Outdoor Furniture: let's start with chairs

I know, it's still winter and you might think it's a little too early to talk about garden and outdoor furniture but you know what? It's never too early. First of all if we want to renovate our balcony or our garden we should start beforehand, in this way when the warm days arrive we will perfectly ready to enjoy it comfortably seated outside.

What is the key element of your precious outdoor space? But of course the chair!

Outdoor chairs are usually essential, simple, they take just a little space, they are stackable or folding; outdoor and garden chairs can be held inside your house during the winter or when you are not using them. Moreover some garden chairs are so nice that they can also be used indoor, maybe when you have more guests that expected.

I suggest you to start thinking about the appearance you want to give to your outdoor dining and relax space: I'm thinking about bright strong colours, with a very determined character, in a way that they can convey joy and cheerfulness during parties and at the same time warmth and ease during our relaxing moments.

After the aesthetic, another very important element in order to decide which kind of garden chairs and tables buy is the functionality. A chairs and a table are functional when are first of all easy to clean and then water and weather resistant; these characteristics are indispensable for pieces of furniture that will stay outside most of the time.

Then we have comfort: a comfortable seat and a comfortable folding system are two very important features to look for. Backs should be rigid enough, seats soft enough, stacking and folding system easy enough and the presence of armrests should guarantee a comfort a little bit closer to standard armchairs.

As you can see there are many elements you should value before purchasing outdoor furniture: appearance, colours, materials, functionality, comfort. Often is the material that defines how much comfortable a seat is going to be, how your furniture is going to look like and how easy it will be to maintain them.

Last but not least the purpose of your furniture could be another interesting point to take into consideration, there are so many activities you can do outside: parties, brunches, both formal and informal events or you can just chill out with friends.

So, have you already decided how your outdoor space should be? I did! First of all it should be a simple and intimate corner, where I can have a relaxing conversation with my friends or with my loved one, I will choose without a doubt Pigalle outdoor chair in coloured lacquered steel. Characterized by a romantic look these chairs would create a perfect private zone, able to evoke atmospheres you can find in comedies like "The importance of being Earnest". Without mentioning how practical these chairs are: they are very easy to clean and they come in a smart folding model as well or in a more comfortable one with armrests (in this picture Pigalle chairs are matched with Pigalle table, both in a very romantic pink colour).

In order to plan a perfect party on a terrace or on a roof I will choose Air Folding Chair in coloured polypropylene; they are funny, informal, easy to use and to put away; perfect to find a place even for the people who show up unexpected!

For a lunch with friends and relatives I would opt for Break coloured stackable chair in painted zinc plated metal, ideal for their elegant line but at the same time easy and perfect around a wide and comfortable outdoor table.

Easy Chair in coloured polypropylene are perfect to create imaginative and original spaces. They come with armrests but they also are very practical, thanks to a material very easy to clean and the possibility to stack them up to a maximum of 20 units. Moreover their particular design, very catchy and unusual, makes Easy chairs perfect if you want to create a joyful and magic atmosphere.

Italian armchairs: create your dreamy reading corner

There's a place in the house able to recreate a dream-like environment: I'm talking about the reading corner. Intimate, cosy, personal, ready to make us fly away from everyday life each time he need, the great thing is that this corner can be built practically everywhere in the house.

The reading corner is not just one of those elements usually sacrificed by modern tiny apartments, very widespread nowadays, or by the frenetic life we all live; the reading corner is, at the contrary, a necessary oasis that cal help us stop, relax and read a good book. Books are, let's face it, the transposition of those fairy tales that we used to read before going to sleep, metaphor of the real life or imagined dreams.

It's a space exclusively thought for everyone relaxation where music, magazines or also just rest are welcomed. It's a unique way to create a place where we can hide from all the speed that surrounds us.

But where do we place our reading corner? Obviously it's a matter of space and sizes, the important thing is to know that a corner like that is suitable in every room: bedroom, open space, sitting room, under a mezzanine bed, in the hall and, if it's big enough, also inside a bathroom maybe next to the shower with Turkish bath or to the whirlpool bath.

And which are the essential elements that can help us create a dreamy reading corner? Well, first of all: soft lighting... but not too much, because while it's true that we need a warm and calm atmosphere it's also necessary to have enough light to read! Than we need a surface, maybe a small coffee table where we can place beverages or an mp3 player and of course our books; we need a rug, possibly with warm colours to help creating welcoming feelings.

