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    Clever DIY Home Organization Ideas That Work For Me

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    Clever and affordable home organizing ideas that will help you to keep “Your Stuff” organized once and for all.

    It’s cold, wintery and January. It is also the time many of us like to declutter and organize so we can start the new year with a well-organized home.
    Well-organized living and work spaces truly can make our lives easier every day. When we have clearly labeled containers and learn to edit what we no longer want or need and remove it from the house, it adds up to less time looking for things and more time to enjoy life.
    I like to make my own storage, organizers and labels when I can’t find a ready-made solution for my organizing needs.

    For instance when I couldn’t find a ready made scrapbook paper organizer to fit the cabinet in my studioffice, I custom made one to fit perfectly using cardboard boxes.
    If you are a long time reader you may remember it. I have made quite a few DIY organizers and thought I would share a few of them that really made a difference.

    How To Store & Organize Tablecloths
    I don’t have a dining room anymore, but when I did, this is how I stored and kept my tablecloths wrinkle-free.  

    I hung them in a closet where I had some extra rod space.
    When organizing the tablecloths, I folded them long-ways and then hung them over men’s suit hangers that I equipped with cardboard tubes from gift wrap. The round tube addition lessens creases from forming.
    How to Add Cardboard Tubes to Clothes Hangers

    1. Simply cut a gift wrap tube to the same width as the rod on the hanger. Open the rod and slide the tube on. Close the rod.

    Option: If you don’t have a wood rod pants type of hanger, you can use plastic hangers.
    You just need to cut the cardboard tube lengthwise. Once it is cut, place it over the rod.

    When I make this type of tablecloth storage hanger, I duct tape over the cut to close the tube.

    2. I roll very large or oilcloth tablecloths on the long cardboard tubes that fabric yardage comes on. I make sure to always ask for these tubes when I am at the fabric store.
    Repurposing Furniture Into Hard Working Organizing Stations for Small Items

    My go-to for small storage containers/baskets is the dollar store. They have the best plastic baskets. I bought all 18 of these baskets for the same amount I would have paid for one or two at other stores like Target or The Container Store.
    When the baskets were labeled and placed in a trashed dresser with no drawers that I DIY’ed into a decorative organizer there is no question as to where like items should go. Which then makes them easy to find when needed again.

    If you like to be little crafty… you can add a lot of style to shoeboxes. If you keep the lids on, they make great stackable storage.
    For this mudroom organizer, I covered the bottoms of 3 shoeboxes using maps and stick-on metal framed label holders.
    How to Organize Misc Items in Kitchen & Desk Drawers

    I like to line my drawers with decorative paper; usually I use gift wrap or wallpaper. For this drawer I used pages from a graphic arts book.

    Then I use small baskets that I find at thrift stores to organize smaller items. This drawer acts as my kitchen desk drawer.

    I add the square or rectangular baskets in all my drawers that hold small items. So far this drawer only has two small baskets. I am always on the look out for more and will fit the baskets in the drawer to fit like puzzle pieces as I find them at the thrift store.
    You can also organize drawer like this using low-sided boxes, but I like the style of the baskets better so I will continue to search for more.
    Make Cabinet Doors Into a Message Center
    There are many organizing ideas on how to use the inside of cabinet doors to hold and organize items, but here is one to do on the outside.

    This fabric memo board got lots of use in the kitchen of my previous house. I made it with fabric and a dollar store foam board.
    These DIY home organizing ideas are only a few that I have shared here on my blog. To find more, head over to see all my Organizing posts and archives of Free Printable Labels.
    Ready-Made Storage Organizers That I Use
    As you can see I like to make most of my home organizers, but if you don’t have the time to make your own organizing containers, here are a few of the purchased organizers that I use around my house that have helped me to stay organized.

