A few weeks ago, I posted about our bedside tables that I was making.

Well I finally got around to finishing them up.

See, we only have about 12″ on either side of our bed.

Everything I found in the stores was wider than we had space for.

So I made something. Of course.

I started by thinking about our needs. It needed to:

• Be 12″ or less wide
• Hold a laptop
• Have a place to charge our peripherals
• Have a place to hold all the other random little crap we need at hand
• Not have so much storage it becomes a catchall for anything we don’t know where else to put

Our laptops can either sit on top of the tables or in the first shelf. The basket holds little essentials like the remotes, extra chargers, & cough drops.

My phone fits nicely next to the basket and all the wires come in from the pre-existing holes on the interior sides of each table. Both shelves are also lined with the same fabric as the bedskirt & {eventually} headboard.

I like how they curve back on the sides.

Can you tell what they’re made out of??

So, a lovely lady who has been reading my blog commented on my previous entry that mentioned the potty pad issues.

She suggested the Ikea Hacker blog, which I have never even heard of it but it’s stinkin brilliant.

Here is why I am immediately in love with it:
1. I love Ikea.
2. I love how versatile Ikea furniture is.
3. This blog gives me new ideas for just how versatile the furniture really is.
4. Yay!

So…there are many entries on pet solutions involving hacking Ikea furniture. A lot of them involve hiding litter boxes which I can probably adapt to these pads. The pads are longer than a litter box, but the general idea is the same…and really this is the solution I was kind of thinking of. Something that will hide them away so your first site upon sitting down isn’t a pad full of animal waste. Ew.

The main idea behind most of the hacks is figuring out how to use a cabinet as a way to hide some unsightly pet item.

The only thing I can think of that would not work is Aslan himself. He has never had to try to get to his potty area…I can see him hiking on something if he gets mad about it. But it’s worth a try anyway. It can’t be much worse than what we have, right?

I am kind of kicking myself for getting rid of this old computer desk. It had a totally open, empty area that would work perfectly for something like this. I had attached fabric to it, hoping that I could make it work as a craft desk…that didn’t work, but I think it would probably have worked for something like this. It’s also tall and big enough that it could double as a side table for the nice chaise we’re wanting to get for this room.

Actually, now that I’m thinking about it… oh wait nevermind. I forgot we are locked into that room for the pee pads. I was going to start thinking of other furniture that would work, but nevermind!

Okay…I must go waste hours upon hours looking at this site. Thanks Godiva!!!

When you can’t find exactly what you want, you have to make it yourself.

I can rarely find exactly what I want, so I’m quite familiar with the DIY route. Craigslist & Ikea are two of my favorite sources but inspiration and resources can really be found anywhere. When looking at a piece of furniture, pile of materials, or even a room, it’s important to see beyond what the item currently is and visualize what it could be.

In this instance, I needed a cake stand. Not just any cake stand though. {Lord knows I’ve got plenty of cake stands; they just weren’t big enough!} I needed a cake stand that would be big enough for a wedding cake.

A wedding cake that would be showing up to a wedding THIS SATURDAY. A rustic, backyard, fall, wedding with lots of natural elements & textures like wood, twine, burlap, & pumpkins.

The largest layer of the cake is a 12″ round, so something 14″ would be perfect. Have you ever tried to find a 14″ round cake stand?? It’s not as easy as one would think. But after promising the bride a cake stand, I had to come up with something.

I also promised the bride orange candles from IKEA. That was easy.

{I probably bought too many but better too many than not enough.}

Back to the cake stand.

So I was wandering around the kitchen section & happened upon the SNUDDA {lazy susan} for a totally reasonable $7.99. It’s 15″ wide ~ {almost} the PERFECT diameter!

Across from the candle section were the plants & planters. There I found the 4 1/4″ MANDEL planter for $2.99.

You see where I’m going with this??

I also swung by the dollar store & picked up a ball of twine for $1.

Assembled all my materials.

Using my handy glue gun, I secured the top row of twine & then wound my way down.

Well, technically I started at the bottom which would mean I worked my way “up”, not “down”…  Either way.

I then hot glued all around the bottom {technically top} edge, securing the last row & creating a lip of hot glue so the twine wouldn’t slip off.

