Hasta La Ideas

For our latest Dezeen lookbook we’ve collected 10 bedrooms from homes across the world, from a cabin in Finland to an apartment complex in Thailand, that all feature wood panelling.

Warm, polished wood panels add an organic feel to the starkest of interiors. In bedrooms, it can create a cosy, comforting vibe, and is also sturdier and more practical than wallpaper.

The wood used in these lookbooks ranges from dark oak creating a mid-century modern feel to lighter wooden panels that nod to Nordic interiors.

This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbooks series that provides visual inspiration for designers and design enthusiasts. Previous lookbooks include homes with exposed concrete, purple interiors and living rooms with statement rugs.

SRG House, Australia, by Fox Johnston

When local studio Fox Johnston renovated this modernist home in Sydney, it aimed to create a design interweaving the old and the new.

In the bedroom, dark wooden panels nod to mid-century modern interiors but a concrete ceiling and pale pastel-coloured textiles keep the space looking up to date. An abstract artwork and a slender black bedside lamp complete the interior.

Find out more about SRG House ›

Moore House, US, by Woods + Dangaran

This mid-century residence in Los Angeles features large windows that open up to California‘s verdant climate. In the bedroom, the nature outside the windows is echoed inside through the use of green plants and teak finishes.

A classic rice lamp by Isamu Noguchi and a comfortable Eames lounge chair in black leather and wood match the wood panelling, which has black borders for a graphic feel.

Find out more about Moore House ›

Penthouse BV, Belgium, by Adjo Studio

Large wooden joinery elements were used to organise this penthouse apartment in Hasselt, Belgium, including a cherry-wood wall in the bedroom.

The rest of the interior of the room has been kept in neutral grey, white and brown hues, underlining the subtle luxury of the materials used.

Find out more about Penthouse BV ›

Hotel Madame Rêve, France, by Laurent Taïeb

A former post office near the Louvre museum in Paris was turned into a luxury hotel by hotelier Laurent Taïeb. Inspired by the motto “life must be golden”, the colour scheme features rich, saturated hues of gold, tan and brown.

In the bedrooms, angled walnut wood panelling adds interesting patterns to the walls and matches the pale golden colours of the bed’s headboard and throw.

Find out more about Hotel Madame Rêve ›

Niliaitta, Finland, by Studio Puisto

This black-painted cabin is raised on a single pillar in a Finnish national park. Inside, light wooden panels line almost every surface in a design that was intended to focus the eye on the views of the surrounding forest.

“The landscape that opens from this window intentionally dominates the rest, as the interior is done purposefully so that it would only serve as a neutral, blank canvas second to the nature outside,” explained the studio.

Find out more about Niliaitta ›

Island Rest, UK, by Ström Architects

Beams of blackened larch wood clad the exterior of the Island Rest holiday home on England’s Isle of Wight. The wooden theme continues inside, where light panelling was used for both the floor and the walls of the bedroom.

A shiny golden bedside lamp, a knitted bed throw and an animal hide-rug add tactile interest and a more rustic feel to the smooth wooden interior.

Find out more about Island Rest ›

Balcones Residence, US, by Clayton & Little

US studio Clayton & Little gave the 1950s Balcones Residence a meticulous renovation that kept its original brickwork and warm mahogany panelling.

Gleaming dark wood creates a snug feel in the bedroom, where it is complemented by a dark cork floor. Matching bedside tables and a Nelson Pear Wall Sconce by designer George Nelson make the space feel a little like a luxurious hotel room.

Find out more about Balcones Residence ›

House P, China, by MDDM Studio

The interior of House P in China is drenched in bright yellow hues, but the bedroom has been kept in more natural tones. The built-in bed nook is lined with ash wood to create a different atmosphere.

“As the house is playing with a very simple colour scheme, we wanted to give the master bedroom a more articulated and warm atmosphere,” designer Momo Andrea Destro told Dezeen.

Find out more about House P ›

Lom Haijai, Thailand, by Studionomad

This wooden apartment block in Bangkok by architecture practice Studionomad features trees growing through the louvres of its facade.

