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Vertical Gardens! I’ve been fascinated by them the last few years, and it’s been fun to watch how they’ve evolved. In both style and ease of installation… so many tools and containers and techniques have popped up! Well, in researching various options to set up my own, Leo Corrales and I got frustrated and inspired and came up with a new NotConcept, merging parts of many we loved into a new design! Whether we’ll make it, is still uncertain, but it sure feels tempting! Combining the Wine Bottle Hydrogarden concept… with a more modular wall like structure… and something fun we could lean against the wall instead of mount… and our favorite big chunky frame look… take a peek on the next page at both our research on Vertical Gardening as well as our idea!!! And let us know what you think, what you’d want in your dream vertical garden, and maybe we’ll keep evolving the idea (or even MAKE one!) But first… to the sketches and renders!

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Though we first had these on NOTCOT.org, some things are just more fun in person and up close! Like these Potting Shed Creations Grow Bottles! Cut wine bottles recycled into micro herb hydrogardens! From the felt tongue to soak up the nutrients from the reservoir base, to the clay marbles that sit in the main growing top ~ this doesn’t look quite like any of your other gardening set ups! It’s such a fun gift idea… next step is to see how it grows… but first! An unboxing of the beautifully simple packaging and fun graphics! (As well as a peek into the refill kits!) ~ check it all out on the nextpage!

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Unboxing time! This time, it’s something i impulse bought off a NOTCOT.org post… I’m a long time Geneviève Gauckler fan, and we’ve had many a post about her work on NOTCOT, so when stephanie brought my attention to the new Domestic coat hooks, i couldn’t resist! And the new Sleek Identity store being based right in Venice, CA ~ meant they showed up lightning fast too! Of course a little digging over at the Domestic site led me to the other set of Gauckler Hooks - “Hang On To Yourself”… also tempting. But first things first ~ take a peek at the quality and details of these Potatoe creature hooks on the next page!

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Meetings just seem like they’d be far more fun around the Duffy London’s Swing Table… especially outside! And now imagine something fun and viney, or some bougainvillea half covering the top, allowing for playful shadows to be cast on the work on the table? Such a fun idea, more pictures of it in red and from different angles on the next page!

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That - up there - became a chair. As beautiful as the Tokujin Yoshioka Moon chairs for Moroso are, its the initial water color sketches that inspired the chairs that really grab me! There is a messy simplicity i just can’t resist… anyhow, starving and really ought to get to lunch, but wanted to share this one before running out! See how the chairs turned out on the next page, as well as more watercolors!

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Swedish, String Furniture, designed by Swedish architect Nils Strinning has been “modern since 1949”. I’ve been quietly lusting after their shelving systems for years now, even tempted to carry them back from Sweden! Somehow there doesn’t seem to be a US distributor/store listed (hint hint, awesome design stores?) ~ but upon noticing some of the smaller systems available at Finnish Design Shop that ships to the US, i couldn’t help delving into all their gorgeous options… which have beautiful photos on the String site! So take a peek at the really fun shelving as it fits in to so many scenarios, colors, and lifestyles on the next page!

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The new Lladró Lithophane lights that launched in Paris at Maison et Objet are stunning. Something so fun about the way the cluster of porcelain lights glow from afar, and as you get closer you see the wintry scenes with deer… or the parrots playfully adorning them. These new lights of Lladró porcelain can be displayed in so many ways, i love the modular potential, from more traditional chandelier like hanging, to twisted in clusters, they can change the mood of any room. Take a peek at some closeups of the two on the next page…

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Northern Lighting’s latest addition is Evergreen, by designers Vibeke Skar and Jens Praet, though first presented in milan last year, it’s making the rounds again during the Stockholm Furniture Fair in Sweden now. With a classic pendant shape, i love that it is hand blown glass, giving it such an elegant glow, and the mount is a pulley attached to the ceiling and you simply figure eight the cord around the other fixture to secure it. And it really caught my eye to see the making of pic appear in my inbox this morning! See more pictures of it on the next page!

