Product of the Week: 8/19/08

For Umbra’s latest U+ line, the Canadian manufacturer’s design team looked to the Goodwill next door for inspiration, harvesting everyday objects like old suits and mismatched glassware and then classing them up a notch for production. The collection’s Balloona stool, by recent University of Alberta graduate Natalie Kruch, also turns water into wine, transforming a naked wooden seat and what looks like the reject pile of a frustrated birthday party clown into a whimsical Campana-esque piece. Constructed by stretching 500 multi-colored ballooons around a frame with an open top, the stool has a slightly elastic surface that makes for the perfect perch; $350. www.umbra.com and www.natattack.ca