10 Creative Furniture Designs To Inspire You

Design is something we encounter every day, sometimes every minute, and furniture is something we come into contact with on a daily basis. There are designs that merely serve their purpose, and then there are ones that go the step further to exude how they have been inspired and even seek to inspire. 

Here at The Artling, we’ve put together these 10 creative furniture designs that do just that. These works have incredibly well thought out designs and stand out from the crowd due to their many unique characteristics. From examinations into form, function and witty executions of everyday living, here are our top 10 designers with inspiring design pieces that caught our attention: 

 

Elvis & Hsiu Ming Chang, HOMER Concept | Benches 

Elvis & Hsiu Ming Chang have placed sustainability as the stronghold of this design. Winner of both the 2009 HKDA ASIA DESIGN AWARD and 2012 Golden Pin DESIGN Award for Best Design, this design evolves from being a single chair, to a bench, shelf, and even a small table. 

Made with beechwood, the two parts of the chai are combined using magnets. It is handmade with no nails or chemicals, with its beechwood hailing from a sustainable forest that limits quantity of production. The designers cite this design as one that exemplifies the simplicity of form and structure with minimal wasted materials. 

 

Jongha Choi, De-dimension Series

 

In true minimalist fashion, Jongha Choi has created a collection of collapsible furniture that allows users to transform it from a two-dimensional form to a three-dimensional one. His De-dimension series is composed of stools and tables made from aluminum, with each object able to be folded down and stowed away in a flatly as if it were a picture on a wall. 

Undeniably space efficient design, the De-dimension series was inspired by micro-homes whilst dabbling with illusions of perspective. This ingenious design plays with literal and physical representations of turning something akin to a sketch into a finalized furniture piece with a few clicks at its joints. 

 

Ayako Aratani, Hideaway Lounge

Made with upholstery fabric, foam, and wood, Hideaway Lounge is a meticulously constructed yet aesthetically pleasing statement piece for anyone who enjoys their own space. It also stands true with Ayako Aratani’s motivations of creation artful home objects that offer people physical and visual comfort. 

Born and raised in Japan, Aratani studied product design with a BA in Engineering. Her works have won several design awards including the Bronze Prize at MUJI’s International Design Award for children’s stationery. Her oeuvre spans many sustainable and organic designs that are aimed at creating welcoming atmospheres to any space. 

 

Naoki Hirakoso, Kai Table

An incredible piece of craftsmanship, Kai Table might present itself as a rather seamless table or perhaps a mere slab of wood. However, it has the capacity to allow multiple pieces to unfold, revealing hidden cupboards and drawers. Its complex design maximizes storage space to the fullest whilst exuding a simple demeanor. 

Himitsubako, a type of traditional Japanese puzzle box, inspired this design. Each table comprised of quasi-multi-cabinets of mini-chambers and sections and due to its complex nature is made to order. 

 

GLARE, Umbra Console

Named ‘Umbra’ after the darkest part of a shadow, this console mimics a floating box that is illuminated as it casts an umbra shadow below. The Umbra Console is made from three kinds of glass and framed with a bronze-gold plated steel allowing for the variations of transparency and the illusion that it is floating. 

Jakarta design studio GLARE seeks to create design pieces that consolidate art and glass, and this unique motivation is what helps them stand out of the crowd. They are driven to create works the are out of the ordinary, challenge the perspective of viewers, whilst all at once focused on the details in techniques and complexities. 

 

Hayoung Kim, Piscina

Hayoung Kim graduated from Kaywon University of Art & Design and Konkuk University Global Campus with a degree in industrial design. Her works adhere to the basic principles of design whilst focusing on the simplicity that lies within form and structure, whilst prioritizing functionality. 

Piscina, a side table, was inspired by the ladder of a pool. Its upper disk provides ample space for the user to place objects on it freely, as do the “steps” on the side. Piscina is a witty take on a simple tool that has been aesthetically transposed into a versatile everyday design, leaving us excited to see what this talented young designer creates next.

 

Shon Shin Kyu, Split 

Split is made with Korean old pine wood and polished stainless steel and comes in the form of a bench and a bookshelf - in vertical and horizontal configurations. In traditional minimalist fashion, materials are focused deeply through thorough examinations into form and construction.  Additionally, Shon Shin Kyu seeks to establish the absolute beauty of nature in this design, contrasting sleek modernism with raw naturalism. 

Shon Shin-kyu graduated from Sangmyung University with a Bachelor's degree in Furniture design and is pursuing a master's degree program at the same graduate school. He has been cited as one of a few game-changing creatives to recently come out of Seoul. 

 

Alex Chai, Doric Table

Alex Chai’s Doric table series has its inspirations derived from classical Greek columns. This design explores themes of light and perspective as bent steel plates are bent to create abstract and polyhedral columns. The themes of light and shadow can be further experienced by any viewer walking from its left to right as it exudes different hues upon encounters from different angles. 

Alex Chai is the Founder, CEO and Head Designer of Grado Design, a design studio that is composed of young creatives motivated to create furniture pieces for both work and living spaces that break the boundaries of tradition. 

 

Tarek ElKassouf, Twisted Edge Table

Based between Beirut and Sydney, Tarek Elkassouf is a Lebanese designer whose practice spans the disciplines of architecture, urban planning and product design. He has won awards across these three disciplines. 

He is inspired by geometric patterns spliced with futuristic parametric designs as seen clearly in his Twisted Edge Table. Sharp angles are dramatised through his use of black, with shadows and light further accounting for his design’s presence in a room. Two of his designs in his Twisted Edge series have also won awards in competitions for emerging designers. 

 

Jing Ouyang, Ripple Table

With motivations derived from nature, Ripple Table seeks to present something organic into domestic environments. Imagine raindrops falling from the sky in slow-motion and you understand how Jing Ouyang was moved to create static yet inspired by movement. 

He takes this inspiration of movement one step further in making this table an engaging one. This table top swings as you add weight to it, whilst maintaining stability rather impressively. Jing is also inspired by the movement of water and energy in traditional Chinese architectures, and crated Ripple Table as an exploration and reinterpretation of their contemporary understandings. 

 

To discover more furniture pieces by Asian designers on The Artling, click here.