Its interiors continue the natural theme, with wood panel-lined bedrooms adjacent to terraced spaces. The dark wood contrasts against white walls, while green plants underline the organic feel.

Find out more about Lom Haijai ›

Astor Residence, US, by SPAN Architecture

This remote retreat overlooks Western Bay on the Maine coast and features a garden informed by Chinese architecture.

Its guesthouse has a primary bedroom on the top floor of the house, which features a wraparound terrace and wood panelling. Local materials, including cedar and Douglas fir, were used throughout the house.

Main image is from Moore House by Joe Fletcher.

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive.

For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing texture-heavy restaurant interiors, living rooms with statement rugs and homes with exposed concrete blockwork.

The post Ten bedrooms with elegant wood panelling for a cosy atmosphere appeared first on Dezeen.

Floe is a fully stocked home gym system that comes with everything from weight training accessories to virtual coaching features to bring the convenience of a private gym to the comfort of your living room.

The pandemic changed the at-home fitness game forever. Stuck at home during quarantine, fitness was at forefront of our minds. Without access to public or private gyms, our homes transformed into temporary fitness centers. Our living rooms, basements, and offices became multipurpose rooms filled with a mix of work desks, kettlebells, smart televisions, and yoga mats. Consolidating all of our fitness needs into a single product, Australian design group Blue Sky created Floe Fit, an at-home fitness system that has it all, including virtual coaching.

Recognized by Good Design for 2021’s Sport and Lifestyle category, Floe appears as a simple, backless bench, but hidden storage compartments reveal much more. Stocked with everything you might need in the gym, including a yoga mat, foam roller, kettlebell, and medicine ball, Floe even comes with a virtual coaching feature similar to the services found on Peloton. Equipped with an extendable viewing stand and iPad, Floe users can follow along with programmed workouts in the comfort of their own homes. From yoga to weight training, Floe offers it all and transforms back into an inconspicuous entryway bench once the sweat session ends.

Featuring hidden storage compartments and slide-out drawers, Floe looks like any other piece of furniture during the day, adapting nicely to any living room or office. Then, when the need for movement starts to itch, Floe instantly turns into your personal home gym, providing you with everything you might need for a good sweat. From virtual training to weight training accessories, Floe’s winning the at-home fitness game.

Designer: Blue Sky Design Group

The post This fitness system brings the gym to your living room with a virtual coach and IKEA-inspired aesthetics! first appeared on Yanko Design.

With the Safe Tag in use, you can walk into a smartphone retail store, pick up a phone of your choice and roam around the store testing it before buying without a store representative stalking you as if you were a thief.

There are a range of strategies and devices used by mobile phone retail stores to address the problem of shoplifting. One of the most prominently used is merchandising security that allows customers to pick and test a new smartphone while keeping it tethered to the display furniture. Some wireless mobile security systems, like the Safe Tag in use at the T-Factory retail store in Mapo-gu, Seoul in South Korea, have presented a workaround for this ugly user experience of anti-theft cables locking devices to the stand.

The Safe Tag for one allows customers to get rid of the shackles of cables holding the smartphones back – limiting the user experience – and allows them to freely pick up and tinker with the phone. The Tag, however, ensures the smartphone in the consumer’s hand is always protected by the wireless cradle that delivers a security alarm and sends location data directly to the store manager. It lets the staff remain assured that the phone will not be stolen and the resulting consumer experience is as smooth as silk.

This wireless security device for displaying mobile phones in stores is fashioned in two parts, the tag and the cradle. While the two, finished in a matte white hue, are designed to work in tandem, they can also pull off the job independently in case the tag is detached from the cradle. Using the Smart Tag is simple, the retailer can connect the tag to the smartphone’s charging pin and dock the tag into its cradle. The charging pin connected to the phone features a sliding hinge to ensure it can rock back and forth to accommodate smartphones of any thickness.

Once installed and placed on the display furniture, the Safe Tag is functional. It transmits a docked phone’s specifics to the linked e-ink display for user convenience and instantly rings a security alarm when a customer detaches the phone or the tag from the cradle. The alarm is accompanied by the location data, both of which are sent directly to the store manager who can then know the whereabouts of the phone. Interestingly, the alarm is also sounded if the phone travels – with the tag – beyond the specified distance from the cradle that features a built-in battery to run wirelessly, if required.