Since the lazy susan has a base {that’s how it spins}, I wanted to cover it in twine too.

All twined!

Then I hot glued the top {er… bottom} of the planter to the bottom center of the lazy susan. An extra band of twine hid the seam.

Flipped right side up.

See how the twine on the lazy susan base & the planter tie both together? It creates one unified base with the wood resting on top.

And did I mention ~ IT SPINS!!

So that’s how $13 {w/ tax} made a custom, fall-inspired cake stand fit for a wedding out of a lazy susan, ceramic planter, & some twine.

{I’ll be sure to get a picture of it at the wedding, so you can see it in action!}

There’s a lot to be said for not taking life toooo seriously.

Getting up, washing, eating properly, socializing, working … we’re not advocating stopping any of those things.

But, for example, making sure that you have the right sort of balsamic vinegar, comparing the tone of your tights with those the marketing secretary and then getting upset about the result or taking professional advice as  to the best name for your new dog.

That’s when the big STOP sign should really come out.

Similarly with choosing, and to a greater extent designing, designer furniture. Far too many people get hung up on the “luxury” aspect. The uniqueness. The exclusivity.

And forget that a good and competently designed product can also improve your world.
And be fun.

One of the best items we saw at the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair was four planks screwed together. Absolute genius.

We don’t know if Bristol based designer  Simon Bradshaw is so enlightened – or if his “League Table” was simply a lucky grab in the inspiration bag.

But then it don’t matter.

“League Table” is a remarkably refined, brilliantly conceived and excellently executed piece of furniture.

Created as an entry for the 2008 Bristol Design Festival “GRAPHIKEAII” competition the idea was to take  a table – presumably of Swedish origin – and add value by any means necessary.

Simon Bradshaw turned his into a mini table football table.

We know, we know.

But don’t you remember back in the day when video games were taking their first 8 Byte steps; there suddenly appeared in pubs across the UK tables that were really Pacman machines.

Two players could sit opposite each other with a beer, a packet of pickled onion crisps and the steely resolve to eat their opponent.

And if you remember that you’ll remember the best fun was NOT playing Pacman and instead sitting at a table that was actually a Pacman game.

It was like walking on the moon.

Simon Bradshaw’s League Table is exactly the same.

On the one hand, whenever you want you can challenge whoever is near-by to a friendly game of football.

But you don’t have to.
You can just enjoy idling twiddling with the bars… and enjoy the atmosphereless void around you.

We’re genuinely very taken with League  Table and can well imagine it working brilliantly in a range of locations be they domestic, industrial, commercial or social.

And there is no reason why it can’t be “up-sized” to a full table either.

Gorgeous

If you want one contact Simon direct.

League Table by Simon Bradshaw. Lousy pun, brilliant table.

League Table by Simon Bradshaw - Ace.

E’ nato un movimento che sta man mano prendendo piede anche in Italia e che prende il nome di IKEA HACKER

Tale movimento basa la sua filosofia sul fatto che se riuscite a montare un tavolino seguendo le istruzioni di Ikea, potete anche montare qualcosa di assolutamente originale seguendo altre istruzioni!

Vien da se che ripiani per cucina diventano chitarre elettriche, audiocassette diventano lampade e mensole diventano doppi desktop stand!

A voi i link:

ikea hacker

e alcune immagini:

Stumbled upon a website that showcases pimped-up Ikea furniture:

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com

You may just get inspiration to add bling to your vanilla-flavoured Ikea furniture!

Vielen Dank geht an den immer unterhaltsamen “ikea hacker” für diese nette Erinnerung, dass nur weil man seine Möbel bei einem Möbelhaus für die breite Masse kauft, das nicht bedeutet, dass man nichts Einzigartiges und Originelles daraus machen kann.

Bei Ikea hacker gibt es viele kreative Köpfe mit viel Zeit und einem schwedischen Möbelgiganten um die Ecke.

AleXX aus München hat zum Beispiel eine Garderobe gebaut, die uns sehr gefällt.

Gut gemacht.

