Archive Category: Home & Garden
Deadly Sins on Plates
Etsy seller trixiedelicious has all seven deadly sins featured on quaint vintage English and Japanese china plates. They are food safe and come with hangers for display. Link -via The Seven Deadly Sinners
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The 12 Monsters of TV
How big does a TV have to be? As big as you want it! Status symbol, aid for failing eyesight, or a reward for your hard work, there are plenty of big screens to choose from. See a dozen of the biggest in Big Stuff: The 12 Monsters of TV. The picture shows the 231 feet wide Mitsubishi Diamond Vision at the Sha Tin Horse Race Course in China. Link -Thanks, Andy!
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Man’s Great Pumpkin Stolen!
Good grief! Bill Teer lost something from his front yard. Something large. Very, very large: his prized 450 lb. pumpkin!
Teer thinks a group of three teenagers drove up on Halsey Road and managed to roll the pumpkin into the back of their pickup truck. The reward is now up to $200.
"I think they absolutely planned it," said neighbor Don Simons. Simons pitched in half the reward money. "We hope we catch these people," he said. "There was a prior attack on the pumpkin a year or two ago. Somebody jumped out with a hammer and punched some holes in one of them."
Meanwhile, police are baffled. "Who knows what they want with it or what they did with it," Simons said.
Maybe it’s for a really, really big pumpkin pie! Link
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Woman Bought Home For $1.75 on eBay
Joanne Smith bought an abandoned house in Saginaw, Michigan, on eBay. Her winning bid? $1.75!
"I am going to try and sell it," she told the newspaper. "I don’t have any plans to move to Saginaw."
Smith said she hasn’t seen the property or visited Saginaw, which has been hard-hit by economic troubles in recent years.
There’s a notice on the door of the home saying a foreclosure hearing is pending, the newspaper said. She must pay about $850 in back taxes and yard cleanup costs.
Previously on Neatorama: Foreclosed Home For Sale for Just $1
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A Short History of the White House Garden
The White House grounds has always had a rich history of political intrigue, drama, and fascinatingly…gardening. It would seem that as each President took office they would add a little something to the grounds from plants, trees, and vegetable gardens.
With food and fuel costs skyrocketing the video ends with an optimistic view of the next President declaring more locally grown gardens for food production. Despite the quick drop of the true agenda by the nonprofit group Kitchen Gardeners International who made the video it still doesn’t detract or take away the interesting fact filled history of the White House Gardens.
via - Serious Eats.
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Coin Lamp
This lamp by designer Jethro Macey requires you to insert a coin before it lights up.
Coin Lamp is the first product in a range based on the concept of values and reward, it subtly heightens awareness of consumption through design.
No need to be subtle about it. This is exactly what I need to teach my kids not to leave every light in the house on! Put these in every room, and you can use the coins to help pay for the electricity bill at the end of the month. Link -via the Presurfer
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Basement Decorated in Sharpie
If you liked Olle Hemmendorff’s kitchen floor, you’ll love this! Charlie Kratzer of Lexington, Kentucky wanted something a little snazzier than bare cream-colored walls in his basement rec room. So he went to work with Sharpies and Magic Markers and doodled his masterpiece.
There are fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, Winston Churchill lounging with George Bernard Shaw — and the TV squirrel Rocky and his less adroit moose pal Bullwinkle.
Says Kratzer of his cartoon of a cartoon: “You appreciate the cleverness more as an adult.”
There’s Georges Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. There is Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, and the Cornell Law School, of which Kratzer is an alumnus. There is Kratzer’s dad. There is the harlequin pattern — alluded to in culinary culture today by the Panera bread bag — and a fake fireplace facing a real one.
There are both The Walrus and the Carpenter (from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There), and William Shakespeare. The Marx Brothers peer around a corner. A flip-top garbage can is transformed via marker art into Star Wars’ plucky little beeper R2D2.
The Herald-Leader has a 360 degree panorama of the finished basement. Link -via reddit
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How to Build Your Own Solar Panels
Astronomer Mike Davis bought some land in a remote part of Arizona where he can observe the skies far away from light pollution. He is also far away from the electrical grid. Solar panels are expensive, so Mike made his own! How he did it is interesting, but you still must have some electrical know-how before you try it yourself. Link -Thanks, chris tackett!
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The Flying Carpet Sofa
Behold the carpet sofas, creations of Dutch artist Tonio de Roover. The sofas, called "East Meets West," look like you’re sitting on magic flying carpets! Link
See more neat looking sofas at Freshome’s 35 of the Most Unique & Creative Sofa Designs
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That’s One Really Long Zucchini!
