pony.

I don't think I can describe the Pony any better than creator Eero Aarnio already has: "A chair is a chair, is a chair, is a chair ... but a seat does not necessarily have to be a chair. It can be anything as it is ergonomically correct. A seat could even be a small and soft Pony on which you can 'ride' or sit sideways."

not. a. toy.
Aarnio maintains that the Pony is not a toy, at least not a

amleto. ironing. board.

I never thought I'd be blogging an ironing board on Funfurde, but (takes a deep breath) here I go: The Amleto is a seriously good-looking package. I won't say it makes ironing boards cool, but it comes as close as anything's ever going to.

style. elegance.
The Amleto looks pretty good when it's set up for ironing, and surprisingly it looks even better when it's hanging on the wall. The frame

ecco. lamp.

If you're looking for a table lamp that will fit into an industrial decor, you should be looking at the Ecco Lamp. From the chrome plating to the wall-style flip switch (illuminated, no less), this thing could have fallen out of the back of Monster Garage. Oh yeah, it has a dimmer too.

2 finishes. 50 watts.
If chrome is a bit over the top for you, you can soften the Ecco with a pewter finish,

up 5. chair.

Chris, a Funfurde reader, pointed me to the UP 5 chair by B&B Italia. It's part of the UP2000 series, which is based on a design first unveiled by Gaetano Pesce in 1969. The UP2000 furniture is described as "a series of seven seatings of various dimensions, upholstered in a particular stretch fabric, whose anthropomorphic forms conserve intact, thirty years after their first appearance, the

sheren-bett. expandable. bed.

The Sheren-Bett Expandable Bed is neat solution if you're not quite sure what size bed you'll be using down the road, or you're not quite sure what mattress or mattress-like-thing you'll be using it with. (I've gone from a twin-size mattress to a large futon to a full queen mattress in my time, buying a different frame for each, so this is something that interests me.) Designer Daniel Thut made

roma. mobile. work. unit.

I don't draw much of a line between work space and living space anymore. It all sort of blends together, and I tend to look for furniture that blends too. The Roma Mobile Work Unit from G.A.D. does some pretty serious blending, and looks like something I might get a lot of use out of. The name needs a bit of work, though.


deskable? tablesk?
I can see why G.A.D. calls this a "unit," since it's

lovely. rita. shelf.

You know that really cool long snaky Bookworm shelf that Ron Arad designed for Kartell? The one you always see in Real World houses? The one that costs way too much money? Well, this isn't that one. This is the other cool curvy shelf Arad designed for Kartell, called the Lovely Rita. It's sort of the same, but different.  The big difference is that this one's really really curved, not just kind

phoenix. chair.

Hank Vu isn't kidding around. When Urbana's chief designer set out to make a chair "inspired by the flight of birds," he made sure you'd know it at first glance. And when he put wing-backs on this chair, he really put wing-backs on it. Behold the Phoenix.

on. the. wing.
I think the Phoenix is pretty self explanatory: See. Desire. Drool. Beyond its looks, though, it's worth talking about how

aga.

Racing Green.  You don't often hear that color when it comes to ovens.  But then again you don't often come across ovens as amazing as the Aga, which is available in a whopping 15 colors.   Take that Kenmoore, GE and all you other bland brands that think almond, white and black are the only colors kitchens should have.
 
iron. age.
The Aga doesn't just look different, it's also built

trek. coffee. table.

I'm not sure furniture gets more funky (or maybe hokey) than Trek, a light-up coffee table inspired by -- I'm not kidding -- Star Trek. The thing comes from Jet Net in France, where they also make a Galactica Chair,  a piece called Lunaar (that can be used as a chair, a table or a chandelier), and a few other products. Obviously they have a theme going on. Oh yeah, all of it lights up.
 
it.

turnaround. chair.

The only thing that moves on the Turnaround Chair is the backrest, which swivels freely through 360 degrees.  What possible good could that do anyone?  Let me tell you...
 
front. to. back.
You know That Guy who always sits in the chair the wrong way, draping his arms over the back?  Hint: In the office he's the overgrown, obnoxious frat boy.  In the movies, he's usually the bad guy (who

pablo. vase.

