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A stripped down, links-only HouseHacker.com.

HouseHacker is sort of dedicated to bringing you the goods on home improvement, household gadgetry, DIY, cool furniture, yada, yada...




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Funny home cut out stickers.

Those salt and pepper shakers you've had your eye on are on sale. They've knocked $800 off!

iTable. These guys have made a touch-screen table that attaches to an iPhone (basically, the table becomes a giant iPhone).

Hungry, but not sure what to make? Check out photograzing! Browse a boatload of quality food pics to find the perfect meal.

Sandwich coasters that you can set your Brass knuckles coffee mug on.

Cold + Pillow = Chillow. Chillow is fun to say. Chillow.

A lightbulb storage solution to a problem we didn't know we had!

Nice magnetic doorstops Via KK's Cool Tools

Do I really need this thing? Ask yourself these questions while attempting to de-clutter the house.

NY Times articles on the tools you really need to maintain your home.

Pumpkin launchers should enjoy this collection of trebuchet/catapult designs.

NOTICE: Large moosehead wall lights have finally been invented.

360 Modern is a real estate firm in the Pacific Northwest U.S. that specializes in modern homes. Beautiful stuff.

Handy way to skip all the intro crap on DVDs that is usually forced on you when you throw a disc in your player. Apparently the chapters on DVDs that you can't skip (FBI warnings, copyright stuff, etc.) are flagged, on the disc, as UOP, or User Operation Prohibited. This site lists some of the techniques you can try to skip the ennui.

This colour coordinated bookshelf looks cool, but you might have a hard time finding a particular title.

For chewie edge lovers or corner brownie fans - it's the Edge Brownie Pan. All edges, all the time. Via BoingBoing

Puzzle carpet.

This to That is a handy site that will tell you what adhesive to use when attempting to glue various objects together.

Super creative bathroom tiles.

Skinny house in Brazil.

Apparently there are many LED lightbulbs available already. Via TreeHugger

WiiRoomba. YouTube of a guy controlling his Roomba with a Wii remote.

Hardcore Lost fans have a party and repackage the snacks and beer as Dharma Initiative rations. Make your own with the PDFs that they've so generously shared.

Here's a nice set of home improvement videos with the energetic and snappy Eric Stromer.

Faucet Fountain turns your regular faucet into a drinking fountain.

Kids and the Home Office. Here's a list of tips for the parent that works from home.

Save the Internet.

Great Pac-Man bathroom tile work.

Crazy toaster from the future TODAY!

Here is a nice napkin folding howto site with clean pictures and straightforward instructions. I think the shirt's my favourite.

DIY T-Shirt Rack via Instructables.

Stainless steel paint.

Onion goggles.

Batman-esque underground garage with hydraulic lift.

Microsoft to unveil a home server at CES this week in Vegas? This article at Arstechnica discusses the possibility of a machine focused on home automation and entertainment centralization.

Here's a blog full of interesting gifts for under 10 bucks.

WikiHow has a DriCore installation howto available for your edification.

Here is an energy saving tips post from last winter.

The USB humping dog you asked for is in.

Unique DIY photo ornaments.

A table that walks. Finally!

Twist and grow table. Amazing.

Roller toaster.

Make a nice 3D paper snowflake.

Tiny houses from the Tumbleweed Tiny House company.

Post-it note wallpaper made up of four different grey tones which, over time, reveals a usage driven design.

Sweet mug that comes with convenient built-in cookie chamber. Here's a great review of the mug in use.

Great unique gift idea and store thread on Ask Metafilter.

This is one massive bed that measures 12 feet by 10 feet.

Build your very own bottomless pit with this howto (heads up: there is some embedded audio on the site).

Laundry chute turned Cat chute.

PacMan arcade cabinet Halloween costume.

Crazy awesome self assembling robotic chair. Amazing.

DIY Bean bag sofa and/or bed from Instructables.

Another site on transforming household items into other useful (??) household items. Thanks for the tip Paul!

Environmentally friendly home cleaning service. I hadn't realized that there were companies that will clean your home using only animal and environmentally friendly products. This particular company is in the UK, but a quick googling pulls up similar companies in North America as well.

Here are some very unique hand made leaded glass doors, produced using the lead came method, a method in use since the middle ages.

