eBay – the international flea market. Sometimes, you’ve gotta love eBay. Whilst it’s often full of scams and cut-price junk, if you’re lucky (and by ‘lucky’, I mean ‘obsessive’) you can occasionally find vintage gems. I’ve been an eBay convert ever since I bought an amazing vintage chesterfield sofa for 50p, but now my love for eBay is strengthened by another recent purchase. I managed to nab a vintage 60’s Semi light pendant.

These arc-shaped enamelled metal lights were designed by architects Claus Bonderup and Torsten Thorup in 1967 and produced by the innovative Danish lighting company Fog & Morup. The Semi was produced in a number of sizes, with each one being individually manufactured by hand by a skilled metalworker. The process involved spinning a 1.5mm thick aluminium plate onto a steel form and moulding it into shape with a thick leather-covered baton. I’ve seen several smaller versions of the Semi pop up on ebay, but never one of the huge large versions – so when I found someone in Denmark offering one, I had to have it! So eBay comes through for me again.

Find your unique vintage treasure on eBay (just don’t outbid me on all the cool stuff I want!)

Add a touch of Frank Gehry aesthetics to your home. Whilst browsing around the Tiffany website (not something I would normally do, but circumstances required it!) I noticed that the award-winning architect Frank Gehry has designed a collection for them. While I’m not into jewelry, I love the china work he’s created such as this Vase which bares all the hallmarks of his multi-faceted architectural aesthetics.

See more of the Frank Gehry Collection for Tiffany.

Hip & stylish accommodation in Malta. If you’re like me and love quirky, hip boutique style hotels and you’re thinking of heading towards Malta anytime soon, you might want to check out the a new luxury self catering accommodation option in Malta called Maison La Vallette. It’s a discreet self catering luxury town house, situated in the old part of Valletta. Decorated in a mix of Maltese style baroque and bespoke designer furniture, it looks like a great setting for a romantic stay, for those looking for a bold, stylish, sophisticated yet affordable option for their travels.

Even if you’re not looking to go there on your travels, it’s worth checking out the website just to pick up some decor style ideas on the virtual tour.

For more info see Maison La Vallette.

Still random. Still cool. I’ve mentioned the company Random Retail before due to their very cool french sac cushions. So I thought I’d do a little update to say they’ve got a new catalogue for 2008, which has the still cool french sac cushion designs in more colours, and also on some canvas shopping bags (good if you’re trying to go green and cut down on your supermarket plastic bag usage!)

So get yourself over to Random Retail to check out the new stuff.

Great new German design. I love the clean design work coming from Maigrau, a new german design brand by the industrial designers Alex Stamminger and Nik Back. I’m particularly fond of the beautiful and elegant simplicity of their ‘Luca Lean’ lamp. According to the company…

“The leaning lamp stresses the relationship between light and architecture by its generous gesture. Its orientation to the wall conveys stability and moreover creates an elegant and atmospheric silhouette. The puristic design of the lamp is set in scene by the combination of oiled oak and fabric of the company JABAnstoetz.”

Maigrau definitely look like a design brand worth keeping an eye on for the the future.

See more work from Maigrau.

Breakfast is a battlefield. You may not realise it, but the breafast table is a place of warfare. The boiled egg, up until now, has had to fend off attack from knocking spoons, and toasted bread soldiers, all by itself. But no longer! Soldiers are on hand to protect the precious egg in the form of the Egg Solider Eggcup from Reiko Kaneko.

See more by Reiko Kaneko.