Flower vases and pictures have always had a strange relationship, mostly because people feel compelled to paint endless pictures of flower vases. The Pablo Vase combines the two so that the vase is the picture, and vice versa. Brilliant.

picture. this.
What really makes this vase work for me is that it plays with my sense of dimensionality. My mind sees "picture frame" and thinks 2-D, but

fj-57

The FJ-57 sounds more like an XPrize contestant than a sofa, but a sofa it is. I think the full name is "Sofa Model 57" by Finn Juhl, but FJ-57 seems to be its popular abbreviation. Finn, by the way, was an award-winning furniture creator, architect and a father of sorts to Danish design. I didn't know any of that when I saw the FJ-57, I just thought it looked different and cool. But I can

radical. radiators.

I used to think radiators were crappy, unsightly relics of Victorian era plumbing that had to be hidden away at all costs. If I'd known they made them this cool (er, hot) looking, I wouldn't have been so quick to buy a house with central air. Seriously, these things are outrageous, and Bisque carries way more than I have pictured here. And, yes, by "radiator" I do mean those things that heat

word. clock.

When I think about what time it is, I usually think in relative terms, not the absolute numbers most clocks use. If it's almost twelve o'clock, for instance, I usually think something cunning like, "It's almost twelve o'clock." I don't usually think "It's 11:57:02."

dutch. architects.
Apparently some Dutch architects think the same way I do, which is why they invented the Word Clock. The

eva. solo. grill.

Over on the Dwell bulletin board they're discussing modern outdoor barbecues, and the pickings are slim indeed. It's obvious that grill makers have a long way to go when it comes to innovative design. There is a diamond in the rough, though, and it's called the Eva Solo Grill.

solo. style.
The Eva Solo is a gorgeous piece of stainless steel cooking art that doubles as a gorgeous mod-looking

ola. phone.

I was browsing the Funky Phone Company and came across this awesomely organic design by Philippe Starck. Called the OLA, it grew out of his desire to "make a telephone which was no more than an extension of the human limb."

human?
Although I love the phone, I have to point out that it doesn't look much like an extension of a human arm. Maybe an alien arm, or a body part from a Cronenberg film.

all. around. couch.

The philosophy behind the All Around Couch from Dnsign is "to meet." In this case you literally won't be able to avoid the person sitting next to you, because you sit in/around a big hole. Once you're in, you're in. And so is anyone who's brave enough to join you. Plan on getting to know them well.

accessorize.
You can accessorize the couch with back rests and a small glass table. They're

KLOC. floor. lounger

The KLOC Floor Lounger from Ligne Roset is basically a padded rug with a built-in hump. If you're thinking, "There must be more to it than that" then you're thinking too hard. Rug. Hump. That's all you get.

what. good. is. it?
If you're thinking, "What good is a rug with a hump in it?" I can't say I blame you. But it does have a few things going for it. First off, it's a pretty nice rug. It's

hag. pantonic. chair.

Xeni over at BoingBoing told me about her other Web site, Ambience Dore, where I found the Hag Pantonic chair. This is another one of those chairs that has "dynamic ergonomics," which means the chair moves when you do, and that’s supposed to be good for you. Read on.

what. hag. says.
"An ergonomic chair is a chair that naturally follows you as you move to the next sitting position. It must

droog. laundry. basket.

Dirty laundry is uninteresting and unsightly, and watching it pile up tends to be unsettling. Unless you have a Droog laundry basket. Then dirty laundry is simply a catalyst for an ever-changing work of art. The more laundry you throw in the Droog, the more changes you'll see.

plastic. fabric.
The basket is basically a thin sheet of plastic rolled up in a cone shape, with a piece of knit

desk. #230.

Rhoom is a Los Angeles based designer and manufacturer that advocates simplicity and functionality. I guess that's why this piece is simply and functionally called "Desk #230." Anything else you need to know, you can find on the Web site. Well, almost.

the. desk.
The #230 manages to be bold and minimalist at the same time. Bold because the designer chose to balance a built-in flower vase on

predicta. chalet.

Telstar has been making noise recently with their Predicta TV line, and deservedly so. I'm in love with the in-development Chalet model, which is described as "a tribute to the great American Icon, the Drive-In Theater." What's particularly cool about the Chalet is that the 18" color picture tube can be tilted up and down, and also turned right or left, so you can make sure the screen is just-so