apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

In terms of hygiene, we'd say the the auto-sensing bathroom faucet is right up there with the auto flushing toilet/urinal. And despite thoughts otherwise, it's really the faucet that's got more cooties awaiting to hitch a ride, not the toilet handle or seat. But those automatic devices require additional power to operate their infrared sensor...until now.

We've seen quite a few different type of USB memory designs, but never in porcelain before. These beautiful (and perhaps a bit delicate) porcelain 1 GB memory sticks are handmade in Germany and currently only available via email according to Bloesem where we found these unique memory keepsakes.

Looking a bit like something we might see in a scene from a Soul Calibur title, the Geobulb is definitely the coolest looking LED lightbulb we've yet to see. Besides its future-organic fetching looks, the Geobulb produces the same output as a 60 watt incandescent bulb using only 8 watts thanks to its LED innards...

Considering we spend a considerable percentage of our lives lying down in bed, one could assume making your bed as clean and allergen free would help overall health. One of the worst culprits for aggravating our immune systems are dust mites, the lil' buggers that feed on our skin flakes. We recommend regularly washing your bedding in hot temperatures with bleach to reduce dust mites, but you might also want to consider some technological help, like this Anti-allergy Bed Vacuum, that zaps and sucks up offending uninvited micro-guests in your bedding...

This week we begin a new daily feature titled, Final Frame, a visual conclusion to the day's posts which represents the inspirational, aspirational or just darn amusing in the world of home decor and technology. Have a great image you took or saw online? Email us with the image and/or link with "FINAL FRAME" in the subject header.

The beauty of the Mac Mini is its minimal form factor and quiet operation. But even being so small, we've always prefered to keep our computers hidden from view if possible (yes, even Macs), mostly to retain physical desktop real estate. The "Hang With Mi" Mac Mini Rack lets you mount the mighty Mini under your desk while also providing an extremely useful front access 4-port USB2.0 hub for a hair under $50. We might want one of these for our Apple TV and an external USB drive (after some hacking)...

We don't even imbibe and we're interested with this bartending gadget that allows you to dispense up to five beverages directly from the bottle/container. Basically the compact pre-plumbed and pre-wired suctions liquid from up to 10 feet away for all your drinking pleasures, all from one spout. This could even be fun for making shaved iced desserts for the kids (and maybe something a bit more potent for mom and dad from button #5)...

Are you obsessed with everything tech...but also an aesthete who would never settle for solutions or components that will intrude on your home decor? Are you someone who would like to review the newest gadgets, search all around for the best home tech setups, create DIY solutions and write about all these things daily with thousands of readers every day? We're hoping to find a couple new contributors for our team here at Unplggd who can help our goal to bring the best tech solutions for the beautiful home. Interested? Check out the details below...

I don't know how my girlfriend does it, but she does a majority of her computer work in positions I mostly conjugate with images of newborns in a crib or those bed bound in a convalescent home. I might want to get her one of these Lazy Geek's Cushions, though she's hardly lazy or a geek (though she is fond of Star Trek:TNG)...

They say sharing is caring. We guess Marlon and Jace aren't subscribers to that idea, and thus have two side-by-side flat screens so they can enjoy whatever they want separately. The couple likes to watch multiple shows at once, including supplementing their Wimbledon viewing with some adjoining Wii Tennis action. Check out the rest of their house tour here.

So we've almost completely rid ourselves of our CD collection, converting hundreds of the CDs we owned into digital files for space saving purposes. And now we're doing the same with our DVD collection (though we plan to keep some of the Criterions)...

Here's a simple and affordable way to wrangle in excess cords and wiring in your home office: the Sombrero Wire Manager. At $4 a pop, super easy to install (just screw it in underneath your desk) and available in 5 different colours, we say "Olé!"

[via Remodelista]

Probably the most common question we hear from friends who know we write for Unplggd is about TV stands. As TV sets have slimmed down to thin proportions, people want the furniture that it sits ontop or above of to slim down with it also. We've always liked low profile furniture since it creates a larger sense of space (the illusion of higher ceilings); this Zebra Wood Anguilla TV Stand is a nice example of low profile home theater furniture...

We live on the second floor with our entry doorway at the bottom of a staircase. UPS, FedEX or the postal deliver come by daily (alongside the occasional friend), but every once in awhile we get duped into answering the door to some solicitor trying to sell us some magazine subscriptions at some ludicrous rate or a tandem tag team hoping to convert us to whatever faith they're peddling. It's those times we wished we had one of these digital door viewers, so we could peek who is downstairs without getting up from our office desk (and reveal ourselves)...

How cool are these vintage-style DIY headphones, created by MAKE Flickr photo pool member j.rusten:

Since I listen to music/podcasts/audiobooks throughout the day while I'm working, I adapted a pair of normal safety earphones for speakers, and added a vintage look. I cut the outside portion of the cups off, replaced with a curved flat sheet of plastic -over which I mounted the grill (from an old record player) and the cork which I sanded to shape. Then I painted the rest of the shell green, and installed some $50 drivers. I still use them daily.

Check out more photos of this excellent DIY project here.

[via MAKE]

Call us old fashioned (or just plain old), but we've got a soft spot for the rotary phone. Memories of noir scenes, blinking emergency phones, and even the violent use of the heavier phones as weapons are still are burned into our memory. It's not quite as dramatic nor dangerous to see a cordless or phone thrown about. But you can at least now mimic the sound effects and motion of rotary dialing with this Retro Phone iPhone Application devised by ObjectGraph. A video of the iPhone skin under the jump...

Unplggd's very own Peter Treadway has designed a new laptop sleeve/bag, inspired by the common manila envelope (Peter wants to note this product was in development quite some time before Apple's keynote and Air commercials):

"The Acton Manila Pro are really sleeves. They have a strap but that is for people who want to go light. Not just for the niche marketed "Air" but more for the Pro and other laptops in that size range- its dims are 12"x16", which fits both the 15" and 17" Pro models. It also fits the Air of course..."

Check out an additional photo and further details below the jump...

These speakers from Bureau DeBank aren't just unusual for the stackable design, but also for the fact they're made of stoneware. What next, a terracotta subwoofer?

Normally when one discusses home theater projectors, the axiom of "bigger is better" is thrown around. But the newest four ounce Optoma Pico Projector's "big picture" goal is quite different, as the pint sized projector was designed to share images from iPods, PDA’s, smart phones and digital cameras, producing an image a lot larger (relatively) than the source's original screen...

We like this idea the Playmedesign blog proposed about using a sideboard as a media center to offset the heaviness of a flat panel display, whether wall mounted or placed ontop. The only issue is where to put the components, though you'd have plenty of drawers to store peripherals, wires, cords and a Blu-Ray discs inside the Mondrian.

Unplggd reader MiraRuido reminds us that we should sometimes step away from our computers and pull out the old fashioned pen and paper to brainstorm. Of course, that doesn't mean you don't have to go without those recognizable tool palettes while sketching, as illustrated above.

[photo: Mira Ruido]

We've got a homely looking Honeywell fan circulating the air in the sauna known as our office currently, both for our computer and our own biological CPU called our noggin. Although the fan does a fine job of doing what it's supposed to do, it's one of those appliances we dread having out because of it's none-too-lovely appearances. Why couldn't manufacturers just release common products with clean, modernist sensibilities like this Foldair fan? It even tucks away into bookshelves when not in use, with it's "binder" end reminding you that cooling relief is at arm's length any time...

Looks like everyone is now in the game of offering aesthetically designed storage and charging stations for tech items, including West Elm. We're not really sure we need a dock to sit ontop of our already crowded desktop, but if you did need one, this fairly affordable lacquered tech landing station available in "white", "mushroom" or "espresso" might be worth considering at $49.

Almost everyone tries to bring a little bit of the comforts of home into their cubicle or office setting. But not just anyone takes the effort to deck out their space in red mahogany paneling and dark cherry hardwood floors. Jared D. Nielsen may not be the boss, but he certainly looks the part!