Every other week we’re inviting one of the Design Milk team to share five personal favorites – an opportunity for each of us to reveal the sort of designs we use and appreciate in our own lives from a more personal perspective. Senior Editor and Art Director Kelly Beall takes the reigns this week for our Take 5 series…

1. Our Place Lavender Always Pan
If you love to cook and tend to run low on space in the kitchen, then you’re likely to appreciate the Always Pan from Our Place just as much as I do. This one pan replaces 8(!) traditional pieces of cookware all while looking good enough to leave out on the stovetop if need be. With this multifunctional giant you can braise, sear, steam, strain, saute, fry, boil, serve and store your food. My favorite touch is the way the accompanying beechwood spatula happily nests … Read the rest

Whether you’re an occasional camper looking for something small to pull to your next campsite or you want a top-of-the-line, no-expense-spared Xpedition vehicle, we got you covered. We scoped out some of our favorite recreational vehicles that do away with the typical aesthetics they’re general known for and focused on the modern variety that have been popping up more and more as people look to get away. Take a look at six of our favorite modern RVs, XVs, campers, and caravans.

The DROPLET is a compact teardrop trailer decked out with a light-filled, insulated shell that fits a queen size bed for a good night’s sleep. The large windows are perfect for stargazing or if you’re looking for privacy, the shades come down for added coziness. A sheltered kitchen is on the back of the trailer making it easy to fix meals while still enjoying everyone’s company outside. The DROPLET … Read the rest

Graphic design studio thonik recently completed their new, self-designed and built studio in Amsterdam, a project that marks their first three-dimensional design. Thomas Widdershoven, thonik’s co-founder, designed the studio in collaboration with MMX Architects as a “spacial manifesto of thonik’s design philosophy, characterized by social commitment and a playful take on modernism’s heritage.” The project took 12 long years to design and complete the build as the business requirements and needs changed over time, but the wait appears to be worth it when you see the finished results.

The new studio lives within a mixed-use building where it occupies two floors. A sake bar is located on the ground floor and a Japanese Omakase restaurant is on the first floor, while an event space named ‘the thonik loft’ takes up the top floor and a rooftop terrace gives visitors 360-degree views of Amsterdam’s inner city and financial district.

The graphic … Read the rest

Jorey (Shosh) Friedman, Vice President and Principal of SB Architects, has over 25 years of experience providing architectural design expertise. Her speciality is large-scale projects that include hospitality, golf and resort residential communities and mixed-use developments. She has the ability to create and sustain a strong project vision from concept to construction, all while building and maintaining positive client relationships. Her leadership capabilities forge strong project teams that work together efficiently and effectively. Jorey leads the design and presentation of many of the firm’s most prominent projects in the United States and around the world. Her long-term commitments to the firm include playing an active role in business development and providing mentorship for junior architects within the firm. Today Jorey joins us for Friday Five!

1. Textures + Patterns in Nature
I love photographing nature. I like getting so close that you can’t really discern what you’re … Read the rest

The wellness space for men has been underserved in the past when it comes to grooming and beauty. Thankfully that landscape has changed a lot in the last few years with emerging brands that champion self-care, personal hygiene and mental health. After all, wellness isn’t gender specific and men deserve TLC too! We want to help in whatever small ways we can to break the barriers and stigmas that come with men taking time for themselves to indulge in beauty and self-care. So, we’re rounding up 10 products to encourage men to #treatyourself, because you deserve it too.

>>> Whiskey Bar Soap by Soap Distillery <<< $8
If you enjoy whiskey, this bar soap has an oaky scent like it just came straight from the barrel. It smells like spices, caramel, oak and cedar wood. This soap is also cold processed which means it uses less energy to make … Read the rest

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CB2 has released a fun yet sophisticated fall collaboration with renowned interior designer Kara Mann that shows off the art of contrast. The inspiration for the 74-piece Kara Mann Collection comes from Mann’s teenage dream bedroom. These designs create an updated take on the space that’s full of cool tone on tone neutrals that are easy to mix and match alongside ruffles, polka dots and iridescence in new materials and modern lines. You’ll also find swirl resin, slubbed sateen upholstery, ultra-clear glass, sprayed concrete and more used on pieces that are edgy yet romantic.

Ease Lounge + Ottoman, Wedge Side Table

“Kara is a creative visionary, and together we’ve created a collaboration that leads with quality and design, but at approachable price points,” said CB2 President … Read the rest

This week’s DMTV Milkshake guest is Ti Chang, co-founder and VP of design of San Francisco’s design-centric sex toy company Crave. When Crave’s Duet vibrator debuted in 2011, Chang’s work at the intersection of wellness and technology was a revolutionary presence in both sectors. Her sleek vibrators were high-end, elegant, and discreet at a time when her competition was definitively mid-market; their success pointed investors to the market potential in the woefully underexplored area of women’s sexual pleasure. Crave’s new Duet Pro is the perfect example of that intersection, a chic vibrator that comes with 16 preprogrammed “vibes” – vibrational settings that can also be remixed from scratch via the MyVibes app.

In this interview, Ti shares what it was like to go on a cross-country road trip in an Airstream reworked as a “build your own vibrator” sex toy factory – an adventure intended to provide a … Read the rest

Hiroyuki Morita established Studio Rope in 2017, while studying for his Master’s Degree at ECAL Switzerland. “Design connects many relationships in our own life, in the same way as rope makes a knot,” he says, explaining the studio’s core philosophy. He believes that design is as much about forming strong bonds and flexible partnerships with clients, craftsmen, makers and users as it is about creating objects. His Stone Pottery collection is just one example of this. By working in close collaboration with stone factories, he was able to turn their waste dust into a unique glaze that provides thermo-insulating and tactile properties to a porcelain coffee set.

Tell me a little bit about your childhood, education and background in terms of how you first became interested in creativity, design and sustainability.

I was born in Shizuoka, Japan. My hometown was rich in nature and I spent a lot of time … Read the rest

With so many working from home and vacations out of reach for the time being, our residences are becoming a place we spend much of our time and because of that, our relationship with our spaces is evolving and requiring more flexibility and creativity. With that in mind, K.O.T Architects designed this apartment in Tel Aviv to be the “perfect home-base for the new urban lifestyle.”

The firm’s architect and interior designer, Kfir Galatia Azulay, chose to create a hotel-like apartment that perfectly balances “public and private, illuminated and shaded, transparent and concealed.” Inspired by poet Rupi Kaur’s quote, “I am not a hotel room. I am home”, Galatia Azulay designed the apartment, which is located in the Florentine neighborhood in a modernist residential building, to feel like a never-ending vacation for the young bachelor owner.

The original layout offered minimal natural light thanks to a series of enclosed rooms. … Read the rest