Top 10 smart storage solutions designed to perfectly organize + de-clutter your home

One problem that never seems to leave us, especially if you’re living in a major city – is the lack of space! If you’re an independent millennial who recently moved out of their family home and into their own, then a major issue that you may be dealing with almost every day…is space constraints in your own home. Our modern millennial homes have many virtues, but one thing they lack is space! Space constraint is something most of us end up dealing with every day. Smart storage solutions can be lifesavers in such tricky and compact situations. And to make your lives easier, we’ve curated a whole collection of storage solutions that come in the form of furniture designs that, to be honest, are going to completely organize your home. Not only do these products comfortably store your belongings, but they’re also perfect for displaying those special items that you don’t feel like shutting away in a dusty cabinet. From a Wolf stool concept to shelves that look like abstract art of faces gazing at you – these innovative storage and display solutions are the additions your home needs.

1. Allieva

There’s always been a need for compact and functional workstations. But this necessity is further compounded by the growing trend of distance learning and working from home, especially after the pandemic. To address this problem, Whynot Design has introduced a unique and innovative solution called the Allieva. This foldable wooden workstation is designed for Foppapedretti, one of the most well-known Italian brands for baby products and wooden furniture since 1945.

Why is it noteworthy?

This sleek, foldable work desk is meant to fit in any space, making it perfect for small houses and dorm rooms. Despite compromising on size, Allieva is aesthetically pleasing. It takes up as little space as possible and measures only 7 inches deep when folded.

What we like

  • The workstation can be set up easily with a simple gesture
  • Comes with a large compartment at the base of the table that allows you to keep everything

What we dislike

  • The folding and unfolding mechanism could be considered tedious by some

2. The Cheft Bookshelf

Maryam Pousti is the founder of the design and architecture practice Studio Pousti, and she put together a geometric bookshelf that is crafted from interlocking sheets of wood. The Cheft Bookshelf can be assembled without utilizing nails, screws, or glue.

Why is it noteworthy?

Besides functioning as a practical bookshelf, it can also be used as a room divider, or as a form of shelving for other items in your home. To be precise twelve interlocking sheets of wood were used to build Cheft. The bookshelf is also accompanied by a table and bar stool which all together form the Cheft furniture collection.

What we like

  • All three furniture pieces are inspired by the geometrical patterns of traditional Persian architecture
  • The bookshelf’s warm wooden aesthetics allow it to merge with the interiors of any modern contemporary home harmoniously

What we dislike

  • Extremely space-consuming design, not suited for smaller homes

3. The ZooZoo Collection

Adding an element of warmth will surely help employees to ease into their new work routine, after spending more than a year working from home. And a great collection of furniture could really help with that – such as the ZooZoo collection by Narbutas.

Why is it noteworthy?

Designed by Annie Lee for the workplace furniture brand Narbutas, the ZooZoo collection includes an intriguingly high coffee table and a complementing pouf. The sleek coffee table is 27.2 inches tall and features a metal base, as well as a smooth top. The coffee table is available in two sizes, and the metal base can be customized to the color of your choice. The collection also includes a series of matching poufs available in a variety of colors and textiles. The poufs are accompanied by cushioned seats.

What we like

  • The entire collection is available in a single color, or a two-toned option, hence allowing it to suit diverse interior spaces
  • The poufs can be neatly stowed under the coffee tables, and also boast handy storage nooks to hold books, folders, and other miscellaneous items

What we dislike

  • Not ergonomic for working long hours

4. The Altura

Patricia Perez designed the Altura, a minimal and sturdy step stool, for Case Furniture. An interesting fact about the stool is that it doubles as up as a side table and a plant stand.

Why is it noteworthy?

Described as a “sleek yet sturdy design”, the stool has been equipped with two stepped tiers that serve extremely handy in holding and storing all kinds of items – from lamps, and books, to an entire person!

