This year’s winners of the 10th Annual National Design Awards were announced yesterday at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Among the top designers are Tsao & McKown Architects for interior design, SHoP Architects for architecture, and Boym Partners for product designer.

Other disciplines to be honored include: fashion, landscape, corporate, communication, and a new interaction design category, recognizing work using digital technology. Winners will be feted at a gala dinner on October 22 at Cipriani in New York.
Read on for a list of honorees.

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If your eyes glaze over and you start to nod off at the mere mention of “a meeting in the conference room,” ditch your NoDoz and lead your colleagues over to the uber-chic hospitality space Meet at the Apartment. Marc and Sara Schiller (of the brand marketing firm Electric Artists and ephemeral art showcase, Wooster Collective) have banished the bland and boring for a stylish one-stop meeting place, housed in a two-story loft on Crosby Street in SoHo. Stefan Boublil of the design firm The Apartment brings an eclectic mix of romantic minimalism and chic modernism to the 2,500-square-foot space, with an eye on minimizing distractions and keeping the creative juices flowing.

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Couch Karma is excited to share our eBay obsession with you in a new feature called Found on eBay! Every time we find an object of our affection, curiosity or total bewilderment, we’ll bring it to your attention like this Aquarium Coffee Table. If something seems fishy, it is: the 24-inch round, glass-topped coffee table holds 5 gallon of water for your own little Nemo’s. All necessary accessories are included, i.e., pump, filter, heater, etc. The starting bid is $189.99 and the auction ends on February 18. Fish lovers, start your bidding…

So you’re fed up with the bone-chilling cold and the grey slush underfoot, but there is a bonus to the winter season and it can be found for a few more days at the Park Avenue Armory on 67th Street. Yes, the Winter Antiques Show is in full-swing, now in its 55th year, featuring furnishings and art from antiquities through the 1960s. Admission is $20 (including the catalog), and benefits the East Side Settlement. Doors open daily from noon to 8pm; noon to 6pm on Sunday and Thursday. Brave the cold and the grey slush because the show ends on Sunday.

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