Doors of perception

Photo by Consumer Product Safety Commission

Liebherr, Austrian makers of high-end refrigerators are recalling three models with doors that can come off in your hand.  (Oh, that’s an ugly scar!) Is this the quality you expect  in a fridge that sells for $3,800? It’s the perfect Yuletide gift for people who like to stand in front of the open door, surveying leftovers.

Stewed to the grills

Photo by Consumer Product Safety Commission

Unsure how to personalize your kitchen renovation?  Try burning ugly scorch marks on your cabinets. It’s easy if you own one of the 27,000 Wolfgang Puck Electric Reversible Tri-Grill/Griddles imported from China by W.P. Appliances Inc. The recalled units in question tend to overheat and, if that’s not enough, they pose an electrical shock hazard.

Get toasted for the holidays

Photo by Consumer Product Safety Commission

Hamilton Beach is recalling 14,000 of its classic chrome, 2-slice toasters after consumers reported that the heating element fires up when the toaster is plugged into the wall. No need to push down the lever! Get yourself a replacement before your toaster initiates its own cabinet refacing project.

Now look what you’ve done

Photo by Consumer Product Safety Commission

Sure, we love great designs. But if you’re bent on reflecting on your self-image in one of the PAX AURLAND wardrobe mirror doors,  buy supplemental health insurance. The CPSC has encouraged IKEA to recall the product since “the mirror glass can detach unexpectedly from the wardrobe door, fall and shatter, posing a laceration hazard to consumers.” Who’s the fairest of them all?

Feliz caveat emptor!

Man-cave or kitchen?

Photo by Remodeling Your Kitchen

In this case, the kitchen cabinets weren’t even swapped out. Certainly a cabinet refacing effort was in order if you were going all dark. The “after” kitchen looks just a little dreary to me.

Backsplash for the design challenged

Photo by Susan Jablon Mosaics

Susan Jacobs Mosaics does attractive tile work, but I’m not convinced the backsplash here does more than upset my equilibrium. It looks like your television screen when the satellite goes out. I would count this project among some of the obvious remodeling mistakes I’ve seen on the web.

Before & after success

Photo by Singer Construction

Singer Construction nailed the dismount on this kitchen makeover. Before the company got its hands on it, this kitchen looked like the inoculation center at my veterinarian’s office. The company, located in California’s Orange County, says it can complete a kitchen remodel in seven days. Wonder how long this one took them.

Do-it-yourselfer Triumph

Photo by That Really Frosts Me

Blogger Kerri earns the right to crow following this make-over she completed on this nauseating kitchen in her Texas home. She and her husband re-hung the cabinets and added crown molding. Read more about the project at her blog, That Really Frosts Me.

Amazing Grace

Photo by Design Sponge

Grace Bonney has captured some clever makeovers at her Design Sponge blog. Have a gander. I trust her. The site announces that it won’t accept free samples, products or compensation for its editorial efforts.

Celebration of insatiability and ugly designs

Photo by Marchi Mobile

The design of the Elemment Palazzo appears to reflect the mutant offspring of a Ferrari and a Winnebago. According to Tecca, this greenhouse-gas-spewing nightmare comes complete with fireplace, a bank of large-screen monitors, rainfall shower and a pop-up bar with under-floor heating and party lighting that, when activated, increases the rolling 430-square foot interior space by 80 percent. (Pinch me and tell me this is just another Disney attraction.)

Environment, what environment?

Photo by Tecca

You’ll sleep with a clear conscience knowing that the Elemment Palazzo, while weighing in at 20 tons, uses one-fifth less fuel than vehicles of its size, according to its manufacturer. That savings, they say, come from its sleek aerodynamic designs. (Is there another vehicle of its weight and size that people use for recreational travel or vacation housing, or are the rest just moving vans and mobile missile launchers?)

Life in the fast lane

Photo by Marchi Mobile

From the captain’s chair the sordid rest of the world is at your command, rushing by on the Autobahn as you throttle up to speeds over 90 miles an hour. (I do like the rotary windshield wiper.)  If this vehicle had only come out sooner, California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger could have used it for his governor’s mansion. Read more about the Elemment Palazzo at the Daily Mail. By the way, the price in England is only £1.9 million.

No explanation necessary

Photo by Marchi Mobile

As the builders at Marchi Mobile explain, “Marchi Mobile as an automotive brand represents exclusivity and extravagance that requires no explanation.”

Enough said.

Architecture that looks great and acts green

Photo by EcoHome Magazine

Samsel Architects of Asheville, N.C., came up with the designs for the Celo Residence, a 1,538-square-foot home that captured an EcoHome Grand Award for its sustainable 3,750-gallon rainwater catchment cistern, low-flow toilet systems, and low-VOC interior paints. Read the details at EcoHome.