    1. The Home Edit and 3. The Complete Book of Home Organizing – are two of my favorite organizing books.
    2. Self adhesive metal frame labels are one of my favorite and easiest way to add stylish labels to bins, boxes, baskets and more.
    4. I use Small baskets like these to organize the contents of desk and kitchen drawers.
    5. This 2 tier slide out organizer keeps the stuff under my bathroom sink in its place.
    6. These Expandable Drawer Dividers work great in large drawers to create sections.
    7. This Wire Door Shelf Rack has made my small pantry store a lot more.
    8. The style of Wooden Hangers that I used to store my tablecloths.
    9. I use these Clear Fridge Food Bins in my refrigerator and my pantry. I like how I can slide them out and grab what I need and slide back in.
    10. This is my newest organizer that I use for storing rolls of Christmas Gift wrap.
    11. I use these Under shelf baskets on the shelves in my garage. They give me extra space to hold all sorts of stuff.
    For more home organizing ideas, check out these ideas from a few of my blogging friends.

    Designthusiasm | The Complete Guide to Kitchen Organization
    StoneGable | Organizing Spices In Your Kitchen
    Shabbyfufu | How To Organize The Kitchen Junk Drawer – For Good!

    In My Own Style | Home Organizing Tips and Ideas
    Maison de Cinq | 5 Tips for Organizing China Cabinets

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    Five standout pieces at the Ron Arad 69 exhibition

    A Brexit-themed chair and a crumpled bin are some of the pieces to feature in an exhibition at Newlands House gallery that showcases 40 years of work by Israeli designer Ron Arad.The exhibition is titled Ron Arad 69, in honour of the designer’s 69th birthday in 2020, and showcases 50 standout pieces from his extensive oeuvre.
    Some of the pieces date back to the 1980s, when Arad established his eponymous studio, while others are from the 90s and 2000s – as well as a select few works that were released as recently as last year.

    “For me, business is always a necessary evil” says Ron Arad

    They are all displayed amongst the grounds and historic rooms of Newlands House, a 700-square-metre gallery in West Sussex which occupies a heritage-listed Georgian townhouse and its adjoining coach house.
    It is headed up by creative director Simon De Pury, who says it was an obvious choice to create a show around Arad’s work.
    “Ron Arad is a giant in his field,” Pury told Dezeen.”He has developed his uniquely personal language; while he has been copied by many, his work remains strong and timeless.”
    The pieces in the exhibition have not been arranged in chronological order, but simply placed where Pury felt they looked best in the gallery.
    “It’s not a retrospective, it’s a sampling of works that I personally love from Ron’s career,” Pury explained.
    “I greatly look forward to seeing the contrast between the 19th-century architecture of the gallery and the resolutely 21st-century feel of Arad’s dazzling and bold works,” he continued.
    “I hope visitors will enjoy experiencing the beauty, elegance and also the sense of humour of his amazing work in the intimate setting of a house that helps the viewer imagine what it would be like to live with it.”
    Read on to get a glimpse of five works that feature in the exhibition:

    Now What, 2020
    More colloquially known as the Brexit Chair, Now What is haphazardly plastered with clippings of newspapers that were released on Friday 31 January 2020 – the day that Britain left the European Union.
    Now What’s rounded seat and Mickey Mouse-shaped backrest riffs off the curvaceous form of Arad’s Big Easy chair, which was designed back in 1988.

    Where Are My Glasses?, 2018
    These ombre-effect coloured vases were originally launched during the 2018 edition of Milan Design Week.
    To create them, Ron Arad asked experts working at Italian glassware brand Venini to blow glass through metal-frame spectacles – the spectacles act almost like a taut belt, which forces the vase to bulge outwards at the sides.

    Photo by Gary Morrisroe
    Blame The Tools, 2013
    Arad’s Blame The Tools sculpture is shaped to resemble a life-sized Fiat 500 car. Crafted from stainless-steel sheets and rods, the gridded sculpture is so heavy that it had to be hoisted by a crane into Newlands House’s front garden.
    “I like to imagine how this car would look if it stayed here and we let nature do its work, eventually you’d have vegetation growing through it,” said Pury.

    Crash Bin, 2006
    Danish retailer Vipp asked Ron Arad to customise one of its bins for a charity auction 15 years ago.
    Instead of making aesthetic changes, the designer crushed the product from the top down, making deep dents in its silver-metal exterior. Arad’s signature appears just above the bin’s foot pedal.

