Category: WOW

They say that children grow up in the blink of an eye. And, as any parent knows, this means that they are always outgrowing something: shoes, clothes, and, most expensively, beds. Cribs are used for such a short time, and replacing one with a big-kid-bed can be a costly change. Recognizing this universal problem, TeeHee, an innovative European furniture company, has created a line of cribs and beds than can be adjusted to grow as babies, toddlers, and children do.

Three magical models—Illa, Illeta, and the Biombo crib/bed—comprise the creative collection. Illa features a crib that can be easily transformed into a toddler bed. It also has a handy platform that can function as a changing table, desk, or bench. Illa’s sister model, Illeta, is nearly identical in design. Unlike Illa, however, Illeta features ample cabinet space for infant supplies, toys, books, and clothes. Forgoing all of the bells and whistles for a more classic construction, the Biombo crib and toddler bed are much more straightforward: the basic crib can be turned into a standard bed.

Each piece is simple in design and left unpainted, showcasing the beautiful, natural colors of the wood (Illa and Illeta are made from Scandinavian birch, while the Biombo pieces are carved from chestnut) and enabling it to seamlessly fit in with any decor. Aesthetically pleasing and unbelievably multi-functional, TeeHee’s adjustable furniture have turned decorating a kid’s room into child’s play!

TeeHee: Website
via [Homecrux]

All images via TeeHee.

Though not as common in North American cities, many European metropolises have extensive trolleybus systems. As part of the Vilnius Street Art Festival in Lithuania, artist Liudas Parulskis executed an ingenious project that made the city’s trolleybuses disappear. In collaboration with creative place-making agency Studio Vieta, Parulskis took blown up photographs of city streets and architecture and wrapped entire trolleys, creating an illusion of the urban landscape on the moving vehicles.

Once a day these trolleys magically disappear as they hit the proper spot in the city—crossing Tumo Vaizganto street and Gediminas Prospect intersection—blending in with the city streets. While most urban transit systems are wrapped with advertising, Vilnius’ trolleys are largely advertising free, causing a big shock for local commuters as they waited for their normally image-free trolley to arrive. Parulskis cleverly inserted elements with significance in Lithuanian culture. A wolf crossing the street harkens back to the medieval legend of the iron wolf said to have founded Vilnius. In an ironic case of life imitating art, four kittens were eventually born inside the trolleybus wrapped with an image of four cats crossing the road.

Work in progress. Trams were raised up to allow the image to be wrapped on all sides.

Liudas Parulskis: Instagram
Vilnius Street Art Festival: Website | Facebook | Instagram

All images via Tautvydas Stukas.

If you’ve ever wanted to live inside of a video game, here’s a way to get pretty close. One Super Mario super fan created an immersive homage to the iconic game franchise and listed it for rent on Airbnb. That’s right—taking a trip to the Mushroom Kingdom is as easy as booking a room.

Located in Lisbon, Portugal, the bright and cozy space features two large murals of Mario—along with Luigi, Princess Peach, and flying Koopa Troopas—jumping between pipes and over pixelated barrels. You can even dress like him during your stay because the room includes a pair of his famous overalls and red newsboy cap. The bathroom is equally as outfitted as the bedroom with all of the piping painted a bright green like in the games.

Computer programmer André Farinha is mastermind behind this Airbnb, and the self-proclaimed “major nerd” has loaded the room with several gaming devices. There are two Nintendo 3DS handhelds as well as a Wii U with 20 games. But if Mario just isn’t your style, you can always join the Darkside and stay in Farinha’s other Star Wars-themed accommodation.

Gaming Room: Airbnb
via [Mashable]

The idea of having a floating cloud inside of your home seems like something from a dream. This fantasy is now a reality, however, made possible through a recent collaboration between design firm Richard Clarkson Studio and levitation specialists Crealev. Together, they’ve produced a small puffy cloud speaker that not only plays music, but lights up and hovers in mid-air. 

