We here at Neatorama know that many of you geek readers have geeky ink. That's why we were inspired by Harebrained Design's delightful Battoo tee shirt to launch a new contest based on your superhero tattoos.
Submit your superhero-inspired tattoo to jill@neatorama.com, post it in the comments for this post, or post it on the NeatoShop's Facebook wall -but hurry because all entries will need to be recieved by June 18, midnight PST.
The winner will be voted on by the Neatorama community, but if we get enough entries, we may also have a Neatorama employee favorite as well. Winners will receive two NeatoShop tees of their choosing.
Everyone needs a cable modem and router these days, but they aren't exactly the most beautiful things to look at. Fortunately, Sweet Sanity has a solution that helps you hide the boxes and wires inside some simple, white storage boxes.
Pretty much every kitchen needs a colander, but they aren't exactly the easiest thing to store in your kitchen. With the RMDLO strainer though, you can strain and steam at your leisure and then just fold the whole thing up into something about the size of a ruler. As an added advantage, the design can even be pushed together on the sides so you can empty the strainer into a small container without any trouble. The piece will also work as a steamer by simply placing it on top of a bowl of water.
I don't know about the weather in your neck of the woods, but down here in Southern California, it's already shaping up to be a really warm summer. That's why I was so happy to put together our newest Homes and Hues feature: 28 Ways to Stay Cool This Summer.
While you'll have to head over to the site to get the full list, here are a few tips I find particularly useful:
Don’t cook indoors. Summer is the perfect time for grilling and it’s a great way to keep heat out of your house. If grilling isn’t an option, try using your microwave or set up your Crockpot or other electric appliances in your garage or somewhere else where they don’t heat up the house.
Take advantage of the basement. You might reserve this underground area for storage, but it’s generally a good 10-15 degrees cooler than the rest of the house, making it a perfect place to hide out during the peak of summer.
Add awnings. The U.S. Department of Energy says that adding awnings to your south- and west-facing windows can reduce solar heat gain in a home by 77%. Also, if you need to replace your windows any time soon, be sure to get double-paned windows, which provide better insulation.
Run your wrist under cool water for five seconds. One of your main veins is particularly close to the surface when it passes through your wrist, so cooling it down will spread the colder blood out throughout the rest of your body.
Think about snow (or swimming pools). The mind is a powerful tool and studies show that thinking about cool stuff can actually make us feel less warm.
Folding couches are really heavy and uncomfortable for both the sitter and the sleepers, but this fantastic folding ottoman bed is great for putting your feet up and can provide a convenient sleeping space for your overnight guests that weigh up to 250 pounds.
Whether you already have a nice patio table or want to make your own, now you can learn to make your own (or hack your existing table) thanks to this great tutorial by Remodelaholic. The article is incredibly detailed so you can really get all the instructions you need to do the work for yourself.
Switching the chest out once the whole thing is complete is pretty simple, so even though it's not included in the DIY article, you can always consider switching out the boxes for planters so you can have a living floral centerpiece in your table.
It's hard to think of a more terrific and horrible idea for a shower curtain than a Twin Peaks one showing Laura Palmer after her body was unwrapped in a shower curtain. Of course, fans of the cult favorite are sure to love the design, but just in case you don't want anything quite that creepy to those who aren't viewers of the show, the minimalistic version of the Red Room is certain to horrify only those who love David Lynch's eerily strange TV show.
Grain silos are everywhere so when they go unused, there's no much you can do with them other than tear them down or leave them sitting around -or convert them into houses, which is a great way to reuse the materials and end up with a unique house.
Alternatively, out of commission airplanes can be sold off for scrap and melted down, or they can be used for housing parts like this incredible house in Malibu that features airplane wings for the roof.
If you use a bike and don't have a garage, your storage options can be rather frustrating -you either leave it outside in the elements or you have to leave it up against the wall or hang it up inside where it will probably take up a lot of your space. When one artist and her family opted to renovate their Victorian home in Sydney, their requests were simple. They wanted more space for their art and bikes. The pulley solution devised by Tribe Studio was brilliant as it removes the bikes from view and adds an additional skylight that provides unique lighting depending on how many bikes are stored up near the ceiling.
While the idea of a central vacuum system isn't new, they aren't particularly useful for hardwood or tile floors. But the CentraLux changes all that by using the vacuum to eliminate the need for a dustpan and the need to ever bend over while sweeping (something a lot of people can appreciate).
