$120. Now for the one piece i'm really really wanting - the Trollsta Sideboard... granted the whole series feels like a cheap jaime hayon knockoff... i'm still tempted. It looks really fun to add some subtle vinyl stickers to also.... few more pieces that grabbed me after the jump!
TO PAGE 2 of "IKEA 08 Cravings"! ----->
Tags:
furniture
-
gifts
-
ikea
-
shopping
-
table
-
tv
On fun ways to kick off the weekend, these are like ninja cooking mama ~ or sesame street/eureka’s castle ~ or crazy art video/baby noise/pot clanging remixed… These amazing videos you can see on the next page are The Art of cooking series by
Continuing the obsession with solar powered playfully designed lighting... Remember that 