AleXX aus München hackt die Schweden

Cleaning up loose ends today, so here are some highlights:

• Glad to see Colin McEnroe will return to the airwaves.  NPR is brave to let him loose for 58 consecutive minutes a day.
• It’s 2009. Why does black women’s hair remain a source of angst?And leave the Obama girls alone. They’re little kids!
• The weather, Hallelujah, has finally broken. Now we have to worry about Danny.
• Pirates old and new were in the air this a.m. I turned on NPR and got Tom Ashbrook’s “On Point,” featuring Richard H. Patton’s book “Patriot Pirates”  about the privateers who harassed British shipping during the American Revolution. Then I picked up the NY Times Arts section from Sunday (yes, I’m behind again) and read about “At the Edge of the World,” the documentary about saving the whales in which the rescue ship flies a modified pirate flag.
• I had intended to devote an entire entry to the subject of over-the-top commentary, but Michael Malone said it better than I can. I especially liked his notes about people who can only disagree by calling him a traitor or a Nazi. Also liked his list of types – the troll, the droll, the skimmer, etc. who inject their views online. There’s a sidebar to this issue having to do with whether Google should “out” people who write potentially defamatory material, but it’s too complicated for a quick hit.
• Again a topic I had meant to cover in depth, but the opening summary and first paragraph of “America’s Worst Drivers” are distressing enough: “Nearly 10% of America’s drivers couldn’t pass a DMV licensing test if they had to take it today. … At least one of every five drivers doesn’t know when to use bright lights, how to follow directional arrows or when highways are the most slippery …” I guess the only surprise here is that there aren’t more crashes.
• I don’t understand the purpose of wOw. It seems to be a combination of fluff, fizz and gossip. The headline “Paul Podlucky: Get Scientific With Your Hair,” drew me into the photo essay and the article. Here’s what I learned: use a well-lighted mirror, keep it simple, and post an ad for skin products when you don’t have enough to fill a photo essay. wOw’s weather chart includes temp, forecast and the type of hair day, though I couldn’t seem to find Hartford. And in the last article I looked at, Miss Manners, Gossip Girl Liz Smith and a couple of others discuss Sarah Palin: she’s likely to stay in the public eye, just not in Alaska and not in politics.
• Here are two sites that I click on daily to donate to people and animals. The Hunger Site sends 1.1 cups of food every time you click, though each person  is limited to once in 24 hours. I’m probably going to buy the Wakami Eight-Strand Earth Bracelet, which will count for 50 cups of food. Plus it looks terrific. And even though the photos often break my heart, I click daily on Animal Rescue, too.
• Ikea Hacker came across my radar screen quite some time ago, but I haven’t looked at it in a while. The products just keep getting better. The idea is to take Ikea wares and “hack” them into something completely different. Among my favorites: An $8 stand for a laptop computer made from shelf brackets and a drawer handle.  And I’m definitely looking at all those ideas to hide cat litter boxes.  What I like best about it all is that Ikea gets in on the action with ads and special offers. After all, people are buying their stuff even if it’s morphing into something unexpected.
• A site that I don’t look at often enough is The Guardian’s book blog.  Its appreciation of Dominick Dunne captures the essence of the site: “Trash from the top drawer.”

• And here’s one that I was sure I had mentioned before but didn’t. I’ll probably do a whole entry on The Moth, but in the meantime enjoy the great storytelling.

use a really cute bag that folds into a ball! The birds carrying the bike is absolutely adorable!
http://www.flipandtumble.com/

I’ve decided that my move to Wisconsin will also help me really embrace some green things I’ve been wanting to do (but having issues with in suburbia) including riding my bike and shopping at co-ops. Til then, I will try not to get run down on my bike (or having it stolen from the random things I have to lock it to) and recycle furniture (more on that later) I will post more on my green adventures here!

And, um, this Ikea Commercial? Awesome! Don’t see stuff like this in the U.S.

Was delighted to see my ‘Victorian candlestick’s poor cousin‘ post got accepted for  a little mention on the excellent IKEA Hacker blog…

Click here to see it, along with a few work-in-progress shots that wern’t on the original post.

IKEA Hacker post

Many thanks to Workshop Shed Andy for the ‘heads up’ on the site!

