We’re excited to attend the 2009 Art Basel show in about a week!  We’ll bring you some great pictures & posts of the world famous Art Basel exhibits December 3-5. 

With the “In Case of Emergency” Money Box from the dubiously titled design house Suck UK, you may finally be able to collect your spare change long enough for it to really pay off. But beware, the glass can only be broken once. Sure to provide hours of anxious excitement. For a reusable way to store euros, check out their “Save" Money Box, cleverly designed to look like a Keyboard Button.

We first began offering offering Jan Harman’s Smoke House Incense Burner some time ago, but now with the Cottage Incense Pot from our new collection of Pull + Push Products, at Pure Modern we have now effectively cornered the market on tiny incense burners made to resemble houses.

At Pure Modern, we’re happy to announce an incredibly unique selection of contemporary accessories from Pull + Push Products just in time for the holidays. Handmade in Japan by Nobuhiro Sato, molded concrete has never looked so good. Seen below is the zen Kiso Ashtray and quirky Haisui Planter - two objects that put a clever spin on traditional design.

It’s no secret that I love retro, hence many of the products we offer at PureModern.  But while staying with my family for the holidays, retro really sunk in.  I’m old.  While helping my mother with the laundry, out comes this ... this… towel.  It’s the towels that I remember using as a child.  I thought for a second, “Wow, my mom is stylish—cool towels”.  Then.. I think… “Wow, those are the towels I used to use… I’m F’n OLD!” Unfortunately I’m about to carbon-date myself - I was just reminded that these towels were over 35 years old.  Though it does go to show you that if you keep your bell bottoms, skinny jeans, polka dotted ruffles and and brown shag carpet, everything will come back into style at some point.  (Except poodle dresses). 

This cute and fun product, designed by Yoshiyuki Kashiwagi and Koji Yano of 83 Design, just made me smile when I came across it.  The keyholder is made from rubber and is available in different colors.  Smiles means no losing keys!  [via Designspotter]

People show their teeth when they smile. ”KEAT” is a product that will give you a brief excuse to receive such a smile.  It can be stick on doors, refigerators, or wherever you please, to stock your key, a cute key stand was born.  While it lacks expression on its own, a smile will appear once you put your key in.  Your key will never beamed is placed, as long as you check on it’s smile everyday.  A small and friendly fellow that will definitely make you smile.

Looking for shoulder or airplane rides?  Check out their chairs… =)

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Spotted on the Wake Forest University campus in North Carolina and Makezine - the Periodic “Table” of Elements has never looked this good. I’m sure a few students wouldn’t mind retaking their Chemistry exams on this piece. Hopefully one day it will be the standard in all classrooms…

A retro take on a kitchen essential.  Designed to look like the good ole’ fashioned stove top burner, this trivet by Eric Janssen adds a bit of funk and kitsch to your cooking area. 

I have few bad habits other than cars, Grand Marnier, and of course watches - I must admit, I’m a sucker for an elegant time piece.  In today’s mass production world, it’s tough to find that nice mix of quality, uniqueness and elegance in products… much less watches! While we offer some of the coolest watches for daily wearing by Alessi, Nomos, Bobby Jones, etc - nothing quite gets me like a fine Cartier, Movado, Corum and my new Favorite Bvlgari (Bulgari).  This amazing “Bulgari Bulgari” classic style was just seen at a local going out of business sale for nearly 50% off! Something unheard of (MSRP $4100+/-).  Will I succumb?  It’s a real possibility.

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Somewhere between useful and completely unnecessary you will find Paulo Oh’s concept for the ”Hang On Outlet.” Maybe it’s my fascination appreciation for all things power-strip-related that’s keeping me from realizing how ridiculous this actually is. Of course, this would never even get considered if we had simple on/off switches on our outlets...

What was Jerry Jalava thinking when he decided to have a USB drive incorporated into his prosthetic finger after losing a digit in a motorcycle accident?  I mean, is a 2GB flash drive really that worth it?  Why not a 32GB~128GB USB drive?  Now if he had interchangeable devices like Inspector Gadget, that would be cool.  I am hoping he leaves this at home when on a date! You wouldn’t want to lose this prosthetic, let alone forget where you put it!  [seen via CNET]

Today’s example of style over substance - the Defendius Door Chain from the Art Lebedev Studio. It’s a door chain/ labyrinth maze combination that certainly looks interesting posted next to your doorknob. Probably most effective at keeping visitors locked inside. But it could also maybe confuse an escaping robber long enough for the police to arrive.

Whether you are shopping for a functional piece of lighting or an eye-catching conversation starter, Brooklyn-based Lights Up! offers an incredible selection of modern lighting - now available from Pure Modern - perfect for any modern home or business. Available in 27 unique fabrics from designer thomaspaul, it’s easy to find a pattern that suits your individual style.



For all the wood lovers out there, they feature some very interesting designs. Starting with the Faux Wood silk shades from thomaspaul - shown below on the Deco Deluxe Pendant Light - this style is available in most of Lights Up pendants and lamps. For something a little more authentic, the Woody Pendant Light is made with a real wood exterior and natural linen shade.

I haven’t blogged much lately—been busy with the transition and setup of PureModern UK, but in the course of that I’ve become a consumer of products I don’t regularly buy and have experienced a valuable lesson about design. When you move from one country to another you often have to buy things you’ve owned for years, in my case, a new television. I happened upon the new line of Samsung LED TV’s ultra thin super cool and premium price. I rationalized this purchase by saying - hey I have a small flat I should get something thin that doesn’t project out into the room… seems logical Here is where the lesson begins:

The TV is clearly about design - sold to look like beautiful moving photograph on your wall with its extremely bright 1080p image. Well that advanced design comes with flaws in the manufacturing—not all advances in technology come smoothly as we all know as computer users. But when these bumps in the road happen you look to a company to make it right. Samsung is NOT one of those companies. I’ve been put thru the ringer. I have owned this television for 6 months - of that time 3 months it has been in the possession of their “repair center” ... i use the quotations to make the point that repairing it seems to be the least of their concerns as it has been returned to me and taken away for more “repair” two additional times. Samsung corporate refuses to refund the purchase saying they have to “repair” it… and I get the pleasure of continuing to look at a blank wall that has a full subscription to cable

So again with the LESSON… high design does not equal high quality. High price does not equal reliability. This is a lesson I try to impress upon our design clients that you can spend 10K on a sofa or 2k and you may well get the better product at 2k.... I failed in that I didn’t heed my own lecture and bought solely on design.

I hope this experience can serve as a reminder to our readers, customers, and clients - that form and function must happen together and within the context of the space… sacrifice and compromise are not the same thing.

Please not that the image I post here is provided courtesy of SAMSUNG… my personal TV image can be see on the link below..

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Here is a great idea for an elegant bookshelf, from Korean designer Shawn Soh. A steel shelf in the form of a tree adds a unique bit of form to this centuries-old function. The bookshelf is no longer just big rectangular furniture. Which means I may have some work to do around the house. (via)