    The Rover Chair, 1981
    Found objects were used to form The Rover chair, which is the first piece of furniture to be designed by Arad.
    The chair’s worn leather seat was taken from a Rover P6 car, while its tubular steel frame is made from Kee Klamps that were once part of a milking stall for farm animals.
    Photography is courtesy of Elizabeth Zeschin unless stated otherwise.
    Ron Arad 69 is at Newlands House, UK, from 19 September 2020 until 7 March 2021, but the gallery is currently closed due to Covid-19. For more architecture and design events, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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    Danielle Brustman decorates children's centre in Melbourne with pastel hues and rainbow murals

    Designer Danielle Brustman used pastel colours, marmoleum flooring and playful hand-painted murals to create the interior of the Brighton Street Early Learning Centre in a brutalist building in Melbourne.Each playroom in the concrete building, which was converted by Perkins Architects into a childcare centre, was allocated its own motif, which includes a river, meadow, star, sun and cloud. Brustman used these themes to come up with a narrative, treatment and palette for each space.
    “The brief and scope for this project was so exciting as the clients were after something bold and unique,” Brustman told Dezeen.
    “I regularly use colour in my interior design work but it’s not often I get the opportunity to be as bold with colours specification.”

    Top image: a rainbow mural decorates a wall. Above: the designer used 47 different colours within the centre

    She used 47 colours in total for the early learning centre, which is located in Richmond, Melbourne, adapting them based on the themes of each room and pushing the colour palette to its limits.
    “I wanted it to be complex and colourful whilst still adhering to a level of sophistication, gentleness and balance,” she said.

    Geometric designs decorate the walls
    Brustman also added several wall murals, hand-painted by Ben Maitland, to the design, which she hopes will be a source of inspiration and creativity for the children.
    The graphic murals feature star bursts, boats made from circles and triangles, rainbows and trees, among other designs.
    The rooms also have a seasonal feel. “The forest and river rooms have an autumnal feel to them, while the sun and cloud rooms have a more summery palette and atmosphere,” Brustman explained.

    Playful motifs decorate the walls
    Within the centre, the ground floor rooms relate conceptually to the earth, while the top floor rooms relate to the sky.
    Some of the original concrete structure of the building was deliberately left exposed when the space was repurposed to become a children’s centre, and has been complemented with natural, durable materials and decorative textiles that soften the space.

    The floors are made from marmoleum
    Marmoleum, which is made of 70 per cent natural fibre and 40 per cent recycled materials, is used on floors throughout the centre.
    Brustman’s studio also designed a number of customised rugs for the rooms, including patterned Tretford rugs made from goat hair.

    Coloured pendants were created by a local designer
    The reception area and stairwell were decorated with coloured pendants made from toughened glass, traditionally used for manufacturing laboratory beakers, by local lighting designer Copper ID.
    All playrooms have floating acoustic ceilings to tamper noise, as well as child-friendly soft wool and vinyl furnishings.

    The studio designed customised rugs for the early learning centre
    Keeping some of the concrete structure visible has created a contrast to the softer interior details, according to Brustman.
    “There’s something lovely and unexpected about the intersection between these original raw building materials and the softer, more colourful material surfaces,” she said.
    Brustman’s background is in set design, and the Brighton Street Early Learning Centre design offered an opportunity to create more dramatic designs than some of her regular interior work.

    Murals add colour and whimsy to the space
    “There is such freedom when you are aiming to please and tend to the imagination of a young child,” she said. “I think my design work is compatible with childcare design in that it’s playful and a little fantastical.”
    “My approach to this project has been different in that the same limitations are not placed on the design in terms of what is considered to be a current or tasteful palette,” she added.

    Even the functional spaces have colourful interiors
    Other colourful interior designs for children include Integrated Field’s design for a hospital in Thailand that features slides and a pool, and Atelier Scale’s playground with bright-yellow details in China.
    Photography is by Sean Fennessey.
    Project credits:
    Interior design: Danielle BrustmanArchitecture: Perkins ArchitectsBuilder: I BUILD MMurals: Painted by Ben Maitland

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    Five architecture and design events this January from Dezeen Events Guide

    A virtual version of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) plus remote site visits with SO-IL and David Adjaye as part of The World Around summit are among the events listed in Dezeen Events Guide taking place in January.