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When Cire Trudon, “the oldest candle company in the world” opened in NYC, Anna was there to show us the incredible space and their products… the one thing she didn’t get me? Stink Bombs! I’ve been oh so curious about these little glass vials filled with scents since i first heard about them that Cire Trudon became one of my first stops in NYC. Honestly, they completely fascinate and baffle me. Its DANGEROUS! Smashing a glass vial?!?! Does the act of the glass breaking and mixing with air enhance the scent? Would a few droplets from a dropper have the same effect? Yet, there’s something so fun about the danger, i had to try it… so in the privacy of my hotel room i smashed the glass vial! (Bowery Hotel folks, if you’re reading, i cleaned it all up! Don’t worry about the broken glass!)… sad part? I clearly didn’t smash with enough vigor the first few times, b/c my vial was bouncing all over the place! Until i finally gave in and threw it hard at the wood floor… and then EEP! i jumped, as it smashed, and a delightful scent filled the room.

Best part? The lovely shop keeper told us that these are perfect “for emergencies,” what does that even mean? Do you keep a few in your purse? And when a fowl odor sneaks up on you, SMASH stink bomb it, and all is well? Anyhow, they are incredibly lovely, and Spiritus Sancti smells nice (also available in few other signature Cire Trudon scents)… Take a peek at my adventures and close ups of the packaging and smashing on the next page!

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Lovely new piece from Reiko Kaneko for her 2011 collection, The Boat. Too cute that it got its name from the factory floor workers! The contrast of the natural fiber rope handle and the hand made English fine bone china is just stunning… perfect as a bread basket, fruit bowl, or anything else you dream up! See more pictures on the next page…

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WOW. Sometimes emails come in, sound too good to be true, then you click a link, and your jaw just drops. You can barely call Maximo Riera’s Octopus Chair, a chair. It’s more like an Octopus THRONE. This chair is first of a The Animal Chairs collection, consisting of more than 15 different pieces. A true art piece, it has evolved from sketches to 3D renders to CNC’d blocks which were assembled, glued, sanded, and painted by hand. A truly impressive artistic take on where the chair meets nature… one can only imagine what it must feel like to sit in such a throne! Or as Riera says “The Octopus Chair therefore becomes a powerful intersection of complex human design integrated with nature’s splendor.” Wow. You really must see more pictures of it (and the making of) on the next page.

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Luceplan HOPE light by Francisco Gomez Paz - i fell madly in love with the Hope light in Milan last year. And what better icon to celebrate 5 years of NOTCOT (embarking on our 6th this year!) and an end to 2010 with?

I didn’t expect it to be fully built upon arrival, but i hadn’t given much thought to HOW the lamp is assembled either. The process and packaging is amazing. SO well thought out. Down to the white gloves with grippy bits so you don’t scratch/dirty the lenses… well protected lenses you can clip together only one way, and bend ever so gently. The way it mounts to the ceiling fixture, with another anchor to distribute the weight. The way you can adjust the height easily even after installing… They even include special clothes to clean the lenses with… So thoughtful, love the process as much as the light! Anyhow, i could gush on, but it makes far more sense in pictures. And now, my living room is filled with Hope, and i can’t stop grinning every time i get lost staring at/into it. See it all on the next page!

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Just in - Joya the NYC based fragrance and home ambiance innovator - Baxter of California, the premium men’s grooming line since 1965 - Reed Space, the NYC pioneer in the concept for a “lifestyle boutique” of Jeff Staple, have all joined forces to create “LAPSANG NOIR”. And these candles are pretty big ~ named HALF KILO and FULL KILO.

The most exciting part? I’ve always wondered how they fill candles! Yet have never looked into it deeper… so love the “making of” pics of these gorgeous candles as the wicks are held straight and the hand in the glove with the squirting mechanism perfectly fills each and every one… See the full process on the next page!

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Gift Guide time! In addition to the NOTCOT Holiday Coupons and the many Holiday Giveaways that will be unfolding daily… Today, we’re going GREEN at home, in gorgeous and unexpected ways as sponsored by Starbucks who is celebrating their 12 Days of Sharing with us, all around NOTCOT.org! Ready for the green gift guide? Check out the next page!

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Gift Guide time! In addition to the NOTCOT Holiday Coupons and the many Holiday Giveaways that will be unfolding daily… and today is all about goodies for the HOME! as sponsored by Starbucks who is celebrating their 12 Days of Sharing with us, hiding fun goodies, which are popping out from behind NOTCOT.org posts! NOW ~ on to the Home Gift Guide on the next page!

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