What we really need at this point is a great Italian armchair, the protagonist of this heavenly corner, I suggest you to match it if you can with a footrest or to think about it very carefully because it really has to satisfy your comfort and needs: tilted or straight, soft or rigid, rocking or fixed. The choice is very subjective, as well as the style.

Choose it with leather cover, if you prefer something a little bit more classic, or with fashion colours and design, if you are more into modern furniture pieces or again why not mixing wood and fabrics for a more ethnic flavour? The important thing is that no matter what material and style you choose, your reading corner will always be a place of extreme pleasure and rest.

Ego armchair in wood and leather or fabric, with optional ottoman, can help you recreate a vaguely exotic atmosphere, perfect for a place dedicated to your relaxation.

With the famous Eames armchair with leather cover is possible to furnish a perfect corner with a classic style and an eye to the past.

With Uno armchair in methacrylate and eco-leather what you can obtain is a strong contemporary reading corner, almost futuristic but at the same time cosy. Uno armchair will be able to give several positive and ethereal sensations.

Lastly, I'd like to show you the amazing Dragonfly armchair with leather or fabric cover; what's great about this armchair is the possibility to transform it into a chaise longue with just a single movement. Think about the convenience of having two different pieces in a single product that, moreover, helps you create a modern but elegant corner matching every need.

Italian Desk and Desk Chairs: working inside a design environment

Office furniture pieces before being having a pleasant design they have to be functional, because when we work we need to feel as comfortable as possible. After the expansion of the companies, the demand of desks and office furniture has increased and the offer is keeping the pace with it. New shapes, new materials but above all a new way of considering desks: the classic style is matched more and more with modern design and finishes.

Design desks and PC stands mix the excitement of an office at home with the functionality of a working environment. They are modern and essential furniture pieces that bring a central symmetry to your working space giving at the same time a glimpse of the character and personality of the owner. The owner is of course comfortably seated on a desk chair, with optional wheels and with a design that can match the office or at the contrary be in total contrast with it, in case you want to give a touch of colour or originality to your office, often characterized by a serious look.

Decorating an office is, first of all, a matter of personal taste and can vary according to different things such as new tendencies, taste, available space and so on... Here below you will find some examples of Italian design desks and chairs that will stay with you for a very long time without loosing their modernity.

Houston glass managerial desk is the top of the elegance. The wooden or lacquered finishes give, together with the glass top, an impressive visual aspect while the wide measures of the top and the optional swivel drawer unit make it extremely functional.

Annett office chair by Magis with wheels, presented here below, represents the ideal choice for an Italian design desk chair. Characterized by round and ergonomic lines, this modern chair is perfect both for the office and for the house.

Zip PC stand with swivel shelf is charming, thanks to its coloured top, and is functional thanks to the two additional shelves that widen the working area. This design Italian desk is extremely practical thanks to the wheels on the legs, in this way you can easily move it around.

Danda swivel chair with wheels, in hide leather, is very versatile and highly customizable thanks to its different models. You can choose it with wheels, fixed, swivel and in a wide selection of colours (here above you can view it with a more neutral colour, while here below is pictured with a brighter one). This modern chair (in the picture is matched with a Kirk PC stand) will give a touch of fun to your office by maintaining at the same time a serious side thanks to the hide leather cover.

And here is a desk made of solid wood with a style a little bit more classic. DaVinci walnut writing desk for home and office comes with drawers as well, a perfect solution for storing away your documents and writing material. This desk has a quite intimate style and is perfect for a kids room or for a study room. And why not matching it with a Margot hide leather chair by Cattelan as in the picture?

Finally, in order to complete your office, don't forget to have a look at our design shelves and modular bookcases departments; you may find what you need to make your office useful and aesthetically beautiful!

Design swivel TV stands: a story in every house corner

Swivel TV stands are functional furniture pieces that can be adapted to extremely different styles and needs and that require, at the same time, a quite particular use of the space. Design swivel TV stands create perfectly "usable" spaces in several zones of the house, offering solutions that can be impracticable in any other way.

TV is nowadays an integral part of the house; whether we enjoy watching it all the time or we use it predominantly as a sort of background sound, it has become one of the protagonist of our everyday life, an essential presence such as a bed or a chair can be. Without TV a house cannot be called a house anymore and, despite all the criticisms, I find it can be considered a positive presence.

Why? Well, because first of all a TV can be a source of enjoyment for all those people who live alone, it's not just a means that connects us to reality but it also fills our sitting rooms, kitchens and bedrooms with colours, sounds and images. Millions of people come in this way inside our houses, on condition that we let them in.

