Archive Category: Home & Garden

Human Hair as Plant Mulch

Posted by Queuebot in Home & Garden on May 2, 2009 at 12:53 pm

Blair Blacker of Smart Grow created a new, natural product that prevents weeds, eliminates the need for pesticides, and lets farmer conserve water. It could revolutionize how food is grown, as long as you can overlook the yuck factor.

What is it? Hair. Human hair. And lots of it … Dan Grech of American Public Media’s Marketplace has the interview:

BLACKER: There is a slight nutritional difference between blond hair and black hair, but as far as a plant is concerned, they wouldn’t notice the difference.

GRECH: Which is more nutritional?

BLACKER: Blond tends to be slightly less nutritional. Slightly. I’m not going to say a word.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Minnesotastan.

 
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Unusual TV Sets

Posted by Miss Cellania in Home & Garden on May 2, 2009 at 7:12 am


I love this! The Wilkerson M21 Flat-Panel TV is a modern flat screen TV set with the look of a mid-20th century console. It’s just one of 16 unusual TV designs featured at Now That’s Nifty. Link -via the Presurfer

 
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Tentacle-y Furniture by Chul An Kwak

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Home & Garden, Pictures on May 1, 2009 at 4:09 am

There are furniture, and then there are artistic furniture. It’s often difficult to combine form and function, and it’s almost always impossible to do it in such an artistic form. Yet, Korean designer Chul An Kwak did just that with his tentacle-y table:

With serpentine legs that resemble nothing so much as octopus tentacles, the ‘r.n.i.’ series of tables by Chul An Kwak is actually inspired by images of running horses. Sculpted from wood, these designs offer the same sort of flat surface you’d see in a conventional table but with legs that seem kinetic and alive.

See more selections of amazing and artistic furniture designs at WebUrbanist: Link

 
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Office Organizer Made From Phone Books

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Gadget, Home & Garden, Pictures on May 1, 2009 at 4:06 am

I ran across this excellent tutorial while looking for things to do with unwanted phone books (for some inexplicable reason, they magically show up at my doorstep year after year).

Chica and Jo has the perfect solution if you’re crafty: turn those phone books into office organizers! Link - via Make

 
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Montanara

Posted by Miss Cellania in Arts & Crafts, Home & Garden on April 30, 2009 at 10:43 pm


Montanara is the name given to this amazing sofa upholstered with mountains and waterfalls designed by Gaetano Pesce. Link -via Gearfuse

 
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Constellation Chandelier

Posted by Miss Cellania in Home & Garden on April 30, 2009 at 11:16 am


91 members with four LED lights each, this chandelier was designed by Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn. It’s very energy-efficient for the amount of light it provides. Link -via Swiss Miss

 
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Pac-Man HotHead

Posted by Alex in Home & Garden, Toy & Video Games on April 27, 2009 at 3:00 pm

Nom … nom … nom … We’ve just gotten our delivery of these wonderful Pac-Man Hotheads pot holder / oven mitt. After years of chomping down on ghosts, Pac-Man is back for a new mission: protecting your hands from hot handles and piping hot cookie pans.

Link: Pac-Man HotHead - $14.95 | We’ve also gotten the Calf & Half Creamer back in stock

 
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Recycled Milk Bottle Lights

Posted by Queuebot in Arts & Crafts, Gadget, Home & Garden, Video Clips on April 25, 2009 at 1:09 pm


[YouTube - Link]


I made these plastic milk bottle lights by embedding LEDs in the caps, hanging them from a bent section of pipe and hooking them up to an Arduino microcontroller.

Not happy with an on-off switch, I thought they might look mesmerising with a rotary control knob turning them on in sequence. It works! They make great low lighting to wind down for sleep, and they’re great to hang in the hall for parties too.

There are complete build instructions on Instructables.

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Nachimir.

 
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Local River by Mathieu Lehanneur: a Piece of Locavore Luxury

Posted by Queuebot in Animal, Food & Drinks, Home & Garden on April 25, 2009 at 12:22 pm

If getting to the market is just too much of a bother to you, plus when you get there most of the food are from the other side of the world then there may be a locavore stirring within you.  Locavores are people who only wish to eat food from their own locality (loca, vore, get it?). It is becoming quite a movement.

