Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Grown-Up Tinker Toys Let You Build Your Own Everything

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 10:00 AM PDT

furniture building kit

Unless you have a large budget for furnishing your home, chances are you’ve had to assemble a few pieces of furniture in your life. Flat-pack furniture is a lifesaver for those who need to save some cash, but it can be a bit lacking in personality. Designer David Graas has created something that is as far away from conventional DIY furniture as you can get.

everything but the manual david graas

Turning his back on the IKEA model, Graas invented a building kit called “Everything But the Manual.” It is, in essence, Tinker Toys for adults. It isn’t just for fun, though – this set is meant to build furniture, creative accents, and anything you can imagine. It consists of 260 oak sticks, each 415 mm long and 26 mm square, full of evenly-spaced holes.

everything but the manual diy furniture kit

The sticks are held together by bolts and wingnuts. There are no instructions, no recommended projects – just some raw materials waiting for your creativity to build them into something wonderful. The projects pictured here range from the purely artistic (a tall wooden stand for a cuckoo clock) to the completely practical (a vanity table and bench) to a surprisingly fun blend of the two (a leaning tower-like lamp).

Graas says that he doesn’t even know how many configurations the set can make – that’s entirely up to the user. It’s a refreshing take on DIY, a segment of the market in which people are typically handed the materials and a set of instructions and told exactly what to make and how to make it.


    

London Light: Heat-Reactive Lampshade Mimics Rising Sun

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 04:00 PM PDT

solarise phases

Watching a sunrise is one of those awe-inspiring experiences that everyone should have at least a few times in their lives. The Solarise Lampshade from industrial design student Pu Tai lets you do it every day, at whatever time you choose.

solarise lampshade

The lampshade features the iconic London skyline which is dark when the lamp is off. After you turn it on, the lampshade warms up and begins to change color. It slowly goes from nighttime dark to early morning glow to midday sun.

It takes a few minutes for the lampshade to turn completely light, mimicking the slow and subtle beauty of an actual sunrise. The Solarise shows off some of London’s most iconic skyline features, which is a plus for everyone who has ever visited and loved the city.


    

Bathed in Luxury: 4 Beautifully Inspiring Bathroom Designs

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 10:00 AM PDT

bedroom open-air shower

The bathroom, that sanctuary from the world where you can be all alone for a little while, has infinite design potential. Wall colors and sink fixtures are only part of the story. Kaldwei, makers of unconventional and luxury bathrooms, have plenty of inspiring bathrooms to their credit.

open air shower

Showers and bathtubs can take on nearly any form with the use of modern materials, and with a little creative planning they can even escape the dingy back corner of the bathroom where they have historically resided. Free-standing showers – those that aren’t enclosed in walls – are sophisticated and provide a sense of freedom while showering.

LED lighted bathtub

Lighting can be a beautiful addition to a bathtub; colored LEDs provide indirect lighting that, depending on the color, can either relax or invigorate you. This tub gives the illusion that it is built right into the wall and has a shelf on which to put candles, wine glasses, and other bathtub necessities.

pool bathtub

This beautiful Kaldwei bathroom design is truly a masterpiece. The bathtub itself sits in a small pool of water which connects to the exterior swimming pool behind a wall of glass. The ocean is just beyond the bounds of the pool, creating the illusion of water within water within water.


    

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