Here's a look at a few things that grabbed us this week.

• Above: Ikea has unveiled plans to add movable walls to their lineup in 2018. Photograph by Erik Undéhn.
• A graphic guide to cabinet pulls. 
• There's a right way and a wrong way to clean a toaster. 

• Above: If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, stop by The Future Perfect's warehouse sale, at 2658 Bridgeway Blvd., Suite 102, in Sausalito. 
• On our wish list: A new collaboration scarf from Block Shop Textiles and Poketo. 
• For $1,300 a month, you can rent a 220-square-foot studio in Brooklyn. 

• Above: The new book 700 Nimes Road spotlights Elizabeth Taylor's home in Los Angeles. Photograph by Catherine Opie. 
• Cofounder and former art director of Kinfolk Amanda Jane Jones recently debuted her newest venture: Define Magazine. 

Instagram and Pinterest Picks of the Week

• Above: On Instagram, we're keeping up with maker Nikole Herriot (@nikoleherriot) of Herriot Grace. 

• Above: We're pinning a serene bedroom scene via Briar Winters of Marble & Milkweed.

More Stories from Remodelista

• Nomad Table by Jacob May Furniture
• Ceramic Table Lamps from an LA Modernist
• Hardware Update: SR Hooks in Metal from Scout Regalia

SAVE THE DATE: We're thrilled to announce our first ever Remodelista & Gardenista Market in New England, on the weekend of November 14th to 15th in Boston. Our Market cosponsor is Lekker Home, and the venue is their lofty showroom in the south end of Boston (ample parking in a lot nearby at 560 Harrison Ave.).

More than 30 local artisans from the New England area will be showcasing their homewares, clothing, jewelry, and more. A selection of the offerings and a list of the vendors is below; hope to see you there! 

Saturday, Nov. 14th, 10am to 6pm

Sunday, Nov. 15th, 10am to 5pm

Lekker Home, 1313 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118

Participating Vendors

Above: Hand-painted canvas floor mats, bags, and more from Black Point Mercantile in Portland, Maine.

Above: Botanical goods, healing herbs, and wooden wares from the Salt Cellar Shop on outer Cape Cod. 

Above: Nesting bowls from Taylor Ceramics in Easthampton, MA.  

Above: Seersucker stripe pestemals from 8Knots of Shelter Island.

Above: Wool blankets made on antique looms from The Maine Blanket.

Above: Children's clothing from Boston-based Morgan & Milo.

Above: Handmade bags from Stitch and Tickle in Boston.

Above: Brothers Artisan Oil of Boston will be selling their pomades, waxes, and oils for the well-groomed man.

Above: Twenty Boat of Truro, MA will be pouring tastes of their locally made rums ("dedicated to the bootleggers of Cape Cod"). Photo via Foodie Tales.

New England Market Sellers*

*Sellers Confirmed as of October 16, 2015

To browse our past Remodelista/Gardenista Markets, please go to our Markets Page.

More Stories from Remodelista

• Top 5 in Design News: Architecture Prizes Awarded, Designers Propose Floating Homes, and Dutch Design Week Begins
• Current Obsessions: Serenity Now
• Nomad Table by Jacob May Furniture

This week in design news: Dutch Design Week begins, the Stirling Prize winner is announced, and Santiago Calatrava is back in the news.

Shortlist Announced for Architectural Photo of the Year

Above: Christopher Frederick Jones's shot of the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in Australia is a finalist in the Exterior category. Photograph via Dezeen. 

Twenty images were announced as finalists this week in the 2015 Arcaid Architecture Photography Awards, held in conjunction with the World Architecture Festival. Five finalists were announced in each of four categories: Interior, Exterior, Buildings in Use, and Sense of Place." One overall winner will be announced during the festival, to be held in Singapore from November 4 to 6. See all 20 finalists at the Arcaid Awards.

London Girls' School Wins Stirling Prize

Above: The Burntwood School by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris is clad in modular pre-cast concrete. 

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced the Burntwood School as the winner of the 2015 Stirling Prize. The prize is awarded annually to the architects of a single European building deemed to have made the greatest contribution to the field of architecture that year. The London girls' school was designed by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris as a redevelopment of an existing 1950s campus. Said architect Paul Monaghan, "Good school design makes a difference to the way students value themselves and their education, and we hope that [our win] shows that this is worth investing in.” Read it at RIBA.

Ten Ideas for Solving London's Housing Crisis

Above: "Buoyant Starts" prefabricated floating homes by Baca Architects. 

Think tank New London Architecture announced 10 winners of its competition for design solutions to London's housing crisis—a problem of both shortage and affordability. The winners were chosen from more than 200 entries from around the world. Among the winners is "Buoyant Starts" by London-based Baca Architects, which proposed up to 7,500 low-cost prefabricated homes that would float on the approximately 50 miles of unused London waterways. Read more at New London Architecture. 

Santiago Calatrava Wins European Prize for Architecture  

Above: Portrait of Santiago Calatrava via New York Magazine. 

The European Centre has awarded the 2015 European Prize for Architecture to the Spanish/Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava, known for designing bridges that are dramatic feats of civil engineering. More recently, Calatrava has gained attention for his World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the new railway station at the rebuilt World Trade Center, which has come under heavy fire for being behind schedule and over budget. Read the announcement at the European Centre and background in The New York Times. 

Dutch Design Week, October 17-25

Above: Amsterdam kitchen by Dutch design house Lodder Keukens. See more in Sober Luxury: Arjan Lodder Keukens Kitchen in the Netherlands.

