What truly makes or breaks a home at the end of the day is the furniture that’s placed in it. The right kind of furniture design can create the essence and soul of a home. And I do feel it’s essential that the soul of our home is a reflection of our own soul. Hence picking furniture pieces that bring out the best in our homes, while authentically representing our personality is a must. You need to pick designs that are fun, sophisticated, and functional. They add an extra spark to your home, without compromising on utility in the least. From asymmetrical wooden storage that doubles as a beautiful side table to a striking lounge chair that curves and bends to provide a comfortable seat – these intriguing furniture designs are what your modern home needs!

1. Crossbred

Having something that can serve multiple functions at once is definitely better, and that’s what Crossbred tries to offer on a slightly smaller scale.

Why is it noteworthy?

The furniture’s name speaks to both its form as well as its function. It looks like an “X” or a cross, as some might call it, standing steadily on the tip of its two legs. It’s a hollow cross through and through, and all five spaces can be used to store anything from books to knickknacks. That said, given their inclined surfaces, it obviously isn’t a good idea to put something that requires a perfectly horizontal plane, like some fragile decor or even a picture frame.

What we like

• Multifunctional design
• Perfectly integrates with modern homes

What we dislike

• No complaints!

2. The Plot Twist Bookshelf

Prolific German furniture designer Deniz Aktay has recently introduced the Plot Twist Bookshelf. It’s a piece of furniture that features four separate twisted wooden elements. They are connected to each other, shaping and creating a stable form.

Why is it noteworthy?

The bookshelf’s design allows it to be accessed from every side. As with most of Deniz Aktay’s product designs, this bookshelf is oddly satisfying. The curves are present as with the designer’s other projects. In addition, most of Aktay’s works have undergone some bending or twisting, as with the Wavelet, the Tie Stool, and The Pet Table.

What we like

• The shelves can accommodate similarly sized books for a clutter-free look
• The bookshelf is stable and stands on its own

What we dislike

• Space consuming design

3. Spectator

Named ‘Spectator’, this intriguing bookshelf definitely looks as if it’s staring right back at you! It seems to be made of interlocking jigsaw puzzle pieces, and each piece looks like a distorted human face!

Why is it noteworthy?

The Spectator Series of shelves is as much a psychological art piece as it is a piece of furniture. In its small way, it demonstrates the wonder of our brains that try to fill in the gaps to complete forms and ideas, like how it is able to see faces in shapes that are so far removed from human heads. With so many faces hiding in plain sight, the roles of observer and observed are also reversed, at least in our mind’s eye again.

What we like

• The shelf adheres to minimalist design principles despite the odd shapes of its pieces

What we dislike

• Not everybody would like the aesthetics of this piece

4. The Diag Desk

This beautiful, minimal, and modern desk is called the Diag Desk. It’s built to optimize storage space while integrating storage elements such as removable leather compartments. As simple and minimal as the desk is, it doesn’t lack in functionality or practicality in any form.

Why is it noteworthy?

Considering its minimalist build, more space can be devoted to the desk’s tabletop, where most of the desk’s purpose is reserved. The Diag Desk from Polish designer Marek Błażucki is one kind of minimalist design that integrates storage systems into its build, ensuring that users have ample desk space while still keeping their necessary stationery within arm’s reach.

What we like

• Integrates ample storage systems into its build
• Ensures stationery doesn’t fall off

What we dislike

• There are a lot of visually similar desks on the market

5. Skrolla

A shining example of an ergonomic yet aesthetic chair is Skrolla, a beautiful wooden chair whose curves are more than just for show.

Why is it noteworthy?

Chairs with curved surfaces are nothing new, but you’d often find those forms in seats made of plastic or metal. These materials are easier to bend than wood, of course, but they also have less impact when it comes to portraying natural beauty. That novelty serves to augment Skrolla’s beauty, its smooth wooden surface and smooth curved form creating a visually appealing appearance that will sit well in almost any room. Plus, those curves were carefully designed to offer the best comfort for anyone sitting on this magnificent piece of furniture.

What we like

• Joined and curved using a novel patented process

What we dislike

• No complaints!