Left to their own devices, zucchinis tend to grow and grow and grow … Sometimes, even veteran gardeners like Apollonia Castitlione of Queens, New York, get shocked at how big they can grow:
Castitlione, 48, said she noticed the giant fruit was growing longer than usual last month when it suddenly shot up a couple of inches in as many days.
She then went on vacation to Boston for the weekend and returned to find it had shot up another 1.5 inches.
At last count, the zucchini was just over 6 feet - nearly 2 feet shy of the world-record 7-foot, 10-inch zucchini grown in India three years ago.
Link - Thanks Ros!
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Rotator Bath
What do you get when you cross a bathtub and a urinal? Whatever it is, it probably looks like this: the Rotator Bath, a luxury bath concept by designer Ron Arad and Italian bathtub manufacturer Teuco:
The elegant sculptural form serves two purposes, it could either be used as a shower, or it could be rotated 180 degrees to form a bathtub against the wall.
Link (Photo: Wallpaper Magazine)
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R2-D2 Mini Fridge
Technabob found what probably is the coolest mini-fridge ever. Behold the R2-D2 fridge:
Turns out that this awesome R2-D2 compact refrigerator was apparently made back in 2002 as a promotional prize for an Attack of the Clones contest held at 7-11 Stores in Japan. Word has it that just 1000 of these rare refrigerators were ever made, and now this one can be yours (assuming you’ve got the dough).
Link | If you want one, ToyEast has it, but it’ll set you back $1070!
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Pizza Scissors
Want a perfectly proportioned slice of pizza every time? Here’s the gadget for you: pizza scissors!
These pizza scissors cut through pizza without scratching the pan underneath it, and also serve as a serving spatula to get the pizza slice onto plates without spilling. The parts separate for easy dishwashing (in the dishwasher is fine).
Link | Original Link at Amazon
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Oscar the Grouch Garbage Bag
In an effort to raise environmental awareness in children, artist Lily Franky and Sesame Street collaborated to create garbage bags printed with an image of the trash-lovin’ Oscar the Grouch.
Pink Tentacle has more artful garbage bags (including a very clever rabbit-kun plastic trash bag by Tokyo-based creative group MAQ, Inc.): Link
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Lifestyle Coffee Table with Built-in Magazine Space by Sara Huston
Photo: coroflot
Artist and furniture maker Sara Huston created this table with an indented space for magazines for those who to display reading materials on their coffee table but keep it neat at the same time. I suppose she takes the "everything has its place" mantra seriously! Link - via Rodrigo Barba
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The Brain Lamp
That, my friends, is the most awesomest lamp ever: MYBrain, the table lamp by Alexander Lervik. It’s based on the artist’s real brain as taken by an MRI scan, then processed through a 3D printer.
Link - via Modern Urban Living
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Best Treehouse Ever!
Something worth doing is worth doing well is probably Steve Norris’ life motto. The Ontario, Canada, father of two decided that his children’s treehouse would be the best treehouse EVAR!
Here’s what he did:
It’s equipped with electricity and cable TV. There’s an intercom so Norris can talk to his kids if they’re having a sleepover, and a urinal that drains into a pail beneath the structure.
A smoke detector is wired to the house, so family members can be alerted to any smoke, whether they’re in the treehouse or not. A revolving light clicks on when the treehouse’s trap door opens (where a rope ladder drops down).
Old fire horns that Norris snagged from the University of Waterloo blare if an intruder tries to break into the fort. "It sounds like an air-raid back in Berlin. But I had to do it for my peace of mind."
Even the family’s Jack Russell-cross, Sammy, has his own ramp. Norris made it after the dog fell near the top of the wide, stair-like ladder.
The roof is sealed and welded on tight, and the floor is sturdy enough to hold an adult. Stephen sleeps in a loft bed, Ryan on a mini-futon and their father on a pull-down bed.
April Robinson of The Record has the story: Link
(Photo: David Bebee / The Record)
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Miss Cellania’s New House
A really big congratulations to Miss Cellania, who just bought a house! US housing crisis be damned - that’s a really sweet dig, Miss C!
Also, Miss C is celebrating her 3rd Blogiversary. Go and say hello! Link
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A Windows Lover’s Window
Here’s a window for Windows lover, Fenêtres 3.1 by John Nouanesing, a real window made to look like Microsoft’s classic 3.1 OS version (complete with the "code"shades - or is it just the BSOD?). It’s only a concept for now, probably because efforts to convert it to reality were constantly met with unexplainable crashes: Link
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Flamingo-Away
Here’s a yard ornament I would proudly display to my neighbors and their ubiquitous flamingos! The Flamingo-Away kit include two “Gnome-Be-Gones” and one pink flamingo. Designed by artist Fred Conlon. Scroll down on the product page to find other incarnations of the Gnome-Be-Gones. Link -via Coolest Gadgets
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Cabernet Couch: Wine Jug Couch by Carlo Rossi
Photo: Carlo Rossi’s JugSimple
That’s the Cabernet Couch, made from 33 empty Cabernet jugs and vintage corduroy futon mattress for the winemaker Carlo Rossi.
