Leonardo da Vinci thought nature was “the finest, most perfect designer.” We have design inspiration all around us that we can borrow from and apply to our own homes and lives.

• Look at a bees’ honeycomb. Have you ever seen such perfectly realized cubbyholes? Imagine turning them into shelving cubes for books or individual compartments for shoes.

• Get as close as you can to a real nest—birds are master weavers! A bit bigger, perhaps with some stronger materials, it could be a basket for bath towels, a centerpiece filled with fruit or, taller and slimmer, a resting place for umbrellas by the door.

• Ever think of oysters or clams repurposed as jewel boxes or even a Judith Leiber evening bag? Why not, with their ingenious hinges and intricate textured finishes?

• As for mussels…what about the shell itself becoming a “bowl” for seared mussels?

• Could it be that sticky burrs were behind the idea of Velcro? It was in 1955 that Swiss inventor George de Mestral returned home from a walk with his dog, who was covered with burrs—which inspired the creation of Velcro.

• Is it possible that some Parisienne had just finished reading Charlotte’s Web…and then made the first mesh French shopping bags?

• When you see a fern frond, observe the beautiful graduated repetition of its leaves, and consider whether it reveals itself again in a tall stack of drawers that start deep at the bottom and get shallower toward the top.

• Notice the shape of a tulip blossom. It can translate into the perfect vase to hold a bouquet or, when inverted, a dome to cover sweets.

• Pluck a lily pad and find its shape nicely suited for a tray to hold perfume bottles on a dresser, or cookies at a tea party.

• Consider the useful design of a kangaroo’s pouch—doesn’t it seem similar to a child’s backpack with plenty of pockets to hold treasures, or even a safari jacket?

• Sometimes nature’s designs can be the design itself: How about a hollowed-out pumpkin or squash doing double duty as a soup tureen, or the huge leaves of a tropical tree becoming a canopy when you’re caught in the rain?

We only need to look around to be inspired by the shapes, designs and pure beauty of the natural world to find some of our best designers. It’s a strong case for form following function.

[Image: istockphoto]