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.
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.
Taking Better Real Estate Photos
The New York Times real estate section has an interesting article entitled "Making Every Pixel Count", which is about the importance of properly photographing your home for online real estate sites.From the article:
When selling properties online, agents and Web designers say that the pictures buyers see of houses and apartments for sale are often the first ? and sometimes the only ? chance for a seller to make a good impression. Less-than-flattering pictures can turn buyers off and lead to lonely open houses.
So why is this so important? Well, some stats, from the piece:
Eighty percent of people across the country who bought a new home last year used the Internet while house hunting, and they rated photographs as the most useful tool in their search, according to a survey of buyers and sellers by the National Association of Realtors. The survey also found that 24 percent of home buyers got their first glimpses of their new homes on the Web, up from a mere 2 percent in 1997.
And let's face it, this number is probably going to continue to tend upward. If you've ever searched for a house or apartment online, you've probably been surprised and/or frustrated at the lack of pictures some listers provide. As many people will tell you, all the details in the world are still taken with a grain of salt when pictures aren't provided. Unless listers are trying to hide something, why not give web searchers what they want?
And although the mere act of posting pictures is crucial to attracting web-savvy prospects nowadays, the variance in the quality of the pictures can change the buyer's impression drastically. Be sure to see the audio slideshow that accompanies the article for examples of this.
Via 37Signals
ZDNet Offers Thorough Rundown on Numerous HDTV Options
As any casual TV shopper may know, venturing into your local electronics store's HDTV section can be a bit confusing, to say the least. Unless you keep up with the ever changing technology and terminology of the industry, you risk making a mistake, or worse - wasting money, when the time comes to purchase your new set. This article by George Ou should help sort things out. He covers the advantages and disadvantages of:
Projection: Pro: price. Con: viewing angle.
Plasma:Pro: resolution, colour, viewing angle. Con: price.
LCD:Pro: picture quality. Con: expensive large size sets.
George also advises, bluntly, against getting suckered into buying so-called high end cables:
Consumers need to get the concept of "monster cables" out of their minds since they DO NOT apply to the digital world. There is zero difference in quality between the cheapest $12 HDMI to DVI cable versus the $100 gold plated "monster cable".
He also makes available some colour gradient graphics and explains how to use them in testing the colour quality of an HDTV.
This is a great piece for anyone in the market for a new HDTV, and it's especially useful for those of us that may be more than a little confused and/or overwhelmed by variations in HDTV technology.
Also see this previous post on HDTV resolutions.
Microsoft Offers Ten Tips on Improving your Wireless Network
If you've got a wireless network at home, you may want to check out this page from Microsoft that lists a bunch of things you can do to improve your WiFi network. Tips range from the obvious, such as removing obstructions and placing your wireless router in a central location, to the not so obvious, like advice about swapping out your router's antenna:
The antennas supplied with your router are designed to be omni-directional, meaning they broadcast in all directions around the router. If your router is near an outside wall, half of the wireless signals will be sent outside your home, and much of your router's power will be wasted. Most routers don't allow you to increase the power output, but you can make better use of the power. Upgrade to a hi-gain antenna that focuses the wireless signals only one direction. You can aim the signal in the direction you need it most.
and also changing the router's wireless channel:
Wireless routers can broadcast on several different channels, similar to the way radio stations use different channels. In the United States and Canada, these channels are 1, 6, and 11. Just like you'll sometimes hear interference on one radio station while another is perfectly clear, sometimes one wireless channel is clearer than others. Try changing your wireless router's channel through your router's configuration page to see if your signal strength improves. You don't need to change your computer's configuration, because it'll automatically detect the new channel.
Check out the rest of the tips to ensure your wireless network is running at it's optimum level.
Link: 10 tips for improving your wireless network.
