BLOG March 10, 2013

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Almost Makes Perfect's Fauxdenza is a Pretty Solution

 

Space- and cost-saving are two of the pillars of IKEA hacking but rarely do you see a project achieve both as seamlessly as this "fauxdenza" featured on Almost Makes Perfect.  Making the most of (or, rather, making up for) a “weird wall” next to the kitchen as she put it, Molly Madfis and her boyfriend expanded on the ideas of Anna from Door Sixteen and The Brick House to create a lovely final piece.

Molly turned two IKEA Akurum wall cabinets (36″ x 18″), four Applad doors, one Akurum suspension rail, some internal hinges and a long piece of wood into a looker of a storage unit.  Shrewdly, Molly focused on using a quality piece of wood to make sure her and her partner's hard work wouldn't be wasted on something hard on the eyes.  

Dare we suggest PANYLing those...

  March 07, 2013

Ciera Design's Gorgeous, Rosey Plum #DIY Coaster Walkthrough

 

Clear and Simple Stamps' “Spread the Love” Campaign has inspired Ciera of Ciera Design to construct these gorgeous DIY Geometric Coasters that are easy to make and sure to garner compliments the next time you have friends over.  The campaign in question asks DIY bloggers to create a design inspired by their personal “blog crush."  For Ciera that special someone is Bri of DesignLoveFest:

Although there are many blogs I love, today I chose Designlovefest because Bri is an inspiring blogger, an amazing graphic designer and also teaches blogging and video workshops. She has such a clear picture of her own brand and it is inspiring to see her continuing to take her businesses to the next level. I became even more in love after I discovered Bri’s Vine account, she is seriously the cutest thing! Bri always has absolutely beautiful cocktail...

  March 06, 2013

We've Got the Hots for Hay's Striking Matchboxes
 

If you've ever been to Times Square then you've witnessed the oppressive impact being over-advertised to can have.  There are endless surfaces yet, save the instances where advertisements double as true art, seldom does a striking image serve function over form.  Undermining this common paradigm, albeit on an infinitesimal scale by comparison, is the goal of the Strike matchboxes by Danish brand Hay.  Product developer Scott Schenk uses only the red phosphorus ink necessary for striking matches to create matchbooks that, when dropped next to a candle or in a dish by the front door, can become a design element and not simply an opportunity for a restaurant that you kinda sorta enjoyed three months ago to leave a trail of branding and contact info behind.  

 
Schneck and his wife, Swedish graphic designer Clara von Zweigbergk, rethought the...

  March 04, 2013

One Lovely Pinner Put PANYL on a Pillar

 

Any seasoned design blogger will tell you that, in the second decade of this 21st century, there are three distinct types of blog posts:

1) Oh my gosh, look what I did!

2) Oh my gosh, look what they did!

3) Oh my gosh, I love Pinterest.

Category #3 is from whence today's post came as we have discovered the lovely Audrey Sturdevant of Interior DETOX and her PANYL projects that use Woodblock (now sold out and discontinued) PANYL-by-the-foot.  We know these are PANYL-by-the-food projects because she has employed the PANYL to redesign some tables which we don't offer (above) and this huge pillar (below)!

   

It's hard to tell if these pieces appear in a home environment of some sort or a commercial space.  The tagged bag in the photo above would indicate the latter but, then again, Audrey...

  February 28, 2013

One Room Challenge, Week 4. Hodge:Podge's PANYL Samples Arrive

 

For Canadian #DIY blogstress Barbara of hodge:podge it is week four of the Six-Week One Room Challenge presented by Linda at My Crafty Home Life. While the burdens of being a teacher during report card season have limited her participation a bit, it seems a new wave of inspiration has arrived in the form of our PANYL samples! Included were new, as-yet-unavailable chevron, quatrefoil and stripe patterns.  According to Barbara,

I am excited to have been asked by Panyl to be one of the first to try out a pattern from their line. I want a bright graphic backdrop on the back of my bookcase. I am leaning towards the emerald green or slate, in stripes. If I chose to go with the black and white graphic rug from Ikea, stripes will go well. If I find a plain jute rug...

  February 26, 2013

OMG CMYK: Hundred Million's Color Lover's Card Deck

 

So you want to host a graphic design-themed poker night but realize that nobody has ever done that before or even considered something so strange?  You're in luck, 'cause UK based Hundred Million has the deck of cards to wow the Photoshop friendly.

Their new CMYK deck replaces traditional suits with the four colors fit to print -- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black -- and traditional numbers with corresponding opacity percentages.  Ehrmergerd.  I have a full house, 50 percents over 30 percents.

Even a stereotypically poorly lit, cigar smoke-filled poker room couldn't remain dim with these on the table.  You could even serve layer cake and cheese font-due.  Go on, leave your awesome/awful graphic design card game puns in the comments.

Originally dealt by Design Milk.


  February 21, 2013

Bob Vila Reveals His Favorite IKEA Hacks

 

Bob Vila, the DIY king who's got a couple decades on the #DIY hashtag, has joined the IKEA hacking interested with the release of a "Top 10 IKEA Hacks" via his website.  What's interesting about a list curated by Vila is that it is aimed more at functionality than creative design for the blog photo closeup, giving this list a real "doers" sensibility.  Still, design shines through in some of the pieces.

This BEKVAM bath vanity allowed the hacker to turn an IKEA kitchen cart into a bathroom vanity with open shelving…

 

This ERSLEV chevron hack is probably the chicest of the included pics…

 

And the LACK table hack pictured at top uses LACK shelves for a nice modern feel.

Vila, in true Vila form, did include an IKEA hack for the gardener in you.  This GORM Cold Frame...

  February 19, 2013

The Hackolution Will Be Televised: A Dexter-Themed Lack Hack

 

Kudos to anyone who can find a way to bring their varying interests together into one creative pursuit, such as Instructables user BrittLiv did with this Dexter-themed IKEA Hack.  His coffee table is made from IKEA Expedit and Lack parts and represents the perfect project/gift for the crafty Dexter fan (who doesn't need somewhere to put heavy objects).

Writer Logan Booker commented on the Dexter table for the Australian outpost of Gizmodo:

The now-butchered table reminded its creator — an Instructables user with the handle “BrittLiv” — of the TV show Dexter (or perhaps the novels upon which the show is based) and so inspired, they decided to paint the visible cuts red and slap a quote from the series on top.The modification itself is straightforward, as long as you don’t mind a bit of cutting. The key points are to reinforce the...