“I read a story about a student in a small one-bedroom apartment who because she could only fit her big bed and her desk in the apartment, was too ashamed to invite her friends or her parents over,” remembers Van Bo about his inspiration for this crafty ensemble of furniture. “There was nowhere to cook, nowhere to sit, not even space for standard chairs to fit. It made me think ‘Where do we find the instruction manual for how to use a small space?’ We buy a new computer or a new vacuum cleaner and we are given instructions. But nobody teaches us how to use space”. So he designed plans for a small one-bedroom apartment that included a room-dividing piece (the Siwo Couch) that functions as an all-in-one couch, pull-out king size bed and bench that seats six to nine people, a miraculously problem-solving invention, along with custom-sized smaller chairs that double as tables. “Design is a social issue,” says Van Bo, “it facilitates or negates social interaction depending on its cleverness, use and beauty. Wohnung makes socializing possible and enjoyable in a small space, on a small budget”.

Anyone can make any of the affordable, classical, Bauhaus-inspired furniture designed by Van Bo Le-Mentzel by downloading the plans for free, investing in a couple of screwdrivers, a Japanese saw and a bit of lumber. There are no rules. You can add or subtract to the designs, paint and decorate however you like, to suit yourself and express yourself.

Launched at the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin this July, and full of the photos and personal stories sent in by the Van Bo-following DIY furniture makers from around the world, this book celebrates the love of furniture, the social and creative benefits of building your own chairs, and further illustrates Van Bo’s social outreach. In its pages, he adds instructions on how he has built a community in seven steps, and how he envisions the capitalism of the future—which is all about Thank yous and win-wins. “There are some things that companies need, which don’t involve money,” he explains, “For example, one of the members of my Crowd is a leading figure in Deutsche Bahn, the German Rail company. She says that on hot days when the air conditioning breaks down in one of the rail cars and that car has to be removed and replaced, it causes chaos at the next station. She needs people to come to that station to re-direct traffic, explain the delay, help with the circulation and the clean-up, and give passengers a reassuring smile. If she has Karma Volunteers, they get a badge, they get to help, and they get praise and some free train tickets in return. This is more valuable to both parties than money. It brings people together in a spirit of community, and it makes that community more cohesive. This is the basic principle of Karma Economy. Everyone needs to be needed and needs to be praised. If we can do that for each other while fostering each other’s businesses, it creates a harmonious, helpful, prosperous society”.

“This was my first design,” says Van Bo, “I often take it with me on the train so that I have a seat—and it starts a conversation. Even homeless people will talk to me about it, admiring its familiar shape. This is the power of design: Mies van der Rohe lives in the psyche of the German people.” He had the idea for this chair after shooting a mock-furniture ad in one of the Berlin subway stations, designed by van de Rohe. “People loved the picture and they asked ‘Where is that cool loft? I love the living room!’ they couldn’t believe that it was an everyday train station. We are very lucky to live in a city that is so well designed”. The 24 Euro Chair’s premise rests on the concept of the right angle, “This means that it takes much less time and thought to create a timeless piece of furniture—that only costs 24 euros ($30) to make”.

Kreuzberg is the bohemian, multi-cultural district of Berlin that Van Bo lives in. “Many of the people who create this chair paint it in bright colors,” he says, after the dynamic flavor of its namesake. “One has even been made in recycled paper. If you just want a cheap chair, you can go to Ikea. I love Ikea. But there is something special about making a design yourself, and making it yours—it brings people together, it harnesses creativity. It is a satisfying undertaking.”

Ryan Anderson of RAD Furniture designed the stools as well as the table and benches on the pool deck.

Barbara Hill's Dancehall/House in Marfa, Texas September 14, 2010 Misty Keasle

In the living room, spare Scandinavian design takes center stage. Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chairs surround an Essay dining table by Cecilie Manz for Fritz Hansen; a mostly wood palette is enhanced by slate-gray brick around the fireplace. The paper lanterns throughout the home are a mixture of classics by Isamu Noguchi alongside those picked up in Japan and France.