Dutch Design Week began Saturday and runs through October 25. This year's theme for the Eindhoven-based festival is "What if...", and more than 2,400 professional participants are expected across 80 locations. Highlights include a TextielMuseum collaboration with Jongeriuslab and the "It's Your World" exhibition offering design solutions to municipal waste, the immigration crisis, and more. Read more at Dutch Design Week. 

More from this week: 

• Trending on Gardenista: Cabin Porn and More, West Coast Cool Edition
• Trending on Remodelista: California Creatives
• Gardenista Current Obsessions: Citrus Blossoms
• Remodelista Current Obsessions: Serene Musings

More Stories from Remodelista

• Announcing Our First Remodelista New England Market
• Current Obsessions: Serenity Now
• Nomad Table by Jacob May Furniture

We've been looking to Italy lately for design inspiration; stay tuned for a week of glamorous finds from the country that invented La Dolce Vita. 

Above: Is Pietro Rosso the next big thing in the interiors world? We think so.  

Monday

Above: Our current favorite DIY is a rush headboard from a Mediterranean country house.

Tuesday

Above: In Object Lessons, Margot explores the history of the world's most glamorous knives.

Wednesday

Above: In 10 Easy Pieces, Alexa rounds up our editors' picks for the best espresso machines out there.

Thursday

Above: We present a portfolio of ideas for unexpected uses for tile in our Trend Alert column.

Friday

Above: European-style glamour comes to LA in our Shopper's Diary column.

More Stories from Remodelista

• New Lighting from an Emerging Design Star
• Top 5 in Design News: Architecture Prizes Awarded, Designers Propose Floating Homes, and Dutch Design Week Begins
• Announcing Our First Remodelista New England Market

Up-and-coming Italian designer Pietro Russo came to his profession with an ideal résumé: a painter and ceramic artist, he also has a degree in scenic design and worked on film sets in Berlin before segueing to interiors. To make his 50-square-meter—or 538-square-foot—apartment livable, he put all of his skills to work.

Photography via Pietro Russo.

Above: The apartment is in a historic building in Milan's Città Studi district, and it required considerable scraping and refurbishing. The kitchen features Russo's fresco-like elephant mural patterned with patches of old wallpaper. The trio of wall shelves in the foreground are made from old tennis rackets.

"Smaller rooms are always the most inviting," Russo told Casa Vogue. "But my house is too small, so I needed to sharpen the wit—and to use limits as possibilities." 

Above: The luxe-industrial kitchen is another signature Russo design made of concrete and steel. As a unifying theme, each room in the apartment has two-toned gray-and-white walls in differing widths. 

Emphasizing horizontal lines and keeping wall space clear, Russo says, helps to visually enlarge his quarters.

Above: Steel cabinets are topped with counters and a low backsplash of concrete with a butcher block section at the end. The utensil rack is made from a steel bar and S hooks.

Above: The bespoke cooktop is designed for wok cooking.

Above: A small Samsung range is positioned under the wooden counter, which cleverly incorporates a knife block.

Above: The living room has its original 1940s tiled floor and wall with hints of old paint and wallpaper. The apartment is featured in the book The Chamber of Curiosity, where Russo is quoted as saying, ''Found objects are like time machines, always referencing a place, person, or ambience. Disrupting their function and decontextualizing them has always been a passion of mine.''

The sideboard is a sixties classic of powder-coated steel and chrome from Swiss modular furniture company USM. The floor-to-ceiling round shelves are the Voliera (Aviary), a Russo design modeled after birdcages.

Above: Concrete serves as an ideal backdrop for still lifes of cut crystal and handmade brushes. 

Above: Thanks to a bentwood and rattan screen, the living room discreetly doubles as the bedroom. The space is lit by Russo's glowing brass Metropolis pendant inspired by the movie of the same name.

Above: Russo applied cast concrete and a subtle gray-and-white combination in the bathroom. He used industrial nozzles and inserted the same simple drain in sink and shower. 

Above: The room is detailed with a homemade circular shower enclosure and tennis racket shelves. Go to Pietro Russo to see more.

For a kindred (but older) kitchen design, see UK chef Alastair Hendy's Trendsetting London Kitchen. And go to our Italy archive to see more of our finds, including Archiplan Studio's Atmospheric Villa Remodel.

More Stories from Remodelista

• Small-House Remodel: From One Bedroom to Three—No Addition Required
• Henrybuilt Opens a Studio in Mill Valley, CA
• At Home with Photographer Leslie Williamson in SF

We like this idea from French interior designer Serge Castella who took woven natural rugs and turned them into headboards in the bedrooms of his own guest house in rural Spain. Here's a look at the idea and a few ways to re-create it.

Above: Castella stands a custom-made, stiff rush mat behind a queen mattress. Photograph via Serge Castella Interiors.

Above: A shorter jute rug is nailed to the wall at the hem. Photograph via Vogue Living Australia online.

Above: From West Elm the Jute Boucle Rug in Flax is $89 for the three-by-five-foot size.

Above: Restoration Hardware's Hand-Braided Jute Rug in Natural is $395 for the five-by-seven-foot size.

Above: The Heathered Chenille Jute Rug in Natural is currently on sale at $135 for the three-by-five-foot size and $305 for the five-by-eight-foot size at Pottery Barn.

Above: One of our favorite sources for custom rush rugs and flooring is Rush Matters in Bedfordshire. For more, check out Medieval and Modern Rush on Gardenista.

Find more project ideas in our posts:

• Just Add Pillows: The DIY Headboard for $35
• 5 Quick Fixes: Instant Headboards
• Remodelista Favorites: Our Top 10 Weekend Projects

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• DIY: $100 Glass and Concrete Coffee Table
• Real Estate Advice: 5 Deal-Breakers When Buying a Place in the City
• Greatest Hits: Halloween Decor from Remodelista

Earlier today we looked at the Milan apartment of designer Pietro Russo; now we're turning our attention to his artful lighting designs. "I prefer materials like marble, iron, brass, and wood, and I avoid resins and plastics," he says. "Like people, they age well." Contact Pietro Russo directly for ordering information.

