As someone whose small kitchen is packed with too many things yet nothing useful, I’m always checking out practical and aesthetically-pleasing items to acquire in hopes of creating a fully-functioning space where I’d actually like to cook. One day I plan to actually bite the bullet and buy a set of pans (I embarrassingly own only one) and good knives (I have two dull ones), but there are so many to choose from that I just keep putting it off. As a novice cook, it just feels wrong to throw down hundreds of dollars on pots and pans and then more on a couple of knives, but it sure would make prepping meals easier. I keep coming back to Caraway because I love how they look and from everything I’ve heard, they’re a great investment. The internet favorite cookware brand continues to expand its line – this time with the Prep Set and Cutting Board Set.

The slim, space-saving Prep Set is ideal as it doesn’t have a large footprint and it comes with everything one might need to fix a meal. It can easily find a home in your kitchen, whether you rest it along the backsplash out of the way, or line it up beside the stove. The narrow, elongated design holds 10 kitchen essentials, including four knives (Paring Knife, Bread Knife, Prep Knife, and Chef’s Knife), pair of kitchen shears, and five utensils (Wooden Tongs, Wooden Server, Wooden Spoon, Wooden Scraper, and Wooden Spatula), each with their own storage spot in the organization unit.

The curated set, made from Eastern European FSC-certified birch wood and non-toxic materials, comes in six colors – Charcoal, Cream, Navy, Gray, Mist, and Perracotta – that match their cookware line.

The four-piece, non-toxic Cutting Board Set, made of Eastern European FSC-certified birch, includes three boards (10.5×7″ Small Board, 14×10.5″ Medium Board, and 17×12″ Large Board) and a storage organizer that holds the boards vertically to save space.

The sets can be purchased separately with the Prep Set going for $395 and the Cutting Board Set priced at $185, or bundled as the Prep & Boards Set for $580 via carawayhome.com.

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Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

LG’s new 97-inch SIGNATURE OLED M television is first and foremost a sizable set aimed at the home theater enthusiast prioritizing features beyond the set’s now standard 4K resolution, including OLED’s unbeatable inky black contrast, solid 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision / HDR10 / HLG support, and of course, an immersive 97-inch screen. Where LG’s new set stands out from the crowd is what the brand has subtracted beyond its lone necessary power cord: the need for additional wires and cables.

Mind you, if you’re in the market for a $4,999 77-inch, $7,999 83-inch, or most prohibitively priced $29,999 97-inch television, you’re likely hiring someone professionally to sweat the details about optimally installing a set of these sizes. Even so, nearly everyone would rather hide away external devices – streaming devices, consoles, home theater audio components – from view and/or make them more easily accessible.

The LG Zero Connect box is the solution. Essentially a black box of ports that can be placed up to 32-feet away from the OLED TV, it transmits both picture and audio wirelessly. That means you (or your home theater specialist) can arrange for a cleaner and more minimalist home theater viewing area without inviting the intrusive clutter of a multitude of devices that often propagate directly underneath or around televisions, strategizing for a more thoughtfully-designed space where tech doesn’t dictate decor.

LG’s sleek minimalist industrial language keeps details at a bare minimum, especially when wall mounted. When attached to a pair of stand feet, the set closely resembles the brand’s more modest sized, Objet Collection Posé OLED, and opens up the possibility of a free floating canvas-style display.

The box is outfitted with everything any modern setup would require, including HDMI 2.1, USB, RF, LAN, and Bluetooth connectivity. Once plugged in, the Zero Connect is capable of transmitting video and audio to the screen from afar at full 4K 120Hz resolution at up to 30Gbps (three times the speed of the existing Wi-Fi 6E standard your home network might already transmit). The set’s wireless connection is fast and robust enough to transmit content encoded with Dolby Vision visuals and Dolby Atmos audio without faltering.

Both of the above staged living spaces show the LG SIGNATURE OLED M’s Zero Connect box stationed out in the open on a side shelf next to the sofa, keeping the space underneath the television free from a necessary console or shelf unit.

