Antonio Ballatore, the Season 4 champion of HGTV’s Design Star, is ready to bring his distinct and edgy design aesthetic to HGTV audiences. His resulting HGTV show, The Antonio Treatment, premieres on March 14, at 10PM.

Antonio, a New York native, believed he would be a rock star by age 40. While pursuing his dreams of music stardom, he spent time between gigs learning how to build houses. This experience led him to design restaurants and clubs in Manhattan and, later, design sets for world-famous photographers, including Annie Leibovitz and David LaChapelle.

Antonio resides in Los Angeles with his English bulldog, Chewie.

I have to admit that while watching Design Star, Antonio had me at the hot pink ducks. It was all over for me at that point — but what can I say? I like dudes with tattoos who can build stuff from wood. Anyway…

Check out Antonio’s current favorite online reads (besides Design Milk, of course!):

Yoshiko Kajitani at Home in Tokyo [image source: The Selby]

1. The Selby
I really relate to this blog. Can’t wait for Todd to come take some flicks of my house!

2. Core77
A cool industrial design blog.

3. I Want Your Skull
My favorite skull blog!

4. Kenneth Cappello Blog/Cicciolina
One of my best friends and the one who introduced me to David LaChapelle and my set design carrier. His chihuahua’s name is Cicciolina, who stars in her very own blog.

5. 80’s Metal NWOBHM Old Metal Share
This blog reminds me of all the cool forgotten metal bands of my childhood.

[Disclaimer: we don't endorse the downloading of music without permission, and this blog is for cited for inspiration and nostalgia only.]

Earlier this month, we announced our brand new site, Dog Milk, which is dedicated to Modern Dog Design. If you’re a dog owner looking for a good modern design resource, then this is it!

On Monday, we announced our newest project, Designer Desktops. View and download our March custom desktop wallpaper, featuring a quote by Charles Eames.

Not to be mistaken for this Parallel World project by Ji Lee, Parallel World by Dzimitry Samal is inspired by the concept of parallel worlds existing in our universe. The collection consists of various elements, which are attached to the walls using an anchoring system. The objects’ hidden parts are somewhere in that “parallel world” we do not see, which makes for an interesting sight. This project will also be presented in Milan Design Week from April 14th to April 19th.

We all work very hard, many of us spending countless hours staring at our computer screens. So I thought, why not have something pretty and inspirational to stare at? This is a new project we’re going to try out here on Design Milk — Designer Desktops. Starting this month, Design Milk will create a beautiful desktop wallpaper for you to download to your computer and iPhone, inspired by a thought-provoking quote from a renown designer. This is all in good fun, and best of all, they’re free!

This first month, we’re kicking things off with none other than Mr. Charles Eames.

Click on the size below to download:

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1900×1200

iPhone

This month’s design was created by our very own talented Eleanor Cleverly. Learn more about her here.

If you are interested in being involved in our Designer Desktop project, please email us at info@design-milk.com with more info about your design/art skillz.

These Chihuly-like chandeliers are the work of glass artisan Robert Kaindl.

These bread furnishings by Enoc Armengol make me so hungry. The concept behind them is that they can be a part of the living process because they can be eaten. In addition, they reflect the production process of certain non-edible objects: fast and having a short life before they become obsolete. I think they definitely beat candy necklaces.

[via Core77]

Asif Khan’s Harvest is a project that focuses on the use of London’s plant life as a raw material for everyday products and it’s part of a show called “Designers in Residence” at the Design Museum London. It reminds me a lot of a furniture version of the Chia Pet!

Photography by James Moriarty.

[via Shift]

During Milan Design Week, the guys from La Bolleur are turning Zona Tortona into a literal playground with their Mini Golf installation. You can find their space at Via Vogehra 11 in Milan, Italy. Make sure that you’re up to par!

It has been five years since Timon van der Hijden, Zowie Jannink and Steie van Vugt decided to change the scene at La Bolleur — a former brothel in the city of Eindhoven. They literally transformed this inglorious lounge and made it their own by undertaking major creative projects which the city of Eindhoven never experienced before.

La Bolleur revived and instantly became a very honorable cultural meeting place where people could get together. The atmosphere was set by establishing a fully operating (pop up) restaurant for two years in a row, plus a legendary comedy night with Hollands’ leading comedians. As well as the many performances by musicians and DJs, numerous movie nights and exhibitions before this re-established lounge was demolished.

In the meantime La Bolleur had become a multidisciplinary collective with a fun sense of self esteem and with five new members; Cris Bartels, Bram Burger, Ivo J. Daniëls, Mark van Gennip and Frank Winnubst. A new location presented itself rather quickly in the form of an abandoned farmhouse in the city center of Eindhoven that was renamed — of course — La Bolleur.

It comes as no surprise that this collective with their “hands-on” mentality appeared on many events all over the Netherlands and even exhibited at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. There, they were also responsible for the infamous unannounced party in an empty pool where thousands of people were present.

Today La Bolleur is more visible than ever, especially after winning a Dutch Design Award in 2009 for their excellent method of communicating their brand. La Bolleur presented itself as a mini golf club; with a self constructed nine hole course and a clubhouse with bar. With a theme like mini golf, which appeals to many people La Bolleur proved again that they can also serve a more broad and diverse audience and even create events that perhaps seemed out of their league…