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The team at Long Island City based Alive Structures is comprised of environmentalists with areas of expertise in gardening, architecture, landscape design, horticulture and conservation. They strive to turn urban roofs into beautiful and productive gardens that cultivate native species, reduce water runoff, insulate buildings and improve air and water quality. I got a close-up look at the different pieces of their Green Roof system and their Alive planters at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show...

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Perusing the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, we were immediately drawn to the work of Annapolis-based Joseph Murphy — his designs on display were of a much smaller (apartment-friendly!) scale than much of the products at this show. Our favorite piece of his was the Two Steps Forward Console beautifully handcrafted from a combination of Walnut, Douglas Fir and Ebony... More

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One of our favorite designs spotted at this year's Architectural Digest Home Design Show was the modular Rodenhook shelving system from designer Martin O'Flynn of Brooklyn-based Of Design. A simple (but beautiful) system of powder-coated steel shelves and wall-mounted brushed stainless steel rods provide a foundation for this sleek display shelving... More

Brian Cullen Furniture: Brian was showing off a new piece of furniture, below, which was interesting, but not nearly as interesting as these doors he'd designed and installed. He's obviously an outrageous craftsman and his Brooklyn furniture company should be a great resource for anyone looking for creative and beautifully designed cabinetry.

Natural Curiosities: We'd never been fans of these types of prints before, but this booth won us over. Rich, moody and beautifully presented, these folks sell framed and unframed archival reproductions of plants, birds, reptiles, insects and all sorts of ephemera. (more pics below)...

Ornella: Ornella Pisano is her real name, and this dame has stunning mirrored furniture that is new but slightly weathered. It is also most likely very expensive, but since this stuff is scarce we wanted to put this out there. You can also find her at ABC Home.

Stratum Nesting Tables

Pryor & Williams: This little high-end goodie packs great inspiration. The two nesting tables are made of 77 laminations of blackened aluminum alloy with an ultrasuede inlay - IE: hard and soft, cool and warm - very nice oppositions...(more below the jump)

ART:asap: We've blogged them before. ART:asap is an affordable source for very well done printed art, and we were particularly attracted by these strong graphic prints, which are *very* DesignSpongey.

Winter Works on Paper: Isn't this guy just cool? David Winter barely moves as we snap his picture, but his walls speak for themselves. He has one of the finest collections of photography, botanical images and eccentric ephemera, both original and reproduced.

NOI New York: Broadcasting from the Lower East Side, NOI is a very cool small design shop started up by husband and wife, Richard Dunleavy and Elizabeth Dezi. Using tactile materials, they aim for the simple and the modern. Above are their lovely tile inlayed side tables, and below...

FTF Design Studio: Taking flight with the most modern of materials, Husband and wife team, Roseann Repetti and West Chin, are using white corian in a way we've never seen it done before. Check out the stunning xx table on their website...(more below)

CandelierArt.com: We coudn't resist this. They're not normal candles. Real wax bases with electric "wicks" that rock back and forth to mimic the motion of a live flame, what we at first thought funny, we then took much more seriously...(more below)

New leather faced sideboard with spindle feet against Harroll rug

In terms of sheer, brute creativity, the prize goes again to BDDW for blowing out their booth and crossing their stylish furniture with an almost art school experimental feeling. While ridiculously expensive, these pieces are probably worth every penny. Our fave was the scuffed leather sideboard with the spindle feet. More pics below...

Desu Design hails from Los Angeles and does lovely small metalwork pieces that kill the niche. Their 1 Line Spice Rack and Symbol Coat rack proved to be even nicer in person than we'd seen in pictures. Both designs are available from their website. More pics below...

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The furniture world changes slowly, so it's always exciting to see new stuff. International Fashion Machine is a company to watch and their tufted wall dimmers are super cool. Place them over a conventional Lutron sensor dimmer, add a pop of color to your room and rub your lights up and down. ;-)

Far away pics below the jump

Alpha Workshops is a great organization that doesn't usually rock our world with its designs, but this bright wallpaper design did. Their papers are getting better and better, and this one - Kimono - is an instant classic.