What we like

  • It enables users to reach those high-up places in their homes that they usually aren’t able to reach
  • Altura’s minimal and neutral aesthetics make it a great addition to any modern living space

What we dislike

  • There are similar designs on the market, nothing to really help it stand apart

5. The Fréquence Shelf

Designed by Jean Couvreur for Kabata, the Fréquence shelf is a minimal and sophisticated shelving design that functions as a multifunctional piece of modular furniture. It was also presented at Maison& Objet 2021.

Why is it noteworthy?

Boasting clean aesthetics, in a stark white color, what makes Fréquence special is the fact that it functions as a bookcase, base unit, or room divider. It comprises of a couple of geometrically shaped modules that can be combined, mixed, and matched to create a variety of designs, in accordance with your personal taste and the requirement of your home.

What we like

  • You can configure the modular elements to create a small bookcase that stands close to the ground or even a large room divider for a larger living space
  • This construction principle is a pretty significant one, since it, reduces the loss of material in the manufacturing process by 10 percent

What we dislike

  • Not suited for tiny/smaller homes

6. Spectator

Named ‘Spectator’, this intriguing bookshelf definitely looks as if it’s staring right back at you! It seems to be made of interlocking jigsaw puzzle pieces, and each piece looks like a distorted human face!

Why is it noteworthy?

The Spectator Series of shelves is as much a psychological art piece as it is a piece of furniture. In its small way, it demonstrates the wonder of our brains that try to fill in the gaps to complete forms and ideas, like how it is able to see faces in shapes that are so far removed from human heads. With so many faces hiding in plain sight, the roles of observer and observed are also reversed, at least in our mind’s eye again.

What we like

  • The shelf adheres to minimalist design principles despite the odd shapes of its pieces

What we dislike

  • Not everybody would like the aesthetics of this piece

7. Wolf

Are you the kind of person who would look at clouds and try to see what shapes or creatures you can see there? If yes then you’re probably a pretty creative person who can see all sorts of things in different figures and structures even without hearing the name of the product concept. So even though there’s no description or explanation, you probably understand why this new product concept for a stool is called Wolf.

Why is it noteworthy?

The German-based designer is making a name for himself with his unique takes on simple furniture like bookshelves, lamps, and chairs. This new concept for a stool is called Wolf and if you let your imagination run a little wild, you’ll be able to see a wolf in the shape of this minimalist piece of furniture. In fact, the shape of the stool looks like a logo for a new video game or a brand that gives off a scary, wolf vibe.

What we like

  • The triangular middle part can actually be turned into a small storage area

What we dislike

  • Doesn’t seem like a very cozy seating space

8. The Stair Cubby

The Stair Cubby, as it was christened, can be assembled without the use of tools, with tabs simply going into slots and held down with pegs. The cubby is designed to sit on two steps of stairs, but the panel on the back can slide up and down to adjust to different stair heights. The storage has five open-access cubbies for shoes, books, and any other item that can fit inside, keeping things organized and out of harm’s way.

Why is it noteworthy?

Staircase bins need to take into account the particular shape of stairs, but not all stairs are made equal, so they have to be a bit more flexible or at least configurable. Given how in-demand these storage solutions might be, they also need to be durable and sustainable. These two product design students from Nottingham Trent University in the UK hit both birds with one sheet of plywood.

What we like

  • Can be assembled without the use of tools
  • Great for homes with space constraints

What we dislike

  • We’re not sure how well it would hold heavier objects

9. The Axis Concept

With this more mechanical standing desk concept, you can enjoy the benefits of a healthier working lifestyle without breaking your back or your bank.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Axis Concept uses a simple axis mechanism, hence the name, to move the larger desk surface up or down as needed. As a bonus, part of the desk actually remains in position and is a good place to put items you’re less likely to move, like supplies or desk organizers. It can even be a temporary bookshelf that stays in the back of your desk when sitting or beneath the table when standing.

