One of the 2011 shelter trends is for light-emitting diodes and bare filaments to take the stage. These two trends will both have a powerful presence this year.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are an efficient and effective source of light. Most bulbs have a lifespan of 50,000 hours, which adds up to just under six years of continuous light – and all by emitting just one tenth of the carbon dioxide incandescent bulbs emit. This sort of efficiency gives me goose bumps. As this clever little light source evolves from widespread uses out in the world (such as traffic lights) into our homes, watch for aesthetic versions of LED lights to emerge.

We can look to European designers to satiate our LED craving – they have an incentive to master this light source because the European Union is phasing out incandescent bulbs by 2016. Moooi, headquartered in the Netherlands, has some glamorous and gorgeous fixtures with gleaming LEDs. Moooi’s Raimond pendant is, “a perfect sphere of mathematical ingredients punctuated by tiny LED lights”. This elegant stainless steel globe is analogous to a starry night dangling from the ceiling (and I see traces of the iconic disco ball too. We can only hope lighting designers follow in the design-conscious footsteps of Moooi and offer up more shining LED fixtures.

This year will also bring more exposed lighting filaments on display. Interior electrical sculptures encased in pristine bulbous glass houses will lend an industrial glimmer to spaces. As you know from our previous discussions of 2011 shelter trends, this year design is concerned with honesty and the essential framework of objects – so it seems fitting that the functional components of light bulbs will be on display. Plus, with the undeniable attraction and allure of LED lights, we’ll take this year to visually drool over the incandescent bulb (it may all but flutter away soon). In the past, light fixtures have existed to hide light bulbs, this year, the bulb and filament will proudly shine uninhibited. Industrial chandeliers and utilitarian lights will reign supreme. West Elm is embracing the trend by offering specialty light bulbs, so your exposed filaments can have vintage flair (yes, I admit, I love these bulbs).

Don’t miss the rest of the 2011 shelter trends.

(Thank you to Julie Beun of The Ottawa Citizen for introducing me to Moooi.)

(Images by Nicole Marnati for Moooi.)

This little LED number called Flare is the sustainable party girl’s answer to looking beautiful and technically tailored. Imagine showing up at the company holiday party aglow in the Stijn Ossevoort creation!

In spite of all the buzz from the gadget geeks proclaiming the wonders of wearing something as fashion-forward as Flare, one question keeps flashing like a red light: What if it gets wet?

No worries. The Flare dress runs on wind energy which means if worn correctly (read: walk really fast) the dandelions will light up from your personally generated breezes.

Sure, your sweat might trigger a zap, but what the heck. Don’t you want to be known as the sustainable energy employee at the office? The woman who lives and breathes eco-advancement? The one who brings her reusable bottle to dish at the water cooler?

Many of your co-workers will swear they saw you surrounded in light the following Monday. Others will say the dress was an epiphany that fashion can be more than a beauty statement. You will be busy recharging for the next appearance.

First up – is there really such thing as a green gadget? Answer: define “green”, says Wired. And is it really cheaper to recover gold from junked electronics than to mine it out of the ground? (Amateur gold panners, please form an orderly queue at your local landfill.)

Things doubling up as other things afterward – we like. So Paul Clark’s design for a plant pot doubling as a birdhouse – seen here at designspotter – is an intriguing idea (and perfect for my allotment-mad corner of the world).

A holiday with a difference – you’re stuffed into a sphere and slung into the trees. In fact, this prospect is far from nightmarish, as Twilight Earth explains.

Handmade goods are doing great: the economy, well, not so much. The Etsy revolution (and that really is beginning to look like the right word) currently represents around $90 million of commerce every year and growing. Clive Thompson takes a fascinated look at Wired, via Apartment Therapy.

Eco-friendly heater upgrades: brilliant idea. And lots of money up front. Ouch. So it’s nice to see the new administration is keen to lend a helping hand, in the form of very welcome tax credits.

Oh PETA. Why, PETA, why? Again and again, you make us feel older than our years. And now this? Can we get back to the business at hand, please?

Fashion websites should absolutely drip with style, yes? The same way dentists should have good teeth. Take a look at Smashing Magazine’s round-up of the most beautiful sites out there – via The Steel Closet – and attempt to resist their formidable charms. (Bet you can’t.)

You can do anything with LEDs. Even – prepare yourself – Extreme Sheep Art. You heard me. Or how about this?

We’ve been following Josh Dorfman – a.k.a. The Lazy Environmentalist – for a while now, and we were delighted to hear about his new book The Lazy Environmentalist On A Budget: Save Money, Save Time, Save The Planet – and he’ll be on the Sundance Channel this June, as Ecorazzi reports.

If you want to make your business sustainable – truly sustainable – it’s about utilizing creativity, cutting-edge business practices and more interdependency than ever before. It’s about facilitating small-scale “minipreneurs” so they can thrive. It’s a new business model for a new era.

Meet the latest tool in the fight against pollution – chickens! Or rather, what chickens leave behind. As Planetsave reports, it turns out that chicken poop seems to act as a catalyst for the breakdown of crude oil in the soil.

Where do you think you rate on the Global Rich List? Higher than you expect.

It’s the weekend – time to switch off the computer and get out into the “real world”? Except that line is getting awfully blurred. Do you Twitter? Use a Blackberry? So when exactly are you actually offline? As Max Gladwell quips, who needs Second Life when the everyday world is getting just as wacky and wired?

And lastly…true love has rarely had such dire consequences!

Image: masochismtango