If you want to bring forth your hidden locavore (and happen to have  quite a healthy bank balance) then the ultimate food source can be situated in your own house.  Design, environmentalism and aquaponics come together in Local River by artist Mathieu Lehanneur to ensure you will never have to go far for that fish and chips supper again.

From Mathieu’s website [Flash]:

The plants extract nutrients from the nitrate-rich dejecta of the fish. In doing so they act as a natural filter that purifies the water and maintains a vital balance for the eco-system in which the fish live. The same technique is used on large-scale pioneer aquaponics/fish-farms, which raise tilapia (a food fish from the Far East) and lettuce planted in trays floating on the surface of the ponds.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.

 
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Man Found 400-Year-Old Mummified Cat in Wall

Posted by Alex in Animal, Home & Garden, Paranormal on April 23, 2009 at 2:59 pm

Funeral director Richard Parson was remodeling his house when he found something surprising in the walls: a 400-year-old mummified cat that might have been placed in the walls to ward off evil spirits.

"Apparently 400 years ago people put cats behind walls to ward off witches. It clearly works as, since we have lived in the village, we have not seen sight or sound of any witches."

Mr Parson said neighbours have told him the cat was previously found behind the wall 20 years ago, but was put back by another resident. He added: "There has been a local myth, a legend, that there was a cat buried in the house but of course we had no idea where that was. We were also told about a child’s boot left in the house because it was once used as a cobblers’, and was supposed to bring luck.

"I am not a superstitious man but the cat is a little bit of village history and adds charm to the property."

Link (Photo: APEX)

 
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SmartFaucet

Posted by Miss Cellania in Gadget, Home & Garden on April 21, 2009 at 10:33 am


For the person who has everything, here’s SmartFaucet. Besides the features you’ve actually heard of in a faucet, it has a face recognition system so it can adjust heat and flow to your individual preferences. And it has a touchscreen display on which you can check your email! I think I will pass -I’m so old-fashioned that I prefer my water without electricity. Link -via J-Walk Blog

 
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ChromoSoma Lamp by Javier Alejandre

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Home & Garden, Video Clips on April 18, 2009 at 11:49 am

Madrid-based Industrial designer Javier Alejandre created a mix-and-match lamp unlike anything we’ve seen before. His lamp ChromoSoma takes inspiration from the genealogical tree, which lets the owner choose his or her own unique configuration. It’s easier just to watch the clip to see what it’s all about: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - Thanks Javier!

 
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Spreadsheet BBQ Grill

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks, Home & Garden, Pictures on April 17, 2009 at 1:35 pm

What to get your barbecue-lovin’ number cruncher? How about this spreadsheet barbecue grid, designed by Roma Voroneshski of Art. Lebedev Studio? Link

This reminds me that I should update one of our favorite Neatorama posts: Top 10 Coolest BBQ Grills (And Then Some!)

 
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Beaded Electrical Cords by Nathalie Costes

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Gadget, Home & Garden on April 15, 2009 at 3:59 am

French artist Nathalie Costes threaded large wooden beads through electrical cords to turn your cord chaos into decorative elements instead (or trip hazard, depending on your age and point of view): Link - via Apartment Therapy

 
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Anatomical Bed Cover

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Home & Garden, Pictures on April 15, 2009 at 3:58 am


Photo: Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs

This anatomical duvet cover (or is it blanket?) is titled The Hypochondriac (2004) and is the work of Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs of TONK. The duo are great photographers, but their website has atrocious navigation - via Who Killed Bambi?

 
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Tetris Furniture

Posted by Queuebot in Home & Garden on April 14, 2009 at 7:58 pm

If you love the game, chances are you’ll also love the furniture! Here’s a Tetris-inspired line of furniture, by designers Diego Silvério and Helder Filipov.

Just don’t stack ‘em right - they’ll go poof and disappear into thin air!

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by eran9000.

 
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Ice Cream Flavor or Paint Color?