Thanks to the always entertaining “ikea hacker” for this useful reminder that just because you purchase your furniture at a mass market retailer, that doesn’t mean you can’t make something unique and original out of it.

Ikea hacker is full of that species of creatives with a lot of time on their hands and a Swedish furniture giant round the corner.

AleXX from Munich’s self styled coat hanger system is very much to our liking.

Nice one sir.

AleXX from Munich hacks the Swedes

In the never ending task that is the re-vamp of my living room (see lots of previous posts for endlesss referencees to this Herculean endevour!) I’ve been making some small tables for such essential items as cups of tea, tea pots, mobile phones and a variety of remotes for the television I never get a chance to watch!

I thought I could get away with just one such table, but as always the project has become a self-propelled monster and I’m currently up to a total of three (and counting!).

So here’s the first one – it’s based on an AVSATS tray from IKEA, but which I found brand new in a charity shop for £1! It’s just the right shape and size for bringing a pot of tea, milk jug and two cups into the sitting room, and I thought it would be really nice to then put it down on to it’s own set of detachable legs to form an instant table.

Occasional Table Number 1

For ease I’ve put a few photos on my newly created Flickr steam which show the basic stages in construcion – it’s little more than a framework of metal legs (made from worn out drill bits – very long ones, the kind one uses to drill holes straight through the walls of buildings and out the other side), welded together and painted black. I made some feet from sections of copper tube filled with lead, and added four copper tube ’sockets’ onto the base of the tray into which the legs simply slot. Job done!!

It’s proved really useful already and well worth the £1 investment! 

A reader of a previous blog post of mine (thanks Andy, of the excellent Workshop Shed site!) told me about the IKEA Hacker site and I think this new project maybe fits the bill of the kind of things they feature – I’ll write in to them and see what happens!?

Oggi voglio farvi conoscere IKEA HACKER!!
Questo Blog nato da una fantastica idea di Jules raccoglie una miriade di “manomissioni” di Mobili o oggetti comprati dal noto mobilificio svedese.

Un taglio qui e un’aggiunta là, una lampadina montata così o una maniglia attaccata cosà, e un armadio, un pensile e un mobiletto diventano proprio quello che si stava cercando. O un’idea allegra e creativa per ravvivare l’arredo di casa.
Un catalogo tutto da sfogliare, consultare e copiare, con la garanzia di qualcuno che quelle soluzioni le ha già messe in pratica e la facilità di istruzioni e varianti pronte da adottare.
Buona curiosata…
Ciaoooo
IKEA Hacker

I have a love/hate relationship with Ikea. I love it because the prices are generally great and I always get inspired by the interior design in the mock rooms. I loathe it because there’s no way in hell that me and my other half are leaving there without having a fight. It’s just guaranteed. They should give you a prize if you walk out the door and didn’t just break up with each other over whether or not the Kutzbrig coffee table will fit in your living room.

BUT ANYWAY…

There’s this great blog I just came across called Ikea Hacker. People submit their success stories (I think the unsucessful stories might actually make an even better website…) about how they modified Ikea pieces to better suit their needs. There are lots of pictures to go along with the stories and it’s a great place to get ideas for how you might get more use out of your storage space, sass up a room, etc. etc.

One of the projects that struck my fancy:

Decorate your walls without having to paint (landlords all over the world are rejoicing). Wrapping brightly colored fabric over a simple frame livens up the space and is super cheap. I might actually try this one in my kitchen. Check out the full project description here. This example isn’t reallllly about furniture, but there are lots of great tips and projects on the site, take a look for some inspiration.

Here are some fantastic sites on home and decor but in DIY I like to visit.

Curbly 

Ikea Hacker 

Nice Spice

Gua ama Esther tuh sama-sama suka ama yang namanya toko furniture. Dulu di Jakarta, kita suka ke Home Cientro tuh. Padahal ya gak selalu beli apa-apa, tapi seneng aja liat-liat. Beberapa kali kalo pas lagi mati gaya gak tau mau ngapain, kita jalan aja ke Home Cientro buat liat-liat. Hehehe. Dan tentu saja kita juga suka ke Index! Sayangnya kita suka males ke Gading jadi ya gak bisa sering-sering ke Index. Tapi kalo pas udah ke MAG, pasti kita sempetin mampir Index.

