Bryan F. is our Smart Space Design Contest Winner!

Bryan won the first week of the Smart Space Design Contest and has recently been awarded as the finalist winner! He designed a home office for a high end video production suite. Walls are non parallel to reduce standing waves for audio. Walls and flooring enhance task based lighting, and muted color helps with client viewing. Now, he will receive $2,500 dollars to his dream space! Good luck Bryan! Props to our other four finalist and our amazing judges! Thanks to everyone who participated! You can still create your dream space, happy designing!

Meet our Celebrity Judges

With three of the five finalists of the Smart Space Design Contest chosen, SmartFurniture.com announced today the panel of guest judges who will select the $2500 Smart Space Design Contest Grand Prize Winner. The guest judging panel consists of design experts and celebrities from within the design world. The guest judges include: Jason Chen, editor and writer at Gizmodo, one of the web's most prominent blogs covering electronics, technology and industrial design. Known as The "Gadget Guide", Gizmodo offers a tech-hungry audience valuable insights and commentary on new products, from the latest video game to the latest-greatest back-scratcher. As a contributor at Gizmodo, Jason is at the forefront of the convergence between electronics and design. Lisa Hubbs, an executive at Herman Miller® for the Home, co-sponsor of the Smart Space Design Contest. Dozens of Herman Miller products are featured in the Smart Designer, including design icons like the Eames Lounge Chair, Noguchi Table, and Nelson Marshmallow Sofa. Herman Miller produces prizes awarded to each Finalist, including their choice of the Herman Miller Aeron®, Embody®, Mirra® or Setu™ chair. Jaime Derringer, operator of Design Milk, a design-oriented blog that keeps tabs on trends in modern decor, interior design, architecture, furniture, and consumer goods. While she keeps a close eye on major movements and achievements in the design world, she also enjoys telling the world about her favorite newly-discovered everyday items, be it salt-and pepper-shakers or garden tools. She also helps run Bakery, a business incubator that helps get startup companies on their feet. Eames Demetrios, a writer, artist, and principal at the Eames Office, celebrates the legacy of Charles and Ray Eames, as grandparents. Eames educates the public on Charles and Ray Eames’ impact on the world of design through various mediums, including exhibits, photography, and literature. Gifted with a vivid imagination, Eames is the author of Kymaerica and the Kcymaerxthaere, an alternate history of the world. The Smart Space Design Contest is open to everyone. Entrants must design an original space using SmartFurniture.com’s Smart Designer. The Smart Designer is a revolutionary 3D space planning tool that allows designers to create customized spaces from scratch directly through their web browser. The last finalists in the contest will be chosen between March 1st and March 5th, and the Grand Prize Winner will be chosen the following week. More information is available at http://www.smartfurniture.com/smartdesigner.html.

Week Three Winner of the Smart Space Design Contest

Jeff is our week three winner of the Smart Space Design Contest. Check out his Home Studio B (music pad) below. Jeff chose the Herman Miller Embody chair for his prize. Stay tuned for our week four winner... and here he is. The winner himself... We still have TWO Herman Miller chairs to give away. Monday is the last day for week 4, but the screen shot with the most 'likes' and comments through facebook will also receive a chair. Happy Designing!

Week Two Winner of the Smart Space Design Contest

Joseph won an Embody Chair for being our week two Smart Space Design Contest winner! He chose to design The Garden Office for those who work from home. The office features three areas, desk, reading nook, and media center. The front wall consists of windows and doors letting in a lot of light and warmth. The natural cork flooring is contrasted with the modern functional furniture. Joseph also blogged about us here encouraging others to enter for a chance to win two more Herman Miller chairs, another Herman Miller chair through Facebook, and the finalist have a chance to win $2,500 to their smart space. Below are his screen shots of his designs. Enter to win your dream space, you have two more weeks left!

Week One Winner of the Smart Space Design Contest

Bryan won the first week of the Smart Space Design Contest. He designed a home office conversion for a high end video production suite. Walls are non parallel to reduce standing waves for audio. Walls and flooring enhance task based lighting, and muted color helps with client viewing. The Smart Furniture staff were pleased to announce him the first winner and to send him his free embody chair. Below are some screen shots of his room. Enter to win the contest here for a chance to win a Herman Miller chair weekly, and the finalist recieves $2,500 to their dream space. Bryan chose the Herman Miller Embody chair, which one will you choose?

New Smart Designer

We just launched a new version of our Smart Designer. We are really excited about all that you can do with it! To view the new version (please note that it still works best in Firefox), visit http://www.smartfurniture.com/shop/smartdesigner/smartdesigner.asp

Here are a few new features:

1. From the start page, you can choose beginner, intermediate, and advance

• beginner launches a room template
• intermediate builds a room based on the dimensions entered
• advanced takes you to a 2d stage--where you can draw the room dimensions--then view in 3D The image below is how the drawing tool looks:

2. You can go from 3d back to your "Room Layout" in 2d, make room changes, then go back to 3d 3. Once you Create Room in 3d, you can then choose wall and floor options.

4. After you have created the room, you can save it, buy it, share it, or make it public for others to see in the Design Community. See http://www.smartfurniture.com/designcommunity

5. If you make it public, your room will show up in the design community. Choosing a room takes you to a page that shows a larger image of your saved room, lists the items in the room, and gives you the option to view it 3D, buy it, etc.

6. Finally, if you choose product (like an embody chair) that has a lot of options, you can click the magic wand--which launches a product configuration tool (in flash). After choosing the options with the product configuration tool, the item changes dynamically to adhere to your choices.

This is exciting stuff. We hope you go nuts with it.