Above: The Dante Scintilla Table Lamp by Pietro Russo for Dante Goods & Bads is $1,495 from Garden in Los Angeles.

Above: The brushed brass LED Apollo Lamp is a suspension lamp "inspired by the first satellites launched into space," Russo says. It consists of two borosilicate blown glass tubes of different diameters with a second tube that acts as a diffuser.

Above: The Otto Lamp consists of an octagonal brass ring with a cylindrical LED spotlight.

Above: The YPS Suspension Lamp consists of two overlapping brass parts with LED illumination.

Above: A borosilicate Scintilla Pendant Light hangs over the dining room table in a house by Pietro Russo.

Interested in seeing more dramatic lighting? Check out our post Studio Visit: Glamorous Lighting from Michelle James in Red Hook. 

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• Table of Contents: The New Glamour
• Top 5 in Design News: Architecture Prizes Awarded, Designers Propose Floating Homes, and Dutch Design Week Begins
• Announcing Our First Remodelista New England Market

Architect Sabrina Bignami of B-Arch Studio in Prato, Italy, is a master when it comes to mixing modern Italian and vintage design. A few years back she remodeled one of our all-time favorite kitchens, featuring stainless steel cabinets, concrete countertops, a French work table, and industrial pendants. In the dining room she added a midcentury table and chairs paired with a glamorous paper chandelier (and let's not forget the funky floor lamps). Get the look with the following elements.

Above: The open shelf kitchen was custom designed by B-Arch studio as a highly functional area. The cabinets are stainless steel surrounded by a concrete counter and backsplash. An antique French work table is placed in the middle of the kitchen, industrial pendants hang from the ceiling, and a wall shelf holds hanging copper pots. 

Above: Bignami used a table base by Eero Saarinen with a custom tabletop; a Zettel'z chandelier by Ingo Maurer adds a playful touch.

Above: A view into the kitchen from the living room. The 1960s floor lamp is an original by Harvey Guzzini, purchased from a hotel closing sale in Germany.

Kitchen Essentials

Above: Ikea Sektion Stainless Steel Base Cabinet with two doors and three drawers measures 24 by 24 by 30 inches and costs $342. Several sizes and cabinet and door options are available.

Above: The Kohler Purist Single-Hole Kitchen Faucet is the simplest version of Kohler's top-rated Purist line. It has an eight-inch spout that rotates 360 degrees with a 9.7-inch clearance; $466.35 in a polished nickel finish via Amazon.

Above: The Summit 24-Inch Gas Cooktop in Chrome with Four Burners costs $345 from Home Depot. 

Above: The 1930s Industrial Steel Bar Cart is $895 from Restoration Hardware. 

Above: For the kitchen countertop and backsplash, consider Ceasarstone's Raw Concrete from their Classico Collection. Contact Ceasarstone directly for a nearby supplier. 

Above: The Ashland Pendant from Barn Light Electric starts at $109 for a 12-inch shade. The pendant is available in a variety of colors and finishes with several cord styles.

Above: The kitchen features two white shelves floating above the backsplash. Consider Ikea's Lack Wall Shelf in white with concealed mounting hardware. 

Dining Room Essentials

Above: The Eames Table Segmented Base Round is available in three sizes in black or white; a 42-inch-diameter table is $899 from Herman Miller. 

Above: The Prouvé Standard SP Chair comes in 10 colors (shown, warm gray/basalt); $420.75 from Design Within Reach. 

Above: The Zettel'z 5 Chandelier, designed by Ingo Maurer, is made of 31 love letters printed in different languages on Japanese paper sheets. The lamp also comes with 49 blank pages, inviting the owner to participate in creativity. The lamp costs $974.75 from Stardust. 

Above: The floor lamp in the living room is by Harvey Guzzin, featuring a chrome stem and colored sphere shade made of perspex. The Quadrifoglio Floor Lamp (designed in 1974 by Gae Aulenti for Harvey Guzzini) is another option; $2,000 from 1st Dibs. 

Accessories

Above: The Mauviel M’héritage Copper 10.2-Inch Frying Pan is $200 from Food52.

Above: Chabatree Jargala Jars are handmade from mouth-blown glass with sustainable teak wood tops that seal with a rubber ring; currently on sale and available in small, $20, medium, $24, and large, $29, from Merchant No. 4.

Above: The Tuscan Three-Tiered Cake Stand by Arte Italica is made from pewter and costs $450 from Distinctive Decor. 

For more kitchen ideas to steal, see:

• Steal This Look: The Kitchen of Urban Cowboy Bed & Breakfast in Brooklyn
• Steal This Look: East Hampton Kitchen by Sawyer | Berson
• Steal This Look: A Glamorous Swiss-Italian Kitchen, Chandelier Included

More Stories from Remodelista

• Object Lessons: Italy's Best Knives from Coltellerie Berti
• Kitchen of the Week: Practicality in White Marble
• From iTunes to Hand-Carved Spoons with Windy Chien

For four generations the Berti family of Tuscany has been in the specialty knife business—they offer seven designs devoted to the correct slicing of Italian cheeses. (Looking for a tomato knife? A prosciutto slicer? A pesto knife? A sponge cake knife? They've got those, too). And as always, each knife made by Coltellerie Berti (translation: Berti Cutlery) is created start to finish by the same artisan (look for the initials on the blade) and expected to be put to work for a lifetime of cooking. Prices, too, reflect that devotion to craftsmanship.

