The New York Times and fashion website Inhabitat have some great coverage and encouraging news from the Milan furniture fairs. Not only is the visitor count up significantly from 2009, but also leading designers and furniture manufacturers keep pushing the limits on design concepts. Highlights from the furniture fair are seen below.
The New York Times reports:
“Last year, the recession cast a dark cloud over the fair. The number of visitors to the cavernous Rho complex fell for the first time in years, to 313,385”. “[This year] the visitor count rose to 335,354, according to the fair’s organizer, Cosmit, and many exhibitors acknowledged with relief that business was better than it had been a year ago. “There were signs of improvement,” said Rolf Fehlbaum, the chairman of Vitra, the Swiss furniture group. “And dealers were willing to order.”
Inhabitat’s eco-conscious motto “design will save the world” is very connected with this year’s Earth Day. They feature many innovations using recycled materials, low-power lighting, and energy efficient concepts. See our favorite pictures from Inhabitat’s Milan Design Week 2010 on the right.
Wooden stools and coffee tables from Giancarlo Zema’s Bright Woods collection are made from wood and natural resin rings that create a wonderful interactive experience as they change color and glow. The stools come in a variety of colors and heights, making them a perfect complement to any room.
These stools are illuminated from inside
Simple but colorful chairs from Assembly Room are not only stunning to look at, but they are lightweight and stackable. They are made from FSC certified wood and 100% wool that is renewable and compostable.
Great colors and made from FSC approved woods
The Leaf Collection by Giancarlo Zema have chairs with a flexible memory back that adapt to the curves of the body.
leaf collection table and chair
One of my favorites is the Innovo humidifier. Using no electric power, the wooden top sucks water out of the lower resevior and releases it into the air. Not only beautiful, the humidifier also gives off a cedar fragrance.
eco friendly humidifier
Final Image starting at top left corner going clockwise:
- Sarah Turner’s Drink Bottle Lighting designs are breathtaking to look at and refreshing for the planet. It is hard to believe these colorful lampshades and graceful curves once held drinking water.
- The Double T-Future Lamp has several OLED elements in a colorful modern design.
- Light Form by designers Francesca Rogers and Daniele Gualeni Design Studio is a beautiful modular lighting system made up of wood panels that can be flipped back to expose energy-efficient electroluminescent lights.
- The Copper Wattering Can by Thomas Eyck is an example of the superleggra, using simple elegant curves.
Some more great products in Milan
Inhabitat’s reports cover so many more fantastic designs and concepts, please use the links below to see the all their reports from Milan:
Milan Design Week 2010!, Best Green Designs, Triennale Design Museum, Salone Satellite, Designersblock, Interni Think Tank, and even more.
The name pretty much says it all. This website has some of the best looking modern furniture, lighting, and home decor, on the web. The site’s design and feel are fun, and the editors are constantly adding new modern products. Also be sure to visit their Design Blog, which is also a fantastic source for wildly creative ideas in home furnishings. They have “Eco Friendly” and “Made in the USA” product sections, and a newsletter + RSS Feeds.
The popular fashion magazine has made it easy for web users to dig through their past stories and images of products. The 
This website focuses on ground-breaking design. Probably more for interior designers and architects, we think that everybody will enjoy the products, buildings, and fashion concepts these guys bring to a fun-to-use website. The most relevant area is the “Design” section, which can be found on their navigation menu. This site tends to feature the bright and exotic and is really fun.
The Trade Only Design Library is another large database of products for home décor, furniture, and housewares. This site is operated by the same company that sets up the HD Expo in Las Vegas, for hospitality and commercial furnishings. While you cannot normally view this website if you enter directly, if you click this link to 