TV is one of the source of our imagination and is available nowadays into a wide selection of models, thanks to all the new technologies available. And that's the reason why TV has become the heart of the house and has taken the place that once belonged to the classic fireplace, a space where families gathered around in order to tell and listen to stories.

When spaces are big and open the centre composed by a TV doesn't find an ideal spot anymore: you can choose to place it directly in front of the sofa but in this case you won't be able to watch it from the kitchen, even if it's in the same open space, or again it can be pretty difficult to enjoy it from the dining table.

In these cases swivel TV stands really come in handy, as they are multi-functional furniture pieces that allow you to save space and at the same time adjust them according to your needs and desires. Moreover they all look extremely discreet and don't affect the room whole aesthetics.

Panel swivel TV stand, with its rigorous style, can swivel up to 90° and allows you to watch television from different angles. This furniture piece comes with a wide selection of colours (more than 1950!) taken from the NCS colours model.

Vision swivel and adjustable TV stand is an Italian design furniture piece, it has adjustable height and has a 360° swivel mechanism. In this way you can watch television from everywhere: while you're sitting on the couch, or dining at the table or again, while you're cooking in your kitchen.

Vision round and swivel Tv stand has a strong character and is able to draw the attentions of your guests. Moreover, the dvd-holder placed around the structure will help you save space giving at the same time a touch of originality to your house.

Italian design sideboards and cupboards: a unique collection

Today I'd like to talk about Italian design sideboards and cupboards; these pieces of furniture are essential in our homes as they can help us store all our objects in an elegant and modern way, decorating at the same time with style our dining or living room.

Sideboards and cupboards are available in several measures, colours, finishes and styles: it's what we can call a real customizable furniture piece.

Sideboards find their perfect place in living rooms, using them not only to store objects and tableware inside of them, but it's also possible place decorations on the top, giving warmth and a touch of personality to your house.

Italian design sideboards and cupboards are the real protagonist of your living room, whether modern or classic, so come with me and have a look at some example I'd like to propose you, they are functional and elegant at the same time, able to find their place and gain the heart of your guests.

Avenue sideboard with transparent glass top is very elegant thanks to its glass top and quality wood lacquer finishes. This Italian sideboard is not only refined but also very practical thanks to its sliding doors that allow you to place it near a table without having problem when opening the doors.

Sapphire modern sideboard is very peculiar thanks to its diamond-cut doors. It's also available with an optional lighting system that will give a magic atmosphere to all your dinners.

If you need more space to store your things, Plan sideboard with a width of 224 cm is the best choice for you. This version can also be chosen with doors and drawers and is extremely practical; thanks to its simple and polished lines it will pleasantly impose its presence in your living room.

Among Day collection sideboards you will find a wide selection of colours... for example have a look at the bicoloured version of this Plan lacquered sideboard with two doors, perfect to add a touch of fun and imagination to your house, drawing all the attention.

Finally, why not dare a little bit choosing an extravagant and peculiar design, like the one of Labyrinth cupboard with modern design. This cupboard is characterized by fronts with geometric decorations available in white lacquer, I can assure you that it won't pass unnoticed!

Italian leather sofas: atmosphere of past ages

An Italian leather sofa can be the absolute protagonist of a sitting room, simply by definition. Or better: the sofa IS the sitting room, it has the right to be.

The very concept of sitting room was born from leather sofas: well, maybe is not a historically correct statement but it's very real in the collective imagination.

Especially if we think about those places, smoky and blurred but just for that deeply fascinating, that gave life to our modern sitting rooms. In the past, sitting rooms where elected places, where people met to talk, create and breathe art. A meeting place for people who would, in the future, become famous.

That was the 18th century, but also the 19th century. Inside sitting rooms History was written and revolutions were planned: like the French Revolution in 1789 or the Neapolitan one, in 1799, less well known but still extremely radical.

Inside sitting rooms new ways of life were created: in sitting rooms people were smoking, creating a new trend, playing and wearing clothes that would soon become fashion.

Inside sitting rooms poems were written; songs and music were composed and heard. And the people there, comfortably seated on those sofas (maybe made of leather) enjoyed those musics directly from the hands of famous artists. And I'm talking about Rossini, Mozart, Verdi.

Inside sitting rooms stories and backgrounds took place; events that maybe you can't find nowadays in books, but that shocked whole lives and souls: how many relationships, meetings, crossing of paths... Sitting rooms were the social life of that time, the only entertainment available, sitting rooms were freedom.

