Archive for May, 2007

Candle index

candle

I found a list on the internet that associates different scents with moods or psychological states. Studies reveal that a specific scent can unleash or encourage a corresponding psychological state. The science that makes these studies is called aromachology. It has nothing to do with aroma therapy, because it doesn’t rely on specific substances, but instead on ANY substance that emits a specific aroma. So, for an easy approach, I suggest using candles, but if you want, go ahead and be creative (I strongly discourage sprays and other artificial chemicals, as they may be more harmful than useful). The list goes something like this:

- Jasmine scent can reduce anger, confidence, depression, fatigue, fear, insecurity, stress.

- Orange is against anger, anxiety, confidence, depression, fear, frustration, irritability, tension and can enhance happiness, positive outlook, sexual arousal.

- Patchouli – anger, anxiety, fatigue, stress. It is also a good aphrodisiac.

- Rose – anger, anxiety, depression, stress, panic, grief, loneliness. It can also provoke happiness and peace.

- Ylang Ylang – anger, anxiety, depression, irritability, panic and panic attacks, stress. Good for enhancing happiness.

- Lavender – anger, depression, fear, insomnia, irritability, panic, stress

- Chamomile is good against anxiety.

- Sandalwood – REDUCES: anxiety, depression, fatigue, fear, grief, insecurity, irritability, stress. ENHANCES: happiness, inner peace.

- Lemon – REDUCES: depression, fatigue, fear, tension.

- Cinnamon – REDUCES: depression and ENHANCES creativity.

- Peppermint – REDUCES: fatigue

- Pine – REDUCES: fatigue

- Clove – REDUCES fatigue and fear. ENHANCES courage.

- Vanilla – REDUCES: fear, irritability, stress.

- Honeysuckle – ENHANCES happiness and peace.

- Eucalyptus – ENHANCES mental focus.

- Coconut – ENHANCES inner peace.

Coffee in a briefcase

large-case coffee table

More precisely, coffee TABLE in a briefcase. Remember The Jetsons, where George’s car packs up into a briefcase, as he enters his workplace? This little coffee table from Tiny Living does the exact same trick. Take it out, open it up, unfold a neat little coffee table, right in front of the couch. This little thing comes in handy in case of an unexpected guest or at a walk in the park, when you sit down on a bench. It’s most important feature is it’s packed size, that easily fits under a larger piece of furniture, on in fact any small space in your home. Opened, it’s usable surface is 70 x 45 cm. with a height of 45 cm. More than enough for a portable table. It’s price? Let’s not talk about that.

Sleep in the stoneage

rock pillowsEver heard the expression “sleeping on rocks”? It’s not exactly used after a good night sleep. In fact, I think it’s quite the opposite. Obviously, someone came up with the idea to change the meaning of the expression, in such a manner that he or she actually designed a comfy set of pillows that are shaped and painted to look like rocks. Old fashion Flintstone pebbles. At first, you get an unsure feeling, imagining they’re not really pillows, but afterwards you kinda get used to sleeping on rocks. Something like eating sour sugar. They look great on a couch, but can bravely be used in any bedroom. I recommend them to anyone, I promise they won’t be money thrown out the window.

Come in…

doorbellProbably not a revolution in the industry but a great idea nonetheless. We’ve seen the traditional doorbell, tubular bells, birds singing, tune singing doorbells and a lot of kitsches, but this idea is totally new. Your guests are welcomed with a toast, provided by the ringing of these wineglasses, a beautiful tune for many ears. I’d say that at $150 it’s rather pricey but a cool idea to implement in a home, more for bragging then for permanent use.

A different view

star globe

We’re all familiar with the classical Earth Globes that come in various styles and sizes. They look good as decorations in our bedrooms or living rooms but are they getting outdated? Well, the StarSphere from World’s Globe says YES. It shows us the world from another perspective. When you look up, you see the stars. When you look down, you see the Earth. This new kind of globe makes a little turn in the habit. It’s a globe shaped map of the stars, constellations and anything you would see at a planetarium. You don’t have to see continents, history or anything human when you look at this globe. It’s pure heaven.

Clocky, the wicked alarm clock

clocky

A few days ago I wrote about an alarm clock that had a rotor that flew around the room when the alarm went off. The only way to put it back to snooze was to catch the flying devil and place it back to its place. This time, our little monster is Clocky, and instead of flying, he waits for one push of the snooze button. Imagine, the alarm goes off, you hit the snooze button and go right back to sleep. Little do you know that little Clocky doesn’t wait for the second push in the same place. He just rolls down from your night stand, finds himself somewhere to hide, and after 10 minutes, goes off again, with the same racket. You hit the nightstand, realize your clock is not there anymore and start a searching quest around the room to stop the damned thing. After finally finding it, you can’t go back to sleep. Job well done, Clocky!