    Above: A representative of Virgin Hyperloop will discuss autonomous transportation at CES 2021. Top image: The World Around summit will see Ryue Nishizawa present his House in Los Vilos. Image is by Cristobal Palma
    Consumer Electronics Show (CES)11 to 14 January
    The world’s most influential technology fair is taking place entirely in the digital realm this year, opening up its programme of product showcases and more than 80 panel talks and keynotes to a global audience.
    Highlights include a reflection on the first year of 5G with American telco giant AT&T, Virgin Hyperloop’s take on the future of autonomous transportation and a discussion about privacy and trust with representatives of Amazon, Google and Twitter.
    This regularly scheduled programming is accompanied by a host of sessions about the ongoing pandemic, including a discussion with British pop star Dua Lipa about how immersive, digital experiences are allowing her to stay connected to her fans while music venues are closed.
    In/Visible Talks14 January
    In/Visible Talks is a design conference all about the creative process, which means that after a day’s worth of talks and discussions the event will culminate in practical workshops about everything from blind contour drawing to the design of exhibition layouts.
    For its fourth-ever and first virtual edition, the event is focusing on how design can be a medium for societal change by exploring what true diversity in the industry would mean, how graphic design can facilitate better representation and the best ways for creatives to collaborate with nonprofits.

    Norwegian designers point the way towards a circular economy

    DesignTO22 to 31 January
    Canada’s largest annual design festival will spotlight the work of more than 800 local artists and makers, including a showcase of furniture made from native timber and an archive of modernist Canadian graphic design.
    For its 11th edition, DesignTO is going “distanced and digital”, with window displays allowing those in Toronto to experience the event safely and in-person while a virtual programme will ensure that everyone else doesn’t have to miss out.
    Oslo Design Fair27 to 29 January
    Set inside the Norges Varemesse congress centre in Lillestrøm, the Oslo Design Fair has expanded beyond the standard categories of furniture, lighting and interiors.
    Under one roof and across four different exhibitions halls, it will bring together everything from Norwegian jewellery and fashion designers to gardening brands, illustrators, candlemakers and other craftsmen.

    David Adjaye will give a remote tour of his Winter Park Public Library complex in Florida

    The World Around30 January
    Now in its second year, The World Around forum has recruited some of the most innovative architects working today to discuss their latest projects via on-site presentations and guided tours.
    These are set to be broadcast on Dezeen from 14 international cities and will include Ryue Nishizawa presenting his House in Los Vilos, SO-IL showcasing recent work in Shanghai and New York and David Adjaye giving a remote tour of his Winter Park Public Library complex, which is under construction in Florida.
    Other speakers will include Francis Kéré and Counterspace founder Sumayya Vally, while Liam Young will present his latest short film in collaboration with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).
    The World Around aims to explore how architecture can tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time, from indigenous rights and racial justice to the environment. Earlier this year, the organisation held a symposium to mark Earth Day at Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival, featuring talks, interviews and short films from the vanguard of ecological design.
    About Dezeen Events Guide
    Dezeen Events Guide is our guide to the best architecture and design events taking place across the world each year.
    The guide is updated weekly and includes virtual events, conferences, trade fairs, major exhibitions and design weeks, as well as up-to-date information about what events have been cancelled or postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
    Inclusion in the guide is free for basic listings, with events selected at Dezeen’s discretion. Organisers can get enhanced or premium listings for their events, including images, additional text and links, by paying a modest fee.
    In addition, events can ensure inclusion by partnering with Dezeen. For more details on inclusion in Dezeen Events Guide and media partnerships with Dezeen, email eventsguide@dezeen.com.

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    Studio Hallett Ike expands ER Residence in London with charred larch extension

    Minimal white living spaces lie behind the blackened timber facade of this extension that Studio Hallett Ike has added to a Victorian flat in north London.The flat, which has been titled ER Residence, occupies the ground floor of a Victorian terrace. Studio Hallett Ike said that, prior to its intervention, the flat had a well-proportioned layout, but unfortunately was only able to accommodate a single bedroom.
    Now, thanks to a rear extension, the flat contains a second bedroom – which doubles up as a study – and a dining room.