What we like

  • The simplicity of this system means that manufacturers can keep the number of parts and materials down to a minimum
  • Sustainable materials can be used since it has no need for electronics or even plastics
  • Replacement parts could be easier to purchase, too, presuming owners themselves can’t make those out of standardized design

What we dislike

  • The setup remains difficult to maintain in case of a multi-monitor setup that requires more wires and connectivity

10. The Plot Twist Bookshelf

PLOT TWIST Bookshelves

PLOT TWIST Bookshelf Details

Prolific German furniture designer Deniz Aktay has recently introduced the Plot Twist Bookshelf. It’s a piece of furniture that features four separate twisted wooden elements. They are connected to each other, shaping and creating a stable form.

Why is it noteworthy?

The bookshelf’s design allows it to be accessed from every side. As with most of Deniz Aktay’s product designs, this bookshelf is oddly satisfying. The curves are present as with the designer’s other projects. In addition, most of Aktay’s works have undergone some bending or twisting, as with the Wavelet, the Tie Stool, and The Pet Table.

What we like

  • The shelves can accommodate similarly sized books for a clutter-free look
  • The bookshelf is stable and stands on its own

What we dislike

  • Space consuming design

The post Top 10 smart storage solutions designed to perfectly organize + de-clutter your home first appeared on Yanko Design.

Bindloss Dawes creates car barn for classic Porsche collector

Car barn in Somerset by Bindloss Dawes

Architecture studio Bindloss Dawes has created a garage and workshop named Autobarn on a Georgian estate in Somerset, UK, to house a collection of classic Porsches.

Designed to look like a barn, the five-bay garage and adjoining workshop stand alongside a Grade-II listed, 18th-century home on the outskirts of a village in Somerset.

Car barn for classic Porsches
Bindloss Dawes has created a car barn to house classic Porsches

Bindloss Dawes designed the 165-square-metre structure to contain the owner’s collection of classic cars and also as a space to renovate them.

The building’s form and timber-lattice cladding is informed by barns in the surrounding countryside, with the aim of fitting in with the neighbouring listed house.

Posche in car barn garage
The garage is designed for five Porsches

“Our aim was to create a building that appeared elegant and familiar at first glance, but then opened up to reveal something surprising and unexpected,” said Bindloss Dawes director Oliver Bindloss.

“Using the barn typology helped us to achieve this, creating simple timber forms that you might expect to find throughout the countryside, but then introducing some theatre with the big sliding doors, opening up the building to reveal the car collection inside.”

Workshop for repairing Posches
A workshop stands alongside the garage

The building is split into two pitched volumes arranged at right angles to form an L-shaped plan.

Each of the structures is built with a concrete foundation supporting a steel frame, which was coloured pale green and left visible within the buildings. Skylights run along the top of both volumes.

“A natural, pragmatic palette of timber, steel, concrete and recycled wood strand board combine to create a feeling of serenity and cleanliness,” said the studio.

“Their quiet tones allow the fleet of classic cars to become the focus.”

Garage in Somerset
It contains a tool store and a mezzanine-level studio

The five-bay garage has two entrances – a three-bay-wide, two-leaf sliding glass door that offers main access, set beside a single-bay, retractable steel security door. They are both disguised by a sliding floor-to-ceiling timber screen that blends into the building and provides solar shading.

Within the workshop space, Bindloss Dawes created a mezzanine study above a timber tool store with a washbasin and a small toilet.

Garage in Somerset illuminated at night
The garage is fronted with a series of doors

Bindloss Dawes designed the garage so that it could be converted into a home at a later date. It has underfloor heating powered by an air source heat pump, while first fix services are hidden behind the garage’s internal wall panelling.

Other garages recently featured on Dezeen include a 1950s structure in Edinburgh overhauled by architecture studio Konishi Gaffney and a cross-laminated timber building in Vancouver by Motiv Architects.

The photography is by Building Narratives.