There was an old home in Nantucket

Photo by Inman News

Take one 264-year-old home on Nantucket Island, restore it to the charm of its original architecture, add a kitchen and bath – and do it all while meeting LEED insulation and air sealing requirements. Kudos (and a Grand Award) to Rosenberg Kolb Architects of New York City. Read more about the winners at Yahoo.

Aloha by Design

Photo by EcoHome Magazine

The trick was to build the 45 subsidized homes of the Kumuhau Subdivision on Oahu using solar power and rainwater drip irrigation, earning  LEED-Gold certification. Praise for architects Armstrong Development of Honolulu. Inman News offers a comprehensive write up on these homes that reflect traditional plantation architecture, honoring nature.

Going, going, green

Photo by EcoHome Magazine

The award-winning GO Home in Belfast, Maine, is only the 12^th home in the nation to earn the “Passive House” designation, and EcoHome predicts its solar, south-facing orientation will recover $170,000 in energy costs over three decades of use. The house, designed by architects at GO Logic Homes of Belfast, has a pending LEED-Platinum certification.

Bravo!

Photo by Konrads

Mobiles, according to the folks at the MIT Media Lab, are typically constructed from the outside in, or the insides out. The mobile pictured above, Jonathan Clowes’ Soaring Spirits, hangs 20′ wide by 25′ deep by 50′ tall. The painted aluminum birds and stainless steel flock of birds can be made to any size. Contact Konrads for a quote..

Awesome, huge mobile designs

Photo by Hanging Mobile Gallery

Noah Li-Leger sells these hand-made, “At Sundown”  mobiles, 25″ tall by 80″ wide, made out of painted sheet steel and steel rods. You can order your own for around $1,100. Contact The Hanging Mobile Gallery.

Modest prices, brilliant colors

Photo by Etsy

If you can’t afford a Li-Leger, think of ordering up a $130 blue and white Blue Ocean mobile at Etsy. Of course, it’s a wee smaller at 13 x 22 inches. Each mobile is made of recyclable polypropylene shapes, balanced on stainless steel wires.

Design your own mobile online

Photo by Atomic Mobiles

Atomic Mobiles invites customers to assemble their own shapes and sizes, choosing from 40 different colors. There are ten master patterns, each with pieces sized to keep things moving in the slightest air. Pieces come in flat hues, metallic glitter, or retro patterns. You’ll find small size mobiles for baby and children’s bedrooms.

Flowing Rhythm Red

Photo by Konrads

My current mobile favorite is the large Flowing Rhythm Red mobile sold at Konrads for $998. The plastic ball and fiberboard shapes stretch out at 60″ tall by 75″ wide.

I hate to leave you hangin’..;.

Imagine my delight this week in stumbling across an article on BSB Design, a Midwest American firm that is pioneering pre-fab homes that can be assembled by four persons in a single day using a screwdriver. According to Trendmaster, the 10’x12’ home is built on model of the Catenary Arch. It sells for around $1,500 and has made a difference in South Africa in elevating living conditions among the poor.

The architecture of hope

Photo by Architecture Week

It’s named the Abod (pronounced “abode”), and this BSB dwelling is shipped in a single box. The arch shape allows for a second-floor sleeping loft and is built from non-combustible materials. Abod Shelters created the designs is response to United Nations’ predictions that 2 billion more people worldwide will be pushed into slums in the next 30 years.

Abod’s unique, winning design

Photo by Abod

In 2008, The American Institute of Architects awarded the Abod its Small Project Award for small dwellings. Read the details at Architecture Week.

Starting with basics

Photo by Trend Hunter

Doug Sharp is Chairman of the Board of Iowa’s BSB Design and brainchild and founder of Abod. The initial installation project was completed in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Additional projects on the drawing board are planned in Venezuela and for the creation of the first AIDS orphanage in South Africa.

What this country needs is more big-hearted people who can think small.

Tools of destruction

Photo by CPSC

Some 304,000 units of the Chinese-made Chefmate® six-blade blender were sold at Target stores for $14 between September 2007 and February 2011. Read up on the recall at the CPSC. If you bought this blender (look for model #BL-10), contact Target Guest Relations at (800) 440-0680 for recall information, or visit www.target.com.

Lawn troubles? Oh, Deere

Photo by CPSC

September was a terrible month for John Deere. The CPSC announced recalls of 5,200 units of Deere’s  D100 Lawn Tractor. Flaws in the connections of the brake assembly to the transmission housing can cause brake failure and loss of control. Not a good thing. Read the CPSC report on the tractor that identifies specific model numbers in the recall.

Double Deere ya’

Photo by CPSC

On September 14, 2011, the same date at the D100 recall announcement, the CPSC reported that John Deere was recalling 15,000 tractors with Model numbers D100, D110, D120, and D130 — all with a 42-inch Edge™ Cutting System amid reports of laceration hazards. Consumers should contact Deere & Company at (800) 537-8233 for details or visit the John Deere website.