I can see them, can't you? Mysterious characters plotting against each other, or funny ones that laugh, read poems behind a light smoke screen, sitting on a Diamond sofa with black leather cover (without chromed steel feet obviously!) with its imposing presence and its lived and almost unkempt leather.

I can hear the notes of "Péchés de vieillesse" coming from the fingers of an old Rossini, in his home near Paris, while I'm seating on a Chester tufted leather sofa.

And finally, I'm picturing Eleonora Pimentel Fonseca and Francesco Caracciolo, writing the manifest of the Neapolitan Revolution, while seating on the Temple sofa with reclining headrest.

Don't you think that these sofas are able to recall another world? Another atmosphere, way different from your usual sitting room? Can't you smell the same freedom, social life, history of those times, just by possessing a sofa like that?

Modern Italian rugs and carpets: tradition meets creativity

Rugs come from a charming and glorious yet cultural distant past. However, during the centuries, they were able to adapt themselves to a more modern way of life and above all to a contemporary western style: modern Italian rugs can be part of a category on their own, far away from traditional or oriental rugs and carpets.

Rugs were born for two main purposes: to warm and to decorate. There are several types of rugs and carpets and we can distinguish them according to their material, manufacturing process, shape, measures and of course according to their decorations and colours. Rugs are nowadays part of an extremely variegated world where it's practically impossible to categorize them into easily recognizable symbols : modern Italian rugs and carpets are born from the pure imagination of their creators and from the functionality that the modern techniques can give them.

These modern Italian rugs are even more charming with big measures, able in this way to attract the look of everybody, even more that other furniture pieces that usually have more importance.

The rug has to be placed in a strategic position according to its role; for example, if we want a rug to give importance to the surrounding environment we will wisely choose the colours and patterns we wish to match with the furniture, enriching in this way rooms that would otherwise appear rather featureless.

So let's boldly use modern rugs and carpets: under the dining room table, in the middle of the sitting room, in the play area of the kids room, to brighten up the hall or in the bedroom in front of the bed. The whole house will be, in this way, decorated with a easily recognizable link, giving at the same time a high impact effect.

Butterfly inlaid rug, ideal both for the living room and the kids bedroom. Its huge images (the important is not to cover the rug with too many furniture pieces!) remind the pattern of those Romans mosaic used as floors in their splendid villas.

Carré viscose and wool rug is perfect for every kind of environments, even under the dining table, and can give character to every bare room.

Dalia square rug by Calligaris reminds the tradition of floral patterns, born centuries ago, but designed in strongly contemporary way and able to characterize with its strong visual impact a whole environment.

Chic rug with shaped corner couldn't have a better name, because its charm is really astonishing: the design is realized with three different thicknesses and has an extremely elegant protrusion on a corner; the decoration is in this way not only impressed on the surface but is an integral part of the rug itself becoming a sort of sculpture.

Italian design glass round tables: the Outer Space in your house

Italian design round or oval glass tables define a strong, modern and charming style, thanks to the elegance of their shape and to the lightness that their look can convey.

Suspended into time and in air, design round glass tables seem to come from other worlds, where dimensions are not just 3, nor 2 or 4, as imagined in that brilliant book called "Flatland". Design round glass tables come from a fifth dimension made of plastic and lightness, made of magical transparencies.

Round shapes invite the eye to enjoy perfect lines and conviviality; infact, a round or oval table allows all the guests to chat face to face while no one prevails on the other. In the end that was the idea of King Arthur's Round Table, where everyone is the same.

Round shapes also recall peculiar chairs, a field where design gives life every day, as it did in the past, to unique and unforgettable items, particular and extremely beautiful. In this way imagination can roam free and create every kind of combinations.

Round shapes can infuse new life to a room that has been neglected for a very long time: the dining room. Nowadays dining rooms are always hidden in the darkest corners of a house, sacrificed in the name of the lack of space.

However, if we take a look at a table with another world characteristics, we can really decide to make a beautiful and shining dining room, maybe sacrificing some other room like the bedroom.

What brings us up to another dimension is the glass transparency: infact it helps us notice the waves and designs of peculiar legs, as in the Don Juan table with its spectacular base made of Vicenza Stone and characterized by a shape reminding a spurt of water turned into stone. The transparency gives a sensation of unbearable lightness of being, that feeling of perfection and harmony.

Have a look at Coral oval elegant table: doesn't it look like coming from Outer Space? Its legs in white (or black) lacquered polyurethane look like antennas belonging to some kind of superior being while the glass top with sandblasted shape is a perfect elegant dress falling on those charming legs.