Built-ins reduce the need for furniture.

At the client’s request the kitchen contains neither upper cabinets (Shino can’t reach them) nor an oven (they only used the old one once—to reheat a pizza). A modular Roche Bobois Mah Jong sofa adds a decorative flourish to the living area while maintaining as low a profile as the traditional Japanese furniture.

Yang Yeo and his girlfriend Ching Ian relax on the back stoop of their renovated and radically updated Singapore shophouse—an archetypal building type in this busy port city. “Shophouses brought back memories of our childhood,” says Yeo.

Industrial designer Andrew Jones is known for his furniture and lighting designs.

The beanbag chairs and outdoor sofa and chairs are from West Elm and the Case Study Museum Bench is from Modernica.

Two San Francisco art and travel addicts overhauled a loft—and customized a pair of shipping containers—to accommodate their collection and reflect their passions.

Charles Pollock (left) and Jerry Helling (right) sit in the new CP Lounge. "Charles was going for a Jaguar effect—the exterior of the chair is fast and has a long hood. Inside, it has all these handcrafted elements," says Helling.

Berlin-based architect Van Bo Le-Mentzel designed the 161-square-foot bus version of the iconic workshop wing of the Bauhaus school building in Dessau.

To highlight the existing architecture of the home, Hill retained the dark polish of the casement windows, which she finds enhances period details instead of undermining them. In the rear sunroom, the vintage Case Study furniture pieces with Plexiglas bases are from Metro Retro in Houston. A Bourgie lamp by Kartell is atop an old marble end table by Knoll, and the Gan kilim rug pictures a branch motif echoed in the kitchen and breakfast room.

Builder Ross Percival helped finesse the finely tuned detailing that separates the internal slope from the rock outside (opposite). The Pedro wire stool is by Craig Bond for Candywhistle.

Alex enjoys a sun-filled breakfast at the built-in dining table and bench, one of many space-saving designs.

Meg’s inspiration: The design of the Lucky Linden was something Meg carried along with from many years in her sketchbook. She loves the Art and Craft styled RV’s and was sure that if she built a tiny house RV someday, this would be a her inspiration. What she like most of this pattern is the low sloped roofs, pop out dormers on the front as well as back and especially the bungalow look from the Sears and Roebuck kit houses which were prevalent in the 1990’s.

Amsterdam’s Dirk van der Kooij developed the Endless chair, Chubby chair, RvR chair, Melting Pot table, Flow table, and Fresnel lamp between 2010-2014 in Eindhoven. His furniture, which is printed in an unbroken stream of plastic, was shown as part of Hands Off at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco.

Shaun Moore is co-owner of MADE, a retailer that specializes in furniture created by Canadian designers.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, food scraps and yard waste make up 20 percent of what we throw away. Composting organic materials keeps them out of the landfill, which cuts down on greenhouse gases, and enriches the soil. To compost at home, make a pile in your backyard, or introduce an indoor bin for throwaways like apple peels and eggshells.

This bedside table design was inspired by three different vintage pieces. For this client, our mission was a mid-century look and feel, but we were stuck against tight dimensions in space and running up against road block after road block with sizing of existing, vintage options. I find that it's best to secure your designs in some type of inspiration. All great design needs a "seed"—where are you growing from? What are you referring back to in order to stay on course? How are you utilizing or paying attention to nuance in your designs? Repurposing existing furniture pieces is another way to exercise your creative and win some serious applause on both design and cost-savings. Sometimes your starting place is that ratty old sofa in your living room, or basement. I'm constantly reviewing existing client furnishings and thinking about how we can shift the bases into something more interesting or fresh. It's important to find a great upholstery shop or carpenter who can interpret your designs. You need to establish a successful line of communication with your vendor, and how best they read your designs. Often detailed shop drawings are required, and hand sketches are an incredibly successful tool when trying to elevate your ideals, or communicate to a vendor your desired end result.