Pumpkin carving. This site has some seriously impressive pumpkin carvings as well as a tutorial, which, although informative, still looks like it requires a lot of artistic ability. Worth a shot though - it's just pumpkin.

Another declutter your home tip page. This one's by FlyLady.net.

USB twister hub with Rubik's cube-like rotating ports.

An outdoor pizza oven party would be a cool alternative to summer barbeques.

Skeeter Bag is a bag that attaches to box fans to catch mosquitos by the thousands.

Lego ice cube tray.

Turn maple leaves into roses with the help of this photo tutorial. Very autumn/thanksgiving.

Interesting Alton Brown video on knife sharpening and maintenance. Instructables also has a step-by-step sharpening howto.

CNN Money article: Middle-class families in worse shape than ever.

Nice and clean magnetic tool rack from Instructables. The nice thing about this organizer is that the actual tool holders can be positioned and rearranged (on the fly) on the metallic backboard.

Designer wood computers handmade in Canada.

Humanoid shaped shelves. Kind of looks like James the doorstop.

How to find a good neighbourhood. MSN article, via Lifehacker.

How to make clear ice cubes.

Use your PC and webcam as a motion activated security camera.

This Old House has made available a very large fall home inspection checklist for your downloading pleasure.

Mike Jagger of Provident security has been on the scene of thousands of residential burglaries and has put together this interesting walkthrough of a typical break-in.

Concrete countertops on Flickr.

This is pretty damn clever. Sizeasy is an online tool that helps you visualize the size of something you're reading about or considering buying online. Punch in your dimensions and see your widget along side things like a deck of cards or a piece of paper.

Here's the skinny on upgrading your home network to Gigabit ethernet. It's probably worth doing simply because "gigabit ethernet" just sounds cool and not at all nerdly.

Greenpeace is getting on Apple's case about their use of certain hazardous chemicals in iPods, iBooks and the like. Greenpeace claims that other manufacturers have discontinued the use of some of the chemicals that are still found in Apple products.

De-Clutter your home to sell it faster. Here's a page with a lot of ways to do just that.

Consumer Reports: 20 Free Ways to Save Energy is a nice list of things you can do, mostly around the house, to save energy and of course, as the two go hand in hand, cash.







Househacker/tags/design

Glowing Power Aware Cord

Here's an interesting technique to visually represent the electrical energy being used by our household appliances and gadgets. It's a "power aware cord" design concept by Sweden's Interactive Institute:

The Power Aware Cord may be used as a "tool" for people to rediscover energy in their homes as well as an ambient "display" to see energy consumption at a glance at any given time. For instance, the effects of changing the volume on stereo equipment becomes immediately and dramatically apparent – as do appliances that are silently stealing electricity while on standby.

Also, it kind of looks like a light-saber, except floppier.

Via: Time magazine's best inventions of the year.

Alarm Clock in a Pillow

Maybe chasing your alarm clock around the bedroom in the morning isn't working for you anymore. Maybe your morning wake-up routine needs something a little more subtle, like this "glo Pillow" from designer Ian Walton, which Time magazine called one of the best inventions of 2007. The pillow contains a grid of LEDs that turn on and become gradually brighter from about 40 minutes before your desired wake-up time, providing a gentle, sleep-cycle friendly start to your morning.
       



Super Creative Skateboard Furniture

Here's what clever people can do with old skateboards. Apparently, given enough skill and creativity, clocks, tables, lamps and sofas can all be fashioned from old boards and wheels.

About the pic above, from the site:

Wrapped by neoprene which is the wetsuit material for surfers, this piece is created to the indoor/outdoor lifestyle and fits perfectly on a patio or waterfront deck. The Jet Set Lounge Chair is made of 8 decks with neoprene cushions on a metal frame. Dimensions: 32"x32"x65"

Nice stuff...

Thorough Home Theatre Construction Howto

Here's an in depth article on turning an average basement into a slick home theatre room. The author illustrates his plans with CAD drawings while detailing many, many issues to consider, including the differences between LCD and DLP projectors, mounting and image keystoning issues and the secrets of progressive scan DVDs.

One of the more interesting things in this piece is how the author used the hard paper columns that builders use to pour concrete along with some marble paint to create some faux marble columns for $20.