The antennas supplied with your router are designed to be omni-directional, meaning they broadcast in all directions around the router. If your router is near an outside wall, half of the wireless signals will be sent outside your home, and much of your router's power will be wasted. Most routers don't allow you to increase the power output, but you can make better use of the power. Upgrade to a hi-gain antenna that focuses the wireless signals only one direction. You can aim the signal in the direction you need it most.
and also changing the router's wireless channel:
Wireless routers can broadcast on several different channels, similar to the way radio stations use different channels. In the United States and Canada, these channels are 1, 6, and 11. Just like you'll sometimes hear interference on one radio station while another is perfectly clear, sometimes one wireless channel is clearer than others. Try changing your wireless router's channel through your router's configuration page to see if your signal strength improves. You don't need to change your computer's configuration, because it'll automatically detect the new channel.
Check out the rest of the tips to ensure your wireless network is running at it's optimum level.
Link: 10 tips for improving your wireless network.
Enviroscaping to Conserve Energy
Enviroscaping to Conserve Energy is an interesting guide on maximizing your home's energy efficiency by modifying various aspects of its immediate environment, or "Microclimate".
A microclimate is any small, local area within which the effects of weather are both relatively uniform and easily modified. Microclimate modification involves the best use of structural and landscape design elements to maximize or limit sunlight, shade and air movement. Structural modifications involve the design of the house and associated construction (walkways, fences, patios). Landscape modifications (enviroscaping) involve the use of plants to further increase or decrease the impact of sun and wind upon the local environment.
This site, which applies mostly to homes in hot weather climates such as Florida, offers a lot of interesting ways that a home owner can creatively reduce energy usage. Some of the suggestions apply to potential home builders, such as home orientation (a house is more energy efficient if it is oriented with the long axis running east-west), however the majority of the tips apply to existing residences.
There are many examples of "enviroscaping" strategies on the site, such as optimal tree placement for maximum shading, tree type (In winter, the sun is low in the southern sky. Southern exposures of a home in north and central Florida can receive free benefits of passive solar heating, provided that deciduous trees are used along the southern exposures. Deciduous trees shed their leaves in the fall, and are bare during the coldest months of the year.), fencing options (fences vary in amount of air circulation), shrub and vine placement along walls, increasing air conditioner efficiency and much more.
Link: Enviroscaping to Conserve Energy: a Guide to Microclimate Modification
A microclimate is any small, local area within which the effects of weather are both relatively uniform and easily modified. Microclimate modification involves the best use of structural and landscape design elements to maximize or limit sunlight, shade and air movement. Structural modifications involve the design of the house and associated construction (walkways, fences, patios). Landscape modifications (enviroscaping) involve the use of plants to further increase or decrease the impact of sun and wind upon the local environment.
This site, which applies mostly to homes in hot weather climates such as Florida, offers a lot of interesting ways that a home owner can creatively reduce energy usage. Some of the suggestions apply to potential home builders, such as home orientation (a house is more energy efficient if it is oriented with the long axis running east-west), however the majority of the tips apply to existing residences.
There are many examples of "enviroscaping" strategies on the site, such as optimal tree placement for maximum shading, tree type (In winter, the sun is low in the southern sky. Southern exposures of a home in north and central Florida can receive free benefits of passive solar heating, provided that deciduous trees are used along the southern exposures. Deciduous trees shed their leaves in the fall, and are bare during the coldest months of the year.), fencing options (fences vary in amount of air circulation), shrub and vine placement along walls, increasing air conditioner efficiency and much more.
Link: Enviroscaping to Conserve Energy: a Guide to Microclimate Modification
Keeping an Organized Kitchen
RealSimple.com shares some kitchen efficiency tips for daily use as well as for entertainers. Getting more organized and strategically locating frequently used items saves time during meal preparation and clean up. The article gives some ideas on how to do just that.
From the site:
Keep necessities within easy reach. You don't want to waste precious time during dinner prep looking for things. Make a place in the hot zone (around the stove and the sink) for the essentials: oil, vinegar, knives, cutting board. Move special-occasion cookware, like a fondue pot, out of cabinets in the zone so what's left can be neatly organized and easily spotted.
And also:
Make recycling efficient, too. Having a bin for bottles and cans right next to the one for regular trash, instead of out in the garage or in the mudroom, streamlines end-of-meal cleanup.