6. The Swing Ao Stool

Dubbed the Swing Ao Stool, this little number by Takusei Kajitani explores a fun concept of using tension to emulate ‘softness’. Sort of how a hammock feels soft like a beanbag, although there’s no ‘cushioning material’ inside a hammock, the Swing Ao chair provides a level of flexibility thanks to the fact that the seat is, in fact, suspended from the chair’s four legs.

Why is it noteworthy?

The idea, says the designer, was born from a need to eliminate the sedentary lifestyle. “Most chairs have been designed on the idea that sitting is a static movement despite the human body is designed to move,” says Kajitani. “It forces our body to stay rigid for a long time.” To that end, the Swing Ao Stool promotes constant movement. Sort of like sitting on one of those yoga ball chairs, the Swing Ao Stool keeps you constantly moving, feeling like a cross between a stool and a pogo stick!

What we like

• The chair’s unique design explores a special arrangement where the seat and the legs don’t really touch each other
• This tension structure allows the seat to move freely in conjunction with the movement of the sitter’s pelvis like a small swing

What we dislike

• No complaints!

7. The Zipper Bookshelf

What you normally look for in a bookshelf is functionality over form. You need something where you can store your books and decorations. But sometimes, you also need something that looks good and will show off just some of your selected titles. For that, you can choose some kind of unique design that will make it not just a piece of furniture but a decorative showcase for your favorite books. The Zipper Bookshelf is one such creative execution for a metal bookshelf.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Germany-based designer thought of creating a bookshelf that can represent the analogy of opening a book “where the pages diverge”. For this, he got inspiration from an unlikely source: the zipper. The bottom of the structure starts out simply enough with some regular-looking shelves that will fit some thin books or at least one thick coffee table book. It then breaks apart as you go to the top and open up, just like you would a zipper.

What we like

• The top can display your books like they were on tree branches

What we dislike

• No complaints!

8. The Landr dining and conference table

The Landr dining and conference table tries to correct the design mistakes of common tables, promising enough stability that you can even place a lander on top of it to screw a light bulb.

Why is it noteworthy?

Of course, we’d rather you didn’t, but Landr’s designer is so confident in its stability to make such a bold and unqualified claim. Whether you’re cutting bread or standing on top of it, the table shouldn’t budge a single inch. At the very least, it wouldn’t collapse from under your weight, and it definitely looks like it could handle a rough lunar mission. That’s despite having a modular design that is also promised to be trouble-free to assemble.

What we like

• Extremely easy to assemble
• It is mostly made of renewable or recyclable materials

What we dislike

• No complaints!

9. The Circus Coffee Table Concept

The “Circus” coffee table concept is designed to bring people together in a more active and almost chaotic way. It’s taller than most coffee tables, tall enough to be a regular desk. In fact, it can even be used as one and has features designed to accommodate working on it.

Why is it noteworthy?

The table’s jumble of shapes and materials is almost chaotic, just like a circus. You have a predominantly wooden table with metal components that add functionality to the table. The large circular hole in the middle turns the disc into a donut and reveals two triangular shapes that form the legs of the table. Instead of a solid cylindrical base, the table has metal bars and doors on opposite sides, creating further contrasts in terms of design.

What we like

• The bars serve as slots for books
• The solid panels, on the other hand, are doors for storage, as well as a way for charging cables to go through without dangling from the edges of the table

What we dislike

• It’s still a concept!
• Probably impractical in setups where a wide cough is involved

10. Brustolin’s furniture collection

On their own and with their peculiar designs, these pieces of furniture would have pretty much fit the description of minimalist products. Their basic shapes and base color schemes are not that uncommon, but as with anything in life, it’s the different ways you mix these elements up that really make a difference. And in this collection, it’s exactly that interaction of elements that makes them stand out without removing their primary function as usable pieces of furniture.

Why is it noteworthy?

The translucent epoxy resin legs and opaque shelves already give the Differ Shelf a sharply contrasting motif. It is, however, the way the light bends, reflects, and refracts through those yellowish panels that turn the shelf into an almost dazzling light show, depending on where you stand. Given its unique visual properties, this shelf is designed to stand in the center rather than against a wall so that people can walk around it and view it from different angles. It truly differs from other shelves.

What we like

• Made by Venetian craftsmen
• Brustolin’s furniture collection displays an interesting way of giving shape to color

What we dislike

• No complaints!