The Safe Tag is useful and effective as an anti-theft mechanism in retail stores for high-value devices like phones and deserves to travel beyond the bounds of South Korea. Though we are hopeful it will happen soon, there is no official word from the makers on this yet.

Designer: Kongtech Design Team

The post Safe Tag makes smartphones buying experience in stores convenient without sacrificing security first appeared on Yanko Design.

Lola is a tiny home on wheels that’s part of designer Mariah Hoffman’s larger multi-disciplinary design studio and brand Micro Modula, one that explores “home, place, and the self.”

There hasn’t been a more opportune time for tiny homes on wheels to take the spotlight. In an effort to feel closer to nature and embrace more eco-friendly lifestyles, we all seem to be downsizing these days and itching to travel without leaving our home comforts behind.

Enter tiny homes on wheels, small living spaces stripped down to their bare essentials that can move anywhere the wind blows, so long as there’s an open road. Joining the movement, self-taught spatial designer and overall creative, Mariah Hoffman planned and constructed her own tiny home on wheels called Lola.

Over the span of five years, Hoffman gradually transformed an old utility trailer into a 156-square-foot mobile tiny home. Born out of a daydream to build her own home, Hoffman built Lola to “learn all the necessary skills for [her] personal and creative survival.”

Particularly spurred by the essentialist edge of desert modernism, Hoffman turned to construction materials that aesthetically met the bill and also provided some functional elements for the home to brace the seasons as well as the local critters.

Located in sunny San Diego, Lola’s external facades are sided with exterior-grade, Shou sugi ban plywood that was chosen for a minimalist, charred black profile and for its resistance against damage brought on by bugs, fire, and the weather.

Outfitted with solar panels for electricity and power, Hoffman positioned Lola “so that [the] largest windows face North/South to maximize passive solar,” which means, “the low winter brings bright morning days,” as she describes in an Instagram post.

To complement the home’s dark exterior, Hoffman clad the open-plan interior walls in light-toned birch panels. Merging the bright walls with exposed black-steel structural framing, Hoffman planned the interior in honor of the midcentury design that helped inspire Lola’s final form.

Then, throughout the home, Hoffman integrated multifunctional furniture and hidden storage spaces to optimize the available living space, helping the tiny home on wheels to not feel so tiny.

Designer: Mariah Hoffman x Micro Modula

Mariah Hoffman planned and built Lola over the span of five years. 

Lola was transformed into a tiny home on wheels from a disused trailer.

The post This DIY tiny home on wheels is a modernist haven inspired by desert architecture! first appeared on Yanko Design.

Without anyone paying too much attention, Mercedes Benz has taken a significant lead over its main rivals in the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) genre. In contrast to BMW and Audi’s four model lines of PHEVs, Mercedes has double that amount of models and is also the only brand to offer both gasoline and diesel-powered PHEVs.

Today, I’m going to review the baby of the company’s so-called electrified EQ Power family, the A250e sedan. This is a front-wheel-drive four-door with a 1.3-liter turbo engine mated to an electric motor and an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. Just to recap, a plug-in hybrid offers electric-only drive, gasoline engine power, or a combination of both depending on what mode you choose. This car may be a PHEV but specs such as maximum power of 215-hp, a 0-60mph in 6.6 seconds, and a 15.6kWh lithium-ion battery suggest that the A250e performs more like a sports sedan than a traditional plug-in hybrid. More on that later, but yes, it does.

The truth about plug-in hybrids

You hear a lot about plug-in hybrid vehicles these days but just how popular are they? They are becoming increasingly popular among drivers who want to go electric but are still bothered by range anxiety and so feel comfortable with the added ‘insurance’ of a gasoline engine that can act as a generator to charge batteries. So what share of the market do PHEVs hold? Try 1.9% in the U.S. in 2019 which translates to around one-fifth of the total amount of plug-in electric vehicles on the road today. In 2020, the American PHEV stock represented 20% of the global plug-in hybrids making the U.S. the world’s third-largest stock behind China with 47% and Europe with 25%.