Link: RealSimple.com
From the site:
Keep necessities within easy reach. You don't want to waste precious time during dinner prep looking for things. Make a place in the hot zone (around the stove and the sink) for the essentials: oil, vinegar, knives, cutting board. Move special-occasion cookware, like a fondue pot, out of cabinets in the zone so what's left can be neatly organized and easily spotted.
And also:
Make recycling efficient, too. Having a bin for bottles and cans right next to the one for regular trash, instead of out in the garage or in the mudroom, streamlines end-of-meal cleanup.
Link: RealSimple.com
Ten Easiest Ways to Green Your Home
MSN offers this handy list of home energy reducing techniques that will not only help make your home a little greener, but will also put some money back in your pocket in the process. Tips cover heating and air conditioning improvements, greener gardening, hardwood floor choices and a few more.
Wikibooks also has a very large page of energy saving tips that should be useful to most of us, including efficient heating and cooling ideas as well as lighting, water, household waste and electricity reducing suggestions.
Wikibooks also has a very large page of energy saving tips that should be useful to most of us, including efficient heating and cooling ideas as well as lighting, water, household waste and electricity reducing suggestions.
Be CordFree by Untangling your Computer Workspace
Why do we so readily resign ourselves to a workspace of entangled wires and cables? With the number of peripherals many of us use, it doesn't take long before an evil wireball from hell forms below our desk. An annoying, eye-sore of a cabling situation can quickly become something that is easier to relegate to the to-do list then to actually deal with. Perhaps seeing this sweet, organized cabling solution will help by motivating us to finally take action. This step-by-step guide from Lifehacker.com uses an Ikea cable management basket, some Zip ties and a power bar to give a computer workstation the appearance of cordlessness. There's nothing groundbreaking about what's being done here, but there is something about seeing great results that can inspire one to take needed action.
Detailed Article on Setting up your First Home Theatre
Alan Lofft of Axiom Audio has written this informative article on the do's and don'ts of setting up your first home theatre. Topics covered include cabling choices, speaker positioning, video tuning, connection types and a ton more. Here's a television tip, from the article:Try this simple visual test to determine if you have your video image too bright or contrasty. Look at any white area on the screen during scenes from live TV or a movie. It could be the white shirt or blouse on an actor or TV host. Are you able to see detail within the white areas? If you can't, then you are likely running the brightness too high, which washes out fine detail in bright areas. So lower the brightness and/or contrast. There's a reason why control rooms for TV productions and telecasts are always dimly lit: it's because video images on the monitors look best in a dim or darker room and the greatest range of colors and tones can be displayed.
Alan's website is also packed full of home theatre information and worth checking out.
Basement Tuneup Ideas
Realsimple.com offers this list of handy tips and tricks that will help keep your basement in organized, working order. Shelving, containers, labelling, moisture control and safety items are all recommended. Martha Stewart's got a couple of basement organization tips, as well as a basement layout that suggests different areas for long term and short term storage.
The Dollar Stretcher has a bunch of tips as well:
Handling Sentimentals. If you haven't organized the basement or attic in awhile, be prepared to take a trip down Memory Lane--old photographs, games that haven't been touched in years, ice skates, granny's silverware, and so on. Try to put these items to one side until you've reached your organizing goal for the day. Then, reminisce with your family later on that night after dinner, rather than right now. This way, you'll finish what you set out to accomplish.
Old Text File Jam Packed with Tips and Tricks
Here's an excellent list of random tips and tricks for getting things done around the house, from fixing your squeaky floor (use baby powder!) to sanding down the bottom of a door:
If a door is dragging on the floor or threshold--making scraping sounds-place sandpaper on top of a stack of magazines and position the pile under the door. (Use enough magazines so that the door hits the sandpaper.) Then work the door back and forth over the abrasive.
Now that's pretty clever.
Via 43Folders.com
If a door is dragging on the floor or threshold--making scraping sounds-place sandpaper on top of a stack of magazines and position the pile under the door. (Use enough magazines so that the door hits the sandpaper.) Then work the door back and forth over the abrasive.
Now that's pretty clever.
