resting

With warm sunny days approaching we will be spending a lot more time outdoors both relaxing and entertaining.  We have seen major trend developments over recent years, to these outdoor spaces and patios. We explore these trends and look at the fine integration between the outdoor living areas and the interior spaces which we spend many hours rejuvenating in, with our busy lifestyles being far more pressurised than previous years. Some overiding trends that are affecting everything from electronics, to decor as well as business in general are; the recession which is currently rearing another ugly side as well as the awareness of our environment, which has seen dramatic change take place over the last couple of decades. More time is spent at home with everyone tightening their budgets and more attention being paid to design elements and comforts in our outdoor spaces which were in the past, very much of an afterthought.   We see this new awareness as an extension an...

Recent years have seen a lot of development take place within kids furniture and furnishings, with one no longer being limited to boring and dull furnishings when it comes to sprucing up your kids rooms. One of the biggest trends at the moment which has been spurred on by various TV makeover shows is themed bedrooms. These rooms mimic everything from pirate ships to Disney fantasy lands where even super tubes are the order of the day. As amazing as these spaces are, it is however important to remember that they are temporary and kids will only have a few years pleasure out of them until they need more functional space and more mature décor. Most of these rooms are also custom made so they do end up being excessively expensive as many elements are shopfitted into the existing space. Custom wallpaper is a key trend element at the moment and a great way to create a themed room without huge expense. Any hi-res digital image can be printed onto wallpaper and hung in a matter of hours,...

Arad was born in Tel Aviv. He attended the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem between 1971–73 and the Architectural Association in London from 1974–79. In 1989, with Caroline Thorman, he founded Arad Associates, an architecture and design firm, in London. His brother is the violist and educator Atar Arad. Arad was described in 1999 as a "big, gruff, bovver-booted sort of bloke; cropped hair roughly the same length as the mannered facial stubble" Arad's career as a designer began with the Rover chair. He was Head of Design Products Department at the Royal College of Art from 1997 to 2009. Arad designed in 1994 the Bookworm bookshelf, which was still produced in 2011 by the Italian company Kartell. Arad's work has been described as "scary", considering its "macho concrete and cut metal; tense sheets of tempered steel and guillotine edges". In 2005, Arad designed chandeliers for the Swarovski crystal company which if one has the num...