    Beams of charred larch clad ER Residence’s extension

    “Essentially we wanted to create a property that would work for a young family living in London that wants an aspirational, clean, minimal design whilst retaining a realistic project budget,” the studio’s co-founder, Madeleine Ike, told Dezeen.
    “The idea being that it could act as a case study for other London residents in the same situation without a huge budget.”

    The extension contains an additional bedroom
    The extension is rectilinear in form and clad with beams of blackened English larch, which were charred by hand on-site.
    “Doing this, rather than painting or staining, allows the texture and grain of the larch to feel very present, and to age and patina over time,” the studio explained.
    “The colour changes depending on the weather and time of year; during the winter months it has silvery hues, but evolves to appear warmer in the summer.”

    A desk in the bedroom offers a place for inhabitants to work
    Two different-sized windows also punctuate the extension’s exterior, which are both framed with aluminium.
    The slightly wider window looks through to the bedroom-cum-study, which has been finished with clean white walls.

    The extension also plays host to a dining room
    A wide panel of Douglas fir wood has been set at the rear of the room, serving as a headboard for the bed. To the side of the room is a three-tier shelving unit and a desk where inhabitants can sit and work.

    Burnt House is a charred wood extension that looks like a Japanese tea house

    The narrower window in the extension offers a view of the dining room.
    Douglas fir has been used here again to create a seating bench – a cut-out in the shape of a cat’s head has been made in the bottom corner, through which the owners’ feline companion can crawl to access a cosy cubby.

    The dining room table is accompanied by a Douglas fir bench
    Studio Hallett Ike has continued the colour and material palette of the extension through to the rest of the home. The updated kitchen, for example, boasts Douglas-fir cabinetry and a white terrazzo splashback.
    Grey terrazzo has then been used to line surfaces in the bathroom.

    Terrazzo appears in the flat’s kitchen, and the bathroom
    Walls in the living area have been coated with a pale grey plaster that stops just beneath the room’s original plaster cornicing. The existing wooden floorboards here were also preserved and sanded down to expose more of their natural grain.
    Black-metal furnishings such as the coffee table and overhead lighting fixture were included to “give weight and depth” to the space.

    Pale grey plaster coats walls in the living room
    “The overarching design approach was to carry out a small number of strong but simple moves that are consistently applied, sitting at the heart of every design consideration,” added the studio.
    “These come together to create an overall impression that is minimal and timeless, exuding an assured and understated elegance.”

    The living room also features the flat’s original wooden floorboards
    Studio Hallet Ike was founded by Madeleine Ike and Jonty Hallett in 2018. The studio’s ER Residence isn’t the only London property to feature a charred-wood extension – Rider Stirland Architects added a blackened timber volume to a house in Ladywell.
    Will Gamble Architects also used scorched wood to create a Japanese tea house-style extension for a home in Fulham.
    Photography is by Ståle Eriksen.

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    David Chipperfield, Yinka Ilori and Ilse Crawford recognised in Queen's New Year Honours list

    Architect David Chipperfield has been given one of the highest awards available to a British citizen while designers including Yinka Ilori, Ilse Crawford and 6a Architects have received honours in the 2021 New Year Honours list.Chipperfield was added to the elite Order of the Companions of Honour in the annual list of awards given for achievements by British citizens.
    Interior designer Crawford has been awarded a CBE, 6a Architects co-founders Thomas Emerson and Stephanie Macdonald OBEs and London designer Ilori an MBE.

    David Chipperfield has designed numerous cultural buildings including the renovation of the Neues Museum. photo is by Joerg von Buchhausen

    British architect Chipperfield joins Richard Rogers in the order Order of the Companions of Honour, which is limited to 65 members and is awarded “for having a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time”.
    RIBA Gold Medal-winner Chipperfield established his studio David Chipperfield Architects in 1985.
    He has designed numerous significant cultural buildings in the UK including the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames and Hepworth Wakefield in Wakefield, which were both shortlisted for the Stirling Prize, as well as the Turner Contemporary in Margate.