Via 43Folders.com
Quick Home Repairs from Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics has a handy list of speedy repairs for around the house ranging from easily cleaning gutters (you could always try one of these foam eavestrough fillers, mind you), to giving your dishwasher a tuneup to silencing squeaky floors. They've also offered a list of the regular maintenance tasks that every homeowner should follow. Best Return on Investment Home Improvement Tips
If you're about to sell your home, be sure to check out this list of the most cost effective home improvement tips that will help you maximize your return on renovation investment. These tips focus on the easiest upgrades that produce the best results, versus the returns you can expect from performing major renovations, such as kitchen renovations or flooring replacements, as previously posted here.
From the videos available on Homegain.com:
...thoroughly cleaning and removing clutter from your home can be worth up to five times what it cost you to do it."
Nice Howto on Setting up your own Personal Web Server
Lifehacker has a nice howto on setting up your own personal web server, giving you the ability to do things like stream mp3s from your personal collection to work, set up a web based shared calendar for your family or give yourself quick access to your personal files from anywhere you've got net access. The system is password protected of course, but it is built on a windows box, so beware and be patched.
Nice List of General Home Repair Howtos
Here's a nice list of home repair instructions (in PDF format*) that cover topics ranging from novice (how to use a hammer) to intermediate (repairing cracked tile, repairing a defective light switch) to more advanced topics (basement foundation repair). They've also got a nice list of reference materials on topics ranging from the various nail and screw sizes to weights and measures and the metric system. *Regarding PDFs: it's been said before, but Foxit Reader is a really fast and lightweight alternative to Acrobat Reader that deserves some attention. Give it a shot.
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.
Great Site with Fancy Napkin Folding Tutorials
Kick your dining routine up a notch on the class-o-meter with some of these great step-by-step instructions on folding napkins into fancy, snooty shapes. One night you could break out the Fleur de Lys and the next could be the Bull. Go crazy! The tutorials walk the reader through each step with clear illustrations and directions. As a bonus, all the folds are rated for difficulty (simple to hard), so you'll know where to begin.
How to Fold a Fitted Sheet
Target Australia has a solution to a problem that many of us simply assumed was just one of those little annoyances that we'd have to live with forever - struggling with folding a fitted bed sheet neatly. This step by step looks easy enough, and the end result would please even the most organized among us. Also, if you're into folding things, check out this cool Japanese shirt folding technique.Edit: Fixed the link. Thanks et.
Great List of Kitchen Tips and Tricks
The Cooking Blog has an excellent list of tips and tricks for making life easier in the kitchen. Pros may know a lot of these already, but clever tips like: "Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips" are sure to be new to many, if not most, of the kitchen novices among us.
Secrets of Organized Families
BabyCenter.com has a great, idea packed article on organizing your home through a concerted familial effort. The article has plenty of useful tips for anyone feeling that they are losing the clutter battle. Another solid resource for a variety of general purpose organizational ideas is Online Organizing's aggregation of organization tips from the pros.
How to Best Make Use of a Small Kitchen
If you're having trouble making do with a small kitchen, then perhaps these nice retro "Big Chill Fridges" should wait until after you've maximized your kitchen's usable space with this article from SignOnSanDiego.com. The article is full of tips for uncramping your kitchen, even if you're working with very little square footage and/or counter space.Regarding clutter: see Frugal Homemaker's "Taking Control of Your Clutter" for ideas.
If the kitchen re-org puts you in clean sweep mode, then the plethora of tips over at HowToCleanAnything.com should save some serious elbow grease.
Categories: efficiency kitchen cleaning organization gtd tips tricks fridge appliances
Discuss | Permalink |
Email
Discuss | Permalink |
Email
Winter Energy Saving Tips with DIY Audit
If you live in a northern climate, you probably know all too well about escalating energy costs. Here is a list of some of the things you can do to minimize energy waste this season, as well as avoiding utility bill shock. These are pretty straight forward and frequently espoused, but dammit if I can help just one person out there... Sorry. Have any winter energy saving tips of your own?
Stay warm.
Recent stuff from HouseHacker:
1 Comment | Permalink |