Eclectic maximalist style has been all the rage for a while now - and designers say the trend will continue into the new year, with a strong focus on vintage finds. As a part of our sixth annual State of Home Design survey, Apartment Therapy asked designers, what's one vintage item you think we'll be seeing everywhere in 2026?
The new devices are an update to the Fairbuds XL with noise cancellation, first launched in 2023 and designed with repairability in mind. On these headphones, owners can replace the battery, cushions, speaker covers, headband, and drivers on both the new and older models. To make repairs, you can easily open up the headphones with a guitar pick or a credit card and a basic screwdriver. The company has tutorials on its YouTube channel to guide you through the process.
As someone who can demolish a sushi platter in minutes, I've always felt a pang of guilt watching those tiny plastic fish pile up on my plate. Sustainable design studio Heliograf clearly felt the same way. After five years of development, they've launched Holy Carp!, the world's first home compostable soy sauce dropper that doesn't make you choose between convenience and conscience.
In Accra, where public investment in recreational space is limited and green areas increasingly scarce, the Backyard Community Club proposes a new model for shared civic life: a community sports facility centered on a tennis court, demonstrating how design can deliver inclusive, sustainable, and socially transformative environments. Designed by DeRoche Projects, it is Ghana's first project using a precast rammed earth system an innovative method pioneered by the studio that reimagines an ancestral material for contemporary, scalable use.
The Waterfront Botanical Gardens and Graeser Family Education Center sit on a former landfill site, which had been unusable and closed off to the public for decades. Today it has been redesigned into 23.5 acres of lush, verdant, sustainable public space: the first botanical garden in Louisville. The education center and surrounding trails and gardens provide green space to residents and visitors, while educating the public on topics of conservation and sustainability.
Air conditioning accounts for 9% of electricity used on earth and 3.2% of all greenhouse gasses. Even if some countries like Germany shuns its use, air conditioning releases close to one billion tons of CO2 each year. As summers get longer and hotter; heatwaves become more commonplace; and tropical climates expand further north and south, the demand for climate control is set to grow significantly. This catch-22 dilemma seems insurmountable but new, more sustainable solutions are being developed as direly needed alternatives.
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has announced the Grand Prize Winners of the 2025 Holcim Awards, selecting one project from each global region to represent the most impactful approaches to sustainable design in this cycle. This edition marks the introduction of the Grand Prize format, replacing the previous tiered distinctions to better acknowledge diverse regional contexts and avoid hierarchical rankings. Evaluated by juries chaired by Sou Fujimoto (Asia Pacific), Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (Europe), Sandra Barclay (Latin America), Lina Ghotmeh (Middle East and Africa), and Jeanne Gang (North America), the winning projects reflect the Foundation's principles of holistic, transformational, and transferable design.
But a third, more urgent verse has been added to the chorus in recent years: impact. Today, truly exceptional design must also be responsible design. It has to account for its lifecycle, its materiality, and its effect on the world it inhabits. This evolution in thinking is a necessary one, pushing creatives to solve for more than just aesthetics and ergonomics.
Kara Pure 2 offers a new vision for home hydration that eliminates these trade-offs entirely. By pulling water straight from the air, mineralizing it with essential nutrients, and presenting it in a sculptural stainless steel form, it changes the simple act of pouring a glass of water into a daily wellness ritual that's as beautiful as it is sustainable and convenient.
Chen Jun's stainless steel firewood stove isn't just another pretty appliance trying to look good in your Instagram feed. This is serious engineering wrapped in sleek design, tackling real problems that have plagued wood-burning stoves for generations. The secret? A sophisticated modular system that completely rethinks how we approach portable heating and cooking. Here's what makes it clever: the entire stove can be disassembled and reassembled without needing a PhD in engineering.
The brand famous for its tumblers (and how incredibly durable they are) is looking to upend the coffee industry too. Stanley's 'Perfect Pour Over Brew Set' is the company's take on pour-overs, redesigning them in a way that's simple, robust, and reusable. The set features a pour-over top (with a metal filter) and and a Stanley cup for its base. No coffee filters, no disposable liners. Every inch of this brew set is designed for travel, durability, and sustainability.
If you're not familiar with Joe Colombo, let me paint you a picture. This Italian designer was basically the poster child for optimistic, forward-thinking mid-century design. He created bold, colorful furniture and objects that perfectly captured the era's "the future is bright" energy. Colombo sadly passed away in 1971 at just 41, but his work continues to influence designers today. The KD28 lamp is a perfect example of why his pieces remain relevant decades later.
Modern camping gear has evolved beyond basic survival tools into sophisticated equipment that enhances outdoor experiences without compromising authenticity. Today's innovative designs merge cutting-edge technology with thoughtful functionality, creating products that solve real problems while maintaining the spirit of adventure. These breakthrough designs represent a new era where comfort, sustainability, and wilderness exploration coexist harmoniously. The latest camping innovations prove that smart engineering can transform ordinary outdoor challenges into opportunities for enhanced adventure.
BaleBio, a bamboo pavilion designed by Cave Urban for Bauhaus Earth's ReBuilt initiative, pioneers carbon-negative architecture in Bali while reimagining the traditional communal spaces of the island for a changing climate. Rising above the sands of Mertasari Beach in Denpasar, the 84-square-meter structure transforms a disused car park into a living community hub, an open meeting space that merges environmental performance with social purpose.