Moving? No problem!

Usually, moving into a new home is not an easy task. An even harder one is moving out of the old one. Why? Well, you have to pack, for one. Let’s remember our last vacation, when we had to pack our bags. Moving is fairly similar only on a larger scale and with more headaches. Not to mention the costs. Here are a few tips for when you move both to make it easier and cheaper.

1. If you look on the spending side, it’s easier, cheaper and more useful and fun to pay your friends in a night out or a night in with beer and pizza, to help you move your stuff, then paying a moving company, whose employees you don’t know, to move your stuff. I’m not talking furniture, fridge, washing machine. I’m talking clothes, sheets, kitchenware and so on.

2. Every piece of furniture and cavities must be filled. If you hire a moving company to move your stuff, be a jerk and leave your clothes inside the furniture. Fill the washing machine. Put your kitchenware into bags in a trash container.

3. Look around stores for free large size boxes. I’m not telling you to look in the garbage, but big stores like shoe stores, appliance stores are a great place to find huge cardboard boxes: TVs, washing machines, dish washers, refrigerators, are stored in huge boxes that get thrown away once displayed in a store.

4. Before you move, start getting rid of unwanted things. Think what you have in your new home. If you don’t have a garden, give away your gardening tools. No use keeping unwanted or useless stuff.

5. Don’t get cheap on insurance with a moving company. Also be very careful who you’re dealing with.

6. Don’t leave empty spaces in boxes. If a box is only half full of items, use stuffed animals, bed sheets, pillows to fill the empty spaces. Use up all the space at your disposal. You won’t get away without a general cleaning anyway.

DIY Mini Lamps

Looking for some design ideas, I found something really extraordinary. It’s Mark McKenna’s DIY (do-it-yourself) package to design battery lights. The kit contains a series of flat pieces, which you need to assemble. Then, you hook them up to a 9-volt battery, which should be the light source.

Mini Lamps

There are five different lamp kits for five models respectively. The mini-lamps are representations of the most famous designer lamps: Ingo Maurer’s Lucellino, Castiglioni’s Arco and Toio, Sapper’s Tizio, and Philippe Starck’s Miss K. Each kit costs $26. In my opinion, the idea of a DIY battery lamp is extraordinary. First, you solve a puzzle, then you enjoy the cool lamp from your desk. Nice!

Mini Lamps

Mini Lamps

[via Inhabitat]

Funny doormat

doormatThis little creep made me laugh half an hour when I came upon it. It’s a doormat with a subliminal message. Well not really subliminal. Just put it on your doorstep with the “Come in” part showing to the visitors. They’ll come, see the doormat, think “Aah, what a cute doormat” and proceed at entering. Not knowing what awaits them upon leaving. They’ll get dressed, open the door and in the minute they want to exit, you ask them something they have to think about. They throw their look on the floor before them, and see the cute doormat. Except that its message has changed. Well, it’s really not so complicated, you could just tell them “look what a cute doormat I’ve bought” and it’s pretty much the same. You’ll laugh half an hour, like me. Just make sure you tell them when they come, not before they leave.

Did I mention you can also wipe your footwear on it? That is if you don’t want to ruin a wonderful piece of both graphic and comedy art.

KA’s LawnBott

LawnBott2

After the automatic vacuum cleaner, that does the dirty work as you watch TV, KA came out with the idea of the automatic lawn mower. It is basically the same, but out of safety, they had to add a few minor modifications. As it works outside and after a random pattern, you have to keep it on leash, or you’ll end up searching throughout the neighborhood “have you seen my lawn mower?”. So, unless you have a well bordered yard, with no ways of escape, you’ll have to use the included perimeter cable, that you must lay down around the perimeter to be mowed (it doesn’t have to be the whole yard). The LawnBott detects the small signal emitted by this cable and it doesn’t dear trespass it. The other feature is that though it’s not waterproof, it has an incorporated water detector, so after it detects a few drops of water, it hides in its shelter. Oh, I forgot to tell you, it comes with its own lawn mower house, that you can put near the dog house, where it charges its batteries after a hard day at work. They might even become friends with your pet. After recharging, it resumes its daily shift, well, not daily, because it can even work non-stop (except for recharging time, of course) so you never have to lay a finger on your old, fuel powered lawn mower.

LawnBott1

How it works? Simple, like in “I, Robot”, it follows a few simple rules:

1. Do not pass the perimeter cable

2. If it bumps into an obstacle, back up, turn around, follow another route. Randomly, as usual.