In what can only be called a strange yet utterly fascinating effort to turn the image of wine jugs from being associated with drunk winos into haute couture, Carlo Rossi also has the Chardonnay Chandelier ("jug count: 33"), Burgundy Bookshelf (jug count: 28), Paisano Plasma TV Stand, and more.
Link: Cabernet Couch - via Chair Blog (which btw, is ALL about chairs!)
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Terrorist Teapot
This might not be the most tasteful home accessory ever, but it will sure draw attention! The Terrorist Teapot glares at you from underneath a ski mask tea cozy. Link -Thanks, Thomas Barker!
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Star Wars Tenugui
These neat looking Star Wars themed “hanging banners” are called tenugui, a Japanese cotton towel that is often used as a headband, for souvenirs and as decoration.
They are now available from ThinkGeek in four different models:
- R2-D2 flying near Mt. Fuji
- Heads of favorite characters
- Droids hanging out under the Sakura tree
- Troopers in a classic pose of attack
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Foreclosed Home For Sale For Just $1
Real estate is bad where I live, but apparently it’s just peaches when comapred
to Detroit. So, how bad is real estate in the Motor City? So bad that banks were selling foreclosed homes for $1 … and it took 17 days to find a buyer!
The home, at 8111 Traverse Street, a few blocks from Detroit City Airport, was the nicest house on the block when it sold for $65,000 in November 2006, said neighbor Carl Upshaw. But the home was foreclosed last summer, and it wasn’t long until "the vultures closed in," Upshaw said. "The siding was the first to go. Then they took the fence. Then they broke in and took everything else."
The company hired to manage the home and sell it, the Bearing Group, boarded up the home only to find the boards stolen and used to board up another abandoned home nearby.
Scrappers tore out the copper plumbing, the furnace and the light fixtures, taking everything of value, including the kitchen sink. [...]
So desperate was the bank owner of 8111 Traverse Street to unload the property that it agreed to pay $2,500 in sales commission and another $1,000 bonus for closing the $1 sale; the bank also will pay $500 of the buyer’s closing costs. Throw in back taxes and a water bill, and unloading the house will cost the bank about $10,000. [...]
And I love the last part here:
Colpaert declined to provide the name of the prospective purchaser, because the deal had not been through closing. The agent did say that the buyer agreed to pay the full list price of $1, and planned to pay cash.
Link - via J-Walk Blog
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Incinerating Toilet = Barbecue?
The EcoJohn incinerating toilet uses no water at all!
The EcoJohn Sr. is a waterless, incinerating toilet certified for safety by Underwriters Laboratories, which, for classification purposes, called it a barbecue.
“Toilets haven’t really changed for the past 100 years,” Stefan Johansson said. “People are always looking for better products, better solutions. The EcoJohns are better, cleaner and good for the environment.”
The unit can be installed at a site as a primary toilet or carted via trailers and used as portable toilets.
The toilets, one of several waste disposal products offered by the company, operate pretty much like the units found in homes across America today. But while those toilets use water to carry waste away, the EcoJohn Sr. is equipped with a propane-fueled burner.
After a user does his business, he closes the lid and a large, screw-like auger turns and carries the waste to the burn chamber where the propane burner then bakes urine, feces and paper into ashes.
The EcoJohn is useful for places where it is impractical to install a sewage system, such as vacation cabins, rooftop parties, and construction sites. But the question in everyone’s mind is: why does it have to be classified as a barbecue?! Link -Thanks, Julie Anne!
(image credit: Mark Martinez/Orange County Register)
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Motherboard Walls
Chris Harrison and a friend built these motherboard walls for Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott Hudson:
Each motherboard wall took approximately 6 hours to assemble . The longest step by far was laying them out. Not only did we try to distribute the colors in an interesting way, but dozens of different sized boards had to fit together perfectly and not overlap the edges. Not an easy task I assure you. Additionally, we added a third dimension by stilting approximately one fourth of the boards at different heights.
Link - via growabrain
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Dinosaur Lamps
The Brando website has just released a new product that allows you to build your own polypropylene dinosaur lamp using “simple pieces of puzzle”.
There are two models to choose from: Triceratops and T-Rex.
Link (Triceratops) | Link (T-Rex)
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Nymph Lamp
This lamp looks like a giant centipede in the outdoor setting, but it’s just 19 inches tall (and over 30 inches long). The Nymph Lamp, from Site Specific Design, will set you back $2,600. Link -via Dump Trumpet
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