Just sweep up your floor, get the dust pile over by the VacPan and then hit the switch with your foot to suck up all the dust and debris. It's like the simplicity of sweeping things under the rug only actually getting rid of your dust pile cleanly.
Are you too cool for school? You might feel like that if you spend the night in an elementary school classroom converted into a hotel room. Of course, when it comes to cool, it's hard to beat the ice hotel in Sweden, which has to be kept at below freezing at all times.
For those looking for a little more depth in their travels, this mine-converted into a hotel suite is a whopping 500 feet below the surface.
If the puns are driving you crazy already, then you could always take a detour to the V8 hotel where life moves fast, but you're always in style.
Kids have always found fun ways to slide down the stairs, but while it's a fun indoor activity, it's not a particularly safe one. Thanks to the SlideRider though, kids of the world can finally glide down the stairs without making their parents worry about their safety -and the cool device can even be packed up and stored away in a small, simple bundle.
The Manhattan skyline is the most famous and most beautiful cityscapes in the world, but who knew it was also great for organizing your desk items and for drying dishes? Designer Luca Nichetto's Inception dish rack/desk organizer is perfect for both and for reliving one of the coolest scenes of Inception and making your own Godzilla movie with your toys.
When you have a good waterfront home but don't think you have enough views of the waterway or enough space and a modern enough design, you can either tear it down and start over or you can renovate what you have. The later is what the owner of this Westmere, Auckland, Australia home decided to do and the end result is a seamless blend between the new and old designs.
The original home had beautiful, striking lead-lined windows and brick walls which were painted white. A few of the original rooms were left alone, but the living space upstairs was converted into an open-space plan with a striking view of the waterways outside.
The cedar and zinc designs from the new areas perfectly compliment the older section's white brick and colorful windows and the result is simply beautiful.
A few months back, we asked you guys to submit your article ideas to us on Pinterest and then we asked you to vote for the winning idea. The overwhelming winner of the popular vote was Marilyn Terrell, who came up with the idea of Forgotten Heroes and Villains Who Changed American History. In putting together the article, I found way too many heroes, so there are no villains here, but I’m sure you’ll all agree that these men and women certainly made an impact on history.
Joseph Warren
While during his time he was regarded as the architect of the American Revolution and at least fourteen US states have a Warren County named after him, few people recognize the name Joseph Warren.
Dr. Joseph Warren wrote a series of resolves that helped serve as the blueprints for the first American government, he sent Paul Revere on his famous ride, he fought in the battles of Lexington and Concord, and he was a close associate with other leading revolutionaries such as John Hancock, John Adams and Samuel Addams. So why haven't you heard of him?
Likely because most of the patriots we're taught about since elementary school went on to do great things after the war, but Warren actually died in the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill, where he chose to serve as a private although he was ranked as a Major General. Even after he ran out of ammo, he chose to stay on the front lines so the militia could make its escape.
While it might be the very reason he's not widely remembered today, Warren's death did help the revolutionary cause by providing them with a martyr who helped inspired even more patriots to fight the British.
Speaking of the famous midnight ride, there are a lot of people who deserve a lot more credit than Paul Revere, who didn’t even finish his ride before being captured by the British. One particularly notable rider was Sybil Ludington, a sixteen year old girl who rode sidesaddle, alone, in the rain for forty miles (twice the distance Revere covered) to alert her father’s troops that they needed to meet at the Ludington farm to fight back against British raiders in Danbury, Connecticut. During the trip, she used a long stick to not only knock on the doors of the troops, but also to fight off a highwayman she encountered on her route.
Thanks to Sybil’s actions, 400 troops were ready to fight the next day and the group was able to join the Continental Army and chase the British out of Connecticut. For those wondering why we remember Paul Revere’s name above all the other successful riders from the Revolution, the simple reason is because Henry Wadsworth Longfellow found that Revere rhymes with a lot of things, including “listen my children and you shall hear.”
During the Revolutionary War, some aristocrats sent their slaves to battle in their place, but James Armistead Lafayette actually asked his master for permission to fight on the side of the patriots. That isn’t what made him so notable, instead it’s the fact that he was the first African American double agent.
First, he was assigned to spy on the recent defector, General Benedict Arnold, who trusted him so much that he asked Armistead to guide British troops through the local roads. After Arnold went north in 1781, James went to serve General Cornwallis. While spending time in the camp, he relayed vital information to the Americans regarding the British troop and arms deployment. His reports were considered critical in the defeat of the British in the Battle of Yorktown and the capture of General Cornwallis.
