Lately, we’ve been seeing Baroque Furniture come back but in fun and modern ways.  Bright colors and bold fabrics have made this long celebrated style trendy once again.  Taking it another step further is Studio JSPR, who with its Plastic Fantastic Collection brings this serious style to your patio ad backyard in a fun and casual way.

The Plastic Fantastic Collection comes in a great variety of colors and is made to be used outside, so rain poses no threat.  Check out more from JSPR here.

The Stretch Shelf is essentially a rubber band – there I said it.   But it’s a really cool and versatile rubber band that also functions as a wall shelf (cool!). Though the idea is simple, I have to say I’m pretty interested in getting my hands on a few of these.  I like that they can take on different shapes and that they simultaneously function as wall art and functional shelves.

Each Stretch Shelf has a 10 inch diameter and can be stretched to take on nearly any shape. See more from designer Pete Oyler. 

Ok people, let’s talk wall stickers.  There’s no denying they are popular, I’ve posted about them before, and there seems to be a never ending style battle between thinking they are in and thinking they are on their way out. Regardless of how you feel, unless you’ve checked out Areaware before, you’ve never seen wall stickers like this.

Areaware’s decals are not trendy accents, they are pieces of art. They are custom made and showcase the work of more than 200 artists worldwide.

Pictured here from top to bottom:  Down The Rabbit Hole, Here Comes the Rain, and To The East. 

Problem – you are short on space or you don’t have enough space for you work, papers, etc.  This leads to tables covered in papers, which get shoved aside when you need to use the table, and eventually leads to total chaos. 

No Problem – Your workstation is located inside the tabletop; close it when you need to serve dinner or use the table for other purposes, open it and your work is exactly as you left it.

The example above is why I’m so happy to tell you about Danish Design Collective No Problem. Each of its pieces is designed to solve a problem, and both the problem and solution (or what they call “No Problem”) is clearly explained on their website. With a great design like the Flip Table show here, I don’t think it’s necessary to explain the problem and how it’s solved, but there’s something about the way they do it that seems to make it even more genius than it already is – great writing at its finest.

No Problem offers “innovative solutions to common problems”.  Its goal is to understand need and optimize everyday life, while pushing towards a holistic design evolution. More creative genius here.

Desgined for public spaces, Diagonal facillitates private conversations among large goups. It was desgined to meet the needs of changing work environments. Since laptops and cell phones have liberated us from being tied to our desk, it’s time for a new kind of workspace that enables us to work in privacy and conduct small meetings when away from our desks. Diagonal does exactly that and has a look I’d love to see in my office.

Diagonal consists of a sofa and a space divider as well as a slightly raised area intended for laptops. These units can be combined in counteless ways to create a workspace that meets your unique needs.

This innovative design comes from Stockholm-based design studio o4i. It has already won several awards.

Some of the most interesting storage solutions I’ve come across in awhile.  These designs come from Brooklyn based studio Takeshi Miyakawa Design, founded by Takeshi Miyakawa in 2001. The top image, “Fractal 23,” offers a modern approach to filing and storage in a compact unit. The lower image is of “Affordable Housing,” which seems to have enough drawers and storage to keep an entire office organized.

If you actually want to buy one of these it’s going to set you back quite a bit (Fractal 23 is priced at $19,000 and Affordable Housing not so affordable at $28,000), but at least we have a chance to admire some really clever and unique design. See more from Takeshi Miyakawa Design here.