Founded by David Berti in 1895—he taught his son, Severino, who, in turn, taught his son, Alvaro—the company is currently run by Andrea Berti, son of Alvaro, who has maintained tradition while venturing into new territory by offering the option of laser-cut blades and Lucite handles. Most knife factories these days have succumbed to modern manufacturing practices, but Berti, now available worldwide, cuts its own swath.

Five to Buy

Above: "We took our time choosing a great all-purpose chef's knife," writes cookbook author Heidi Swanson of online shop Quitokeeto. "If you prefer stainless steel over (higher maintenance) carbon steel, this Coltellerie Berti knife is a great option." It has an eight-inch stainless steel, high carbon blade—"weighty enough for serious work, yet finely balanced and sturdy"—and a Lucite handle; $265. 

Go to Secrets from the Swanson Kitchen, SF Edition to see more of her picks.

Above: Didriks of Boston offers a large selection of Berti knives, including this seven-piece Small Set for Kitchen; $2,064 with handles of black Lucite handles (shown) and $2,678 for ox horn handles (harvested, Berti says, in a sustainable, harm-free way). Didriks offers a good explanation of Berti's full-tang and anchored-tang blade options.

Above: For cutting soft cheeses and polenta, the Berti Boxwood Bow Knife is $90 at March in SF. (The Round Cutting Board is by Blackcreek Mercantile; $75 to $92.)

Above: A Berti Set of Three Boxwood Cheese Knives in a fabric roll—a serving knife for soft cheeses, a Parmesan knife, and a cleaver for semihard cheeses—is $412 at March.

Above: This Berti Knife Set—a chef's knife, bread knife, paring knife, and serrated tomato knife with Lucite handles—comes housed in magnetized knife blocks; $1,375 for the set at Quitokeeto. A variety of individual Berti knives in wooden blocks are available from ThatsArt.com starting at $261.

For more of our favorite finds, go to 16 Made-in-Italy Kitchen Essentials and Bella Cucina: 8 Italian Kitchen Systems. And read our Object Lesson on Heller Dinnerware by Massimo Vignelli.

More Stories from Remodelista

• Steal This Look: Industrial Kitchen & Dining Room by B-Arch Studio in Italy
• Kitchen of the Week: Practicality in White Marble
• From iTunes to Hand-Carved Spoons with Windy Chien

Spotted in the Milan apartment of Pietro Russo: The modular Haller storage system, with its sleek lines and glossy finish, is our new obsession. Designed by architect Fritz Haller in 1963, the USM Haller System is a line of customizable storage components (shelving, credenzas, file cabinets). Located in Munsingen, Switzerland, the company has been in business since 1885 and has been through several incarnations (it started as a hardware and locksmith shop, then morphed into a window manufacturer, and in 1963 the family segued into modular furniture); it's now run by the fourth generation of the Schaerer family. For showroom locations, go to USM Haller.

Above: In Pietro Russo's Milan apartment, two USM Haller Modern Credenzas are linked to make a single unit.

Above: The USM Haller Modern Credenza is available in seven colors (shown in graphite black) and is $3,854 directly from USM. The units are 60 inches wide, 15 inches deep, and 30 inches high.

Above: The units are made of powder-coated steel panels with chrome frames.

Interested in another favorite modular storage system? See The World's Greenest and Most Economical Shelving System. 

More Stories from Remodelista

• Now Open: glassybaby Hot Shop in Berkeley
• New Lighting from an Emerging Design Star
• Table of Contents: The New Glamour

Last week handmade glasswares company glassybaby opened its second-ever hot shop—this one in Berkeley, California—to augment its Seattle glassblowing headquarters. The 13,000-square-foot space accommodates 65 glassblowers making the brand's signature votive candle holders (called glassybaby) and drinking cups (called drinkers). And the warehouse-style space has room left over for a glassybaby store as well as an event space that is fit to accommodate 200 guests and has a commercial kitchen. The hot shop is open daily to visitors wanting a close-up view of live glassblowing.

Seattle-based glassybaby is committed to supporting local economies; as the company grows in California, so does its commitment to local communities. Its new West Berkeley hot shop was designed by Berkeley native Matt Stromberg, with custom lighting by Berkeley's Metro Lighting, construction by Oliver & Company in Richmond, California, and custom woodwork made from discarded bleachers from Cal Memorial Stadium. 

For more, shop glassybaby online or visit one of eight glassybaby stores around Seattle and San Francisco, including the new hot shop at 745 Heinz St. in Berkeley.

Above: glassybaby come in more than 400 colors. Photograph by Sarah Alba for glassybaby. 

glassybaby founder Lee Rhodes puts "purpose above profit" and donates 10 percent of all sales to select nonprofits. Bay Area beneficiaries include the San Francisco VA Health Care System, Children's Hospital Oakland, and Glide Memorial Church. 

Above: With the opening of the Berkeley hot shop, all glassybaby are now made in either Seattle or Berkeley. Each glassybaby is blown by hand and requires the attention of four individual makers.

glassybaby's nonprofit contributions total more than $3.5 million to date. Says Rhodes: "Our values as a company are to be kind to the environment, to help where the need is greatest, and to bring a little light, color, and kindness to the world." 

Above: glassybaby sorted by color in the new Berkeley hot shop store. glassybaby are $44 each (etched and special edition glassybaby are $75), and drinkers are $55. 

Each glassybaby color has a dedicated charity beneficiary. For example, the purchase of color "kindness" sends 10 percent of proceeds to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco. (For more on glassybaby colors and their matching beneficiaries, see glassybaby's Power of Giving.) Photograph by Sarah Alba.

Above: happy hour, one of the company's best-selling drinkers, with a mix of true blue, peace, and turquoise glassybaby. Ten percent from the sale of each drinker will be donated to the San Francisco VA Health Care System. 