Though only two feet deep, the Ikea cabinet Azevedo bought for the guest bath didn’t quite fit, so she sliced off eight inches with a table saw. “It might be unorthodox, but it was just easier, faster, and cheaper to do it myself,” says the former furniture designer.

It's hugely important to request routine shop images from your vendors. Weekly, or bi-weekly image review is the best way to manage and guarantee the quality of your end result. As the lead designer on any piece or project, minding the details needs to be at the forefront of thought at all times. Quick snapshots like the one shown here are great for detailing and helping to understand how all of the parts are coming together. The TV console and bedsides in the following slides were built by Brooklyn based KWH Furniture.

I recently designed this TV console and chair for a project on the Upper West Side in New York. The oversized chamfer detail on the console draws the eye to the integrated door hardware and leather wrapped panels. While we are still prototyping the "DMc Channel Chairs," one of the big compliments from this client is on the size, scale and comfort. When I approach designing a piece of furniture, I pull my design ideas through four key areas of consideration: Ergonomics–Determining overall size, scale and best function–designing the right piece for the right use with the right fit is foundational. Artisanal Quality–I like to work with artists or masters of craft–the commitment to the process is almost always more genuine and more profound, as well as understanding of materials. Material selection–I focus on sturdy materials that are beautiful and forgiving–furniture is meant to be used and needs to be produced for longevity and with the concept of patina in mind. Finish details–Be bold. Everything you design should have a voice and a level of design saturation that speaks with it's own point-of-view. Think about the details–what takes it forward?

I'll leave you with this image as inspiration for your next furniture design project. Note the architectural detailing both in the room and the bench itself. In this case, we worked with Bright Furniture to add the arms and took our cue from the intersecting geometric patterning of the upholstery fabric. We tied the fabric to the bench, and gave the bench a more dynamic presence as a centerpiece in this living room by adding the additional structure to the base design. Remember, be bold and stay true to quality, comfort and function. If you can zero in on these factors when designing a piece of furniture, you'll be a success every time!

This is a great example of how one can take an existing piece and turn it around completely. In this case, there was a pair of matching sofas. The original sofas were much more traditional, but by shaving down the top of the backs, cutting down each sofa and connecting them at the center, I was able to reuse the pieces to create a beautiful 11' sofa to insert in a wall niche, expand the room and bring forward a more contemporary result. For the client, they achieved the contemporary feeling they were aiming for and saved on the cost of a new sofa by more than half the price.

Take a look at this sofa and flip to the next image.

One of my mantras is "Design = Collaboration" and often, my team works with vendors whose work we love, admire, and appreciate to customize a piece of furniture for the specific needs of our client. The net result is a beautiful collaboration between designers (read as: teamwork). Never be afraid to ask about customization. Great design is about growth, sharing, and evolution. We are all here to add to one another, and expand great ideas. Again, remember my other mantra: "time, energy, effort and expense…" You're worth it. Make it your own. Go for it! This Alana bench from Bright Furniture is a great example a base design from which we launched on a recent project in East Hampton, New York. Flip to the next image!

Simple utilitarianism at its finest: Takagi's Simple Machines series of stools, benches, and tables in white oak.

A departure from the mod-meets-baroque dining room, Turin’s breakfast area is far more sedate. She and her daughter, Helena, have a chat at a Progetto 1 table by Monica Armani for B&B Italia surrounded by four Lia chairs by Roberto Barbieri for Zanotta. The painting behind Helena is by Ricci Albenda.

At the end of our time in Antwerp, we were whisked away by the designers Hannes van Severen and Fien Muller, a young married couple who are both artists-turned-furniture-designers. Today they create minimalist, multipurpose furniture and lamps under the name Muller van Severen. We'll share video footage from our visit to their studio outside Ghent on dwell.com in the coming weeks... stay tuned!