Goose Down Forts in Duck Egg Blue

More alphabet inspired design cues, this time from the Middle East. Of particular interest in Doha's Cool Corner Suite is this headboard, or rather lack of one. Instead of being fixed to the bed, or protruding from the wall, the headboard is recessed in a gently curving cocoon of pale ivory and duck egg blue leather.

In retrospect it works brilliantly. Rather than shunting the bed out in to the middle of the bedroom, providing ample access to masked assailants and kidnappers [Design Trawler takes his night time security very seriously], the 'anti-headboard' gives the bed a reassuring 'design hug' and creates a wrap around, fort-like personal space that negates the need for dozens of goose-down castle walls.

Turning Walls Upside Down

Back in the days before Eames recliners and under floor heating, man had the clever idea of surrounding himself with walls. Clever because walls protected him from wind and sabre-tooth tigers, and especially clever because several thousand years later they provide ample opportunity for hanging Damien Hists, erecting great shelves filled with books and installing roaring fireplaces.

So walls are great, but unless you live in the Barcelona Pavilion, they also have a pesky tendency to block out light. But what if rather than blocking out the light, walls provided a internal source of light? That's the approach rAndom International have done with guest rooms at the W Taipei. Backlighting the very fabric of a room is blissfully simple and something I'd love to see upscaled in the design of an entire home.

Smart Toilets - Bottom of UK's List

Regular visitors to Japan will be familiar with the discretely positioned control panels in water closets across the country. While in the UK we're wirelessly streaming music around the house, operating heating from tablet and opening curtains with smartphones... we happily endure chilly loo seats.

But it's not for Japan's want of trying. Premier league toilet seat manufacturer Toto has had it's showroom in London's Clerkenwell for some years now, and even Samsung offer a remote control heating, washing and drying solution for under £200 (wireless streaming is of course, um, entirely optional).

Mr Loewy's Office Express

Google's ubiquitous home page 'doodles' have many incarnations; but one that stopped me in my tracks (literally) was this month's homage to the a father of industrial design, Raymond Loewy. The search giant's moniker has been morphed in to an achingly attractive streamline-moderne locomotive reminiscent of Mr Loewy's Pennsylvania Railroad S1.

From transport [the iconic blue and white livery of Air Force One] to tableware [Le Creuset's Coquelle casserole dishes], Loewy's influence was impressive and still making it's mark. This handsome office tidy from Troika spotted in Moscow's Tsvetnow Central Market being case in point.

That Trawler in the Window

London isn't known for its high-rise residential living. If you're not in the Shard's £50m penthouse, or perched high up in the Barbican's brutalist towers you're unlikely to have a Manhattan view. But for said tower-happy capitals, built-in daybeds like the one pictured here at the W Taipei are a sure win.

Snuggling up to a pane of glass on the 30th floor with a copy of Monocle magazine and the changing lights of the city on your shoulder is quite something. The oriental style window platform comes closest to beating a classic Eames lounger and a fireplace for ultimate comfort in consuming design tomes.

Design in Doha - World Cup Fever

With Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, Design Trawler thought it only prudent to fly in to Doha to check out the local design scene. Avoiding the obvious comparisons to other Gulf nations and a penchant for the diamond clad, gold plated and designer-trimmed, Doha is dabbling in design.

Lead by the W Hotel, and Dubai-based interiors store The One, football fever is very much on the cards. This suitably themed leather-clad coffee table sits alongside a similarly, um, forward expression of Premier League brand affiliation - because what footballer wouldn't want a Gucci stripe armchair?

Article #200 - The Straw Donkey

When your Dad is Sir Norman Foster, and your husband, the former editor of Esquire and Wallpaper* Magazines, it's likely you'll have some wise things to say about design. India Knight, doesn't disappoint.

Speaking about how design has become democratised [first brought to my attention by BMW designer Chris Bangle], and echoing Sir David Tang's bashing of "overly done interior-designed numbers", Knight brilliantly speaks of 'straw donkies'; the things we display in our homes that we love. Freed of the tyranny of 'ghastly good taste', we're confident to design for a taste that is uniquely ours.

A fitting manifesto, and for Design Trawler's 200th article, something which I continue to believe in. For as 'tasteful' as show homes and hotel suites are, the very best interiors are the ones with the confidence to be original. Read the full article below...

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Bull Market Reflections

While cost-conscious consumers have been spurred on by the 'innocent smoothie' approach to quiet design and paired-down home crafts, the ultra wealthy have been charting new territories with taller, bigger and more innovative interiors than ever before. True of Moscow, like many global capitals, this Minotaur Mirror sits in the city's excellent DesignBoom store.

With the head of a bull, and body of... whoever happens to be gazing in to it, the functional/sculptural work is similar to the superb mirrored sculptures by Chelsea based artist Arran Gregory.

