Make: Online: Furniture Archives

Archive: Furniture

November 18, 2009

Robolamps

Croatian designer Robert Matysiak has made a delightful array of these "robolamps" by kit-bashing from plumbing supplies and variously colored light bulbs. They are, alas, not presently for sale.

November 17, 2009

"Polaroid" mini-vase

From designer Jung Hwa Jin, the "Polaroid Flower Vase:"

...a small planter that recalls the nostalgic form of polaroid, with the plant becoming the focus of the "picture." The planter is suspended with a clothespin on the end of a cord, with a small embedded lamp illuminating its subject.

[Thanks, Ellie!]

November 16, 2009

Nintendo cartridge throne

A throne fit for a retro gamer! Nintendo cartridges comprise this seven foot chair.

Millenium Falcon holochess table

I just discovered the Replica Prop Forum, and it has me on a bit of a Star Wars kick. This replica holochess table from Star Wars Episode IV was built by Philip Wise of Dallas, Texas:

Here's a video showing the basic demo mode, which is the audio and light pattern from the 50 seconds the game has in the first movie. The table is playing music from an internal flash drive and you can start the demo mode by pressing one of the 7 functional knobs. During the mode the audio plays and the lights repeat the pattern from the movie. After the demo, it goes back to the light pattern it was running, one of many, and returns to playing music.

Han Solo carbonite desk

From Tom Spina Designs.

November 14, 2009

Brush furniture could become bristlebot

The scrub together table and lazy stool furniture pieces by designer Jason Taylor are pretty neat looking, but is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? Thats right, they are just a motor away from becoming giant bristlebots! The bristles look like they might need to be bent over a bit first, though. [via dude craft]

November 10, 2009

Slidey chandelier

I have a chandelier in my dining room which is always in the way at parties when we move the dining room table against the wall. Here's a way to remedy that, putting the fixture on a track that slides the light out of the way. Not the most attractive look on the ceiling, but still an interesting solution.

The Lampslide

Sled coffee table

I'm digging this sled coffee table and rug, built by design firm Duffy London. The concept of suggesting a narrative through simple things such as a rug cut to look like snow with tracks in it seems really compelling to me. What would be an appropriate geeky version? A mars rover table with tracks in a red carpet? A siege engine with a flat top, tiny soldiers pushing it and tons of little footprints? The possibilities must be endless! [via curbly]

Dowel chair

From Russian designer Vadim Kibardin. It's pricey, of course, but I think all you'd need for a remake is a bunch of closet rod, a miter saw, some wood glue, and vast patience. [via Neatorama]

November 9, 2009

Designer hobo barrel with laser-cut Philly street map

Although I'll admit to some cognitive dissonance at the notion of an expensive custom-made object intended to evoke homelessness, there's no denying the purely aesthetic qualities of this fireplace by John Briscella. I'd really like to see what it looks like with a fire burning inside, and, while I'm at it, maybe some video of the 5-axis laser cutting out all those little pieces... [via Dude Craft]

November 7, 2009

Building a folding table

One problem with making lots of neat projects is that you need a place to display them. And, where could be better than on a table that you built yourself? A nice place to start might be this tutorial on building a folding table, by the folks at HandymanWire. I like their design because it can be made from a single piece of wood, and because it can be folded for storage or easy transportation. [via curbly]

November 5, 2009

Linking mugs

I can't seem to find a way to describe these "link mugs" without venturing into uncomfortable sexual metaphors, so I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. So you can, you know, carry a bunch of them at once. [via Slippery Brick]

Beautiful scrap wood butcher block table

I love this. Instructables user wholman has gathered together a bunch of scrap wood from "dumpsters, back alleys, vacant lots, abandoned buildings, recycling yards, and architectural salvage centers" and laminated it together using all-thread. Then he's very carefully smoothed and polished only one side of the finished block, leaving the underside rough to show off the process. Beautiful.

November 4, 2009

Beached submarine home theater

Kiwi businessman Wayne Eyre dropped a pretty penny on this fantasy home theater build, but the results are impressive. Many have suggested that it's supposed to be Captain Nemo's Nautilus, but there's no mention of deliberate Verne overtones in the original article. The last photograph above, for instance, shows leaking "plutonium torpedoes" in part of the installation, but plutonium wasn't even discovered until 50 years after 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was published. [via Dude Craft]

Ikea hack bookshelf bench

Randy Sarafan writes:

The nice thing about IKEA furniture is that it is cheap and easy to hack. In other words, lets say that you were to buy two cheap $30 Gorm shelving units and assembled them to discover them that one was crooked. Well then, it would be really easy to spend an afternoon converting the crooked one into a solid, stylish and symmetric bookshelf bench. As you probably just guessed, this Instructable will show you how to convert a Gorm shelving unit into a bookshelf bench. With a few extra peices of hardware and a couple of basic power tools, you could be on your way to relaxation and organization all at the same time.

Paper chair, a chair carved from paper

Here's a neat idea from designers razy2. Instead of casting a chair out of foam or silicone, they decided to build one up layer by layer out of what looks like a giant Post-It pad. Because the paper is only attached on one side, you can scribble on the top layer and then just pull it off to clean up, or stick things between the layers. Sounds fun, but I would be pretty scared that I would spill something on it. [via core77]

October 30, 2009

Lie-Nielsen chain-drive shoulder vise

There are vises, and there are vises. And there are those of us for whom vises are also vices. For we few ~~obsessives~~ cognoscenti, the price of this beautifully-designed chain-drive shoulder vise package may not be unreasonable. For the mechanically inclined, a remake would be totally do-able, and Lie-Nielsen is to be credited for not keeping any secrets about how it all goes together. The installation instructions (.pdf) contain all you'd need to know to cobble together one of your own.

LEGO kitchen counter

Restrictive homeowners' association preventing you from building your entire house out of LEGO? To help convince them of the importance of the brick, why not start by building a LEGO kitchen, like this one from designers Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosett. While not made entirely of lego (there is a fiberboard counter underneath the brick), it should be sure to earn you the respect of your neighbors. [via inhabitat]

More:

Chair made of drinking straws

Scott Jarvie made this Clutch Chair using more than 10,000 drinking straws. This one is apparently a non-functional art piece, however it seems like one should be able to make a usable chair with the same materials.

Anyone know how to form a curved surface using only straight segments of straw? My best guess is that you could use half-length straws as a wedge to form the curves. [via neatorama]

October 27, 2009

"SuperFoam" block collapses into chair under weight

I got jealous of Matt's recent "SuperFoam" chair post and had to find one of my own. This design is from a Taiwanese student named Yu-Wing Wu. The voids are non-random, being carefully designed to collapse into the shape of an armchair when you sit on the thing, which in its resting state looks more like a giant block of tofu than a chair. No word on how it was manufactured. [via Neatorama]