The $64,000 question: how do you go about turning a gasoline-powered A-Class into a plug-in hybrid. The first task is to remove the gasoline tank, and in its place under the rear seats, you need to install a large battery pack. But what do you do with the fuel tank? Mercedes designers had to shrink the tank to 35-liters and then squeeze it in next to the rear axle, which acts to compromise a small amount of trunk space. On the positive side, rear seat space remains unchanged with decent leg and headroom.

The overall exterior design is elegant and sporty with a high belt line and short front and rear overhangs. Even for an A-Class, the smallest sedan in Mercedes’ range, the grille is bold and by stretching right across the car’s nose from one headlight to the other, it delivers significant street presence for a small car. Boasting an overly large three-pointed star emblem (let’s face it, carmakers are growing their emblems with every new generation to further solidify brand identity) and chrome bar that splits the grille in half horizontally, hundreds of beautifully-crafted tiny hexagonal chrome shapes appear to float on a black background as they drift away from the central emblem in a wave ripple effect. The black brake ducts located under the sharp upslanting headlights are very sporty and seem influenced by the firm’s luxurious AMG arm. Up the back of the car, the chrome exhaust tips are just for show with the real exhaust pipe sitting under the car hidden from sight.

The dual touchscreens offer brilliant graphics and color

Inside, the cabin is, without doubt, one of the best in its class and is teched up to the hilt. The A250e is offered in only AMG Line trim so all will be well-equipped cars. The highlight of the dashboard is without doubt those twin 10.3-inch digital touchscreens that house highly acclaimed Mercedes MBUX (Mercedes Benz User Experience) infotainment system. A feature now available on all Mercedes models from the S-Class down, MBUX is voice-activated using the phrase “Hey Mercedes.”

Importantly, this feature is cloud-based so it has a lot more computing power than most other digital assistants. It will prompt you with the phrase “How may I help you?” You can ask it about the weather or to change the radio station, turn down the cabin temperature or turn on your seat heater. Ask it “Are you my best friend,” and it will reply, “You bet, buddy.” Ask it, “What do you think about Audis?” And it will reply with some impeccable logic, answering, “The same as you, otherwise you would not be sitting here.” And the piece de resistance of the MBUX’s makeup—ask it to tell you a joke and it will reply, “Sorry but my engineers were German.”

The dual-screen combination delivers the best, most high definition graphics and richest colors in their class. But to get the twin screens as well as the color-adjustable ambient lighting feature, you have to spend extra on AMG Line Premium trim. The screens deliver augmented reality navigation prompts which is cool but takes a little getting used to. While the touchpad on the center console can be a little fiddly to use, the thumbpad scrollers on the steering wheel spokes work well and the navigation system responds to voice commands. The 225W ‘Mercedes Advanced’ sound system is high quality, packs all the power you will need, and offers both Android and Apple compatibility.

Boasting impressive levels of refinement, the aluminum-accented triple circular air vents surrounded by piano black are neat and classy, while all switches and dials offer excellent tactile rigidity and are sharp to the touch. The two-toned red and black seat design on my test car looked luxurious and sporty at the same time and the seats offered good lumbar support.

The Driving Experience

As was briefly mentioned above, the A250e is powered by a turbocharged 4-cylinder, 1.3-liter gasoline engine, an electric motor, and a 15.6kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Married to an 8-speed dual clutch gearbox, this A-Class has a total combined output of 215-hp, in which the engine produces 158-hp and 184 lb-ft of torque while the electric motor generates 100-hp and 221 lb-ft.
Like virtually all PHEVs, the A250e’s role is to use up all its battery power before starting the engine. It defaults to Electric mode when you switch it on, but you can choose to save some charge for later or let the car manage the two power sources as it sees fit. Using a switch on the center console, you can cycle between four drive modes: comfort, sport, EV, and battery level which essentially turns the A250e into a dedicated internal combustion engine vehicle allowing you to save all of your precious battery power for when you actually need it.