Havana Inspired Home Fragrance

I'll always remember the time I was at an 'open day' at London's Jermyn Street. From shirts to cigars, local stores were showcasing the best of London's fine handmade crafts. In the Davidoff shop on the corner of St. James, a father and his two young children were leaning over a Cuban craftsman rolling tobacco leaves in to perfect torpedoes. All three gazed over the man, with the father pointing to the perfectly cut cigars in formation; "look how they're all exactly the same size" - the delightful young daughter perfectly quipping "Daddy, this shop smells like you when you come back from London!"

Priceless. And if ever you wish to accentuate your home with the fragrance of Havana's finest, Boticario de Havana Fragrancia de Casa by Archipelago is the scent to go for. While not exactly the scent of 'Daddy ex London', think coffee, jojoba and tobacco flower with extracts of orange, sugar cane & pineapple.

The Penny Floor that Started a Craze

In 2011, I posted an article about how I glued 7,500 one penny coins to my kitchen floor. I never imagined the impact that the penny floor would have. I didnt' even coin the term 'penny floor' [excuse the pun!] - But if I had a penny for the number of links, pins, posts and times I've been introduced as the guy who covered his floor in 1p coins, well, I could probably do several more penny floors! [2p floor anybody?]

I've had questions on how it was done; including one from a prominent architecture firm with a penchant for picked cucumbers; seen a bizarre range of templates and tutorials on the subject, and been asked how it has coped with daily wear and tear [fine actually, and it hasn't turned green!]

Celebrating Design Trawler's launch on Pinterest, you can now view the original images from the famous penny floor in high resolution, along with one or two more from the present day. Stay tuned for the real how to guide - from preparing your floor through to sourcing, laying and protecting your pennies.

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Design as Metaphor - Yachtside

We can't be lounging poolside or by the Wallypower all the time -  but the innovative hand blown shade of Shikai Tseng and Hansei Chen's Ripple Lamp recreates the magical reflections conjured by the vida del mar on your mantle. Spotted at London Design week and manufactured by Austrian firm Lobmeyer.

Gallerie Gastronomique - Open Shelving

You know the situation. You pop down to your locally curated food store for the weekly shop, and spend £100 on four types of single estate olive oil in interesting glass bottles, several jars of preserve with typographic white labels and a tube of goodness-knows-what because it's covered in Japanese kanji.

But that's fine, because to paraphrase the rules for living by Unhappy Hipsters "It is better to focus on the pure joy of being close to high design than to [buy food that you can actually eat]". Just so long as you have open kitchen storage to display your collection of contemporary Nicolas Vahe condiments [pictured]

Popeworthy Suite Design

The Bristol Hotel's 92m² Deluxe Suite in Warsaw is the sort of suite you'd want to marry. While the Versailles-like Paderewski Suite makes a great one night stand stay (if you're fond of Louis IXV furniture), the design elements of it's little cousin should feature in any apartment worth it's designer [bath] salt.

Take the living room - The desk behind the sofa allows you to glance up from your affairs and keep an eye on BBC News on TV, your guests by the fireplace, and staff entering through the impressive double doors. Very Feng-Shui. It's got a wrap-around balcony that'd make the Pope jealous and an excellent system of 'break glass in emergency' connecting bedrooms... in case you have an emergency visit from said Pontiff.

U+ Suspend Clock by Alan Wisniewski

I've always loved contemporary artist/taxidermist Polly Morgan's sculptures. Some feature birds with a delicate balloon suspended in a glass dome. These domes are an iconic way of drawing attention to precious objects, and the fragility of the whole ensemble creates a museum-like artefact to behold.

Alan Wisniewski has got it perfectly right with his Suspend Clock for Umbra's premium U+ Studio Collection. The walnut clock face cleverly floats in mid air, it's contour perfectly matching the dome around it. Like Polly's balloons, the effect is fragile and mesmerising. Time captured and suspended.

RIP Amex Centurion - The Hyundaicard Black

It's time to retire your American Express Centurion card. I never thought I'd say it, but the gilded frame has had its day. When you're in the mood to acquire serious design you need an equally seriously payment method [sadly, this is one occasion when Design Trawler favourite Ozwald Boateng is a little low brow]

Hyundaicard have been designing and exhibiting designer plastic metal in Korea since 2003. Each card is designed to perfection but it's the top tier that stands apart. The top offering, 'The Black' is, like the Centurion, made of metal, but eschews decoration in favour of enigmatic iconigraphy.

Such is the strengths of the Hyundaicard design, that Mastercard have been convinced to move their logo to the rear of the card, as not to upset the subtle dimple on the card's bottom right corner. Limited to 2,000 global VIP's [each getting access to a dedicated 'clubhouse' in downton Seoul], our man at Hyundai informs us that Design Hero Tyler Brûlé get's on particularly well with the Korean invitation committee.