Posted by Miss Cellania in Food & Drinks, Home & Garden on April 13, 2009 at 12:46 pm


Colors and flavors come in such a variety that they need super descriptive names. Can you tell which of these twelve names are colors of Pottery Barn paint and which are flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream? I went by the rule that if it sounds really delicious, it’s probably paint. However, I didn’t score all that well, so don’t take my advice! Link

 
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Dual Quad: Fred Baier’s Robot-Like Desk

Posted by Alex in Home & Garden on April 12, 2009 at 5:07 pm

Fred Baier said that his furniture are inspired by "industrial imagery," but we’re pretty darn certain that the deks above, nondescriptly titled Dual Quad, is some sort of a hidden robot that will rise and quash humanity for not using coasters when setting down their drinks on the lacquered birch countertop.

If you’d like one, it’ll set you back £11,000: Link via Gizmodo

 
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Alex Michaelis’ Staircase/Slide Combo

Posted by Alex in Architecture, Home & Garden on April 11, 2009 at 11:47 am

Don’t let my kids see this: London architect Alex Michaelis has slide next to his staircase! Laura Housley of Cookie Magazine has the story:

Not that there aren’t plenty of kids’ diversions elsewhere, including the climbing wall outside and the slide that runs alongside the staircase. "We tend to have a lot of the kids’ friends around—they’re here perhaps more than at some of the other parents’ homes," Michaelis says, adding that even grown-ups can’t resist skipping the stairs. "We’ve been known after a big dinner party to use the slide."

Color me envious: Link | Photo gallery of the house (Here’s the slide) - via Bloesem Kids

 
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William Warren’s Shelves for Life is a Stylish Coffin/Bookshelves

Posted by Alex in Home & Garden on April 11, 2009 at 11:42 am

There’s a good reason that William Warren named his creation "Shelves for Life":

The shelves are CNC cut in oak veneered plywood to the customers measurements. They are intended to be used throughout life as storage for personal belongings. On death, the shelves are dismantled and rebuilt as a coffin.

Who says you can’t take it with you when you die? Link - via core77

 
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12 Creative Ways to Color Easter Eggs

Posted by Queuebot in Arts & Crafts, Food & Drinks, Home & Garden on April 9, 2009 at 3:59 pm

This Easter, don’t just dip your eggs in dye for ho-hum Easter eggs … rather, unleash your creative side to make them memorable!

Dabbled blog explains:

Another Flickr Roundup for you, this time it’s Ways to Dye Your Easter Eggs… come on, you weren’t going to just go use a kit, were you? From cabbage to duct tape, we have lots of cool ideas for making your eggs memorable. Some complicated, some easy and kid-friendly!

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Dot.

 
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Beer Soap

Posted by Queuebot in Food & Drinks, Home & Garden on April 9, 2009 at 3:56 pm

If you like beer, but hate wimpy soaps, check this out: Beer Soap by etsy sellers Jamin and Zaidat. Sadly, the soap doesn’t actually smell like beer …

No longer can the eau de booze only be achieved by the partying set. The Beer Soap Company has turned an Etsy page into a one-stop shopping experience for those who prefer their bar soap to be made of a favorite brew. Of course, a little shea butter and sunflower oil make the soap slightly more palatable, but the opportunity still remains to literally say you doused yourself in a booze bath.

Link - via urlesque

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by thatguy455.

 
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Ron Arad’s Bookcase Shaped Like the United States of America

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Home & Garden, Pictures on April 5, 2009 at 12:27 am


Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends (2009) by Ron Arad

The meaning behind the name of Ron Arad’s USA-shaped bookcase (Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends - whaaaa?), but it’s easy to see how cool it would be hanging on the wall!

It’s currently being exhibited at the Timothy Taylor Gallery: Link - via otto

 
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ThreeStyle: a 3-in-1 Door Worthy of Goldilocks

Posted by Alex in Home & Garden on April 4, 2009 at 12:29 am

UK design group Slam has the solution to what can only be called the Goldilocks problem of doors: a door that is not too small and not too big. Behold the ThreeStyle, the world’s first 3-in-1 door.

