Here are my highlights of Restoration Hardware's current home collection.

The pieces celebrate artisanal details, original cast iron hardware, industrial patinas and fine belgian linens.

This is my second series of tape dispensers, designed especially to display cute Japanese masking tapes that I sell in my Tinted Mint shop.

Here's a short interview put together by Wallpaper* magazine of the British design duo. Below are my favorite pieces from their current collection.

Don't these urge you to add one to your living room? Here are several gorgeously upholstered antique chairs. You can turn just about any old chair into an eye-catching piece with good choice of fabric. Poetic Home offers some DIY instructions. 

1. BOKJA Design    2. Horchow    3. Hudson Goods   4. Anthropologie    5. Poetic Home    6. Restoration Hardware

If you're not familiar with Marquina, she designs exquisite rugs. I've read a magazine article before of how they are handmade and dyed in India.

Potten is a series of containers made of layers of colored cotton, finished with a layer of white or colored latex. I have not seen these in person, but I love the texture left on the latex, perhaps from the brush used to apply it, or just the texture of the cotton itself. They are made by a fair trade group in India.

I have many aspirations, but one of them is to be able to collaborate with artisans in different parts of the world to produce my own designs, from handmade ceramics to commissioned artwork.

Nani Marquina Potten

My first recycled toothbrush! It's about time! The handle is ergonomically designed, very comfortable to hold, and made of 100% recycled yogurt cups. The bristles are new nylon. I appreciate their mail back program for recycling. Their color selection, however, is not very exciting. Their pink is hideous. The blue below is fine though.

The one I bought comes with a travel case, but I am looking forward to their new packaging.

The Bouroullec brothers are exhibiting their collection at an apartment designed by Le Corbusier, Unité d'Habitation (also known as Cité Radieuse) in Marseille, France. This especially caught my attention because I stayed in this building before during a trip in Marseille. There is a hotel occupies one of the 17 floors.

The exhibit runs in Apartment 50, from 15 July to 15 August 2010.

http://www.appt50lc.org/

http://www.hotellecorbusier.com/

Various artists show how furniture interacts with our daily lives. These are couple of my favorites. This exhibit already ended in July, but the limited edition works from the show are available for sale online.

http://www.samenessanddifference.co.uk/

Oh my gosh! I'm in love with her work! I've seen some pieces by Paola Navone before, which I loved, but had no idea who it was by. Only now that I am posting about a porcelain exhibit designed by her for Richard Ginori that I find out more.

Paola is an Italian designer and architect who lived between Milano and Hong Kong for 21 years and incorporates a touch of handicraft into sophisticated, contemporary pieces (that's totally me!)

French concept store merci (wish I knew about this awesome store when I was in Paris!) approached Paola to create a limited edition collection of china for their store. She took china with imperfections at the Ginori factory and refurbished them into unique pieces. In April 2009, an exhibit in Zona Tortona in Milano featured these Imperfects, 1000kg of it, hanging with dramatic effects.