Nah, kalo di luar negeri, siapa yang gak kenal ama Ikea? 2 kali kita ke Singapur bareng, selalu ada 1 hari yang kita pake untuk keliling Ikea. Seneng banget jalan di Ikea, dan tentu juga selalu gak tahan untuk gak beli dong! Hahaha.

Begitu pula dengan sekarang ini. Emang gak deket-deket amat sih dari tempat kita, tapi kita tetep seneng ke Ikea. Bayangin kalo deket, bisa tiap minggu kita ke sono kali ya?! (Gak segitunya kali ya… ) Hahaha. Entah pas emang lagi perlu furniture atau cuma iseng doang, kita seneng jalan di Ikea. Dan gua juga seneng ngeliatin katalog nya. Jadi gua simpenin tuh katalog Ikea tahun 2008 dan 2009 di rumah. Kadang kalo iseng, gua suka liat-liatin. Keren-keren soalnya.

Disini, Ikea itu terkenal sebagai tempat furniture murah. Emang jauh sih bedanya ama toko-toko furniture lain yang mahalnya amit-amit. Tapi sebenernya gak semua barang di Ikea itu murah lho. Di Ikea kan tiap model ada namanya dan ada beberapa model yang mahal juga.

Nah ini yang harus diperhatiin kalo mau belanja di Ikea:

1. Walaupun Ikea udah punya nama besar, tokonya selalu rame, dan barangnya bagus-bagus modelnya, tapi itu bukan jaminan kalo kualitasnya pasti bagus lho! Jadi harus bener-bener dicek, diteliti, dan ditelaah. Secara umum sih ya kualitas itu berbanding lurus sama harga ya. Jadi kalo kita beli produk Ikea yang murah banget, ya siap-siap untuk ngedapetin kualitas yang gak bagus juga.

Contohnya nih laci yang kita beli buat nyimpen bajunya Andrew ini. Murah banget emang, kalo gak salah inget harganya cuma sekitar USD 20. Tapi ya begitu dah kualitasnya, jangan diharepin. Pake berapa kali buat buka tutup, lacinya udah seret. Terutama laci yang tengah. Setelannya udah gak pas gitu. Jadi kalo kita nutup lacinya, gak bisa langsung nutup sempurna, mesti diteken lagi baru bisa nutup banget.
2. Walaupun Ikea udah terkenal kalo harganya lebih murah dibanding toko furniture lain, itu juga belum tentu! Jadi kalo mau nyari furniture emang kita kudu banding-banding ke banyak toko ya. Jangan ke 1 toko aja. Nah dari pengalaman kita, kalo beli meja makan dan kursi nya tuh di Ikea gak bisa dibilang murah. Jatohnya sama aja ama toko-toko furniture lain. Malah modelnya Ikea gua bilang kurang ok dan kadang kalo di toko lain lagi ada promosi, di Ikea jatohnya malah bisa lebih mahal. Makanya kita akhirnya gak beli meja makan di Ikea.

Tapi ya secara general, Ikea emang ok sih. Dan juga tergantung gimana pinter-pinternya kita juga untuk nyari furniture yang murah tapi ok. Oleh karena itu sangat disarankan juga kalo kita bisa kreatif dan jadi yang disebut sebagai Ikea hacker! Coba deh cek di blog nya Ikea hacker ini, orang-orang tuh pada kreatif-kreatif banget! Mereka bukan cuma mengubah fungsi dari furniture Ikea, tapi juga ada yang ngerubah design nya. Banyak yang hasilnya jadi lebih keren dan jadi keliatan lebih mahal dari harga aslinya!

Gua sendiri karena gak berbakat dalam hal pertukangan, tapi sok-sok mau jadi Ikea hacker, jadinya kita cuma mengubah fungsi aja tanpa mengubah bentuk. Halah, masang furniturenya aja kadang ribet sendiri (iya lho kalo beli furniture di Ikea harus masang sendiri! ), gimana mau pake ngerubah-rubah design nya… ntar malah jadi ancur! Hehe.