Project credits:

Architect: Bindloss Dawes
Design team: Oliver Bindloss, George Dawes
Structural engineer: Constant Structural Design
Contractor: GDW Building & Renovations

The post Bindloss Dawes creates car barn for classic Porsche collector appeared first on Dezeen.

Eight homes with beautiful and practical bookshelves

White bookshelves inside House 6 in Spain

For our latest lookbook, we’ve collected eight homes where stylish wall-mounted and built-in bookshelves add storage and visual interest.

For book lovers, storage can quickly become a problem. But well-designed shelves can solve this issue and simultaneously function as a decorative detail.

This lookbook showcases practical bookshelves from across the globe, including custom-made steel shelving in Chicago and a floor-to-ceiling wooden bookcase in Shanghai.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring bathrooms with sunken baths, bedrooms with regal four-poster beds and interiors with natural materials and timeless accents.


Book shelf in living room of Residence for Two Collectors by Wheeler Kearns Architects
Photo by Tom Rossiter Photography

Residence for Two Collectors, US, by Wheeler Kearns Architects

Local studio Wheeler Kearns Architects designed this Chicago home for two art collectors to have enough space for their extensive collection.

In the penthouse’s living room, a custom-made shelf in patinated steel with its own circular staircase takes up almost an entire wall. This is filled not just with books but also with various artworks in wood and clay.

Find out more about Residence for Two Collectors ›


6House by Zooco Estudio
Photo by Imagen Subliminal

House 6, Spain, by Zooco Estudio

Bookshelves span two levels of this flat in Mallorca, designed by Spanish studio Zooco Estudio. Colourful book covers contrast against the white shelving unit, which rises up from the ground floor.

“As a unifying element, a shelf rises colonising both living and lobby spaces,” the studio said. “This way we integrate aesthetic and functionality in one single element.”

Find out more about House 6 ›


Pedro Reyes House, Mexico

Pedro Reyes House, Mexico, by Pedro Reyes

The Mexico City home of sculptor Pedro Reyes and fashion designer Carla Fernandez is filled with sculptural details including a double-height staircase and a library made from coarse concrete.

The concrete is left exposed both here and throughout the rest of the house, which takes cues from the city’s modernist and brutalist buildings, including examples by Luis Barragán.

Find out more about Pedro Reyes House ›


The Library Home, Shanghai, by Atelier TAO+C
Photo by Santiago Barrio and Shen Zhong Hai

Library Home, China, by Atelier Tao+C

This Shanghai apartment, located in the ISS Normandy Apartments designed by Hungarian-Slovak architect László Hudec in 1924, is almost completely lined with bookshelves.

The wooden storage matches the flat’s parquet flooring and contrasts with the white marble staircase in the living area, where a wine fridge adds to the relaxed feel of the room.

Find out more about Library Home ›


Turner Architects Cloistered House
Photo by Adam Scott

A Cloistered House, UK, by Turner Architects

When Turner Architects renovated this Georgian terraced house in south London, the British studio was careful to restore the building’s original features while still keeping it modern.

Built-in shelves filled with books add a splash of sage green to the living room, where a cosy mustard-yellow sofa creates an inviting reading spot.

Find out more about A Cloistered House ›


Staircase and bookshelves in Farleigh Road renovation and extension by Paolo Cossu Architects
Photo by Lorenzo Zandri

Farleigh Road House, UK, by Paolo Cossu Architects

A smooth wooden bookshelf lines the wall and connects to a chunky wooden staircase inside Farleigh Road House in east London, designed by local studio Paolo Cossu Architects.

Its deep shelves provide space for books as well as magazines, plants, vases and lamps.

Find out more about Farleigh Road House ›


Cuernavaca House by Tapia Mcmahon
Photo by Rafael Gamo

Cuernavaca House, Mexico, by Tapia McMahon

Inside this family home in Mexico City, a huge timber bookcase adds a warm feel to the concrete walls.

