Furniture hasn’t radically changed much in the last decade, leave alone the year. It’s one of those essentials that’s more or less untouched by technology… so furniture design doesn’t “advance”, per se. However, there’s always a new idea, material, aesthetic, or scenario waiting around the corner. From seating designed to make you healthier, to facades that also integrate plants into them, to furniture from repurposed car parts, to probably the very definition of innovation and creativity, Nick Baker’s Chair Sketches… 2018 was filled with a lot of creative furniture designs, and we can’t wait to see the new ideas that pop up in 2019!
At once sculptural and organic, Helen Kontouris’ Botanical Planter Screens provide a sense natural visual separation to indoor and outdoor spaces alike.
This desk encourages interaction from the user and allows them to configure a workspace that creates a personalized ambience, and is truly theirs.
The Ovini Balance Stool relies on a hemispherical cushion and a series of ball bearings to give you a seat that allows you to shift and adjust your sitting angle to keep your spine active and engaged.
This chair can only be sat on in a certain way, directing the user’s behavior and encouraging a seating position that keeps your back upright, and your legs folded inward. It increases blood circulation and joint flexibility, while strengthening bones, and keeping your back upright. It also aids digestion.
Being able to choose where you want the shelves to be positioned is just the beginning! The ‘zones’ allow for the unit to be used as a wardrobe, storage for wine glasses, shoe shelving or even a small desk!
The Twofold can be both a wall-mounted shelf or a desk with such relative ease, it seems simple yet striking.
Designed to blend in with your existing home atmosphere, this is what happens when Scandinavian design values meet modern hydroponics.
Made from original Porsche 911 body parts, coated in Arctic Silver automotive paint, and finished with Custom Made American Walnut attachments that complement the car’s contours beautifully, the 911 Writing Desk takes the iconic car’s rear end, converting its boot hood into a writing surface that doubles up as a cabinet for storing your stationery (using a spring-loaded hinge that lifts the boot lid up).
Given the hashtag of #nickschairsketches, Baker uploads unusual conceptual chair designs almost every week. The chairs showcase inventiveness that one rarely sees in furniture design, as concepts take inspiration from quite literally anywhere. Scroll down to see a few of our favorites.
This interactive furniture piece features a crank and loosely connected slats that can be rolled up or rolled out to save space or make room for more people!
COMB is constructed from blown out bike inner tubes and plywood leftovers. The bike tubes form the stretchy surface for the honeycomb-shaped sections that sink in to create a comfy, form-fitting seat when one drops down.
The latest from Kekkilä, the Green series of home furnishings aims to provide plenty of room for all your favorite plants.
Studio NINE’s Lego compatible furniture aims at being a playground for your children.
Features grooves on either side to hold and keep your pens, pencils, stylus or other writing utensils from rolling around. It also has openings dedicated to propping up your tablet, phone or other slim techs for easy viewing that takes up less desk top real estate than laying them down flat.
Designed to bridge the gap between the office environment and communal lounge areas, the large seats are orientated in opposing directions to subtly create privacy for the users.
This lux chaise lounge is named Câliner after the French word for kissing and cuddling! The designer’s intention was to give romantic partners a moment of intimacy, quality time, and a chance to be present and together.
Twoway is an air purifier but also offers a second function, a coffee table; the main body can rotate 90 degrees to create a horizontal surface, or it can be kept upright so it can sit flush against the wall, out of the way.
It’s free of any superfluous elements yet highly functional as a workspace with its organizational details and elevated, usable paper/utensil tray.
This bench is composed of just nine elements including five leg beams, three support slats and a clear top. Without any screws or glue, all pieces can be assembled in seconds and fit together snugly to create one robust and sturdy unit.
The Swan chair takes elegant inspiration from the creature of the same name. Though contemporary in construction, its atomic legs give it a familiar mid-century feel.
The living hinges allow SHIFT to seamlessly transform into a practical yet minimalistic shelving unit and adapt to fulfill the demands of the situation.
The WEE beautifully merges together both a working desk and a playful swing to create an item of furniture that allows the user to stay both productive and active during their busy day!
This wood desk has been crafted with multiple ramps and landings for cats to perch up and play. If you can’t fight ’em, invite ’em!
New Zealander Ben Young’s forte is hand sculpting clear sheets of float glass and different solid materials like concrete and steel. His works are inspired by oceans and seas; and their relationship to land.
The crisp, clean geometry beautifully combines a fish tank, plant pot and sculpture, seamlessly. And most importantly, it does this without compromising the habitability of the environment for the fish.
The Aalo range of furniture travels with you and lets you call multiple places home. Aalo’s unique assembly system also makes it hackable, reusable, and customizable.
Dichroic Film, that both scatters and reflects light, is attached to a transparent plate that’s made from polycarbonate, the combination of these two materials is truly mesmerizing as the light is actualized by a rainbow of colors.
With a series of vertical cuts and a support at the base, the Karekla looks flat before you sit on it, and when you do, takes the shape of your backside as it bends with your weight.
It carries a form that is inspired by cybernetics and science fiction, this is a truly visually exciting and modular place to work.
The client of the table has free reign over what vehicle gets machined into the table – this includes planes, trains, and automobiles.
Don’t forget to check out YD’s top audio designs from 2018.
Don’t forget to check out YD’s top EDC designs from 2018.
Don’t forget to check out YD’s top car designs from 2018.
Don’t forget to check out YD’s top architecture designs from 2018.