    Chipperfield designed the Hepworth Wakefield in Yorkshire. Photo is by Iwan Baan
    Chipperfield, who has an office in Berlin, also completed numerous cultural buildings in Germany including the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, Germany, which won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2007.

    “I feel like a bit of a fake” says David Chipperfield in Dezeen’s latest podcast

    A further four buildings designed by the studio in the country have been shortlisted for the Stirling Prize with the prestigious renovation of the Neues Museum in central Berlin being nominated in 2010. The building won the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award in 2011.

    Yinka Ilori was made an MBE
    Alongside Chipperfield, several other architects and designers were recognised on the New Year Honours list.
    Rising star Ilori has been made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to design. Known for his colourful style, the designer began making furniture and has more recently creating larger installations including a summer pavilion in Dulwich and the renovating an underpass in Battersea.

    Yinka Ilori designed the Colour Palace in Dulwich with architecture studio Pricegore
    Writing on Instagram after receiving the award, Illori revealed that he almost gave up being a designer five years ago.
    “In 2015 there were sometimes thoughts of giving up designing due to the frustration and feeling people didn’t understand the designer I wanted to be,” he wrote.
    “The driving force behind me to continue and push through was always the desire to make my parents proud,” he continued. “They had given up so much of their own lives to make sure me and my siblings had the best in life
    “No matter what situation you are in it is never permanent. Keep pushing because if a young kid like me from Islington can do it so can you.”
    This year, Ilori won the Design Museum’s Emerging Design Medal, designed a colourful skatepark in France and created a message of hope in support of the UK’s National Health Service.

    Ilse Crawford has been awarded a CBE
    British interior designer Crawford has been made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE). Crawford, who was made a Member of the British Empire in the 2014 New Year Honours list, runs multidisciplinary design studio Studioilse and was the founder of the Man and Wellbeing department at Design Academy Eindhoven.
    She was recently profiled in Netflix’s Abstract: The Art of Design series and spoke to Dezeen during Virtual Design Festival.

    6a Architects designed the MK Gallery
    Also honoured on the list were 6a Architects co-founders Thomas Emerson and Stephanie Macdonald, who both were given the Order of the British Empire.
    Emerson and Macdonald founded 6a Architects, which is best-known for designing cultural buildings in the UK, in 2001. The studio recently extended the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes and previously renovated the Raven Row contemporary art gallery in east London and expanded the South London Gallery.
    Its design for a photography studio for Juergen Teller was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize 2017.
    The Queen’s New Year Honours are awarded each year in December. Together with the Birthday Honours given out on the Queen’s birthday in June they make up part of the British honours system.
    In last year’s New Year Honour list, architect Jamie Fobert and graphic designer Peter Saville received CBEs, while designer Sadie Morgan received an OBE.

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    Mizzi Studio uses pink and emerald green for Barbajean restaurant in Malta

    Design practice Mizzi Studio paired pink terrazzo with emerald-green velvet and timber to form the bold interior of restaurant Barbajean in Malta.Serving a menu of modern Meditteranean dishes, Barbajean occupies a prominent corner property in the village of Dingli.
    The quiet village sits at the highest point of Malta, and has uninterrupted views out across the ocean towards the uninhabited isle of Filfla.

    Barbajean has a pink and green facade

    Mizzi Studio’s founder, Jonathan Mizzi – who is from Malta – designed the restaurant so that it pays tribute to Dingli and its scenic landscape, but also “injects [the village] with new life”.
    “Working within the village’s particular urban fabric was a key inspiration for us,” said Mizzi.”We wanted to create a restaurant that would stand at the core of a quintessential Maltese village experience.”

    Three arches punctuate the restaurant’s terrazzo-lined bar
    The baby-pink facade of Barbajean has been made to include architraves and coloured doors– two elements that Mizzi says can be seen on the exterior of a typical Maltese home.
    Emerald-green timber doors have been built into the facade’s trio square openings. Each opening is surrounded by a chunky pink-terrazzo architrave, created by Maltese surface manufacturer Halmann Vella.

