Sipping drinks poolside is nice, but if you don’t have the proper chaise, what’s the point? Here’s where Modernica comes in. Their Case Study Stainless Double Chaise works perfectly either outside or in a sunny locale in the house. The chaise was a selection of the Dwell House by Dwell magazine in 2007, which means that this is top of the line. It comes standard with a Marine-grade stainless steel frame and Sunbrella’s durable fabric, but of course there’s upgrades — try adding a Brazilian walnut finish or chili-colored fabric.

Buy: starting at $2,900.

Flip on the Food Network for a few seconds and you’re bound to see a nice cutlery set. Those that are jealous of celebrity chef kitchen accessories head to Crate&Barrel and buy Wüsthof’s Gourmet Chef Knives. This bladey threesome features varieties in 6 inches, 8 inches and 6.5 inch Japanese chef style. When you buy a Wüsthof blade, you can be assured it’s going to outlive you. With high-carbon, stainless tempered steel bodies, the Gourmet Chef Knives are easy to sharpen (although they rarely get dull anyway) and maintain. Chop away, Iron Chef.

Buy: $59.95-$64.95.

When the going gets tough, the tough get a martini bar. Copenhagen Contemporary Furniture’s martini bar is sleek and foxy, but unlike that stranger in the club, it will always welcome you in. Chrome, glass and powder-coated steel create the funky façade, and it’s just the right size to park in the corner of any room in the house (or the apartment, or dorm room or on the patio, poolside). Keep it fully stocked and invite friends over often — even though there’s room for two in the front, this thing will draw a crowd.

Buy.

Cover your left eye and look at the chart, please.  How well do you know your modern furniture design?  I see a Harry Bertoia, Charles and Ray Eames, Lee West and more.  If you’ve got 20-20 design vision, this awesome poster by BlueAntStudio should be the perfect visual litmus.  Get it on a wall in your home for $50, and keep the eyes of your guests in check.  Here’s a good game: if they can name every chair on their first try, you buy them the same poster for their own… [notcot]

Buy: $50

Having a California King-sized bed means you’re living the good life. But having a California King-sized bet from Suite NY is really high style. The Andaman Wood bed is a beautiful mix of clean-crafted, espresso-colored (sorry, “lati coffee”) wood paneling combined with a cushy, gigantic mattress—over 8 ft. in both length and width— to make one hell of a bed. It was designed in Italy, so you know the craftsmanship is A+. You and a lucky partner (or partners, however you swing) can spread out in full confidence that there will be no kicking and no elbowing. Pair it with Suite NY’s selection of bedroom accessories and you might not ever want to wake up.

Buy: prices vary by design.

Founded in 1995 by the firm’s namesake Artemy Lebedev, Russia’s Art. Lebedev Studio’s credo is: “Design will save the world.” Perhaps, with their latest creation, they plan to amend that motto to: “Design will protect the world from robbers.” The Defendius Door Chain is the latest toy from the Lebedev studio, who’s cheeky approach to industrial design is probably more famous for its fascination with tactile electronics than with home security. Having produced from hyper-geometric kettles to custom fonts, there most reputable design is the surreally innovative Optimus Maximus keyboard– the first type pad with a fully customizable display for each key– a multilingual, shortcut-happy playscape for the fingers.

The Defendius is decidedly less versatile, but it’s a great example of the maverick design firm’s playful but practical wit. Made from 100% Titanium Alloy Construction, it’s been tested to withstand up to 700 lbs. of force. The irony that it could conceivably take you longer to get out of your apartment than it’d take for an intruder to get in, is a wicked design joke well worth the $50 price tag.

Buy: $50

Bang & Olufsen has always crafted stylish, ultra-premium sound systems, but even the BeoSound 9000 breaks new ground for them. With a funky modern design that can be propped vertically or horizontally, it is an ever-changing piece of art, because your CDs are the decoration. Its see-through front panel lets you watch as the arm of the scanner picks up your disc and spins away for your listening pleasure. And if your finger nudges too close, photoelectric sensors will prevent it from getting chopped into oblivion. With room for six CDs, you get hours of listening and viewing pleasure, plus the BeoSound 9000 can hook up to any of Bang & Olufsen’s ridiculously precise speaker systems for true aural delight.

Buy: $3,995

If you’ve got the flat-screen TV, the next logical step is something nice to rest it on. And while you’re at it, a place to hold your Playstation, DVDs, CDs, camera and whatever piece of electronic media you’ve succumbed to debt for. Conde House’s Tosai Media Cabinet is big — nearly 90 inches across — so you can horde up all kinds of things in there, yet it looks so clean and stunning on the outside (just like your TV). Best of all, it’s fully customizable: choose your wood (white oak or a deep, nutty walnut) and your door preference (regular drawers or two opposing flip doors — very cool). Then it’s all topped off with a beautifully radiant LED illuminable front, so watching movies just got a whole lot better.

Buy: prices vary.

Got a case of wine sitting in your closet? Why store it in that hideous cardboard box when you can display it for all to see in this nifty modern wine rack from EQ3. This rack can be hung on the wall or it can sit on a table or a bar. It holds the bottles horizontally, ensuring your cork won’t dry up and crumble into the wine when uncorking. Best of all, it holds 14 bottles, so you can display a whole case plus two extra bottles of other favorites. Made of willow wood.

Buy: $64.99

Nick Melville’s Z Table was created as reaction against “the forces of Ikea”. Even if that was the only thing Melville had in mind, this table would still be a smashing success. Modern design and traditional texture collide with this great notion. We just hope some Wal-Mart wannabe doesn’t “borrow” the design and start making crummy, mass-produced knockoffs. Contact Melville for details.