The 97-inch LG SIGNATURE OLED M, alongside its 83- and 77-inch LG OLED M brethren, represent the bleeding edge in ultra-large premium televisions, and are priced accordingly. But give it just a few years, and it is very likely wireless transmitting features similar to the LG Zero Connect box will become standardized, liberating viewers from the leash of cords, cables, and wires that currently make placing televisions a hassle from a decor perspective.

In the meantime, we’re very pleased with a television-free living room made possible by a different adaptable/positionable viewing technology.

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

The original VUELTA furniture collection, designed by Spanish designer Jaime Hayon for Austrian brand Wittmann, is already a timeless classic. With the addition of VUELTA Modular it could be headed for icon status. Featuring the same quality workmanship and distinctively curved shapes, the new modular elements – corner, end, intermediate, and chaise – add character and value to the already existing seating family. Arrange them at will, expanding with versatile new options and fresh planning possibilities.

VUELTA Modular’s soft, embracing forms invite you to create effortless groups for gathering in both residential and commercial spaces. And like the rest of the furniture collection, individual modules feature pocket spring cores and a high-quality foam structure to deliver big on comfort.

“Wittmann has a great design tradition, and culture is an important part of the company‘s DNA. I have always admired this – and the passion for excellent craftsmanship, which I share. The current collection is an expression of the potential for innovation unlocked by our collaboration, which is itself hallmarked by mutual appreciation and respect,” said Hayon.

Jaime Hayon Photo: James Mollison

To learn more about VUELTA Modular Sofa, visit wittmann.at.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Amid the ever-increasing housing shortages and escalating costs in urban areas, innovative solutions are emerging that not only tackle these challenges but also align with sustainable practices. One such example is the Carlsbad ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) Garage Conversion by Modern Granny Flat – a versatile, eco-friendly, and adaptive space that addresses the need for more housing while offering the homeowner many options for the future.

The Carlsbad ADU/Garage Conversion project stands as a testament to innovation in sustainable housing. Rather than demolishing the old garage and building a new structure, this project embraced the existing one. By converting an existing garage into a flexible living space, the project cuts down on resource consumption, minimizes carbon emissions, and defies the cycle of urban sprawl.

The project capitalizes on recent legislative changes in California, pertaining to ADUs or Granny Flats. The state’s legislation permits the construction of up to two ADU units on a single-family lot, and encourages homeowners to utilize existing structures creatively.

What sets this ADU apart is its adaptability. The space has been designed to morph and evolve with the ever-changing needs of its occupants. With a focus on sustainability and flexibility, the ADU features a multifunctional cabinet wall, a garage door that seamlessly expands the living area, and a mezzanine level for added privacy. This allows the space to shift effortlessly from a bedroom to an office, a dining area, or even a yoga studio – all in a single day. By reimagining the concept of living spaces, the Carlsbad ADU/Garage Conversion aligns with the principle that we do not need larger homes, but smarter ones that can evolve smoothly with our lives.

In addition to storage, the bank of cabinets hides a Murphy bed and folding table/workstation that easily transform the space into whatever is needed at the moment.

The pitched ceiling makes the space feel larger while also allowing for a mezzanine that could work as additional sleeping quarters, a quiet retreat, or even extra storage.

Garage before:

Photography by Rachel Pangi.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

Whenever Finnish design house Marimekko unveils something new, we know it’s going to be good. This month, they’re expanding upon the brand’s table setting category with the addition of the Syksy glass collection. In collaboration with Swedish designer Matti Klenell, the Syksy (autumn) series explores nature and weather phenomena – specifically rain. The theme is a recurring one in Marimekko’s prints, and Klenell has transformed it into a mouth-blown tumbler, goblet, and carafe series.

“Marimekko is a world leading manufacturer of prints in both fashion and interior design, so when being asked to collaborate with this great Finnish institution it felt natural to focus on patterns, and in particular the interaction of two-dimensional ornaments and three-dimensional shape,” shared Klenell. “The Syksy series brings a touch of silent calm, perhaps even a bit of melancholy, that give the items an interesting unique expression.”