“Large timber bookshelves and a kitchen assembly mimic furniture installations and help to break up the use of fair-faced concrete walls and slabs throughout,” architecture studio Tapia McMahon said.

Find out more about Cuernavaca House ›


Charlotte Road by Emil Eve Architects

Charlotte Road warehouse, UK, by Emil Eve Architects

The living room inside this apartment in a former warehouse in Shoreditch, east London, features a built-in wooden bookcase that complements the exposed wooden beams in the ceiling.

Reaching all the way up to the ceiling, the oak shelving was designed to add to the warm material palette of the brick-and-timber building.

Find out more about Charlotte Road warehouse ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring bathrooms with sunken baths, bedrooms with regal four-poster beds and interiors with natural materials and timeless accents.

The post Eight homes with beautiful and practical bookshelves appeared first on Dezeen.

Curtains for minimalism as John Pawson goes maximalist

British designer John Pawson

Minimalist British designer John Pawson has ditched his pared-back aesthetic in favour of full-blown maximalism, Dezeen understands.

Pawson, who is not an architect, had become famous for his minimalist designs and was awarded a CBE in 2019.

But a source close to Pawson informed Dezeen that he has now embraced bold colours, clashing patterns and animal-print furnishings after a dramatic change-of-heart.

John Pawson
British designer Pawson has historically been known for his minimalist designs

“I went to the Pawsons’ place in the Cotswolds recently and it’s like night and day,” the source said. “They’ve wallpapered over the white-brick walls and stuck some garish curtains over the windows.”

“And the soft furnishings, my god. You can barely move for patterned rugs and blankets.”

Possible social-media link

However, not-an-architect Pawson appears to have chosen to maintain a minimalist approach in his relationship with the media.

Asked if he could explain his reversal in tastes, he replied: “No.”

The source speculated that Pawson’s shift in style may be linked to social media.

John Pawson maximalism
Pawson has now transformed his Cotswold home into a maximalist colour-fest

In 2018, he surprised some by releasing a book of vivid photographs, telling Dezeen at the time that he had discovered a love of colour through Instagram.

“Maybe he’s moved on to TikTok,” the source said.

Maximalism has been a re-emerging trend over the past couple of years, partly driven by its popularity on the video-gallery platform.

His studio declined to answer questions about whether Pawson – who, again, is not an architect and Dezeen would never suggest anything to the contrary – will apply his new-found personal partiality to maximalism to commercial projects.

However, a spokesperson said: “When are you doing another Hot List? John would really like you to do another Hot List.”

Pawson, whose most high-profile projects include the Novy Dvur monastery in the Czech Republic and the Design Museum in London, ranked at number six on Dezeen’s Hot List of newsworthy designers and brands in 2017.

Last week, a Deyan Sudjic-authored biography of Pawson’s life and work was published, but did not mention his switch to maximalism.

The photography is by Gilbert McCarragher, with additional input from Studio Merlin.

The post Curtains for minimalism as John Pawson goes maximalist appeared first on Dezeen.

This week we revealed Pepsi's first rebrand in 14 years

Pepsi rebrand

This week on Dezeen, we published drinks brand Pepsi’s new logo, which drew from the past and looked to the future while aiming to be “undeniably Pepsi”.

Released to mark Pepsi‘s 125th anniversary, the rebrand drew on its 1990s logo and used black wording to draw attention to Pepsi Zero Sugar.

“We designed the new visual identity to connect future generations with our brand’s heritage, transcending everything we know and love about the brand to create something current and undeniably Pepsi,” PepsiCo chief design officer Mauro Porcini told Dezeen.

Voll Arkitekter's Mjøstårnet
We continued the Timber Revolution series by focusing on tall mass-timber buildings

Continuing our Timber Revolution series, we looked at the growing trend for high-rise mass-timber buildings. We profiled one of the world’s first true timber skyscrapers, the 85.4-metre-high Mjøstårnet tower in Norway, and rounded up the world’s 10 tallest buildings with mass-timber structures.