Midnight rider

Photo by CPSC

Completing the tri-fecta for lawn mower recalls in early September are Kubota Riding Mowers said to be prone to fire risks. Some 6,100 mowers were sold in the United States, April 2010 – April 2011 for between $3,600 and $11,500. Visit the CPSC for model numbers in the voluntary recall.

Pardon me if I let the grass grow out this winter!

Appliances are groovy, baby!

Photo by Born Rich

SMEG, a British appliance company, makes a refrigerator built for Austin Powers! This Union Jack model echoing the 1950s-era would make a fine centerpiece for a wolf’s lair in any country. It puts the grrr in swinger, baby. And I know that someone out there will just adore the lavender model. Read more about SMEG creations at Born Rich.

Green with envy

Photo by Northstar

These Northstar fridges featured at Elmira Stove Works are energy compliant, matching today’s green innards with 1950s exteriors. They come outfitted with dual controls, ice-makers, and an optional draft beer dispenser.

Chill out!

Photo by Big Chill

Colorado’s Big Chill fridges come in colors like pink lemonade, beach blue, and buttercup yellow. The 20-cubic-foot model starts at $2,995.

Gogh crazy!

Photo by Appliancist

These reefers from Antonio Merloni celebrate schemes inspired by Van Gogh, Monet, and Cezanne. The Appliancist has a dandy pictorial on Merloni designs which, sad to say, are only available in Europe.

Man-cave exclusives

Photo by Kitchen Contraptions

Whether you’re going’ fishin’, revving up the hog, or just chillin’ in the cave, these oddly green, 30″ Ten50 Design fridges come with electronic temperature controls and filtered water taps. And, there’s a hefty ice maker.

Draw your own conclusions

Photo by Northstar

Welcome to Chill City.  These Northstar systems come with built-in beer taps. Attach a keg of your favorite micro-beer to this factory-installed Brew Master draft system and still have inside space for fully functional top shelves and crispers. The system runs $800, not counting the cost of the refrigerator. And how about that retro flame splashplate!

Neo-skinny architecture

Photo by Yahoo

First, the home reported by Yahoo. Jakub Szczęsny of Warsaw has designed and constructed a home that is four-feet wide at the thickest end, narrowing to 28 inches. Originally among designs for an art installation, Szczęsny’s Keret House is likely the skinniest house in Poland, and perhaps the world.

Here’s what it looks like installed:

Photo by Arch Daily

Small enough for you? The astronauts may have more room in the space station privy. Read more about the Keret House at Arch Daily.

A narrow escape

Photo by Winkworth

The British property services firm Winkworth has sold this skinny house in Shepard’s Bush, a suburb west of London. A converted hat shop, the house is but five-and-a-half feet wide. There are soak tubs wider than that. But the home rises to five levels, providing 1,000 square-feet of living space. Read more about it at Winkworth.

The mother-lode of skinny

Photo by Two Feathers

Here in Brazil’s Madre de Deus, Helenita has fashioned a 3 x 9 foot, three-story home and wedged her way in. Actually, it’s pretty spacious. See interior photos as part of the skinny-home roundup at Web Urbanist.

(Bye for now: that’s all I could squeeze into the blog this week.)

There are plenty of shabby home appliances and home improvement tools put on the market that go bang or fly to pieces under heavy use. Some may be the end-product of haphazard designs, or slipshod inspection protocols. But I’m more concerned that we get them off the shelves than assign blame.

Human-hand grinder and fire starter

Photo courtesy of the CPSC

How nice to discover that The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has secured the voluntary appliance recall from Wallmart of the 255,000 GE Food Processors prone to cause fire and laceration hazards. Consumers have complained that these digital, 14-cup food processors caused 21 injuries to fingertips, 34 reports of smoke, and three reports of actual fires. If you bought one of these dandies between September 2009 and February 2011, visit Walmart’s Recall Center.

Get toasted!

Photo courtesy of the CPSC

Meanwhile, the CPSC has arranged for a recall of some 300,000 Hamilton Beach® classic chrome 2-slice toasters that, according to consumers, remain “energized indefinitely”. Translation: they won’t pop up your toast when done and just continue to cook them a la flambé until they overheat, damaging nearby kitchen cabinets. These little monsters were sold February 2008 through June 2011, for $30 to $40. Get information about the recall at the CPSC.

Not for the kitchen, or elsewhere

Photo courtesy of the CPSC

The Changzhou Globe Tool Group has voluntarily recalled its Task Force 5-ton electric log splitters sold exclusively at Lowe’s Stores from January 2008 through March 2011. Consumers calling in their concerns included an 18-year-old man who suffered a fingertip amputation and a 60-year-old man with a lacerated finger. Both accidents occurred in normal use, when the men had their hands securely on the on the splitter handle.

The remedy, according to the CPSC alert: “Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled log splitters and contact Changzhou Globe Tool Group Co. Ltd. to receive a free set of warning labels including placement instruction.”

Yeah. Lovely. The two men who lost body parts can paste the warning labels directly on their scars.