Neat Features

I never thought I’d be using the words “pet” and “neat” in the same sentence.  Yet here I am looking at a Wall-mounted Pet Organizer, thinking that it’s definitely one Neat Feature.  One that I might try and find a way to adapt to cats as opposed to dogs.

I don’t know about anyone else, but it seems to me that the moment I walk into my house I lose stuff.  And while my current theory involves black holes (or possibly garden gnomes), there’s a very small chance it’s because I don’t put things away when I’m done using them.

This is especially the case for things that don’t have a “landing zone” of their own.  So how about it?  Would you use a pet organizer?

image from This Old House

A while back I talked about family trees.  Not the kind that grow in your yard, but the kind that you hang on a wall.  Well this time we’re back with another version.

I think I like this one better.  (And the good news is you can buy it on Etsy!)  But what’s clear is that family trees aren’t meant to be stuffed into a bookshelf and forgotten.  They are meant to be displayed as one part art and one part history.

If you have a kid (or more) you know that you also have piles and piles and piles (did I mention piles?) of artwork.  What do you do with all that paper?  If you’re like my wife and I, we try to organize it, save the good stuff and throw away some of the “normal” stuff.  But after a year of school, no matter how big the box, we always seem to fill it.

And what do we do with that box?  Nothing.  We put it into a bigger box, and it sits there.  Probably until our own kids will clean out our basement long after we’re gone.

Who wants that?

That’s what I love about this art project inspiration from the A Thousand Words blog.  She took her two son’s artwork and turned them into smaller (think thumbnail sized) images, then printed them into a 4×4 grid.

The result?  A blend of new artwork and an appreciation for what her children have done.

If you ask me, this is a great idea!  Check out her blog for details on how to make your own art project.

Sometimes you just need to get away.  Sometimes you just have to have a place to yourself.  Which is why the bathroom of all places has become a reading sanctuary.  Now personally I don’t get the whole reading while in the bathroom, but a lot of people like it.  I do however, think this is hilarious.

Of course, if you want to go all out on your next bathroom remodel, why not check out what this house did:

Sometimes the Neat Features don’t have to be inside your home – they can be on the outside.  Or maybe even on the curb.  That’s what it is with today’s Neat Feature: plants.

One of the great things about modern city living is how effective the roads are at draining off rain water so we don’t get standing pools of water on the road – or worse – around the foundations of our homes.

The problem is that all of this rushing water can carry with it quite a few toxic chemicals.  Everything from that cleaner you spilled on your deck to the pesticide you used in your yard, become fair game for rainwater to pick up.

In small quantities these aren’t much of an issue.  But the more the rain water gathers in one spot, the higher the concentrations become.  That’s why some homes, and now some cities, are taking steps to use plants along the curb to “clean” the toxic chemicals by absorbing a lot of the rain water before it hits the city’s sewage system.  (As you can see in the picture above.)

image from This Old House

I am forever turning off power strips.  This drives my wife nuts.  But I can’t help it.  I’m one of those people who hates wasting electricity.  Not because of the environmental impact, although if you can do something nice for the environment, why not?  But because I just hate paying for things I’m not using.  And thanks to Phantom Power (the electricity our TV’s and Xbox’s use when turned “off”) it pays to pull the plug.

Some people extreme coupon.  I extreme power save.

Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

But admittedly there’s a problem with that strategy.  Every time I turn off the power strip to the TV, it means the cable box, VCR (yes I still have one of those) and several other things all lose their programming.  It’s a pain to have to let modern cable boxes boot up.  And it’s annoying to have to reset the flashing 12:00 on the VCR.

Enter the plug that has its own switch.

Now I can turn off the individual device (like at TV or a lamp) and let everything else stay on.  No more reprogramming for me!  Although since this is only a proof of concept device, I may have to continue turning off the power strips, and hope my wife forgives me!

(Of course I could just buy separate power strips, but if I do that, it kind of defeats the purpose of saving money through unplugging.  It takes a lot of phantom power to pay for a $50 power strip!)

Some societies make their young kill a wild and dangerous animal as a right of passage.  Other cultures have elaborate ceremonies to celebrate a coming of age.  In America, we assign kid’s projects about their family tree.  (I know, it doesn’t sound nearly as cool when said that way.)

Despite this, the day my kids come home asking about our family tree terrifies me.  I know nothing of my family tree.  It seems like a daunting task.  That’s why it’s time I get proactive and instead of trying to make it up on the spot, I’ll simply paint it on the wall.  And thanks to Fresh Paint Artist, I can!

In all seriousness though, I think this is a great idea. We even have the perfect wall, next to the stairs for a mural like this to go!  How about you?  Would you paint your family tree on your wall?

The philosophy here at Neatfeatures.com is that every house has something unique, something “neat” about it.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a 150 year old farm house, or a 15 minute old suburban condo.  Every home has something that makes it neat.

Apparently so does furniture.

We don’t usually talk about DIY projects on Neatfeatures.com, but this was such a great article on how to refinish and paint furniture, that we felt compelled.  That’s right; this article was so awesome we lost all willpower to do otherwise!

Let’s face it, we don’t always have the money to buy the latest furniture from Pottery Barn (or sometimes even from Walmart.)  Plus, do we really need to send (functionally) good furniture to the dump?

Sometimes, with a little determination, and a willingness to get your hands dirty (or at least covered in paint), creating a DIY solution is the best option.  And after  seeing the results from this article, I think I’d rather get some beat up furniture and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a good DIY project!

Working in an office can get a little boring.  Even a home office.  So what can you do to spruce things up a bit?  How about adding some speech bubbles to the wall?  Now you can “say” (ha!) something and have a bit of extra storage for your things.

For those of you who might not be familiar with the idea, speech bubbles are what comic book characters and cartoon strip characters use to communicate.

Now you don’t have to be Charlie Brown or Dilbert to have something clever to say – you can just be you.

They lurk, in unassuming innocence.  They seem peaceful and tranquil until, when you least expect it, they attack!

What are these hidden menaces?

Stairs, of course.

But then you probably figured that out from the giant picture of stairs right next to this post.

It seems that everything gets a chance to be “re-imagined.”  If it’s not the A-team, or GI Joe, it’s Rapunzel or Planet of the Apes or Hawaii 5-O.  Well stairs are no different.

Now I’ll admit, I’m not really the target audience when it comes to “modern” architecture or design.  So I’m not the target market for stairs like these (made by HSH architects).

But they do bring up two immediate questions.

1.  What happens if you miss a step?

2. Do they give you vertigo when you’re looking at them?

Okay, they also make me want to ask a 3rd question: am I the only one who wants to play Q*bert after looking at these stairs?  Yeah.  I went there.

So what say you?  Are these the type of stairs you’d want in your home?  Do they intimidate you?

image from design-milk.com, stairs designed by HSH architects