We questioned the race to build tall by asking mass-timber experts about the practicalities of taller wooden buildings.

“For most buildings, tall timber does not make sense,” said Arup fellow Andrew Lawrence. “Timber’s natural home is low-rise construction,” he told Dezeen.

Radiant Matter sequin suit by Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney created a bodysuit using biosequins

In design news, British fashion brand Stella McCartney unveiled a sleeveless bodysuit covered in sequins made from tree cellulose developed by biomaterials company Radiant Matter.

“Our BioSequins are the response to a gap in the market between sustainable and aesthetic parameters that the industry struggled to close,” Radiant Matter founder Elissa Brunato told Dezeen.

Deck-access housing at Park Hill
Deck-access housing is making a comeback, argued Rory Olcayto this week

In an opinion piece on Dezeen, writer Rory Olcayto argued that deck-access housing, which unfairly become a symbol for urban squalor, was making a comeback in the UK.

“‘Housing for dirty people’ is back and I welcome it, especially when compared with alternatives like residential towers,” he wrote in the piece.

Junko Kobayashi toilet in Tokyo
Junko Kobayashi designed a toilet for the Tokyo Toilet project

In Japan, two more toilets were opened as part of the long-running Tokyo Toilet project, which will see 17 public toilets created in the city.

Specialist toilet designer Junko Kobayashi unveiled a weathering steel toilet topped with a yellow disc (above), while Miles Pennington’s contribution aims to be the “centre of the local community”.

Fran Silvestre Arquitectos created minimalist in Spain
Fran Silvestre Arquitectos created minimalist in Spain

Popular projects on Dezeen this week included a minimalist home in Spain, a flood-resilient house in Vietnam and a brick school in Tanzania.

Our latest lookbooks featured bathrooms with tranquil sunken baths and bedrooms featuring regal four-poster beds.

This week on Dezeen

This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week’s top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don’t miss anything.

The post This week we revealed Pepsi’s first rebrand in 14 years appeared first on Dezeen.

This levitating box-cutter and paperclip holder are by far the coolest tabletop stationery money can buy



Designed by the maker of the Levitating Pen from a little over a year ago, Novium returns with some more gravity-defying office instruments. The two new pieces of space-inspired stationery are the Edge, a hovering box-cutter, letter-opener, and scale, and the Shuttleport, a similar gravity-defying paperclip holder. With a design that’s a unique combination of practical and utterly fascinating, the Edge and Shuttleport bring a sense of futurism and whimsy to your tabletop. They compel you to look away from your screen once in a while and just stare in wonder at them as they float. Suspended using a set of precisely positioned magnets, the Edge and Shuttleport make for rather engaging fidget toys too, as they bob up and down when gently nudged.

Designer: Novium

Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $134 (26% Off) Hurry! Just 5 more days left!

The Novium Edge is a multipurpose tool that effortlessly hovers above its magnetic base, making it an eye-catching addition to any desk. The levitating box cutter, letter-opener, and scale comes with an edgy, future-friendly design that’s simultaneously also ergonomic, intuitive, and safe to use. When docked, the Edge rests reliably on its anti-gravity base, hovering at a precise 12° angle that makes it easy to grab whenever you want.

The Edge’s design visually splits into its three broad functions. At the very tip is the box-cutter, made from stainless steel with a 1mm-wide safety tip that lets you pierce through boxes but not hurt or harm skin. The Edge’s anodized aluminum grip has a notched upper surface that serves as a precision scale, and a semi-sharp bottom surface that’s perfectly dull enough to cut through envelopes and packages to reveal the contents within.

The Edge sits at a 12° angle against its magnetic base, with the handle hovering in mid-air for you to easily grab onto. Docking the Edge is satisfying too as it instantly grabs its position with a click.