Following a sustainable lifestyle is important even when you are traveling, as eco-conscious travel blends innovation with environmental responsibility. By focusing on renewable materials, energy efficiency, and waste reduction, travelers can make eco-friendly choices, and designers can create products that support sustainability and functionality. Whether it's durable luggage or solar-powered gadgets, thoughtfully designed items help reduce a traveler's footprint. As more people seek meaningful and responsible journeys, sustainable design plays an important role in shaping the future of travel and protecting the planet.
Because fragments vary in size, shape, and color, the final design is nearly impossible to replicate. The second is quality. Many fragments, especially those sourced from demolition sites, come with flaws. Rather than see these issues as limitations, van Dievoet embraces them, allowing constraints to shape the work. "Creating from materials that have already been used forces me to take into account their shape, thickness, and any breaks," she explains.
Australia's tiny house movement has found its perfect ambassador in the Harper, a stunning 20-square-meter dwelling that redefines what small-scale living can be. Created by Gold Coast-based Black Clay, this compact home proves that downsizing doesn't mean downgrading when it comes to style and comfort. The Harper stretches eight meters long and 2.5 meters wide, built on a robust triple-axle steel trailer designed for full transportability. What immediately strikes visitors is the exterior's sophisticated blend of curved Decobatten aluminum and Colorbond steel cladding.
When two design powerhouses come together, the results can be truly transformative. The new Muratto x Momentum collection is a testament to the power of creative collaboration, merging the expertise of Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering with the innovative approach of Muratto. This partnership has produced a collection that is not only visually stunning but also deeply rooted in sustainability and natural inspiration, making it a standout choice for anyone looking to elevate their interiors with a conscience.
The Kuakata Training Center, designed by CODEC Design Studio, is a purpose-built facility supporting skill development and capacity building for coastal communities in Bangladesh. Positioned close to fishing settlements, ecological zones, and tourist routes, it offers residential training on coastal resource management, sustainable tourism, and disaster preparedness. Developed through a phased construction process, the project emphasizes quality, sustainability, and contextual relevance. Local contractors and laborers were engaged from the outset, ensuring not only construction efficiency but also skill transfer and community ownership of the center.
The new Robert Day Sciences Center at Claremont McKenna College maximizes multidisciplinary integration and interaction: each level of the 135,000-sq-ft building is oriented in a different direction, channeling the flow of people and ideas between the labs, classrooms, and the surrounding campus. Commissioned in 2020, the Robert Day Sciences Center serves a community of 1,400 students. The center is BIG's first built project in Los Angeles, and the first completed building in
But the rounded roof isn't just a fanciful design gesture; it offers energy-saving benefits, explained Sarah Kardos, an associate broker at Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty who shares the $1.12 million listing with associate broker Alexander Rubin. The shape increases natural airflow and creates even temperatures with only one degree of difference between the floor and the ceiling (in traditional rooms, the ceiling can be up to ten degrees warmer). That makes the home unusually comfortable, says Kardos.
Most tiny homes cram living spaces into predictable layouts, but one Romanian company decided to turn that concept literally upside down. The Tiny Getaway by Eco Tiny House is a compact dwelling that's redefining how we think about small space living through its innovative "upside-down" layout, proving that sometimes the best solutions come from breaking conventional wisdom.
Jaza Energy Hubs, created by the Nigerian‑based studio Nonfiction Design, have quickly become a model of clean, affordable energy for off‑grid villages. The project showcases a modular solar hub that can be shipped flat, unpacked and assembled in a single day with only basic tools. Each hub generates enough electricity to run lights, phones, fans and small shop equipment, replacing costly and polluting diesel generators and kerosene lamps.
Franz Bruck + 50 Category: Office Buildings Clients: BDP Real Estate GmbH Collaborators: Transsolar Energietechnik Kitchen Planning: Kosterke Fire Consultants: HHP Berlin More SpecsLess Specs Franz Bruck Text description provided by the architects. The new Berlin Hyp Office Building, named "B-One," represents forward-thinking, climate-friendly corporate architecture at the gateway to Berlin's City-West district. Designed by C.F. Mller Architects, this 11-story building demonstrates environmental responsibility while establishing an architectural reference point at the intersection of Landwehrkanal and Corneliusbrucke.
The Indonesian Consulate Building in Jeddah by Ibrahim Joharji Architects contributes to the architectural landscape of diplomatic facilities in Saudi Arabia, where design carries both functional and symbolic roles. Diplomatic buildings are not only workplaces but also representations of national identity, requiring architecture to mediate between protocol, security, and cultural expression. The project is structured around a hierarchy of use, organizing spaces for diplomats, administrators, and staff through layered circulation systems. This spatial framework embeds distinctions of function and authority into the overall plan.
September 2025 has delivered some of the most exciting kitchen innovations we've seen this year. The kitchen in 2025 is smarter, greener, and more beautiful than ever before. With sustainable design becoming essential and smart technology leading the way, these five standout gadgets represent the perfect fusion of form and function. Each piece showcases how contemporary kitchen design is evolving to meet modern lifestyle demands while maintaining aesthetic appeal.
If you've found yourself infatuated with a crib or toddler bed in the last 20 years, chances are they were designed by Oeuf. The Brooklyn-based lifestyle brand is the brainchild of Sophie Demenge and Michael Ryan, a couple who have been making things together since meeting on a city sidewalk at 2 am outside a furniture fair party. Sophie, who grew up in Paris, was at the time about to graduate with a degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute,