The glass collection brings together functional shapes with a drawn pattern inspired by the Nordic autumn rain, displaying interpretations of a gentle drizzle and a drenching downpour. It’s sophisticated and nuanced, with an organic, relief style pattern that’s applied to the glassware in a sketched manner, typical to Klenell’s work. These pieces are as beautiful as they are practical, and can be stacked and mixed with other Marimekko tableware.

Untitled Artwork

“We are expanding our category for table setting with a completely new glass series, which brings a sense of lightness to our already rich assortment. Matti Klenell’s personal touch can be seen in the ability to combine shape and pattern into a functional entity and a part of everyday tableware. The Syksy glass series brings a breath of fresh autumn rain into Marimekko’s world of nuanced print, shape and color,” says Minna Kemell-Kutvonen, Design Director, Home & Print Design at Marimekko.

Untitled Artwork

Goblet

Goblet

Tumblers

Tumblers

Carafe

To learn more about the Syksy collection, visit marimekko.com.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Dog crates are typically unattractive, utilitarian, and bare bones but not in a good way. Fortunately, Diggs seems to have discovered the formula to sleek crate designs you don’t feel the need to hide away or cover up. The Evolv Dog Crate is the brand’s newest, slimmest dog crate yet, featuring a modular design and “playpen mode.” The safe and comfortable crate/playpen hybrid is built to easily evolve with your pooch’s needs as they grow from puppy to full-grown dog – there’s even an included puppy divider.

Highly customizable, Evolv can easily be tailored by adding or repositioning up to four secure dual lock doors, or by removing the ceiling hatch to create a sturdy playpen. It’s built to last, made with an ultra-strong, rust-resistant coated steel frame (teething puppies!), and wire mesh. Adapt Evolv further by adding doors and panels to the two included for multiple access points and a playpen panel. Then opt for the Bolstr Crate Bed, Groov Training Aid, and the Universal Bowl & Clip for full-on comfort.

Small

But Evolv has more going for it than good lines and versatility. It’s easy to assemble with a stress-free setup that requires no tools, and it’s proven dual lock doors ensure your pup will remain safely inside. The steel frame and wire mesh paired with Diggs’ unique diamond mesh prevent pinches to paws and jaws, while its gapless frame keeps your fingers safe from pinches. A removable tray helps contain messes and provides easy cleaning after the fact.

Medium

You can rest assured that Diggs tests their products to the strictest of safety and quality standards – baby and children’s products. There are currently no standards for testing pet products in the United States, so it just makes sense since our dogs are our family. The brand also works with labs to create additional testing methods pertaining specifically to pets. Made from the same high-quality, safe materials as Diggs’ award-winning Revol Dog Crate, Evolv is marked at a lower price point and available in more sizes – Small, Medium, Intermediate, and Large. From tiny Terriers to robust Rottweilers, Diggs has you covered.

Intermediate

Large

To learn more about Diggs’ versatile Evolv Crate-Playpen Hybrid, visit diggs.pet.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Japanese design studio Nendo isn’t the most obvious collaborator that comes to mind to design a homewares collection for the ever-popular Pokémon property. Associated with minimalist and monochromatic modernity, the creative team helmed by Oki Sato typically explores design solutions residing in the reductive; definitely distant from the polychromatic imaginary realm first released in 1996 in Japan for the Game Boy before going onto explode into a global phenomena.

Recognizing there now exists an entire first generation of Pokémon fans who at least numerically identify as adults, The Pokémon Company connected with Nendo to develop the Pokémon Mosaic collection. The 75-piece collection comprised of cushions, wall clocks, bags, glasses, and plates all embellished with playfully modern geometric abstractions derived from the Pokémon series allows the Pokémon fan an avenue to furnish the home without conspicuously revealing their “collect them all” passions.

To gaming outsiders, the collection looks similar to modern giftwares one might spot at the MoMA gift shop or at the likes of Poketo. But keen eyed gamers will easily identify characters like Snorlax and Pikachu hidden out in the open within each mosaic-styled design.

“The Pokémon Company, was designed as daily household items for grownups…the first generation of Pokemon fans have now reached adulthood but remain fans at heart.”