The unconventional device is made of white, hand-fluffed polyester fibers and is reminiscent of a picturesque cloud you’d see on a warm and sunny day. Embedded within the densely-packed material is a Bluetooth speaker and sound-reactive LED lights (to simulate lightning), as well as a magnet. Another magnet (of opposite polarity) is placed within the gadget’s reflective oval base and allows the cloud to have this rotating, softly-bobbing movement—it’s like you’ve brought the outdoors inside and put it on your coffee table.

As of now, this design is currently a prototype with the hopes that it will be commercially available soon.

Richard Clarkson Studio: Website
Crealev: Website
via [Dezeen, Contemporist]

Earlier this year, we met the photogenic Yuta Family—a brood that includes eight Chihuahas and Richie, the dogs’ protective feline friend. Now, the household has welcomed a new animal addition—a cuddly little hamster. The tiny rodent has seamlessly joined the family, adding an adorable element of fluff to the already sweet and creative collection of portraits on the family’s Instagram account.

Richie and his gang of dogs have had no problem selflessly sharing their home and the camera with their new hamster sibling. Most of the pictures reveal the different species cuddling for a nap, playing dress-up, or a combination of the two. They look so cozy and at peace with each other, despite their differences. Check out a few of the Yuta Family’s photos below, and for more of their adventures, you can follow the interspecies pack on Instagram.

Yuta Family: Facebook | Instagram
via [The Dodo]

Year after year, Ray Villafane of Villafane Studios transforms ordinary pumpkins and gourds into extraordinary works of art. Carving and crafting a myriad of characters, his realistic-looking creations push the envelope of what we previously thought was possible with squash. Villafane and his crew bring the inanimate objects to life, giving them personalities that run the gamut from goofy to creepy. As he continues to hone his craft, the carved characters often grow arms and legs, and they’re stars of amusing scenes where they prank one another.

Seeing Villafane’s newest creations is one of our favorite fall traditions. This year, he’s created two pickled pumpkin coffin displays for Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America. Housed in tanks, these eerily-lit characters—bathed in blue and green lighting—delight and spook visitors, who can also see more of Villafane’s handiwork throughout the park.

In addition to his work at the Mall of America, Villafane Studios is also hosting a pumpkin carving contest with the Sullen Art Collective. This year, they’ve decided to shake things up and have contestants submit their best pumpkin scenes until the November 1 deadline.

Villafane Studios: Website | Facebook | Instagram

Have you ever craved a simpler way of life? Co-owners and sisters Heather Coulombe and Sandee Maclean appeared to have offered thousands of people the opportunity at their dream job when they posted open positions for their establishment The Farmer’s Daughter Country Market, located on the island of Cape Breton in Canada. Rather than offering “big money,” the siblings propose bountiful land as compensation.

In a post on Facebook, they wrote, “If you decide this opportunity might fit your dreams and goals for a close to nature and community focused life, then we are willing to offer you 2 acres of woodland where you can immediately set up your tiny house or quaint cabin. Plus give you access to our farmland and other resources we have available,” the sisters explain. “If you are still working with us after five years and we all still like each other after that time, then the land is yours for the cost of migrating it out and putting it in your name.”

They had a strong idea of who would be the ideal employee. “We are looking for people who are environmentally conscious, want to be part of a community and will see our business not as you work for us, but we all work together to create something to be proud of. If you take pride in being friendly, helpful, and positive and have skills in the food industry or customer service, then you are who we are looking for.” They also specified that applicants must have a Canadian work permit.

The store had previously searched for staff using conventional recruiting efforts and were unsuccessful. Through the Facebook advertisement, however, the sisters received more than 3,500 responses. “Cape Breton is amazing but our population is decreasing,” the ad boasted. “Corporate development has been seen as the solution in the past but that often comes at the expense of our environment. We think there is a better way.” In mid-September, they selected three people to begin employment and are planning on hiring three to four more people for the spring.

Cape Breton’s population is approximately 135,000, and this isn’t the first time the region has made efforts to encourage emigrants to settle. Last February Mary Tulle, CEO at Destination Cape Breton, led a campaign that cautioned, “Don’t wait until Donald Drumpf is elected president to find somewhere else to live.” They appealed to Americans and other foreigners alike, stating: “Start your new life in Cape Breton, where women can get abortions, Muslim people can roam freely and the only walls are holding up the roofs of our extremely affordable houses.”