Nah ini contoh furniture Ikea yang kita ubah fungsinya:

1. Dari chest drawer jadi lemari sepatu.
Tadinya sepatu-sepatu kita tuh cuma ditaroh di rak sepatu plastik biasa yang gak tertutup. Tapi rasanya kok berantakan banget ya. Apalagi kita kan di condo yang gak ada sekat-sekatnya. Jadi rak sepatunya ya ditaroh di living room di sebelah sofa gitu. Gak enak banget ngeliatnya kan. Tapi mau nyari lemari sepatu yang tertutup itu kok mahal-mahal banget ya! Bahkan yang di Ikea pun mahal-mahal lho!

Nah bulan lalu pas lagi ada long weekend President’s day, di Ikea ada 1 chest drawer yang di sale! Cuma untuk 1 hari doang. Harganya dari USD 79.99 jadi USD 39.99! Murah banget kan! Gak heran kalo langsung ludes. Kita dateng jam 12-an, langsung ngambil 1 yang warnanya coklat tua. Pas kita dateng itu barangnya masih banyaaaakkkk banget lho! Tapi 2 jam kemudian pas kita mau pulang, yang coklat tua dan putih udah ludes! Yang sisa tinggal warna pink! Hahaha. Gile bener. Hari itu di semua trolley orang pasti ada chest drawer ini, malah gua liat banyak yang beli 2 unit!

Ini nih penampakannya:

Lumayan lho, karena rel laci nya bagus nih, beda ama laci yang punya Andrew itu. Jadi yang ini laci nya buka tutupnya lebih smooth dan mantep. Dan walaupun keliatannya kecil, tapi isinya lumayan lho, bisa muat 5 pasang sepatu Andrew, 5 pasang sepatu gua, 3 pasang sandal gua,  8 pasang sepatu Esther, dan 2 pasang sandal Esther. Lumayan banget kan??!! Emang sih masih ada 2 pasang sepatu Esther dan 2 pasang sepatu gua yang gak muat, tapi karena sepatu-sepatu ini jarang dipake banget, jadi gak apa lah diumpetin di bawah sofa. Hahaha.

2. Dari meja nakas jadi tempat galon air.
Liat nih, ok juga kan ide kita? Hehe.

Karena galon air nya udah ada kerannya, jadi kita gak perlu pake dispenser kan. Cukup ditaroh di atas meja nakas ini. Meja nakasnya emang rada unik karena cukup tinggi (biasa kan meja nakas pendek ya). Lacinya bisa buat nyimpen plastik-plastik kresek. Rak bawahnya buat naroh brosur-brosur supermarket yang suka ada promosi dan kupon-kupon.

Asiknya di Ikea tuh juga karena asli buanyaaaakkk banget pilihannya. Contonya ya meja nakas yang tinggi itu tadi. Kalo di toko furniture biasa belum tentu bisa nemu meja nakas yang tinggi begitu ya, soalnya kan pilihannya lebih terbatas.

Nah gitu juga pas gua lagi nyari meja panjang (console ya kalo gak salah sebutannya) buat naroh frame-frame foto kita. Ternyata meja begini tuh mahal-mahal juga kalo di toko furniture.

Untungnya nemu rak buku yang pendek tapi panjang ini di Ikea. Nah lho kok bisa pendek tapi panjang? Hahaha. Maksudnya secara vertikal tuh pendek, jadi di bagian atasnya bisa kita taroh frame-frame foto (kalo rak buku biasa kan rata-rata tinggi secara vertikal, nah kalo tinggi kan gak lucu kalo atasnya kita taroh frame foto. Siapa yang bisa ngeliat? Apalagi kalo orangnya tingginya cuma se-gua gini. Hahaha.), dan panjang secara horisontal yang mana kebetulan pula ukurannya cukup pas ama ukuran tembok yang emang mau kita jadiin tempat bersemayamnya semua frame foto kita.

Seneng banget gua nemu rak buku ini. Walaupun harganya relatif gak murah-murah amat, tapi sangat memuaskan. Kalo gak di Ikea mungkin gak nemu ya yang model begini.