Above: The "pajamas. all day." collection, comprises (from left) cozy, warm & fuzzy, and nest. 

The glassybaby Berkeley hot shop at 745 Heinz St. is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

More Stories from Remodelista

• Design Sleuth: USM Haller Storage System from Switzerland
• New Lighting from an Emerging Design Star
• Table of Contents: The New Glamour

We've been taking note of a new crop of barstools with leather seats and backs. Maybe it's the next leather sling chair or woven lounge chair or maybe it's a renewed interest in quality saddle leather. Either way, we think this one is here to stay. Here's a look at what's out there. 

Above: BDDW's Square Guest Stool has a solid wood frame (walnut, white oak, maple, or cherry) and a distressed leather seat and back in natural mulled leather (shown) or dark mulled leather. Contact BDDW for pricing and availability.

Above: The Butterfly Bar Stool in Danish oiled walnut and leather is designed by Autoban for De La Espada. Contact De La Espada for pricing and availability.

Above: Casamidy's Selle Stool is made of lacquered tubular iron and has a saddle leather seat and back. Contact Casamidy for pricing and availability.

Above: Designed by GamFratesi, the Tall Beetle Bar Stool is available in an array of colored leathers; $1,465 at The Future Perfect.

Above: From Garza in Marfa, Texas, the Saddle Leather Barstool is available in natural (shown), dark brown, or black leather and can be matched with a natural steel or colored steel base. Prices start at $980 for the natural leather chair.

Above: From Sol & Luna, the Giron Bar Stool is handmade in natural, brown, black, or red leather on an iron frame; £385 ($594.59) at Different Like a Zoo.

Above: The Roadhouse Leather 30-Inch Bar Stool is surprisingly similar to the Sol & Luna chair above. It's made with composite saddle leather on an iron frame; $279 at CB2.

Above: From Space Copenhagen, the Spine Bar Stool is made of white- or black-painted oak with a fabric or leather seat; $1,695 CAD ($1,306) at Mjölk.

Above: From 1158 the Lollo Bar Stool is made of top-grain leather in black, cognac (shown), and white at Scan Design.

Above: By Omar de Biaggio, the Bacco Barstool in Leather is a frame of solid walnut or oak with a 3-D molded seat frame that is upholstered in leather; currently on sale for $590.75 at Design Within Reach.

For more ideas, see our posts:

• 10 Easy Pieces: South American–Style Leather Chairs
• 10 Easy Pieces: Counter Stools with Backs
• 10 Easy Pieces: Wooden Counter Stools

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• Steal This Look: Blackout Dining Room in Lyon, France
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• 10 Easy Pieces: Quirky Glassware, Stemmed Edition

We recently featured Archiplan Studio's Minimalist Intervention of a Wallpaper-Filled Villa Outside Milan. Today, we're visiting LaCucina, Archiplan's clean-lined but soulful restaurant design in their hometown of Mantua. The mandate? To convert an existing historic space into a dining room that puts people at ease. 

Photography by Gianni Basso/Vega MG via Archiplan Studio.

Above: "We worked closely with the owners of the restaurant to develop a peaceful space that would make diners feel as if they were guests in a private home," write architects Cisi Diego and Stefano Gorni Silvestrini of Archiplan. Like the menu, the decor is a fresh take on local classics.

Above: The designers preserved the space's original timber ceiling and paired it with plywood paneling bleached with hydrogen peroxide and an oak floor lightened through a process of removing the tannins. The white-topped tables and benches are sawn oak custom-made by Visual.

Above: The beams cradle the main room, and family-style tables and open shelving create a relaxed vibe. The white chairs are Piero Lissoni's Neve (Snow) design from Porro in stained ash.

Above: An intimate end of the restaurant features a butcher-shop-style stainless steel counter and subway-tiled wall. Decorative ductwork is a theme throughout. Here, the designers installed a duct chandelier, a collaboration between Cisi and Elia Pavesi and Nicola Pianori of ENDS Studio. Yellow paper placemats introduce a touch of color to the palette of pale wood and white paint.

Above L: The over-the-counter lighting is Archiplan's Lampada 00, designed "through a process of subtraction." Above R: The restaurant's subtle sign made of scrapwood. 

Above: Modern ductwork meets old and new wood in a corner of the restaurant with intimate seating. Diego and Gorni Silvestrini say their designs are always about "attempting to synthesize oppositional forces, such as strength and fragility, shadow and light, the perfect and the imperfect."

Above: The design extends to the table signs. 

Above: Lavello 17, Archiplan's stainless steel sink, "fulfills the function of the countertop" and includes a wall-hung pivoting soap dispenser.

Above: Lampado 5054, Archiplan's homage to the incandescent bulb, sits in the window. 

Above: LaCucina is at 17 Via Guglielmo Oberdan, a quiet cobblestoned side street in Mantua. 

For more by Archiplan, take a look at A Moody Loft and Casa Errepi.

More Stories from Remodelista

• Crypt as Canteen: Hueso Restaurant in Guadalajara, Mexico
• Windy City Gothic: The Chicago Athletic Association Hotel by Roman and Williams
• Patch Cafe: A Playful Custom-Built Restaurant in Melbourne

All-time sexiest cookware? In Italy, designers have started thinking beyond the burner, creating streamlined, multifunctional pieces that can go from stovetop to tabletop.

Above: Designed by Milanese architect Rodolfo Dordoni for KnIndustrie, the Foodwear line features bronze exteriors with polished stainless interiors; the lids (which can be used as presentation stands) are available in either bronze glass or polished stainless steel. An Eight-Piece Bronze Italian Cookware Set is $399.99 via Amazon. Individual pieces are also available from Dep Design Store.

