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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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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.







Househacker/tags/led

More Solar Powered Home Address Lights

We've seen solar powered address lights before, but it's always good to have more options on the market - and it doesn't hurt to have sleeker looking options such as these, either. The address numbers are available in two colours; natural aluminium and soon, black.

Flexible LED Lights by Mule Lighting

Mule Lighting produces LED-FLEX, a flexible LED lighting system that is poised to be a direct competitor to conventional neon lighting vendors. According to the company, the LED-FLEX system has numerous advantages over neon lighting, such as energy efficiency, life span, durability and reduced electrical consumption/costs. From the site:

We have incorporated light emitting diode (LED) technology into a flexible and durable package that has the appearance and brightness of traditional neon. Our uniform and super-bright light output is achieved through a proprietary optical maximization technique which is completely sealed and impervious to shock and vibration. The LED-FLEX product is suitable for wet locations and can withstand extreme temperatures. Offering bright color options, very low energy use and ease of installation, LED-FLEX is the ideal lighting solution for any architectural, decorative and indicator application where long life and no maintenance are preferred.

With the right touches, this could be useful in a home theatre or bar, or someone could make a seriously futuristic basement - or maybe a Tron suit, but of course that's been done to death already.
       



LED Faucet Light

In the future, people that don't place LEDs everywhere will be shunned by civilized society. Children will ask their parents to tell them what it was like having to live before LED toilet seats and blue LED faucet lights, like this one.

This particular life-improving gadget attaches to your bathroom faucet with its included universal adapter and is activated as the water flows through. Once the LEDs are on, the water glows space-age blue. The unit happens to be watch-battery powered, but wouldn't it be cool if it were powered by generating electricity from the water passing through it - would that be even possible or is the gadget simply too small to contain something like that? Anyone know?

Dave, thanks for the tip.

Cool Geeky TIX LED Clock

Geek out your office or basement with the TIX space clock of the future. Once you learn how to read it, telling time is a breeze. Whether or not you choose to tell your friends how to decipher the seemingly random flashing LEDs is up to you. From the site:

  • 3 different brightness levels.
  • 3 different pattern display time settings.
  • Latest LED technology - illuminated squares last indefinitely.
  • Available in black and silver.
  • Can be hung horizontally or vertically (wall-hooks not included).


  • Video clip of the TIX in action here (wmv video file).

    Kohler Bathroom Design Gallery

    Kohler has a very nice bathroom gallery available for your viewing pleasure, and it's filled with some seriously nice bathrooms. The gallery is divided into three categories: contemporary, traditional and eclectic.

    Of course if you were looking for something classy, like LED toilet seats, you'd want to go here.

    Recessed Large Circular Wall LED Light

    There seems to be more and more interesting LED lighting products hitting the marketplace all the time, and here's another. These recessed wall LED lights look sort of like a submarine window, or something from a disco - or perhaps from the NAVY's secret undersea disco submarines, which a lot of people don't know about. Anyway, some details from the site:

  • Incorporates 100 LED's
  • LED's change colour.
  • Suitable for internal or external use.

    The lights measure 320mm (12.6") in diameter.

  • Strange Under Bed Nightlight

    This under-bed nightlight would be nicer if it pulsated and produced a low sci-fi-like hum. Actually, the device is manually dimmable, so theoretically the pulsation would be possible. Of course that might be problematic for anyone actually trying to sleep, but, you know, tough. The light comes from 14 long lasting LEDs and runs off of your homes power, so in other words, batteries are not required.

    via boing boing

    LED Enhanced Light Switch Wallplate

    Stop bumbling around in the dark on your way to the bathroom in the wee hours of the night with the help of Lite-A-Switch LED wall plates. The lighted wallplate not only directs you to the location of the switch, but acts as a nightlight as well. The site claims the LEDs will last up to 10 years.

    Outdoor SolarCap Light Emitting Tiles

    If you want a lighted front walkway but are sick of moonray bulbs constantly burning out (or worse, having the bulbs stolen), then these solar powered LED tiles might be better suited for your needs. The tiles are available in amber, blue, white, yellow, red and green. From the site:

    The SolarCap Lighting system consists of modular, self-contained lighting devices that can be used for decorative or traffic flow purposes -- powered only by solar energy. These unique devices incorporate the newest "EnergyCache" technology for energy storage, instead of the high maintenance rechargeable batteries that are currently used in solar devices. Unlike batteries which must be changed every two to three years and cannot tolerate environmental extremes, EnergyCaches enable SolarCap lighting to be used in any environment without maintenance for more than 10 years with a wide operating temperature range of -13°F -140°F (-25°C - 60°C).

    Space Age LED Home Lighting Solutions

    Vos Solutions has an unusual and impressive gallery of the VOS Pad, which is, according to the site "the first apartment in the world to be lit entirely using light emitting diodes (LEDs)." The site sells some of the LED products used in the VOS Pad so you too can create a space that combines one part trendy nightclub with one part holodeck. Some of the more subtly lit rooms look quite elegant, actually.

    Rechargeable Flickering Votive Candles

    Rechargeable lights are not new but rechargeable candles are. The Sharper Image now carries these LED votive candles that actually flicker. Priced at about 1000 times the cost of traditional tea lights, the candles are being billed as safer, smokeless and sans melting wax.

    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: