Sidewalk Sandwich Board

Materials: Hemnes 3-drawer, hinges, eye screws, chalkboard paint

Description: The idea for this hack came about as I was disassembling my broken Hemnes 3-drawer and realized the sides of the dresser looked just like the sides of those little chalkboard stands you see outside of bars and cafes.

Supplies:

1. Chalkboard Paint. We decided against spray paint after reading a few reviews that it isn't as durable, and thought it might be a little more manageable to get in the right places since not everything was going to be painted. Granted, the can of paint was $14, but for this hack we barely put a dent in it.
2. Two Hinges. It doesn't really matter what kind of hinges, they just need to be about 1.5 inches in length.
3. Two Eye Screws.
4. Some Twine. You'll only need about a foot/foot and a half, so just use whatever you have around the house.
5. Painter's Tape.
6. Cheap Paintbrush. Any kind. I think mine was about 2 inches wide.
7. A Sharp Knife. Definitely wait until the paint entirely dries before peeling off the painter's tape. Even so, you might have to score along the edge with a sharp knife before attempting it - the paint is thicker than most, so even with the good tape you might hit some patches where the paint wants to peel into the board area.

Total cost: About $20

How To:

1. Take the dresser apart. Keep the left and right side panels and remove all the leftover screws and hardware.
2. Add the hinges. Lay the two pieces face down with the tops together and screw in the open hinges. Make sure you don't put them on backwards - you want the sandwich board to be able to completely fold flat when done.
3. Add the eye screws. Drill a pilot holes on either side of the center bottom interior beam. Then screw them in and tie the twine to either end, to the length you want.
4. Paint. Tape off the edges. When you start your first coat, you have to work fast so that it dries smoothly. I'd recommend painting one vertical section at a time, going left to right and making sure to swipe your paint brush from top to bottom across the whole piece when you're done with that section, so the paint has minor vertical lines.
5. Wait. Wait a full 24 hours before applying a second coat. And another full 24 hours before drawing on it with chalk.
6. Write some drink specials. Then enjoy them. The end.

See more of the sidewalk sandwich board.

~ Lauren, Texas

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Norden Table becomes Interactive Art Table

Materials: Norden table, paint, clear varnish, plastic pipe clip, permanent maker

Description: The plain wooden Norden table in our kitchen started to look boring after a while, so we decided to repaint it and to turn it into an interactive art guestbook.

We first painted the table white, then sprayed stencil portraits of our friends on the surface. Finally, we applied three layers of clear varnish to seal the table for everyday use.

On the side we mounted a plastic pipe clip to hold a permanent maker. The idea is that all our guests may write their name and some personal greetings on the table, just like in a guestbook.

See more of the Lack art table.

~ Kane, Braunschweig, Germany

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Fracking Repair Droid

Materials: Stainless Steel, Aluminium ( Aluminum ), Acrylic, Electronics, Oh and Ikea Blanda bowls!

Description: A 22nd century autonomous droid like device designed to repair the subterranean fracture damage caused by Shale and Coal Gas mining called Hydraulic Fracking that was done during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

IKEA items used for this work that I call the "Fracking Repair Droid" were some IKEA kitchen condiment bowls in stainless steel called "Blanda" - a 50mm diameter size and a 120mm size.

The Blanda bowls are used in the knee joints and for the main top and bottom body bowls. I used 12 small 50mm Blanda bowls for the knee joints, six made up the spherical shape and another six made up the smaller backing cups ... these hide the centre screws that holds the two hemispheres together. In between the two hemispheres is a plate of acrylic machined to emit light from 2 LEDs in each knee joint.


These Blanda bowls used for the Knee Joints on the leg/arms of this "Fracking Repair Droid" were hacked by machining the outer surface in a Lathe, drilling bolt holes whilst in the Lathe, welding stainless steel nuts to the inside to secure the holding bolts positions.

The Body Blanda bowls were machined in a Lathe to produce that brushed/polished surface, drilled for central mounting bolt, and hand drilled to mount the legs/arms.

You can find all the images and videos here on my website and here.

This "Fracking Repair Droid" is a work of art designed to give emphasis to a backstory about the dangers of Hydraulic Fracking to recover Shale and Coal Gas, hence the name. This hack was created as a means to get attention to the dangers of Fracking and due to the large amount of machining etc.


~ Scott Branden, Olinda, Victoria Australia

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Expedit Box Canvases for Lively Storage

Materials: Expedit Shelves 2X2

Description: We needed to create some storage in the flat and wanted something more exciting than traditional shelving units so created the box canvas concept which is both fun and helps to conceal some of our excess junk.

Method: We had some pre-primed canvas left over from a previous project. This was stretched across the front face of the Expedit unit and glued using 'extra strong all purpose' adhesive onto both side faces of the unit. A staple gun was used to staple round the edge of the box to ensure the canvas stayed tight whilst the glue set. The trick is to start by getting one side glued and stapled and then stretching from the other.

It is easiest to have the 2nd side surface pre-glued and have someone standing ready with the staple gun for when there is sufficient tension to eliminate sagging and warping on the front face. The excess canvas was then trimmed along the top and bottom of the box. We left a bit of overhang at each of the sides as we like the less clinical look but again the side edges could also be trimmed. Now the fun part, get creative! Acrylic paints were used which are nice and vibrant and easy to work with. The scenes we chose to paint were all (loosely!) based on our local beach.

The boxes were then stacked and positioned by a doorway creating a small partition that allows access to the contents of the shelves from behind whilst keeping them out of view from the main room.

~ Robbie Rickman, Wales

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Stefan Chairs turned into art installation

Materials: Stefan chair, Acrylic paints, varnish, mixed media

Description: We had so much fun transforming 100 Stefan chairs into Art installation in the annual festival of Chingay 2011, Singapore.

See more of the Stefan chair art.

~ Rus Teo, Singapore

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2000 recycled IKEA hangers become a room divider

Materials: IKEA children's clothes hanger

Description: Clothes hangers have a way of disappearing from wardrobes. Now we know where they go. Two Portuguese designers reclaimed them as functional art. It must have took Diogo Agular and Teresa Otta of LIKEarchitects quite a while to rescue 2,000 colorful IKEA children's hangers destined for the landfill and rejig them into a technicolor Chromatic Screen for the 2012 Oporto Show, the most prestigious event for interior design and architecture on the Iberian Peninsula. The temporary sculpture is held together by the unique interlocking nature of the hangers' shape.

Love the bright colours and it looks pretty dang cool.

See more of the recycled clothes hanger room divider. Via Inhabitat.

Updated 24 August 2012.
Check out this video on it.

~ Jules [Thanks, Neva]

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