Above: Ceramic cookware with clip-on detachable handles, ABCT Pans have an eco-friendly nonstick surface and can be used on the stove and as serving dishes. Thanks to their removable handles, they're easy to store, and they come with mahogany lids that double as hot pads. Pans and woks start at €24.34 ($27.62) at Dep Design Store.

Above: Designed by architect Massimo Castagna, the eight-quart borosilicate Glass Pot for KnIndustrie is handmade in Italy (only 10 are produced per day) and is $200 from the MoMA Store in NYC (the Silicon Lid is sold separately for $53). The KnPro Glass Pasta Pot is €114.05 ($129.48) from OWO. 

Above: Designed by Enzo Mari for Zani & Zani, the Cookware Set is available in black (featuring a nonstick coating) or brushed stainless. The ensemble includes two stock pots, three casserole pans, two low pots, and four covers; €2,099.21 ($2,426.46) from Serafino Zani (the pieces are also sold individually).

Above: Massimo Castagna's KnPro cookware line is made of aluminum with a white nonstick nanotech coating and steel handles. The shallow Skillet is €63.93 ($72.55) from Mohd in Italy.

Above: Same Same but Different is Castagna's KnPro companion family of multifunctional cover plates—porcelain-enamel-coated stainless steel plates or serving platters that double as lids when used with an oversized walnut knob. Prices start at €30 ($34.05) for the 25-centimeter size from Erresse Shop.

Above: Toast carries the Terra.Cotto line of fireproof terracotta Italian cookware, handmade in Italy and available in a range of colors. The pieces have a ceramic-glazed interior with a chalky, hand-dipped exterior; prices start at £52.50 ($70.48) for the Terracotta Saucepot. In the US, the Terra.Cotto Line is available from Fitzsu; prices start at $85 for the saucepot with lid.

Shop our Cookware section for more finds, including:

• The World's Most Beautiful Dutch Oven
• 5 Favorites: The Indispensable Grill Pan
• Object Lessons: Lodge Cast Iron Classics
• Jasper Morrison's Japanese-Made Cast Iron

N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on January 19, 2015, as part of our Italian Renaissance

More Stories from Remodelista

• Object Lessons: Italy's Best Knives from Coltellerie Berti
• Steal This Look: Industrial Kitchen & Dining Room by B-Arch Studio in Italy
• Kitchen of the Week: Practicality in White Marble

For 20 years now, Italy-based German interior designer and furniture maker Katrin Arens has been finding fresh uses for discarded wood. She's still on the vanguard of the reclaimed movement: "I love reusing wood to make things that will last," she tells us. "I aim for designs that are simple and clean without being cold." Today we're spotlighting a compact kitchen that Arens designed for a young restaurateur couple in Bergamo, in the Italian lakes region, where Arens herself has a second home and workshop. The landscape and architecture of Northern Italy, she says, serves as both her inspiration and her source for castoff materials.

Photography via Katrin Arens.

Above: Set in an apartment in a newly remodeled early 19th-century house in the center of Bergamo, the kitchen is built largely from salvaged scaffolding wood with a dramatic back wall of iron sheeting that wraps around the range hood. The dishwasher is to the right of the sink and there's a freestanding fridge to the left, out of the photo frame.

Above: Arens made use of her clients' Ikea sink and faucet from their former home: "Why not reuse something that's nice?" (Note the top drawer, built around the plumbing.) The iron utensil rail was fabricated in Arens's studio. 

Above: Arens uses all-wood drawers and cabinets with basic carved openings in most of her designs. As for the various finishes, she explains, "We produce some in our studio using bee's wax and pigments. All are the result of years of experimenting and we keep them secret. The white finish is a pigment that has to be brushed on the wood several times; otherwise it won't last. The wood counters are sealed to waterproof them." 

Get the lowdown on wood countertops in Remodeling 101.

Above: In a narrow slot next to the range, three drawers are camouflaged behind a tall front.

Above: "When I started working with old wood, I had to find a way to make repeatable designs that someone could order in different sizes—without losing the unique aspect," says Arens. Plentiful scaffolding wood became a favorite material, and the tall, narrow cupboard with cutout openings is one of her signature pieces.

Above: A cupboard just beyond the kitchen is patterned with a mix of raw and painted panels. See more at Katrin Arens.

Working on your own kitchen? Go to our Kitchen of the Week posts for inspiration and sourcing ideas. The Movable Kitchen from ModNomad Studio is another scrap wood design. 

Designer and Hollywood house flipper Amanda Pays builds shelves from scaffolding wood; take a look at her 11 Money-Saving Remodeling Strategies.

More Stories from Remodelista

• 6 Elegant Cookware Lines, Italian Edition
• Object Lessons: Italy's Best Knives from Coltellerie Berti
• Steal This Look: Industrial Kitchen & Dining Room by B-Arch Studio in Italy

Tyler Hays of BDDW is broadening his horizon (again). He recently launched M. Crow & Co. in Oregon, and now he's taking his American handcrafted furniture collection across the Atlantic to a new showroom in Milan. He's displaying his own luxe-rustic timeless pieces alongside lighting by Lindsey Adelman, David Weeks, and Apparatus Studios.

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Hays admitted that he's counting on the showroom less as a revenue stream than as an excuse to visit Italy more often. We can't help but agree with his excuse. 

Here's a glimpse of the light-filled showroom. 

Above: A linen dress hanging in the Milan showroom window.

Above: Hays and his collaborators' names hand-drawn on a linen dress. 

Above: The Cloud Shelf and hand-painted Ceramic Bricks—all designed and made in Hays's studio in Philadelphia.