The Edge weighs a mere 25 grams, and despite its angular grip, is incredibly comfortable to hold and use. Its weighted mid-section gives it a sense of reliability as you grip it, and the blunt-tipped box cutter is safe enough to hold without hurting yourself. It’s notoriously effective against boxes, though, so points for that. The Edge’s base, on the other hand, is made from zinc (with powerful built-in rare-earth magnets) and weighs a sizeable 130 grams. This makes it an effective docking station for the Edge because it remains in its place as you engage or disengage the magnetic system while you’re lifting or docking the Edge. The heavy base also makes it a pretty wonderful paperweight, adding to the Edge’s list of impressive features.

The Edge’s rocking motion makes it a brilliant fidget-toy to constantly play with

While magnetic paper-clip holders have been around for decades, none are as impressive as the Shuttleport. With a design that actually glorifies the paper clip, the Shuttleport comes with a split-arc form factor that’s filled with visual drama, and its matte-black color simply serves to guide your eye to the hovering silver paperclip located at its center. The Shuttleport comes with two kinds of clips, the bent-wire kind and the sheet-metal kind. Both the clips sport an angular paper-plane-inspired design (giving legitimacy to the word Shuttle in Shuttleport), although one is well suited for binding papers together into documents, and the other acts as a metallic bookmark, marking pages for you to go back to.

The Shuttleport’s anti-gravity base comes with a platform for docking one levitating clip, and a dedicated storage area on the side for keeping the rest of the clips handy just when you need them. The anti-gravity base looks a lot like the one seen on the company’s levitating HoverPen series, although this one’s designed to work with paper-clips instead. The clips rest at a precarious angle, pointing towards the sky, while their plane/jet-inspired design just feels like a wonderful extra design detail that is bound to grab anyone’s attention even when the clips aren’t on their levitating docking station.

Simply pinch the clip and lift it off its anti-gravity base to un-dock it. Once you’ve used the clip, return it to the base and it automatically aligns with the magnets.

The paper clip and bookmark both come with a paper-plane-inspired design

Both the Novium Edge and Shuttleport are made from high-quality materials, ensuring durability and longevity. The aluminum, steel, and zinc construction gives them a premium feel while being lightweight and easy to handle. The weighted magnetic bases provide a stable foundation for these levitating marvels, ensuring that they stay in place and function flawlessly.

The Edge comes in Space Black and Starlight Silver color options, whereas the Shuttleport has a single Space Black variant. Launched as Novium’s fourth campaign on Kickstarter, the Edge starts at a discounted $69 while the Shuttleport is priced at a discounted $39. If you want to grab both of them, you can for just $99, making them a wonderful addition to your office or WFH tabletop, or an absolutely stellar gift for a special someone. The Novium Edge and Shuttleport begin shipping in August 2023.

Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $134 (26% Off) Hurry! Just 5 more days left!

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These dome-shaped solar trees use AI to charge electric vehicles and combat the issue of EV charging

Slowly and surely the world has been moving towards clean energy alternatives. People have been abandoning dirty energy, especially petrol and diesel-ridden vehicles, for smarter and cleaner EVs, and other solar energy products. However, an issue that EVs often pose, is the issue of charging them. It can be challenging to find charging stations frequently and in convenient locations, but this is where these intriguing ‘Solar trees’ come into the picture. London-based SolarBotanic Trees created these sleek innovative trees designed to power EV Charging stations!

Designer: SolarBotanic Trees

The London-based company launched the prototype for the trees in September 2022, and its first generation of solar trees will finally be available in the coming few months! SolarBotanic developed these trees in collaboration with a London-based business support program Co-Innovate. The two teamed up and used academic and innovation resources from the surrounding universities and facilities. The unique-looking trees have been equipped with solar panels. These solar panels or nano photovoltaic ‘leaves’ form the dome or the canopy of the trees. They absorb energy from sunlight and transform it into electrical energy.

