Smart locks have long promised a convenient upgrade from traditional door deadbolts, allowing homeowners the ability to both automatically and remotely open or secure their doors. But the adoption rate of earlier generations of smart locks was modest, most notably because of high prices, concerns about battery life required to operate the door’s internal mechanisms, and aesthetically, due to their size. Installed, some smart locks look like warts – contemporary and stylish warts, but also conspicuous. Level Home’s latest Level Lock, the smallest smart lock and a 2021 Red Dot and iF Design Award prized design is arguably the best attempt to woo homeowners toward the smart home side of security.

One thing we liked hearing while upgrading to a Level Lock was the thumbs up from the locksmith who installed our Touch-enabled unit. He praised the 440C stainless steel and strengthened metal alloys deadbolt one of the more

Garde Hvalsøe creates kitchen and interior solutions, designing spaces for world-famous chefs like René Redzepi of Noma. Designer Thomas Lykke, who runs OEO Studio together with Anne-Marie Buemann, needed a new kitchen in his Copenhagen flat. Like pieces of a puzzle, the two came together to collaborate on the Lykke Model, a modular made-to-order kitchen furniture solution that highlights the beauty of wood and classic craftsmanship.

Like Garde Hvalsøe, Lykke admires the nature and characteristics of wood, an appreciation stemming from his childhood spent with his grandfather, a cabinetmaker often in his workshop. He shares:

Wood is special. You have to understand its nature, and it is important to remember that the tree grew for twenty, fifty, sometimes hundreds of years to produce the wood for my cabinetmaker’s kitchen.

Designing the Lykke Model came from OEO Studio and Garde Hvalsøe’s previous project, “Cabinet of Love”, a showpiece the … Read the rest

This week’s DMTV Milkshake guests are Jeppe Christensen and Michael Andersen – CEO and CSO, respectively, of the Copenhagen-based kitchen lifestyle brand Reform. Reform works with architects and designers to offer sleek, modern kitchens – as well as its original cabinetry system, which combines cost-conscious IKEA foundations and Reform’s cabinet fronts.



For this week’s Milkshake, we talked to the co-founders about how they’re able to bridge the physical and philosophical differences between U.S. and European kitchens: “American kitchens are usually bigger – we can see it basically in the basket size,” Andersen says. “Americans might like appliances more. I love American appliances – we don’t have those in Europe, where you get ovens the size of a car and big, big refrigerators. That’s a big difference from the European market – we’re hiding the appliances with built-in dishwashers, et cetera. But there’s also many similarities – … Read the rest

Walking your dog twice a day, every day might seem like a chore when you don’t have the time for it or are scrambling around last minute for the leash. Setting up a routine and having all the pet essentials right at the door is key to making sure you and your furry family members are getting your steps in. Today we round up six pet essentials you should always have on hand for your next walk, whether it’s a trail hike or just a stroll around the neighborhood!

A quality leash and collar set is one of those items you should splurge on if you’re going to be using it every day. You’ll definitely feel the difference with this Terracotta Leash and Terracotta Collar from Herzog, made with 100% cotton canvas and weatherproof silicone. Plus, your pup will look so good – our #dogintern Koda is proof of … Read the rest

Happy birthday to us! Our 15th anniversary celebration is underway! Stay tuned for more special 15th anniversary content and fun surprises as our celebration continues!

As we look back on Design Milk’s first 15 years, there are some designers who can’t help but stand out. Not only for the creations and successes we’ve tracked throughout their careers, but also for the roles they’ve played in our own. One of those names belongs to Brad Ascalon.

“If you were a young designer coming up at the start of the design blog sensation in the early 2000s, you knew of all of them. And, like me, you probably hounded them all trying to get your work seen by global eyes for the first time. I imagine I probably emailed Jaime to death until she caved in and starting sharing my work with all of DM’s followers,” he quipped.

Ascalon’s own … Read the rest

Happy birthday to us! Our 15th anniversary celebration is underway! Stay tuned for more special 15th anniversary content and fun surprises as our celebration continues!

Photo: Lily Glass for Oh Joy!

Joy Cho is the founder and creative director of Oh Joy!, a lifestyle brand that first launched as a graphic design studio in 2005. Today she’s focused on bringing happiness into the everyday through licensed product lines and editorial content that covers design, fashion, food and the joyful moments in life.

Oh Joy! creates a wide range of licensed products, including home decor, kids, pet and furniture collections, with brands such as Target, Band-Aid, Calpak, Petco, Keds and more. Joy has authored six books and consulted for hundreds of creative businesses around the world. She’s also given keynote speeches on entrepreneurship, leadership and business at many conferences and companies including Alt Summit, Pinterest, Target and Hallmark. Named one … Read the rest

After a long hard winter, it’s finally outdoor season! More daylight hours mean enjoying evening gatherings outside with friends and family. Entertaining is easy and relaxed. If you have your own porch, deck, balcony, yard or patio, these are the ideal months to enjoy being outside at home.

A covered porch with comfortable chairs welcomes neighborly gatherings. Photo courtesy of Deckorators // Wellness by Design (Tiller Press, 2020, © J. Gold)

Maybe your outdoor living area could use some enhancements, and the money you didn’t spend on vacationing last year is going to an improvement project this year. That can have great returns for your well-being and your wallet; outdoor improvements have the potential to increase the value of your property and definitely your enjoyment of it in the meantime.

Nature Connection

“Spending time in nature has many benefits,” shared Folsom, California-based psychologist Forrest Talley, Ph.D. in Wellness by Design… Read the rest

We’ve seen digital artists and programmers develop methods allowing anyone to convert images into sound before. Scanlines is a new algorithmic system developed by Turf Design that takes the concept to another level, one that adds a tactile element, translating any image into sound-absorbing PET felt panels rendered as dimensional wall art.

The secret sauce is TURF’s proprietary algorithm, a system programmed to measure the intensity of color shades within an image and convert it into a quantified degree of depth that is then in turn used to cut TURF’s acoustic PET felt to different depths. As its name implies, the resulting panel art exhibits an aesthetic reminiscent of the scan lines of a cathode ray tube (CRT) television programming – a two dimensional panel rendered with line-by-line dimensionality.

Aimed at designers and architects, TURF offers Scanlines in any combination of 9mm and 3mm PET felt board material, with 30