The Shade Store Giveaway

The following post was sponsored by The Shade Store. Our sponsors are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.

Pohang Panel System in bronze, available at The Shade Store

In your comments below, tell us which of our exclusive products you’ll mix and match and you could win a $500 gift card from us. For example, you could say: “I’d go for DwellStudio Roman Shades + Custom Throw Pillows. I’d love to add more pattern to my bedroom.”

Whether you are in the midst of a full renovation or just sprucing up your place, we make custom simple with free samples, free shipping and free measuring. Shop window treatments, accessories and designer hardware at The Shade Store. Mix on.

Don’t miss a beat, follow The Shade Store on Twitter @theshadestore and Facebook.

Rules: See above for entry details. Contest is open to US residents only. One entry per person. Contest runs from January 10, 2011 to January 14, 2011. We will choose a winner at random.

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Soap Flakes by Nathalie Staempfli

Just discovered this via Swissmiss and it is genius: created by Swiss designer Nathalie Staempfli, these two soap dispensers shave bars of soap into flakes so you don’t use more than you need and bonus: you don’t ever need to touch the bar of soap!

The hand-held one is like a soap pepper mill.

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Destination Design: Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Barcelona

Luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental opened the doors of a new hotel in Barcelona, Spain in 2010 with interiors by Patricia Urquiola and architecture by Carlos Ferrater and Juan Trias de Bes. Yes, I know — another hotel with interiors by Urquiola, but what can I say? I think she does good work. Now, if every hotel starts using her to design their interiors we might run into a problem, but for now Urquiola’s interior design is still much of a novelty.

Located on the stylish street Passeig de Gràcia, just minutes from landmarks like Las Ramblas and Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Batlló, the hotel fits right in with Barcelona’s rich history of architecture and avant-garde design. Featuring custom designs and Urquiola’s Axor collection throughout, the hotel was named the best hotel project of 2010 by Interior Design magazine.

I don’t often think of work by Uquiola as minimalist, but the furnishings, decor and rooms are sparsely elegant, contrasting to what you might see of Urquiola’s other hotel interiors. I especially enjoy the outdoorsy, tropical feeling of the lounge and restaurant, dotted with plants and situated underneath a lattice canopy (pictured above).

Photos courtesy of the Mandarin Oriental.

Are you packed yet?

What: Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Where: Passeig de Gràcia, 38-40, 08007 Barcelona, Spain (map it)
How much: Starting at ~$400 per night
Highlights: The hotel has 88 rooms and 10 suites, full-service spa (with its own pool), rooftop terrace, lush gardens in the city. The hotel has 5 bars and restaurants to choose from specializing in Catalan cuisine, one of which is right next to the lengthy pool.
Design draw: Hotel interiors designed by Patricia Urquiola featuring her Axor collection, along with architects Carlos Ferrater and Juan Trias de Bes
Book it: mandarinoriental.com/barcelona/

Go virtually on vacation with more design destinations right here.

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Studio Project Concept One

Studio Project Concept One is a new line of modern children’s furniture. Their first pieces include a project table and stools. Each piece is made of Baltic Birch Multi-ply with hand laid Walnut veneer faces and a Formica® laminated table. The table has a white top and the stool seats are available in five fun colors.

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The Rainbow House

Ab Rogers Design — in collaboration with DA.Studio — created the Rainbow House, a living piece of art. This funhouse-meets-home is situated on a busy street, so when you enter it offers a magical escape from the hustle and bustle of reality.

Highlights include a rotating circular bed in the master bedroom, centralized rainbow spiral staircase spotlighted by a skylight, trap door to a slide that brings you down into the living room, and an oversized 26″ x 40″ piazza living area.

Watch the video:

[via Plastolux]

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New Rug Collection by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for nanimarquina

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec created a new rug collection called Losanges for Spanish brand nanimarquina that is awesome. I love me some geometrics. I’ve really been feeling the harlequin pattern these days. The designers explain that they “have always been captivated by the traditional Persian rug, especially by the very old kilim savoir-faire which we see as a delicate mix of rusticity and fineness.”

This new collection was handmade by the craftsmen of Northern Pakistan who have skillfully combined thirteen colors into the geometrical rhombus shape. The Afghan wool is also spun by hand, allowing for some beautiful and unique color variations, so that each section and each rug is a unique piece.

The Losanges collection will be presented at the nanimarquina booth during the Maison et Objet, which starts next week.

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Melissa Shoes Customizable Fontessa Boot

Melissa Shoes’ latest collaboration is with renowned Italian architect Gaetano Pesce. The Fontessa boot is one of a kind, and completely customizable to each individuals style. You start with the bootie, which is made from a series of interconnected circles, each circle able to be cut off with scissors so you can customize the pair to your liking. Create sling backs, peep toes, sandals, or just wear them as is. You can use Melissa’s special Fontessa software to map out your cuts before you go scissor-crazy.

Melissa sent me a pair to play around with. I downloaded the software and had a blast coming up with a variety of configurations, finally settling on Mary Janes:

The shoes smell like candy, are comfortable (remember Jellies? they’re kinda like that except a million times better quality), and I’m wishing I could make more!

The Fontessa is available in six colors: black, red, off-white, transparent, pearl blue and translucent orange. Buy them at epaulet or Karmaloop.

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