Unusual Wall Treatment

Wallter is the name of this unique wall decoration that adds depth, shadow and interesting light play to what may be an otherwise empty wall. The applications come in circles, rectangles (which can serve as photo frames), teardrop, starburst and 60s retro slats.

From the site:

This design can be applied to just one wall and can completely alter the focus of the room. In just a few hours Wallter adds life to walls. The effect can either be stunning or subtle, you decide. For easy, no fuss installation these lightweight pieces have a peel-away 3M adhesive backing. The applications can be applied to almost any interior wall or door.

Via Constructiondeal.com

Huge Gallery of Home Decorating Ideas

Sunset magazine has a lot of cool stuff on their site, not the least of which being this huge home decorating idea gallery, viewable by room type (within kitchens, for example, there are small kitchens, eat in kitchens, etc) or style (contemporary, retro, exotic, etc). There must be thousands of beautiful room images online to serve as inspiration for those of us that tend to know what we like when we see it, but can't come up with much from scratch - or perhaps the gallery is most useful for those just suffering from some sort of temporary design block.

The site also has this 25 item smart home piece, as well as an interesting before and after gallery.

Definitely lots to explore.

Link: Sunset Design Assistant

Wired Article on the Coolest Rooms on Earth

Wired has a nice article up on the coolest, most gadget-filled, automated rooms on the planet, including a home that Michael Douglas had a hand in designing in the 1980s. Apparently people with money dig LCDs rising from bed foot boards quite a bit - and it's hard to blame them, really.


Good List of Bathroom Design Tips

If you plan on redesigning a bathroom, or are lucky enough to be able to design and build one from scratch, here are some tips on making the most out of the space you have available to you, including things like where to place the toilet, amount of space required for sinks, showers and baths, as well as storage and safety ideas.

Space Saving Sofa Converts to Bunk Bed

If you're tight for space and find yourself in need of some extra beds for guests, this unique item from BonBon Trading might be just what you're looking for. The clever design allows the sofa to 'effortlessly' convert to a bunk bed. From the site:

Doc XL a convertible sofa-bunk bed solution with rotating mechanism. Doc is a comfortable divan with slipcovers, which requires a simple gesture and no physical strain to become a practical bunk bed with a safe ladder that is both a support element and a protective barrier. To use the item only as a bed, it is sufficient to remove the back cushions. The item can be converted from bed to furniture piece without having to remove the sheets and blankets, thus offering the possibility to always dispose of a ready to use bed.

Roundup of Online Paint Selector Apps

A small and obviously not exhaustive list of some online flash-based paint selector apps, for your reading pleasure.

  • Behr's ColorSmart
    Probably the best paint selector. Paint simulation looks the most realistic. Behr allows searches by paint name or number and automatically coordinates colors to match. Program enables users to paint individual walls. Includes a nice 'Inspiration library'.

  • Benjamin Moore's Personal Color Viewer
    Benjamin Moore's app presents the user with multiple rooms to choose from, as well as the unique selectable specialty finishes. Has a standard color slider selector, and is pre-loaded with some color combinations. Not bad, but not great.

  • Sherwin-Williams
    Chose between interior and exterior paint jobs. Multiple room or home types to chose from. The automatic coordinating of color types is nice. Some drag and drop action.

  • Sico Not that dynamic. Allows the change of one entire wall (only) and trim. Gives a good idea of how a room's feel is altered with different paint colors, but could be more functional.

  • Debbie Travis
    Multiple rooms to chose from, but clicking a color changes the one and only dynamic wall in the picture (i.e. user is not able to select individual walls). Very straightforward and too basic.


  • Useful Flash Room Planner

    If you have an empty room to fill or even just grown tired of your furniture status quo, then this slick flash app will help you hack out a new layout. Start with either a prebuilt room or design your own room from scratch. Once you've settled on a room design, you're able to play around with different arrangements to your heart's content - no lifting belt required.

    Great Ask Mefi Home Design Thread

    The finishing touches were being put on the HouseHacker website* when this post on Ask Mefi caught my eye. Seems like an appropriate enough way to launch the site, no? Lots of great ideas, including:

  • The oft-recommended Hidden Door to a secret room - which would of course necessitate the obligatory Shakespeare Bust switch.

  • These soon (?) to be released Temperature Sensitive and LED enhanced faucets by German based Hansa.

    * Beta, or something.

  • Recent stuff from HouseHacker: