Concrete Floors Go Glam

There are a lot of reasons to like concrete floors.  For starters, they’re practical – spill a glass of wine and you can literally hose it off.  Try doing that with carpet!  They’re eco-friendly – they can soak up the sun’s rays during the daytime and warm your house at night.  And of course, concrete, unlike wood, is a renewable resource.  Concrete is relatively inexpensive, and for those who like a sleek, industrial look, it’s incredibly stylish, which is why so many modern offices, restaurants and homes across the globe feature them.  But until now, concrete floors could hardly be described as “pretty.”

 

San Francisco design firm Transparent House Studio is out to change all that with the latest evolution in the concrete floor.  Called “Concrete Art,” it involves adding design to flooring that is normal regarded as the epitome of simplicity.  The unique concept allows any sort of pattern or design to be applied to the floor’s surface either during the pouring process, or later, when the floor has set.  The example we saw featured a floral pattern, but clearly anything from pop art geometrics to stripes to faux “natural” finishes could also be applied.  And if you get the urge to scrawl “Mike Loves Jennifer” across your living room floor, you can probably do that too!

Cool New Ways to get your Clothes off the Floor

If you’re one of those people who seems to always have a pile of clothes sitting on your bedroom floor, you’re about to run out of excuses.  Because the design community has been hard at work coming up with new ways to get you clean up in style.  Icelandic designer Ragnheidur Ingunn Agustsdottir has created an oh-so adorable rack constructed of ceramic coffee cups, their handles pointed upward to ensure clothes hung on them will not fall off.  Designer Matthias Pinkert has created a great-looking piece of wall art called the Klotho that does triple duty as a drying rack and wardrobe – all for an unbelievably affordable price.

But possibly the greatest new invention of them all – especially for those of us who like to pile our clothes on chairs, is the miraculous new Chair & Hanger.  Designed by Hyun-Jin Lee and Hyeroung Choe, this simple yet elegant creation is exactly what it sounds like, a chair and a hanger in one, with one side of the modern chair’s back rising above the sitter to form the built in “hanger.”  It’s an ideal choice for restaurants, giving guests an easy place to leave their coat or purse while they eat.   But it’s also a great idea for those of us who can’t help throwing our clothes on the nearest chair wherever we are.