    Malta-themed artwork has been mounted on Barbajean’s walls
    The pink and green colour scheme continues inside the restaurant. Rose-coloured terrazzo lines the wall behind the drinks bar, which has been punctuated with three arched niches.
    Liquor bottles and glassware are displayed inside the niches, illuminated by neon-pink strip lights that have been installed overhead.
    Rosy terrazzo has also been used to craft the surfacetop of the bar counter, the base of which is made from fluted timber that’s been stained green. Just in front is a row of pink high chairs with tubular brass frames.

    Dining chairs are accompanied by pink-terrazzo tables
    A lengthy seating banquette upholstered in emerald velvet winds its way around the opposite side of the room, accompanied by pink terrazzo tables inlaid with flecks of Guatemala Verde marble.
    Directly above are a series of prints by Maltese illustrator Ed Dingli, which depict quotidian scenes of life in the village.

    Mizzi Studio completes stingray cafe alongside the Serpentine

    In between the prints are custom-made light fixtures designed by Mizzi Studio, which feature curling brass stems and spherical bulbs.
    Surfaces in this area of the restaurant are painted a pale mint shade, but another dining nook that lies towards the rear of the plan has been given a cosier feel with dark-green walls and wooden floorboards.

    Towards the back of the restaurant is another dining nook
    Mizzi Studio was established in 2011 and has offices in both London and Valletta, the capital of Malta. Barbajean isn’t the only hospitality space that the studio has designed – last year it completed works on The Serpentine Coffee House in London’s Hyde Park.
    The venue boasts glass walls and a gold, undulating roof that’s meant to resemble the shape of a stingray.
    Photography is by Brian Grech.
    Project credits:
    Stonework: Halman VellaBrass fabrication: Anvil and ForgeJoinery and upholstery: Construct FurnitureCustom print artwork: Ed DingliBranding: Steves and Co

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    Dezeen's top interiors trends of 2020

    Continuing Dezeen’s review of 2020, reporter Natasha Levy has selected some of the biggest interiors trends of 2020, including Covid-safe spaces, curtains and unusual bathrooms.

    Curtains
    Several architects and designers were drawn to incorporating curtains in projects this year. Arhitektura d.o.o enclosed the living area of a Slovenian apartment with shiny silver curtains, helping its inhabitants feel cosier and closed-off.
    Ater Architects made the floor plan of a Kyiv apartment more flexible by replacing walls with cobalt-blue drapes that stretch from floor to ceiling. Architecture studio Azab did the same in a Bilbao apartment, but opted to use paler sky-blue curtains.
    Serie Architects also suspended bronze chainmail curtains above the kitchen of a Mumbai restaurant to make it look more like a stage – and focus diners’ attention on the theatricality of cooking.

    OSB
    This year, there’s been an increasing appreciation of oriented strand board (OSB) – a type of engineered timber that’s made by compressing strips of wood in particular directions.
    The material is already extensively used in building construction as preliminary sheathing for floors, walls or roofs, but a growing number of architects and designers have come to like its aesthetic qualities.
    Some used OSB sparingly; design studio CATS, for example, employed the wood to make display plinths and shelves for a lifestyle store in Nanjing. Others went all out – Italian architect Francesca Perani lined the entire interior of a 25-square-metre guest cabin with OSB in hopes it would imbue the space with “a sense of warm comfort”.
    Architects Juan Alberto Andrade and María José Váscones then made an OSB meeting room for an open-plan office in Ecuador, while Studio Edwards fabricated yellow-framed OSB work pods for a vacant warehouse in Melbourne.
    For the revamp of a home in Spain, architecture studio La Errería also set bedrooms inside gabled OSB boxes.

    Rustic style
    Against the turbulent backdrop of 2020, readers this year seemed to find comfort in warm, rustic-looking spaces.
    One of the most popular interiors projects this year was architect Timothy Mercier’s conversion of a French farm building into a home for his parents, which he decorated with pieces he found in a Parisian flea market.
    Readers also loved architect Martin Skoček’s update of a Slovakian family home, which he lined with time-worn bricks, and Olson Kundig’s cosy, self-designed cabin, which is furnished with leather sofas, patterned rugs and wood burners.