Link - via Interior design room

 
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Tauntaun Sleeping Bag Update

Posted by Miss Cellania in Home & Garden, Movies & SciFi on April 3, 2009 at 12:09 pm

You knew it would happen, just like it happened last year. Think Geek added several fake products to its lineup on April Fools Day and now everyone wants a Tauntaun sleeping bag. They’ve added this to the listing:

ATTN Tauntaun Fanatics! Due to an overwhelming tsunami of requests from YOU THE PEOPLE, we have decided to TRY and bring this to life. We have no clue if the suits at Lucasfilms will grant little ThinkGeek a license, nor do we know how much it would ultimately retail for. But if you are interested in ever owning one of these, click the link below and we’ll try!

Link

 
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Pop-Up Garage

Posted by Alex in Car & Vehicle, Home & Garden on April 2, 2009 at 8:33 am

Forget a 3-car garage. The new status symbol for the haves in London is this £40,000 pop-up garage by Cardok:

The £40,000 parking spots can be hidden beneath a flowerbed, lawn, or even another parking space.

Owners simply press a button on a keyring to raise they car out of the ground much like the rocket launching apparatus in Thunderbirds.

There is already a four month waiting list to get the sci-fi style parking space installed and bosses of Cardok - the company behind the hydraulic platforms - say orders are pouring in faster than they can build them.

Link (with a video clip of the garage in action)

 
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Tauntaun Sleeping Bag

Posted by Miss Cellania in Home & Garden on April 1, 2009 at 9:13 am

This high-quality sleeping bag looks just like a Tauntaun, complete with saddle, internal intestines and glowing lightsaber zipper pull. Now when your kids tell you their favorite Star Wars movie is “Attack of the Clones” you can nestle the wee-ones snug in simulated Tauntaun fur while regaling them with the amazing tale of “Empire Strikes Back”.

Use the glowing lightsaber zipper pull on the Tauntaun sleeping bag to illustrate how Han Solo saved Luke Skywalker from certain death in the freezing climate of Hoth by slitting open the belly of a dead Tauntaun and placing Luke inside the stinking (but warm) carcass. If your kids don’t change their tune on which Star Wars film is the greatest ever, you can do your best Jar Jar impression until they repent.

Why has no one thought of this before? I, of course, clicked the “buy now” button. Color me disappointed. Like the Personal Soundtrack T-Shirt from last year, this will be the in-demand product Think Geek will actually have to produce sooner or later. Link -via Unique Daily

 
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Yes … Now Even Your Houseplants can Twitter

Posted by Urbanist in Gadget, Home & Garden on March 30, 2009 at 6:04 pm

Pothos has thousands of followers and gives regular updates. Pothos … is also a plant. A built-in moisture meter relays messages about the plant’s current state in order to remind its owner when it needs watering. This is, one has to admit, a potentially wonderful innovation for those of us with thumbs that are anything but green. Still, Twitter is all the rage these days, sure, but plants Twittering? Has this fad gone too far?

Are you slowly killing your houseplants? Is it because you’re too busy Twittering? THEN HAS THE INTERNET GOT THE SOLUTION FOR YOU!

link -via huffingtonpost

 
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Garden camera with timelapse capability

Posted by Queuebot in Gadget, Home & Garden on March 29, 2009 at 8:05 pm

A simple, weatherproof camera designed for the garden or wildlife enthusiast.   It can be programmed to take photos at variable intervals for the creation of time-lapse movie files.

It can focus as close as 20″ away to illustrate petal growth or, with its wide 54″ field of view, it can capture perennials as they grow to conceal your spent spring bulb foliage. The camera takes a picture at one of six pre-determined intervals (five seconds to 24 hours) and combines them into a single 1280 x 1024 resolution AVI movie file for easy playback on a computer. It has a light sensor that turns off the camera at dusk and back on at dawn, allowing for continued video capture each day. Movies are timestamped and stored on the camera’s removable 2GB USB flash drive, which can take up to 18,000 pictures.

Link - via gizmodo

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Minnesotastan.

 
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Homer Simpson Clock

Posted by Miss Cellania in Home & Garden on March 20, 2009 at 9:35 pm


Homer won’t let this beer out of his sight! The Homer Simpson Rotating Eyes Clock will set you back £14.96. Link -via Bits and Pieces

 
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