Adjustable Satellite table with round top has a name that strongly points at its outer space origin: the metal base and the lacquered leg, increase the sensation of light, perfection and unknown brightness.

Finally, what can we say about the extraordinary Barone round glass table? Its sabre legs, in the chromed version, remind crossed swords chasing each other. The legs, together with the glass top and the perfect round shape, make Barone round table shiny, unreachable, infallible.

Tables came to the earth inside spaceships made of genius and taste, design and resistant materials. Tables ready for everything.

Dining Room with a gothic and kitsch style

Furnishing a kitsch dining room, with Gothic and Noir tones, is not for everybody. You need a great deal of conviction, character and firmness, because a style like that can be misunderstood. Kitsch style is, infact, only for the people who know how to wear it; as a dress, as an attitude or as a posture. But it can, at the same time, generate intense feelings, sometimes even contrasting, but utterly and terribly strong. Because that's what it does, it plays with opposites and defies vanity.

A kitsch and Gothic style brings the shadows of the past in its shapes, it meets with the modernity of the materials and, in some particular decorations, it comes along with an extreme feminism that excludes the masculine taste and merges with the fascination for dark colours, mystery and an ironic horror. Do you remember the Addams Family?

Well in this kind of style there's a little bit of Morticia, but also a little bit of Audrey Hepburn, thanks to necessary frippery, a strong pictorial elegance and a little bit of sense of humour. Do you want to know what I'm talking about? Do you want to SEE what I'm talking about? Very well, here we go.

A dining room is perfect for this kind of stylistic interpretations, eccentric and out of the ordinary: it's an extremely hybrid zone, often lost between the kitchen, the living room and sitting room, confused inside an open space, hidden in a narrow corner. But with the help of a strong style, as the one we're talking about, it can easily become the protagonist of your house.

So, here it is the main character of a feminine dining room, defined by a quite classical verve, a luxury atmosphere and a touch of "noir". We can compare it to a black widow, eager and vengeful: that's the Cleo sideboard with Swarovski handles and pink ice dream fronts. Just imagine it together with a silver frame and a black chandelier, completing, in this way, the mystery of your dining room.

Another protagonist of a kitsch style dining room are the chairs: with high big backs, that almost give you a sort of reverential awe coming from past ages, or also with a round, oval shape like those frames used in the past to frame old pictures.

Vanilla upholstered chair in steel and leather, with a strong black colour, would be perfect as a throne contrasting the pink colour of the sideboard.

Berta chair from Louis XVI collection in beech solid wood clearly reminds, thanks to the name and material, the period of time stated by its name but not in a strictly way; infact the classic lines are combined with modern decorations and colours, perfectly suitable for a Gothic-kitsch style.

Last but not least, we need a design table, even if in this case it will merely act as a background. For this reason it will be characterized by simple and regular lines, but with one certain detail: it has to be black. Monday Big table with glass top , for example, would be the ideal choice.

Storage unit modular elements: one function, thousand styles

Modular Storage Units are the true house furniture pieces, specifically born to create your home furniture, to make your rooms a neat and functional place. Because in the end that's the reason why furniture pieces were created in the down of time: hold objects.

If you happen to come upon some multi functional piece of furniture, characterized by a single soul but several lives, you will notice right away that I'm talking about something completely different, I'd say opposite: several shapes, several styles, several different furniture with the only fundamental function of holding stuff, everyday objects, precious objects, memories, useful objects.

Everything in a house has to be "held" somewhere, with the exception of some rare, well studied cases when we want to show our stuff. Tableware, linen, clothes, technological objects, books, accessories, shoes, all we have in our house has to be contained in a storage unit.

Wardrobes, dressers, modular elements are furniture pieces that can hold a lot of objects. But they're not the only one, we also have other characters, maybe smaller, maybe quieter, but that can hide a huge attraction: I'm talking about wall units, drawer chests, benches. Elements that can usually be found in the busiest room of the house: the living room.

Let's have a look for example at the Inbox Square wall units by Calligaris that, thanks to the versatility of their colours and their extreme modularity can really face every kind of needs and give life to unprecedented aesthetic shapes acting like the real protagonists of your environments.

Trequarti wall storage unit is another storage unit that immediately catches the eye, thanks to the light asymmetry of its shape, also reminded by the name (Trequarti means three-fourths in Italian).

Inbox drawer chest by Calligaris is, on the other end, one of those modular elements that usually pass unnoticed, but that can give a touch of elegance and charm to a more attentive eye.