Depressing Design Schemes: A Global Warming Rug

If climate change doomsday scenarios sound like an appealing décor scheme for your child's playroom, design collective NEL has the rug for you. The Mexican designers have created the whimsical, albeit depressing global warming rug you see below, which will be exhibited during the upcoming Valencia International Furniture Fair. A polar bear sits adrift on an ice floe in an endless sea—of carpet. NEL hopes the rug will serve as a reminder of the plight of polar bears, who are losing their habitat to the melting polar cap. The designers, never ones to shy away from controversy, have previously made playroom rugs in the shape of a map of Iraq.

Cute seems like the wrong word to use here.