    Cinema
    Several projects this year took cues from the realm of film as architects and designers indulged their inner cinephile.
    Tasked with creating “out of this world” interiors, Atelier Caracas modelled a Venezuelan day spa after Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Each of the spa’s treatment rooms features porthole windows that are meant to resemble the movie’s sentient artificial intelligence character, HAL 9000.
    Over in Beijing, Xiaoxi Xiong designed an office to have the same “warm sense of the future” that’s depicted in sci-fi flick Her. Masquespacio also referenced a scene from Playtime, a 1967 film directed by Jacques Tati, to create a whimsical co-working space in Valencia.
    Other designers sought inspiration from the small screen. Examples include Vinki Li, who based a bar in Guangzhou off of the TV show Mad Men, decorating it with retro props like typewriters and rotary dial telephones.

    Renderings
    As the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders brought ordinary life to a standstill, many architects and interior designers used renderings as a means of escapism.
    Child Studio unveiled images of a fictitious, white-washed seaside villa called Casa Plenaire, which is meant to serve as a “hideaway for the lockdown world”. Sivak & Partners then envisioned a glass-fronted hotel suite in Odessa that would have uninterrupted ocean views.
    Meanwhile, creatives Charlotte Taylor and Nicholas Préaud dreamt up Casa Atibaia, an imaginary riverside house in São Paulo that draws on the modernist architectural style of Lina Bo Bardi.
    Siblings Davit and Mary Jilavyan also made-up an entire residential community called Sonora Art Village. Designed to feel “far from grey reality”, the made-up village would be populated by vivid pink, orange, purple and yellow homes.

    Murals
    Eye-catching murals made several appearances in interiors projects this year. Rolling hills and twisting trees feature in the verdant mural that artist Abel Macias created for lifestyle brand Flamingo Estate’s Los Angeles pop-up, while the fresco Matthieu Cosse fashioned for France’s Le CouCou hotel depicts owls soaring above mountain peaks.
    Visual artist Alicja Biala included flowers, birds and strange mythical creatures in the super-sized mural she produced for an MVRDV-designed building in Wroclaw, which stretches 500-square-metres across the ceiling and walls.
    Not everyone opted for the medium of paint – design duo Folklore used over 1,000 pieces of glass and ceramic to make a geometric mural for a swimming pool in Sweden.

    Atypical bathrooms
    Basic baths, showers and sinks seemingly weren’t enough for architects and designers this year, who created some unconventional bathing spaces.
    When Szczepaniak Astridge overhauled the London home of architectural photographer Edmund Sumner, the practice placed a bathtub up in the loft. The loft – which also contains Sumner’s bedroom – is fronted by glass, meaning inhabitants can soak while overlooking the greenery of a nearby park.
    Atelier Dialect also added a standalone bath to the bedroom of an apartment in Antwerp, wrapping its exterior in panels of mirrored steel. The bath backs onto a shower room that’s painted a pastel-green hue that matches the colour of polyurethane foam.
    Design studio La Firme also built a huge walk-in wet room “big enough for two” inside a Montreal apartment.

    Covid-safe spaces
    The coronavirus crisis forced those working in the architecture and interiors industries to consider how post-pandemic spaces will be designed – both inside and out.
    Designer Sevil Peach mused that corporate headquarters will become a thing of the past and, going forward, employees will be asked to work from smaller company “hubs”.
    Meena Krenek, who is an interior designer at Perkins and Will, similarly predicted that offices will just become spaces for meeting and socialising, while a majority of focused work will still be carried out by staff at home.
    Architect Ben Masterton-Smith then suggested that designers working on hospitality spaces would have to start focusing more on fashioning “enticing” outdoor eating areas so that customers can dine in safety.
    Meanwhile, interiors expert Michelle Ogunhehin forecasted that future homes will be specifically designed to mitigate the virus and will come complete with immunity-boosting air filtration systems and touchless technology.

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