The Farmer’s Daughter Country Market: Website | Facebook | Instagram 
via [Lost at E Minor]

All images via The Farmer’s Daughter Country Market.

The world’s favorite surly feline, Grumpy Cat, has gone where few, if any other kitties have been before—the Broadway stage. On September 30, she made her one-night-only debut in a musical revival of Cats. This casting couldn’t be more appropriate, as the story showcases the different feline personalities in the Jellicle tribe as they parade around a larger-than-life junkyard.

Grumpy Cat appeared at the end of the show for a couple of minutes as an honorary Jellicle Cat. Still, despite this recognition, Grumpy Cat wasn’t satisfied. “Being selected as the first real cat to perform in Cats on Broadway is an honor. I hate it,” she meowed in a press release. “If I’m really being honest, I’d prefer to play the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera.” Much to our delight, however, the show went on—and Grumpy looked purrrfect next to the cast.

Here’s a song from Cats to give you an idea of the performance:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbpP3Sxp-1U&w=750&h=422]

Grumpy Cat: Website | Instagram | Facebook
via [The Huffington Post]

Renowned for his unique aesthetic and love of asymmetry, Belgian interior and furniture designer Filip Janssens has created Rupture, an unmistakably modern cabinet that features a stylized “crack” fracturing its façade. With ample cupboard space and shelves of various sizes, the striking storage unit is as practical as it is beautiful. 

Like many of Janssens’ statement pieces, Rupture incorporates a fissure motif in its design. A cluster of wooden drawers and shelves cut through its pristine white exterior, running the entire length of the piece and forming an irregularly-shaped, meandering rift. The rupture, which can be illuminated by LED-lighting, is accented with panes of opalescent and textured glass in lava-like, fiery tones of red, yellow, and orange, further illustrating the design’s earthy inspiration.

While Janssens typically creates bespoke, made-to-order pieces, Rupture is a fixed-measurement readymade. Though it diverges from his usual oeuvre, it retains his signature aesthetic and still demonstrates his experimental approach: “Designing is like painting an abstract geometric artwork but in 3D. Lines become dimensions and volumes. I’m testing all possibilities with modular volumes: using a volume inside another volume, asymmetry, working in different layers or depths, open and closed volumes, working only with the outline of the volume…”

Functional and flashy, Rupture will make its groundbreaking debut at the Biennale Interieur in Kortrijk, Belgium, on October 14.

Here are other versions of Janssens’ functional and intriguing shelving concept:

Filip Janssens:& Website | Facebook
via [Design Milk]

All images via Filip Janssens.

Most babies are lucky to have a few strands of hair on their head when they’re born, leaving parents to invest in copious knit hats to keep their baby’s bald head warm at night. Mother Chelsea Noon of Brighton, UK has never had that problem—her child, Junior Cox-Noon, was born with a thick head of hair. Nurses predicted that the baby’s hair would fall out in a few days, but nine weeks later, Junior is still rocking his bouffant ‘do. Fortunately, Noon is a hairdresser and has no difficulty handling her baby’s wild mane.

The tough part is trying to get through the grocery store in under two hours. Everyone wants to feel Junior’s soft, fluffy locks. “When I take him with me on the weekly shop…everyone does a double-take and says, ‘Oh my God, look at the baby’s hair,’ and they have to touch it. He doesn’t seem to mind and gets a little a smirk on his face,” Noon tells the Daily Mirror. She’s asked most often if she’s every going to cut his hair. “I definitely don’t want to cut it, I want to see how long it actually does grow out,” Noon responds. “I don’t know where his hair has come from—it’s like a big ball of candy floss.”

Noon reports that Junior is quite pleased with showing off his hair, given that he cries anytime she attempts to put a hat on him. In order to keep his unique style looking fresh, Noon blow-dries it after baths, as it would take too long to dry naturally. You can see below the incredible motion in that ocean of nine-week-old hair.

via [Bored Panda, Daily Mirror]

All images via David Hall Photography.