That collected electrical energy is then stored in the trees’ AI-driven energy storage and management system, which releases this power and manages it. There are other simple solar trees on the market, for example, Smartflower – a rather large daisy-shaped solar energy solution. But there are certain features that set the SolarBotanic Trees apart from similar designs on the market. First and foremost, the Smartflower has a four-kilowatt system, while the SolarBotanic Trees have been equipped with a five-kilowatt capacity, a larger capacity than other trees available today. Also, the SolarBotanic Trees will have a lower and more economical price point, which will make the product more accessible to the masses.

The SolarBotanic Trees will provide solar energy solutions for homes, businesses, and commercial parking spaces. The commercial version or the SolarBotanic Tree “v01” will be available in mid-2023 and version “v02” with an energy management system (EMS), battery storage, and rapid EV-charging system will be available later in the year. A third version the “v03” will be available in 2025 – it will use an advanced combination of wind and solar power generation modules.

The post These dome-shaped solar trees use AI to charge electric vehicles and combat the issue of EV charging first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Makita MW001G Portable Microwave: Bringing Culinary Convenience to the Great Outdoors

Wanting a portable microwave is simultaneously a problem that I’ve never had or thought of, and a problem that I now can’t stop thinking of. If we can have portable coffee makers, portable induction stovetops, and portable blenders, why hasn’t anyone ever built a portable microwave yet? Sure, microwaves consume massive amounts of energy to stay operational – so do refrigerators and air-conditioners, but you’ve got portable ACs and fridges, right? Well, seems like Japanese power tool manufacturer Makita took on this rather unique challenge and designed what is easily the first ever portable microwave I’ve ever seen. Given the company’s core strengths, the microwave looks a little like a portable power station – and with good reason too. It runs on two 40V 4Ah lithium-ion batteries, and has a power output of up to 500W, giving you the ability to heat up to 11 dishes in one full battery cycle. It sports a USB-A port to charge your smartphones and comes with a handle that lets you carry the appliance around and even take it outdoors. Why? Because you can!

Designer: Makita

The fact that a power-tool maker built a portable microwave makes a fair bit of sense considering its primary audience. Picture this – you’re a construction worker who’s on site. It’s lunchtime and everyone’s digging into their room-temperature sandwiches and burritos… but you show up with the Makita MW001G. Thanks to the MW001G, you (and a bunch of your other friends) can have a hot, nourishing meal instead of a cold, insipid one. Pretty cool, right?

The MW001G measures 13.50 x 12.52 x 13.31 inches and weighs about 20 lbs (8.8kg). Its inner cabin is compact enough to fit one meal in at a time, or a few mugs of coffee. The microwave comes with two power settings, a lower 350W that lets the appliance run for longer, but takes more time to heat your food too, and a max 500W output that gives the microwave 8 full minutes of run-time. There’s no rotating table inside the MW100G, and a pretty rudimentary control panel lets you start/stop the appliance, and set the timer for your heating cycle, which displays on the simple seven-segment LED display.

The MW001G runs on Makita’s standard XGT batteries that also run the company’s other cordless power tools. This is convenient if you use Makita’s appliances because there’s a fair bit of synergy in being able to easily swap out battery packs between appliances for better convenience. The MW001G runs on two XGT batteries that easily clip onto the back of the microwave, and a 2.4 A 5V USB-A output allows you to charge your smartphone on the go.

Although designed to be a convenient appliance for the blue-collar worker, the MW001G doesn’t come cheap. Limited to a Japan-only release for now, the MW001G is priced at ¥71,500 ($540 USD) making it roughly 3-4 times the price of a regular (and much bigger) corded microwave. Me, I’ll just enjoy my cold burrito instead.

The post The Makita MW001G Portable Microwave: Bringing Culinary Convenience to the Great Outdoors first appeared on Yanko Design.