Above: A BDDW handcrafted Dining Table, with lighting by Lindsey Adelman and Apparatus Studio and a large vintage mural on display as a backdrop

Above: Handmade, hand-painted Ceramic Trivets hang on the wall next to a painting by Hays. The Ceramic Funnel Lamps are by Natalie Page, an Abel Sofa is paired with a round coffee table, and the Firewood Holder (includes a bundle of scrap wood from the BDDW workshop) can be seen in the background. To learn about the Wingback Chair by BDDW, see our post 10 Easy Pieces: The Wingback Chair Is Back. 

Above: An Abel Club Chair, Credenzas, and a large Leather Round Mirror on display in one of the rooms—all designed by BDDW. The light fixture is by Lindsey Adelman.

Above: A Hanging Mobile on display by David Weeks.

More on BDDW straight from our archives:

• High-Style Hillbilly: Tyler Hays for M. Crow & Co.
• World's Most Beautiful Ping-Pong Table
• Furniture: New Sofas from BDDW in New York

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• Archiplan Studio Rethinks the Intimate Italian Ristorante
• Crypt as Canteen: Hueso Restaurant in Guadalajara, Mexico
• Windy City Gothic: The Chicago Athletic Association Hotel by Roman and Williams

Beyond the tiled backsplash: Nine spaces with unexpected tile details (island bases, shelves, cabinet interiors, and more).

Above: The Netherlands house of Dutch designers Ina and Matt has a tiled kitchen island and tiled walls.

Above L: In the loft of NY events planner Bronson van Wyck, Oliver Freundlich defined the cooking area with ceramic subway tile, vent hood included (for more, see our Steal This Look). Above R: A Netherlands kitchen with tiled island base and wall with a storage niche, via Muuto.

Above: A kitchen in Boston with tiled shelves and island base. Photograph by Antoine Bootz. 

Above: In a kitchen by London designer Jamie Blake, the cabinet interiors are tiled; see more at Steal This Look: The Endless Summer Kitchen.

Above: A tiled pantry in an English country house via Light Locations.

Above: In a Brooklyn kitchen, Elizabeth Roberts of Ensemble Architecture tiled the range hood and inserted a tiled storage niche above a countertop. Photo via One King's Lane.

Above: A tiled wall with inset shelving painted black, via French designer Marianne Evennou.

Above: Tiled countertops in the Berkeley home of photographer Erin Scott, via Design Sponge.

Interested in more unexpected kitchen ideas? See 14 Kitchen Storage Tricks to Steal from the Bathroom.

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• Now Open: glassybaby Hot Shop in Berkeley
• Design Sleuth: USM Haller Storage System from Switzerland
• New Lighting from an Emerging Design Star

When it comes to bedroom design, certain bedroom layouts work better than others, especially when it comes to pursuing harmony and restful sleep. What happens, though, if you turn your bed 180 degrees and place it in the middle of the room, facing a window (or two). We're admiring this type of bedroom layout, but do we dare to jump on the turned bed trend?

Here are 10 bedrooms featuring this unusual furniture configuration.

Above: A rustic farmhouse in Bourgogne, France, featuring a bedroom with a turned bed facing a large window. Sourced via Desire to Inspire.

Above: The Sentosa House in Singapore, designed by Nicholas Burns, has an enormous bedroom with a bed placed in the middle of the room. 

Above: An Atherton, California, home by Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects uses a custom headboard as a partition that doubles as drawers on the reverse side. 

Above: A penthouse in Melbourne with a bed turned facing the outdoor patio. Sourced via Decoist. 

Above: The bedroom of Spanish designer José Gandía-Blasco has a headboard that doubles as a desk. He also chose to turn his bed to face a large window. Sourced via International Architecture and Design. 

Above: Owners Fiona and Tony Hooper turned to architect Sheila Narusawa to overhaul their Harbor Cottage in Maine. Narusawa created the lofty master suite out of three small bedrooms. She anchored a turned bed to an island in the center of the room, allowing the area behind to serve as a dressing area/office. To learn more about the remodel, see A Cottage Reborn in Coastal Maine. Photography by Justine Hand.

Above: A storage/desk piece has dual-function as storage and a headboard for a turned bed in a Dutch home. Photography via VT Wonen.  

Above: A storage unit functions as a headboard in a bed placed in the middle of the room. Photograph via UK design site House to Home. For more bed storage options see, Sleep and Stow: Bed Frames with Built-in Storage.

Above: A bedroom featuring a turned bed with a wide headboard that double as storage and hall divider. Sourced from Jas Design Build in Seattle.

Above: The guest rooms of Montagne Alternative in Switzerland have beds with a headboard/console table in the middle of the room facing a view of the Alps. 

We've got you covered when it comes to enhancing sleep: 

• 10 Secrets for a Better Night's Sleep
• Sleep Disrupters: 7 Upstart Mattress Companies
• How to Achieve Total Darkness in the Bedroom (and Why It Matters)

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• New from Ambatalia: The Furoshiki Sheet and More
• 5 Tips for a Better Night's Sleep from a Feng Shui Master
• Enter to Win: $2,500 Complete Bedding Giveaway from Room & Board

Melbourne designer David Flack turned 30 a few months ago and promptly launched Flack Studio, a two-person office: He's the creative talent and his sister oversees operations.They're now juggling 12 residential and retail projects in Melbourne and Sydney, including this suave remodel: Phase One (living area, bedrooms, and baths) newly complete just in time for the arrival of the owners' first child. Phase Two (kitchen and family room overhaul) on the docket. 

