Do a double or triple take with the latest design by Sarah Böttger and you’ll notice that Mr. Mellow uses an ordinary sponge to create a mood-enhancing light fixture. Nothing high tech hidden within, the light is an easy atmospheric enhancer that causes witnesses to pause for a ponder.

Mr. Mellow lighting. Designed by Sarah Böttger.

Thick Yellow Sponges with LED Lights form Mr. Mellow Lamps by Sarah Böttger.

Without going too deep into technical componentry, Böttger specializes in using ordinary products or simple materials in new forms to create extraordinary things. Mr. Mellow is an example of such an invention using the sponge and LED light with a lamp socket to create a brand new source of diffused illumination through the porous, household cleaning agent.

Featured in the August 2011 issue of Germany’s Brigitte Extra, the German designer’s sponge-filled lamps received full-page coverage as they act like a subtle candle light made for tables or ambiance. Although the name’s source is unknown, the rest of the lamp translates easily from her website. She states of the design, “Mr. Mellow is a prime example of ready-made design. The ordinary household sponge with a lamp socket and commercially available LED bulbs for mood lighting.”

Rectangular and porous, the playful nature of the Mr. Mellow lamps by Sarah Böttger bring out the repurposing of household items with the help of the German designer’s slant toward simplification and energy efficiency.

About the Designer: Sarah Böttger is a German designer who has created everything from coat hooks to side tables to lighting fixtures. Always simplified and aesthetically-pleasing, the functional pieces are efficient and often modular. All of their beautiful features find themselves in exhibitions around the world, including Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, Italy and IMM Cologne in Cologne, Germany, among others.