Most PHEVs claim 30-35 miles of electric-only range and actually deliver 25-30 miles. Mercedes claims 44 miles and will do a decent 35 miles at speeds of up to 87-mph without needing to fire up its engine to recharge the batteries. That’s good because according to statistics, most commuters drive fewer than 30 miles per day. And even with a totally depleted battery, the engine will shut down when you take your foot off the gas, saving even more fuel.

A full charge takes less than two hours which is not a big ask at the end of your daily drive. So, assuming you have a driveway, you really have no excuse not to keep it charged. And keeping it charged is really what you need to do—and not rely on the engine to recharge the batteries while you drive. The reason? If you start your journey with a full battery, Mercedes say you can get 256 mpg. But if you don’t start with a full battery, because you haven’t bothered to charge it overnight, then the figure drops drastically due to the fact that the gasoline engine is dragging the extra weight of the electrical components without any help. On the day I tested the car, I returned around 80-mpg in a normal city driving in central Tokyo. Using a quick charger, the Mercedes’ battery pack will fill up from 10 percent to 80 percent in under 30 minutes, or if you use your home charger that would take around 7.5 hours.

Interestingly, the electric-only mode is far more enjoyable than the other modes because it’s here that the car shines at its smoothest and quietest. When the gasoline engine kicks in, however, the car is noisier, feels far less refined, and is a telling reminder of just how old-school and unwieldy small gasoline engines feel in comparison to EVs. In a way, it does feel like you’re driving a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde type of vehicle, a car that has two distinct faces—the clunky noisy gasoline engine of the 20th century and the smooth, quiet, efficient electric motor of the 21st century.

If you can tolerate the noise and vibration coming from the engine, then sport mode is the one to use in terms of performance and handling. With a 0-60 mph sprint time of 6.6 seconds, it’s quick enough off the line to keep up with a hot hatch and will max out at 146-mph, which is quite impressive for a car that tips the scales at 3792 lbs. The 8-speed gearbox is good and lets you shift quickly and effortlessly between gear ratios using paddle shifters located just behind the steering wheel. However, left to its own devices, the dual-clutch transmission does tend to hang on to gears longer than it should sometimes which can lead to slightly jerky driving. In EV mode, these paddles double as a regenerative brake level selector allowing you to dial up the car’s automatic braking when you lift off the throttle.

It’s quite good in the corners too. While negotiating a bend you quickly realize that the A250e’s low center of gravity keeps the car planted as it resists body roll. It also offers plenty of grip with light, accurate steering, and good road information being transferred through the wheel.

The brakes are very hybridized. Translated that means they are a little grabby, with a spongy, springy pedal feel. You won’t want to push it too hard as the car is a lot heavier than the normal A-Class and thus prefers to live life at a slower pace. Be smooth, however, and it will reward you at the pumps.

Pricing and Options

The A250e is an expensive A-Class, with the AMG Line Premium car we tested coming in at almost £36,000 or around $47,600. As a matter of fact, the A250e is sold in Europe, Japan, and Australia but not in the U.S. since the model it’s based on is not sold there. But according to one source, we could potentially see this technology in something like a CLA or a next-generation GLA.

So how do we rate this A250e? It may sit at the entry-level to PHEVs at Mercedes but it does give you the best of both worlds. It gives you all of the features that people like about the A-Class, with the added bonus of driving it in electric mode and with a range that permits a 20-mile daily commute. This compact four-door offers some mighty fine tech, including the talented hilarious MBUX infotainment, good mileage and handling, and decent performance.

In contrast, the car’s gasoline engine is a little rough around the edges, which makes you want to keep it in EV mode even more. If you’re the type of person who wants to dip your feet into the world of electric cars but doesn’t want to get stung by range anxiety, then the A250e is a definite strong option. After all, as we head towards 2030, most carmakers will be switching to a two pillar model lineup strategy—electric and plug-in hybrid. If you want a compact luxury car with good mileage and some worthy earth-friendly credentials, then the A250e might just be a good place to start.

The post Mercedes Benz A250e plug-in Hybrid Review first appeared on Yanko Design.