Sci-Fi Lighting
It’s space age, baby, the way The Avengers’ Emma Peel might have imagined it. We love the retro-futuristic vibe of the spiky, chrome Pulsar light fixture at INspiration Furniture ($399, 1275 West 6th Avenue) or its slightly less chunky cousin, the Physics ($539, arriving soon). Both are a contemporary redux on the mid-century Sputnik chandelier. Go for the full-on Jetsons theme, hanging it over curvy Polypropylene stacking chairs around a steel-and-glass dining table; make a modernist statement in a living room decked out with a vintage teak coffee table and modular sofa; or contrast it off a more staid, walnut-stained dining table and upholstered chairs.
> Janet Smith

Old-Time Scents
The scent combos are enough to recommend Sydney Hale Co.’s soy candles: think macadamia with coconut, tobacco and sandalwood, cypress and cassis, or mint and geranium. They’re hand-poured in small batches at a company in Vermont and come in the kind of old-fashioned, reusable jars that might have graced the shelves of a turn-of-the-20th-century apothecary. The candles are $29.95 at Main Street’s recently opened Much & Little (2541 Main Street), which also features simple, hand-crafted accents like white oak breakfast-in-bed trays by Vancouver’s Gallant + Jones ($140) and Union Wood Co.’s cheese boards made from the reclaimed rafters of the old police horse stable in the Downtown Eastside ($80).
> Janet Smith

Pillows with Punch
Sometimes simple beats busy when it comes to cushions. We like the stark, retro graphics on the screen-printed pillows at Style Garage (124 West Hastings Street), where the Gus* Modern styles riff on vintage science illustrations. Beakers, magnets, and molecular models in bright yellows, oranges, and reds emblazon plain white, organic cotton ($75 to $100). You can also go graphically patriotic with designer Nicole Tarasick’s Map of Canada, or think local with a bold YVR logo (about $65 to $95), various colours.
> Janet Smith

Punch up a space with Woodnotes Roo beanbag chairs (InForm Interiors), Loyal Loot Collective log bowls (Provide), and Newgate Clocks tickers (Orling & Wu).

Baggin’ It
While the words sophisticated and beanbag might not normally seem to go together, Finnish design company Woodnotes has created an eye-pleasing grown-up version of the beanbag chair. The Roo chair ($1,864 at InForm Interiors [50 Water Street]) is as comfortable as it looks. Designed by University of Art and Design Helsinki grad Ulla Koskinen, the award-winning lounging chair doesn’t have a proper frame, but its loose shape naturally collapses into a slightly flattened pyramid that weighs in at eight kilograms. The paper-yarn-cotton cover is removable and changeable, and comes in neutral off-white and khaki colours. If the sight of the Roo beanbag chair doesn’t bring out your inner child, falling into its soft, shape-shifting body will.
> Michelle da Silva

Bark Beauties
Bring nature to the dinner table with Loyal Loot Collective’s log bowls ($75 to $240 at Provide [529 Beatty Street]). Edmonton’s LLC began in 2004 with designers Doha Chebib, Carmen Douville, Dara Humniski, and Anna Thomas. The log bowl was designed by Chebib with the aim of combining the natural beauty of bark with vibrant colour. Each log bowl is handmade from a variety of reclaimed trees that have either fallen or been cut down due to infrastructure, landscaping, or weather. The inside of each bowl is painted with acrylic paint and a water-based high-gloss finish—the rough outside playing beautifully off the ultrasmooth inside.
> Michelle da Silva

Retro Tickers
Time travel back to decades past with a funky creation by Newgate Clocks. The U.K.–based company specializes in recreating iconic styles, from mantle clocks to alarm clocks. We like the Ice Cream Factory Clock ($150 at Orling & Wu [28 Water Street]), a large-face wooden wall timekeeper in antique blue and white. Its distressed industrial look easily adds a bit of country charm to a rustic kitchen. Or wake up each day in posh British style with the Covent Garden Medium Alarm Clock ($68), complete with printed paper dial, gloss black exterior, and a real bell alarm. More retro-futuristic is the Bullitt Alarm Clock ($137). If its unique lemon shape doesn’t get your attention, its bright-red hue will.
> Michelle da Silva

Poetry in Motion
We can’t think of any better way to bring spring into a room than with Contexture Design’s refined and delicate handmade hanging mobiles. Fashioned from recycled maps, they are whimsically contemporary in design but carry deeper, poetic messages about sustainability, family, and community. The newest in the Vancouver company’s collection is Pollen Nation, a depiction of honeybees dancing around apple blossoms. Laser-cut from salvaged agricultural maps and paper, it was inspired by the beehives kept by Contexture cofounders Trevor Coghill and Nathan Lee. The team draws from old topographic maps for its Redfish mobile, one that features a school of 10 sockeye swimming their way toward a leafy habitat with a bear family. Meanwhile, on the As the Crow Flies rendition, a bobbing family of birds, cut from outdated road maps, works its way back to a rookery. Contemplate them from your computer desk or modular couch; these mobiles aren’t meant for kids only—though they would look smart in a child’s room, too. They’re $75 via the Contexture website.
> Janet Smith

Bold Bulbs
As furniture stays sleek, minimalistic, and grey, the new way to show your wild side is with lighting. Even formerly staid companies like Sears (various locations) are pushing way beyond the standard lamp or chandelier. From its new spring collection, we dig the new Gen Lite pendant lights: the funky spike balls in basic white or black are the perfect foils to living rooms with too many stern modular lines ($119.99). And if a space needs a little drama, throw a spotlight on it: check out the so-now weathered-looking marine-wood tripod, which features a burnished metal spotlight that you can point and shoot. It’s like something off a Louis B. Mayer set, by way of old Cape Cod ($229.99).
> Janet Smith