This week’s DMTV Milkshake guest is Rachel Cope, creative director of Calico Wallpaper, the wallpaper company she co-founded in 2013 with her partner, Nicholas Cope.



For this week’s Milkshake, we asked Rachel about a design hurdle – something that looked easy, but wasn’t. Her response: the process behind Oceania, a gorgeous new collection of wallpapers inspired by the depths of the sea. “I created [Oceania] using a salt-resist process by sprinkling salt into a watercolor painting,” she says. “And I had to create this on a very large scale to make a non-repeating wall mural – I found that to be quite a challenge.”

We also talked to her about her family’s decision to trade Brooklyn for rural upstate New York – and how that move, and challenging moments from the past year, have spurred her creative development. “Now that I’m in nature, I … 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!

The second designer we’re spotlighting for Design Milk’s 15th Anniversary is Tanya Aguiñiga, a triple threat artist, designer and craftsperson whose work we’ve been covering since 2010.

“I actually started as a community activist,” Tanya reminisced, “focusing on migrant rights and border issues as part of the Border Art Workshop/Taller de Arte Fronterizo.” Based out of Los Angeles, she later went on to study design, but kept her two interests – that of activism and design – separate.

Tanya first began her business somewhere around 2001, per her estimate, designing, making and selling homegoods. “At the beginning, they were super mid-century obsessed pieces, then very 70’s plastic fantastic in their vibe,” she recalled. All of this was happening at the same … Read the rest

Designed by Drawing Room Architecture, the Brunswick Green house in Melbourne, Australia undergoes a renovation that includes an extension to the Victorian Terrace-style home. The clients, a young working family who worked in the area of sustainability, wanted to extend the existing two-bedroom home into a three-bedroom home, with a study for two and a main bedroom with an ensuite. Additionally, they wanted more storage, more natural light and sustainably efficient solutions. The result is this bright and cozy home with warm materials, modern finishes and a repeating color palette throughout.

Natural materials are used to maintain a sense of calmness and warmth. Terrazzo is used sparingly in only two rooms, the kitchen and bathroom. The Asparagus Green paint color from Dulux is consistently used on all sliding doors and on the open kitchen pantry joinery, with similarly colored furniture and plants echoing the same hue throughout.

For sustainability purposes … Read the rest

Ashley Kirkland joined Grizform Design Architects in 2017 and is their Director of Interior Architecture, responsible for managing hospitality projects through all phases of design. From concept and schematic design, to producing detailed construction documentation, she loves collaborating on design projects to turn a client’s vision into reality. With a passion for historic preservation, Ashley draws design inspiration from a cadre of knowledge. With over 13 years of experience designing and managing hospitality, multi-family and corporate interiors projects, it’s safe to say that her clients’ visions are in good hands.

After earning her Bachelor of Science in Interior Architecture from Ohio University, Ashley moved to Washington, D.C. to live among the cherry blossoms and historical monuments. As an NCIDQ National Council for Interior Design Qualification certificate holder, she is a Registered Interior Designer in the District of Columbia and a Certified Interior Designer in the State of Maryland.

In her … Read the rest

The following post is brought to you by A’ Design Award and Competition. Our partners are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.

It can be hard for emerging designers and brands to break through the noise to get their designs seen and their stories heard. One sure way to do it is through the A’ Design Awards & Competition, a prestigious contest that gives winners a global platform for showcasing their design to the international design industry. The competition is currently open for early entries for the 2021-2022 edition with a deadline of June 30th, so don’t wait! Submit your designs today.

There are more than 100 categories that designers can submit under, including special categories like the Good Industrial Design Award and the Good Architecture Design Award. All participants will receive preliminary checks, which lets you know how well your … Read the rest

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.

… Read the rest

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