Trus juga yang memuaskan adalah pas kita ngeliat lemari pajangan kaca ini:

Ini sih asli gua bilang great deal banget. Lemari pajangan yang full dari kaca ini harganya cuma USD 59! Murah banget kan?? Kalo di tempat lain (bahkan kalo bikin pake tukang pun) mana bisa dapet segini harganya? Soalnya gua inget pas gua bikin lemari pajangan di Jakarta juga gak semurah ini deh kalo diitung-itung. Ini lemarinya kalo mau, atasnya bisa dipasang lampu. Tapi kita gak pasang sih, soalnya toh udah terang ini. Hehehe.

Ya itu beberapa barang kita yang belinya di Ikea, masih ada lagi sih beberapa barang yang lain. So far sih kita puas ama barang-barang Ikea, kecuali laci bajunya Andrew itu. Jadi ya emang harus pinter-pinternya kita pilih-pilih aja.

Tapi gimanapun kita tetep terdaftar jadi fans nya Ikea. Apalagi Swedish meatball nya enak banget (dan murah pula!), dan Andrew juga seneng kalo ke Ikea, soalnya kan ada bagian mainan anak-anak tuh, dia suka main disono. Atau kalo pas ke bagian furniture kamar anak-anak, si Andrew suka nyobain ranjangnya atau mainin meja-kursinya. Hehehe.

PS. Ini penampakan kamar Andrew. Di rak mainan di sebelah kiri itu yang kotak-kotak merah itu juga dari Ikea. Bagus juga nih kotak-kotak gini biar mainan-mainan gak berantakan. Trus karpet yang ada gambar jalanan nya itu juga dari Ikea. Andrew paling seneng main mobil-mobilan di karpet ini. Karena kan ada jalanannya trus ada rumahnya. Karpet ini murah lho, harganya cuma USD 14.99. Karpet serupa di Wallmart harganya udah lebih mahal, ukurannya lebih kecil pula. Dan terakhir, ada keliatan tenda di sebelah kanan foto. Itu juga dari Ikea. Lucu juga nih main tenda-tendaan di kamar, walaupun sekarang Andrew udah jarang mau main tenda-tendaan sih…

PS lagi. Btw, dari begitu banyak franchise yang semua udah dibuka di Indonesia, kenapa Ikea gak buka di Indo ya? Padahal kalo buka di Indo, gua yakin pasti rame ya…

Dear Internet,

I love you. Sometimes you show me things I think, “How did I ever once live without you?” If there is ever a question I can’t answer or information someone wants to know, you are there. You are always there. You’re my BFF. Thanks.

…today, I am appreciating my BFF for ikea hacker – a website that takes cheap, simple, and sometimes unappealing ikea furniture, and makes it better. If you own anything ikea – you’ll want to take a look. If you don’t own anything ikea, this might make you want to.

delizioso utilizzo alternativo di una libreria in un rifugio per gatti abbandonati.

(ma anche per l’Aldo, con i suoi otto gatti, non sarebbe una cattiva idea) 

Hi! How was your turkey? Just in case you are still digesting or having to work while digesting, here are some links to distract you.

Matthew Carden makes wonderful scenes and photographs of mini people with unexpected objects. The image on the right is called Chardonnay Grapes.

Ikea Hacker features great projects that rework Ikea products to make something new and functional. This week, they featured these fantastic stereo speakers make of salad bowls. Excellent.

I’ve seen some examples of these kind of images before, but these photos by Jean-Daniel Beley are all fantastic. I bet they were really fun to set up as well. Hmm… I have a good view of a sidewalk next to the apartment. Hmmm…

And here is a won-der-ful image of a sweet child in love with spaghetti. Maybe even more than I am. The caption really captures the feeling: “This is not “playing” with food. this clever kid is liking her spaghetti so much she feels the need to hug it. Just look at her face, she’s clearly feeling the love..
I might hug my food tonight too.” Tee hee.

My very talented friend is taking increasingly beautiful and interesting pictures, so I want to draw your attention to her Flickr photostream. I think she’s amazing. You will think so too. She takes amazingly detailed photos and sees things that I would never see.

Have a wonderful weekend. I leave you with a couple of videos. The first one is serious, the second one. Well, I’d just like to hear why Twyla Tharp would have to say about the choreography.

A wonderful motivational interview with Twyla Tharp about creativity, failure, acknowledgment and motivation.