While the Pokémon Mosaic may seem like a surprise pairing, one should remember you cannot spell “Nintendo” without the letters of N-E-N-D-O.
The Pokémon Mosaic will become available starting September 1st, with previews of the entire collection available at nendo.jp.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Whether you’ve already moved into your dorm room or are just getting ready to send your kids down the street to the local school, we thought we might provide a bit of inspiration. Check out these 12 colorful, functional back-to-school necessities that caught our attention. We won’t tell if you pick them up for yourself instead!

Creative professionals are increasingly being asked to learn how to prompt systems using text, questions, or even coding to cajole artificial intelligence to conjure concepts. Sidelining traditional tools, digital or physical, the process can sometimes feel like navigating a room you’re acquainted with, but with the lights flickering or even completely turned off. But what if you could interact with a generative AI system on a much more human level, one that reintroduces the tactile into the process? Zhaodi Feng’s Promptac combines the “prompt” with the “tactile” in name and in practice with an intriguing interface using human sensations that don’t feel quite so…artificial.

Designed for the Royal College of Art Graduate Show in London, the exposed wires of Feng’s device may communicate a science experiment vibe. But watching the Arduino-powered concept in use, the system’s potential seems immediately applicable. Promptac illustrates how designers across a multitude of disciplines may one day be able to alter colors, textures, and materials dynamically onto virtual objects created by generative AI with a degree of physicality currently absent.

During the tech demo Feng uses the Promptac to physically manipulate a virtual vase, twisting the object into a spiral using a tactile rubbery knob interface.

The design process with Promptac begins much like any other natural language AI prompting system, starting with a carefully worded request to produce a desired object to use as a canvas/model. From there the generated image’s color, shape, size, and perceived texture can be manipulated using a variety of oddly-shaped “hand manipulation sensors.”

Textures and hues can be altered sampling real world swatches of color or even physical materials. Feng is shown applying a shag surface across a vase by sampling a swatch of the furry material.

Feng believes by reducing a reliance on text prompts, Promptac can also help individuals with disabilities interact with generative AI tools.

The potential becomes clearly more evident observing the Promptac in action:

To see more of Zhaodi Feng’s work for the Royal College of Art Graduate Show, visit her student project submissions here.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Indian designer Palaash Chaudhary is co-founder of soft-geometry alongside his wife, Utharaa Zacharias. Their San Francisco-based studio practice is focused on making collectible furniture, lighting, and objects centered around softness and hand-making. It’s all inspired by the craft traditions and object culture found in their hometowns in India.

Palaash’s collegiate trajectory is unexpectedly thanks to a suggestion from his brother. “I’ve always been curious about nature, and as a kid that curiosity led me to an intense desire to see the inside of things,” he began. “I remember breaking open the TV remote, attempting to climb up my parents’ safe to uncover its secrets, dismantling my bike, climbing a telephone pole to see what happened if I pulled on the wires, breaking a brand new watch just to get into the dial… As you can imagine, I got in a lot of trouble for breaking these “expensive” things. So, for my own sake, I had to develop a skill to fix and build back all the things I broke. After graduating high school, my brother suggested I study product design, given my passion for breaking and building things, and it made a lot of sense! He was right, breaking and building are what I do best, even today.”

But before finishing up his undergrad studies in New Dehli and moving to the United States to pursue his Masters in Industrial Design from Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), it started coming together for Palaash. “I was doing research for a project and came across a chair called “9.5 degree chair” designed by Rasmus B. Fex. It looks like a minimalist chair that is leaning, but the seat is parallel to the ground. It is an illusion, it makes you stare and get lost in its lines. In the accompanying article the designer explained his philosophy, ‘Art with function, Design without.’ That chair and that philosophy left a lasting impression on me, and today I almost exclusively work within that blurry space between art, design, craft, sculpture, autobiography, and history. It pushed me towards finding meaning and purpose to the process and the objects we make beyond archetypes and functionality.”

Shortly after Palaash graduated with his masters, he and Utharaa opened the doors to soft-geometry in 2018. In 2023, they were named in Wallpaper Magazine’s USA 300 List among the names to know in creative America, and in 2022, Chaudhary was named in Forbes India’s 30 under 30 special mentions list.

