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The 2014 Ikea Catalog is on its way to your mailbox, ready to deliver 326 pages of furniture, lighting, appliances and design utilities. We got our hands on an early copy from Ikea and thought we’d share our first take — and some photos — on what’s in store at the design giant from Sweden. From living rooms to walk-in closets, bedrooms to kitchens, the 2014 Ikea catalog has placed an emphasis on warm, darker tones for natural, comfortable living.
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The 326 pages of the new 2014 Ikea catalog represent a virtual stroll through the aisles of the Ikea superstore. Everything from fully-planned rooms to grouped products and individual items are showcased like Ikea catalogs of the past. In recent years, Ikea has emphasized a group of products (like storage in the 2011 version), but the 2014 Ikea catalog takes a general approach.
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A stand-out design element is the use of dark colors and earth tones to create a warm, welcoming environment. The living room above features accent walls and gray tones with natural wood elements to provide a homey feel. It’s instantly desirable, and a point of inspiration for our own living rooms at home.
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The 2014 Ikea catalog features new products, placed prominently in room designs and individual features. The Stockholm Chandelier above, for example, is a stand-out favorite. It’s placed in what might be the most attractive walk-in closet we’ve seen, but we’ll take a look at that below.
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Beyond the typical room designs and product groupings, the 2014 Ikea catalog does share some rich, usable content. The above section features seven tips on updating your bathroom, featuring some pretty attractive products that again emphasize natural woods and a focus on greenery.
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This walk-in closet is sure to cause a bit of drooling for some. It features a wall of shoes, a set of colorful seats and the aforementioned Stockholm chandelier. It’s a place for the ladies to show off their shoes with friends while sharing a bottle (or two) of fine wine. Throughout all the pages of the 2014 Ikea catalog, this is one we imagine will get clipped out the most.
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The same earth tones and wooden accents are shown off in this pretty dreamy kitchen. It’s a very welcome step forward for Ikea, who in the past has placed an emphasis on colors that haven’t aged too well. That’s part of the point, though– after five years, it’s about time to update your bedroom or living room for something that feels fresh and new.
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Ikea Catalog 2014 | Gallery
One of the worst things about breaking a bone – aside from the terrible pain – is the general unwieldiness of casts. Wearing one is often held to be a genuinely unpleasant experience, made only slightly better by the cast signings. Factor in impossible-to-reach itches, the fact that most casts don’t do so well around water, and the inevitable stench upon their removal; and, well…things go from bad to worse. One designer thinks he might have the answer to all these problems – and a tool to speed up the healing of broken bones, in the process.
Modeled after Jake Evill’s Cortex 3D-Printed Cast, Deniz Karashin’s Osteoid Cast takes the same basic idea – a custom-made, 3D-printed ‘mesh’ cast fitted to the arm – and refines it. The well-ventilated cast has a snap-together design which can easily be removed; it’s also waterproof, meaning patients don’t have to concern themselves with getting it wet. The most interesting feature, though?
It’s something called a LIPUS – Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound – Generator. Taking the form of a small, remote-control-like device, the LIPUS generator attaches to the cast and sends pulses of ultrasound into the affected area. That might sound a touch odd at first, until you consider that ultrasound therapy is a method that’s been scientifically proven to speed the regeneration of damaged bone tissue .
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“For single 20 minute daily sessions this system promises to reduce the healing process up to 38 per cent and increase the heal rate up to 80 per cent in non-union fractures,”reads a description of the device.; “in order to function, the LIPUS ultrasound probes have to be placed on the injured area with direct skin contact, because of this requirement it was not possible to use this method with patients using standard medical casts. Now thanks to the ventilation holes on the Osteoid medical cast the LIPUS bone stimulator probes can be placed over the injured area.”
In addition to being completely painless to wear, the cast is also completely painless to fit, as well: a patient’s broken limb is simply 3D-scanned into a computer, where a technician then designs a cast custom-made for the injury, taking into account everything about the patient and cast imaginable.
Currently, Osteoid is only a prototype, but I can’t see something like this failing to catch on. Not only is it a relatively elegant (and painless) solution to traditional casts; it’s also a recovery tool.
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Osteoid 3D-Printed Cast | Gallery