The young couple, who work in finance and law (and "happen to have exceptional taste," says Flack) bought a Victorian terrace house that had been stripped of all its period details sometime in the nineties. "I would never have denuded such an ornate terrace," Flack tells us, "but instead of reinstating these features, I introduced a contemporary materials palette—gray with flashes of black and brass. The look is simple, cohesive, and masculine: It's subtle yet has a toughness to it."

Photography by Brooke Holm and Marsha Golemac.

Above: "If walls could talk, the rooms of this Victorian terrace would tell a story or two about the house's incarnations over its lifetime," says Flack. "The new scheme's backdrop is subtle: Soft taupe and white are complemented by natural, textural materials—including a gray-blond European oak floor—and punctuated with flashes of brass and black steel."  

The owners came to the project with a few choice pieces of furniture in search of a good setting, including the living room's Poliform sofa, which Flack paired with a Poliform coffee table and Cappellini's faux marble fiberglass Bong Coffee Table. The pleated floor-to-ceiling curtains are Belgian linen from Elliott Clarke. (Scroll down to see Before views of the space.) 

Above: British architect Michael Anastassiades's Tube Chandelier of satin brass anchors the room—"it audaciously occupies the corner usually belonging to a standard lamp," Flack says. The brass side table is Cappellini's Gong Lux and the fireplace was already in the room. 

Above: Flack's favorite chair in the house is this striped re-edition of a 1934 Gio Ponti design for Rubelli: "classic and masculine with brass legs that echo the lines of the pendant light." The new pale floorboards, he points out, "ensure maximized light." The walls are painted in Linen from New Zealand paint company Resene.

Above: A Poliform sideboard, another of the clients' original pieces, displays a vintage "Murano glass, Memphis-style lamp" along with a concrete pipe and other geometric forms.

Above: Without changing the table, Flack dressed up the dining room with linen curtains and Neve Chairs by Pierro Lissoni and Mario Bellini's black leather Cab Chairs from Cassina. The standing light is the Flos Toio.

Above: The stairs are custom-stained to match the floorboards and carpeted with a bamboo-and-silk runner by Melbourne custom rug maker Bibi Vero.

Above: The master bedroom came with its gray carpet and angular walls, which are painted the same taupe as the living room and dining room. The Charcoal Linen Duvet Cover and Linen Pillowslips are from In Bed of New South Wales, Australia. (For linen bedding in the US, consider Rough Linen.) The light is the Oluce Coupé, a sixties classic by Joe Columbo.

Above: In the guest bath, Flack installed a wall-mounted Agape Ottocento Washbasin against a backsplash of honed Bedonia limestone. Like the look? See 13 Noirish Black and White Bathrooms and consider the Alape Bucket Sink from Germany.

Above: The Matte Black Taps are Australian-made from Astra Walker.

Above: The sandstone-framed bathtub is from Kaldewei. For a similar towel ladder, see New Bath Hardware from Norm Architects.

Above: The white subway tiles are set off by dark gray grout. The anodized aluminum shower shelf is from Agape's Sen Accessories line.

Above: The owners' child was born just weeks after Phase One of the remodel was complete. The nursery is painted in Resene's "half-strength Linen" and has a Fiorenza Armchair by Franco Albini from Poliform. Note that all of the house's curtains hang from black steel rails. The ceiling light is Anna Charlesworth's Four Shapes Pendant, "a playful take on a hanging mobile," says Flack.

Above: The nursery's wall of custom cabinetry is made of American oak veneer with a painted finish. "It's a recessive piece," Flack says, "but has a subtle texture with the oak grain showing through." The sliding white ladder is for accessing the top shelves (but may have to be put in storage when the baby enters the climbing stage).

Above: A glimpse of the master bedroom's en suite bath: "I wanted the bathrooms to be similar," says Flack. "I only used a handful of materials throughout the house. I think that's the most powerful part of its reincarnation: The rooms fit together as one."

Above: A Duravit sink is set in a counter of honed Bedonia sandstone topped with with a custom mirror and lights trimmed with brass.

 Above: The matte black faucet is from Astra Walker's Icon Range.

Above: David Flack is ready for more. The house's remaining rooms are being remodeled this spring.

Before

Above: The living room as it was, with white walls and a pine floor—and a more ad hoc look. (The sofa was moved into another room.)

Above: Flack's intervention would rely largely on new finishes and furnishings.

Above: The dining room, before, with white walls and chairs.

Above: The master bedroom and bath as they were—the carpet stayed.

• Parts 1-4 of Rehab Diary: A Small House Overhaul in London
• A Charred Wood Cottage on a $45K Budget
• A Hamptons Kitchen with a Custom Island Sourced on Etsy
• Reader Rehab: Danielle's DIY Kitchen Renovation for Under $500

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• Small-House Remodel: From One Bedroom to Three—No Addition Required
• Henrybuilt Opens a Studio in Mill Valley, CA

La dolce vita, it turns out, can be cultivated. Take a look at the Gardenista team's Italian discoveries this week.

Above: A cliffside aerie in Italy is the Outbuilding of the Week

Above: Flo of Bologna, Italy, specialize in Raw and Rustic Planters that make us want to do some repotting. And to prep for the chill, see How to Prevent Cracks in Terra Cotta.

Above: Landscape architect Cristiana Ruspa creates gardens that "feel painted rather than planted," writes Michelle. Case in point: this Hazy Villa Dreamscape in Reggio Emilia.

Above: From Alpes Inox of Italy, makers of Race-Car-Style Kitchen Appliances, a compact outdoor cooking station with a Japanese iron griddle. Go to 10 Easy Pieces for more Open-Air Kitchens.

Above: Made in Milan: Outdoor Furniture from Paola Lenti. The design house's clean-lined offerings include this deck duo by Vincent Van Duysen.

Go to Gardenista for Garden Ideas to Steal from Italy—and more.

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