Just because… there are no words. And something makes me envy his energy.

I don’t think I will ever wear a white body suit.

Seja pelos excessos que nos cercam hoje, ou pela necessidade de mudança com pouca verba, fato é: dar novas funções a objetos não é apenas uma tendência, já é praticamente um estilo de vida.

E como fazer isso sair dos nichos e das nossas casas e passar a influenciar grandes empresas e suas grandes produções?

Imagine ter gerentes de produto criativos, verdadeiros “aproveitadores de matéria”, que em vez de investir milhões em campanhas para vender produtos encalhados e assim conseguir verba para reinvestir em novas invenções, simplesmente retiram do mercado o que não tem mais uso e reinventam, com base na opinião de seus consumidores? Basta ver quanta customização de produtos de massa existem agora para saber que há um potencial criativo enorme em torno de matéria “obsoleta”.

Imagine repensar as embalages, como fez o Mr. Heineken em plena década de 60, criando uma garrafa de cerveja que serviria também como um substituto para o tijolo? 

Esta “tendência” caminha em uma linha semelhante à da mass customization, mas entregando na mão dos consumidores a maior responsabilidade: recriar. Nada está pronto (como na mass customization, onde padrões e cores já estão pré-selecionados) mas tudo está a ponto de poder ser reinventado. A idéia é que o consumidor não se contente com o que a empresa X ou Y oferece, adaptando aquele produto às suas exatas necessidades. O movimento é também de quase de reciclagem do próprio consumo, transformando o que talvez fosse para o lixo em novos, vendáveis e usáveis produtos.

E aqui temos os dois casos. Recriando e Reciclando.

O primeiro, de um “hacker” de produtos da Ikea, que convida outros consumidores a mostrarem suas propostas para customização ou “remodalagem” dos produtos da Ikea, transformando uma porta em mesa, um prato em relógio, uma luminária em suporte para microfone e luminárias de mesa em luminária de teto. 

O segundo, mostra a idéia do designer inglês Dave Stovell que transformou jornais não lidos em uma coleção de móveis. O que ele percebeu foi que muitos jornais permaneciam fechados, sem nunca sequer terem sido vendidos/lidos. Ou seja, aquilo que tinha um valor cultural e econômico em um dia, como uma fonte de informação, no outro não passava de um monte de velhas notícias, com nada de valor. 

A coleção que apresenta cadeiras, bancos e mesas, pode ser reciclada depois, no final de suas vidas úteis.

Então, recriando ou reciclando, faça alguma coisa!

BEFORE:
messy, tall VIKA CURRY IKEA table which pretty much takes up all the space in my tiny room, IKEA pink seater which isn’t really comfortable to sit on, IKEA box which is bulky and dusty

books and red IKEA boxes piled up on the bookshelf, blue billboard, messy dirty laundry basket from IKEA *lol i just realized i’m an IKEA whore.

AFTER:

In an attempt to revamp my room without going through the hassle of selling off my old VIKA CURRY IKEA table and buying a shorter IKEA table (or buying new table legs), I decided to screw off the legs from the IKEA table. I took the dusty IKEA box i use to store my bags and another box filled with old clothes and topped the IKEA table-top on the boxes. along with a balinese tie-dye sarung from bram’s mother as a tablecloth, the makeshift table actually turned out the way i wanted, and it made my room look more spacious!

and welcome the newest addition to my room: the hand-me-down TV from Dhanto! (he has a HDTV monitor now, ck ck ck). I’ll look for a cheap dvd player soon so I can just watch DVDs in my room if I’m feeling antisocial and look you can see I hid the VIKA CURRY legs between my laundry basket and bookshelf hahaha. sorry for the dark photos.. my room looks nicer with the IKEA lamp on and not the natural bedroom lights

There is a whole Ikea Hack movement going on – (don’t tell me you didn’t know) all about reusing Ikea objects to create something else. This is a wooden magazine holder which has been varnished and used as a shelf. I think this is such a good idea and it would make a great floating bedside table. The curves give it a lovely finished look and you could paint it in a dense Farrow and Ball colour – watch out house you are about to get hacked! Thank you design sponge for this great idea