Dutch designers Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe like the simple things in life. Crackly autumn leaves, sunsets, pots of tea, mac 'n' cheese, slippers, glasses of merlot... So it is no surprise that their latest designs have brought everything back to domestic basics with their latest six creations: a tea cosy, a sewing kit, a lunchbox, a herb box, a foot warmer and a series of dishwashing scrubbers.
We know we'd certainly bring our own sangas to work more often if our lunchbox looked like this. It's a little Flintstones, a little lumberjack, and a lot funky. We're assuming that the can on the side is a reusable drink container too, which just adds another layer of awesome.
If we had one of the leather sewing kits in our possession, we would abandon our local cheapy Chinese tailor to hem our own trousers and skirts. And if you can't sew, learn, just so that you can whip this baby out whenever you pop a shirt button.
The object that looks like a pizza box is actually a natural foot warmer, or as they call it, the Foot Stove. Just pop it into the oven for 20 minutes, slip in your tootsies (
after you've taken the Foot Stove out, may we add), and you'll be nice and toastie for an hour and a half. And if you've just been baking something in oven, you'll get the added plus of your feet smelling like quiche lorraine.
There is also a herb garden mini-greenhouse, a set of scrubbing brushes so beautiful that we'd probably frame and mount them above our sink rather than use them, and a tea cosy that looks like a shaved alpaca sat on your pot of Earl Grey. Cosy indeed.
To see the full collection of Usuals, click
here.