These days, Palaash is still full of ideas – and unlike some creatives, he acts on each one right away in order to preserve it. “You have to invest something into it, in order to come back to it. Whenever possible, I like to ‘try’ the idea right away, or make a mockup that I will see again and again reminding me to work on it. I don’t think it works if I write it down somewhere, urgency is so important for an idea to live another day.
I once listened to a Gaetano Pesce interview where he was asked ‘What’s your unfinished project?,’ and he said ‘I don’t have any, if I want to do something, in two hours it’s done.’ I really aspire to this zero-unfinished list, though of course I am far from it.”

Today, we’re happy to have Palaash Chaudhary join us for Friday Five!

Photo: soft-geometry

1. Space Age Chairs by Joe Colombo + Vico Magistretti

I like a lot of space age designs. To me, it feels reminiscent of the aesthetic I grew up with in India – the colors, curves, a type of softness, and brightness combined – which I love. We bought both of these chairs off of Craigslist, thrilled to snag pieces by designers like Magistretti and Colombo. They have been in our studio since, and I find myself spending a lot of time working on these chairs, especially the Colombo with its square cutout. I’ve grown fond of the idea of me sitting on the work of these Italian greats while creating my own pieces.

Photo: Roberto Nino Betancourt for Augustina Bottoni

I had a photo of Augustina Bottoni’s Calici Milanesi’s glassware saved on my Instagram for a long time. They seemed so delicate and yet the lines on them were architectural, I can’t quite explain why but I looked at that image a lot. Almost two years later, I decided to buy a set, and it is one of my most prized possessions. They are almost too beautiful to be used, but every now and then we’ll make a drink and sit with them at the end of a day in the studio and it elevates everything.

Photo: soft-geometry, Venice Art Biennale 2022

3. The Olivetti Showroom in Venice Designed by Carlos Scarpa

I visited the showroom during the Art Biennale in 2022, while they were exhibiting the work of Lucio Fontana and Anthony Gormely. The architecture of the showroom was really simple, an eastern type of minimal almost temple-like design. Scarpa’s almost floating staircase, the colored mosaic floor, and the wooden screen windows were masterful. It made for a slowly revealing exhibition displaying sketches and sculptures by Fontana and Gormely, interspersed with iconic typewriters from Olivetti. Despite being the smallest exhibition I visited during the Biennale, it’s the one that has stayed with me the longest.

Photo: Eshant Raju, during the couple’s 2022 wedding in Kochi

4. Kochi, Kerala

I’ve been discovering more and more of Kochi, where my wife is from, every time we travel back home to India. The whole city is interspersed with backwaters, and people who live by the water have small canoes called vallams. The day before our wedding, we spent a day on these boats going around a lagoon lined with coconut trees and it was one of the most beautiful days. The art biennale in Fort Kochi, the really grounded architecture of old temples and palaces, the incredible food, and the long monsoon – it’s just a really special place.

Screen shot from Polo & Pan

Maybe more than half the music I listen to is by French duo Polo & Pan. They bring a really interesting folk-like quality to electro house music that somehow works both as groovy dance music and meditative work music. I’m also really drawn to the delicate creativity and humor in their videos – so it was both visual and sound. For my first Covid birthday, it was just the both of us in our apartment – we had two speakers on with Polo & Pan and danced for five hours. The next year, we were at their concert in Oakland and it was, well, electric! They are just a 100 all round.

Work by Palaash Chaudhary + soft-geometry: 

soft-geometry’s most recent introduction, “Mirrors for Aliens,” 2023, are steel thalis (dinnerware plates from India), hand-polished and buffed to a mirror finish, that create soft reflections. The piece was exhibited in May 2023 for the exhibition “Upon Further Reflection” at New York Design Week, which invited designers and artists to reflect further on their Asian Identity. Photo: soft-geometry

The SW side table from soft-geometry’s first collection and the Elio Lamp. Photo: Yanic Freidman

‘Donut,’ 2020, is constructed entirely out of repurposed factory off-cuts of solid wood to create a dense swirl with a unique grain pattern every time. Donut can be used as a sculptural seat or as a coffee table when topped with a glass top. Photo: soft-geometry

Molecule Photo: soft-geometry

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.