Put Your Heads Together

Josep Motas designed these tiles, a kaleidoscopic riff on cartoonish craniums. In various sizes and colors [mix-and-match mandibles, anyone?], they're available in glazed terra cotta, concrete, or stoneware. Happy Halloween! bussoga.com

The New Orange

Of course it's the color scheme that triggered this post. But the design merits are worthy of attention; these straightforward storage modules copped a Red Dot award. Fabricated of recycled polystyrene, the individual panels click endlessly together, thanks to the double-mitred edge. They can be fitted with casters and doors, and are offered in 16 brilliant colors. qubing.com

BOOtiful Design, The End

It's interesting that all three of the people pictured in this 1956 ad could pass as a Halloween character today, but back then, only the combo cowboy-astronaut would be seen as something [or somebody] other than normal.

Such is time.

BOOtiful Design, Day Four

Not exactly scary but certainly somber, this bathroom has a noir palette and lighting that's best described as moody. This makes looking in the mirror a starkly contemplative experience—one fully appropriate to Halloween. fionalynch.com.au

BOOtiful Design, Day Three

While the design of the Sesel cabinet pulls is based on granite formations in the Seychelles, at this time of year I see them as amoeba-like creatures, stealthily creeping across the surfaces of doors and drawers. Hand-brushed cast bronze, they can be installed in any orientation—shape-shifting of a benign sort. laurameroni.com

BOOtiful Design, Day Two

While I appreciate the latent onomatopoeic quality in the name of this lighting fixture—it's called 'Vichy'—I am more impressed by its form: an abstracted bat [vampire, or some less threatening branch of the taxonomy]. It's available with a wider 'wingspan'. jonathanbrowninginc.com

BOOtiful Design

In this week's run-up to All Hallows' Eve, I'll be featuring kitchen and bath items that are a bit on the dark side—such as this high Gothic range hood. Let's hope that the insert draws well, because cleaning any grease off this ornately carved piece would otherwise require some devilishly good help.

Points of Light

Applying its expertise in illuminated door handles to a smaller scale, Martin Pierce is developing a collection of LED-powered drawer and cupboard pulls. The Morphic collection is lit with a tiny, high density light strip. Dimmable, it provides accurate color renderings—an important consideration when cabinets are literally in the spot light. martinpierce.com

Zaha's Kitchen

The Code kitchen was designed by the late Zaha Hadid. Now in production, it's a toned-down melding of the architect's favored swoops and curves. While I find it too tame to convincingly be a part of her exuberant oeveure, it nonetheless offers a distinctive look that can be at home in contemporary or period settings. boffi.com

Sui Generis Soaker

I must say that in many years of watching the bath scene, I've not come across a design quite like the Pfeiffer. A lumpy block of raw marble on the outside, the inside of the tub is smooth. Surmounted by a walnut surface supported by copper-footed legs, the piece has a rather unlikely mid-century-meets-mesolithic aesthetic. Designed by Cláudia Verde. tccwhitestone.com

The Personal Touch

Neri & Hu designed the Ren collection of storage furnishings with the Chinese ideogram for 'human' as a point of departure; the character resembles an inverted 'Y'. The frame of this dressing table is Canalatto walnut, surfaces are wrapped in fine saddle leather, and brass hangers suspend shelves and mirrors. arksf.com

You Say It's Your Birthday

John and Yoko remodeled their kitchen in the Dakota to be more in the spirit of the artists' lofts they knew when they lived downtown on Bank Street. Saltillo tiles, a combination of open shelves and closed cupboards, director's chairs, and a farm table—it's very 1980.

Happy birthday, JWL + SOL.

Better Together

Here's a bath for the stylistically undecided. The grisaille palette ensures the the contemporary elements and the more baroque flourishes are equal partners in the design. And one needn't live in a baronial palazzo to have ornately plastered walls—a skillfully made photo mural will suffice.

Behind Closed Doors

Big—really big—built-in cabinets have been making quite the mark in kitchen design lately. Owing to their jumbo size, they offer more than storage capacity; they are large enough to house work stations (complete with counter space and power outlets). The Trotter kitchen features walnut doors whose mitered frame angles outward, adding dimension and focus to the wall. gama-decor.com