Wednesday, 26 September 2007

harald pimps ikea for his mac mini

the mac mini. it's way too cute to be hidden. so harald pimps a stand for apple's smallest desktop computer.

"after experimenting with three trunna lights (can't find the link on ikea's website) from ikea germany (regensburg), i made these two light mods for my mac mini.

i just cut the cables and soldered new connections. then i glued the acrylic in symmetric positions on thinner acrylic plates. for the console i used milky polycarbonate from the hobby-store, cut it round and attached it top and bottom.

unfortunately i sold the mini a year ago and the trunna lights at ikea are now round."

see more of harald's mini mac console at www.pimpmymini.com.

gaelle's grey sofa to go red

gaelle's stromstad wants to slip into something red.

"As you can see on the pix, our Stromstad sofa is very tired. It came into our life in 1999, and it has been our best friend till today. It is also our Pomme cat's best friend, so its original grey slipcover needs to be changed as you can see on the other pix.

We moved in to a new home (a house in a mountain), and a little baby girl was born in February, we'll love to have a little more color in our new living-room. So we hope to win this red slipcover to replace our grey one.

Our cat, Pomme des Muses, a lovely Siamese, can go out to play with mice, so that our Stromstad can have a little rest now. It deserves a second chance for its second life."



want to win $500 to spend at bemz? here's how to send in your entry.
click here to view all entries.

a new klippan slipcover on the menu?

cooking accidents on the klippan. how in the world did that happen? but it did with thomas.

"My Klippan 2-seater is still in a good condition, but the surface is simply *#f*?�. The spots come from cooking experiments gone wrong, little puppy dogs feeling too well ;) and the effects of age.



I would like a nice dark and elegant cover so I can give my guests a nice and comfy place to sit and talk. Woven whimsy graphite gray



or Sybary midnight grey." - Thomas



want to win $500 to spend at bemz? here's how to send in your entry.
click here to view all entries.

lavanya's sofa that nobody wants to sit on

lavanya's sofa is a huge turn off for her friends. a new one could perk up her social life again.

"My reasons why my Lillberg sofa needs a new bemz slipcover:

1. I thought my Lillberg sofa would add a touch of sophistication to my studio apartment, get rid of my seating woes (it is a 3-seater, can seat 4 or more depending on proportions). It did, but the faded (after wash) patchy stains/scratches on the cover invite "how-disgusting" stares now.


2. Friends keep staring at the stains, plop themselves on the floor - my sofa is the last option for a decent seating. Some dog-nail art can be seen on the cover.
3. Black definitely adds to my overall gloomy situation- I need color! Or at least a print. :)


HELP!" - Lavanya



want to win $500 to spend at bemz? here's how to send in your entry.
click here to view all entries.

ikea hack on YouTube

thought we'll take a video break from the contest entries. alessa sent me a link to a funny video from antirelusionist based on this laptop desk hack. nice to see ikea hacks getting some tube-time!



enjoy!

Tuesday, 25 September 2007

can't afford a wedding centerpiece? hack one from ikea

this is some thing new - an ikea wedding centerpiece. kim used tall and short glasses, candles and lots of plumeria to make her own centerpiece. and it costs only $25 per centerpiece.

kim says, "i thought i would submit my ikea wedding hack: using regular drinking glasses as candle centerpieces.

candle centerpiecewedding centerpiecewedding centerpiece with plumeriawedding centerpiece toolsall you need for an ikea wedding centerpiece

sure, it's not anything super fancy... but it's a perfect example of using ikea as your craft store and not using everything for its original and intended purpose!"

see more of kim's wedding centerpiece.

maureen's sad sofa story

will be posting up quite a few contest entries today and tomorrow as the contest closing date (oct 5) is fast approaching. do bear with me (and the cats!). i seriously never knew that our feline friends were the no. 1 destroyer of sofa slipcovers. anyways, i have one sad tale, 2 cat stories and one short entry for today. vote on! - jules
______________


maureen has gone through a fair bit with her yellowed ekeskog. your vote could help put a sweet end to this unfortunate chapter.

"My name is Maureen and I own an IKEA Ekeskog Sofa that my husband and I purchased in 2004 in the color 'Mannarp Dark Blue' a year after moving in together. I was very pleased to have finally found the sofa of my dreams and style, after a year of living with nothing but a ratty hand me down. Unfortunately for me little did I know that a year later I would be so unhappy with my color choice. After owning this couch for a year I watched in horror as it slowly started turning a yellowish hue, anywhere an arm was placed the couch began to get a yellow hue to it! I sent numerous e-mails to IKEA asking what to do and none were ever replied to. :(

And now I will rewind a little, shortly after purchasing my dream couch I became horribly ill on and off for a few months and then after a visit back home I was in the Hospital 3 days later having my appendix removed. I felt such horrible pain after the surgery because they put too much gas in my stomach for the Laparoscopic Surgery, I was scared and confused and it was not helping that I could not yet communicate with the doctors because I speak a different language. I left this hospital shortly after only to end up in another one where I learned that they put a little too much gas in to my belly for the surgery.

When I was sent back home from the hospital in 'good health' I had often a lot of pain and could barely move around some days, it took a year of convincing doctors that something was still wrong with me and that what I suspected as me having developed scar tissue from the surgery was actually true.

These are the main reasons why I was only ever to e-mail IKEA and not go there in person. One day when I was not feeling so much pain I went to IKEA in person to ask about my slipcover and why this was happening and I was told to bring in the receipt and cover with me the next time I went there. Sadly because I was still in so much pain the next time was not for awhile longer.

When I had finally had my scar tissue removed and I was on my way to recovery I went to IKEA with my receipt and slipcover to ask for a refund, only to be told that I should have complained sooner and that what was happening to the slipcover was 'perfectly normal?' When we had explained that we e-mailed several times over the course of a year, we were told something funny and that was "Well, we read all e-mails sent to us!" Yes we were only told this and not that they actually reply to them. We were then told that we could return the cover for only 150 Euros worth of credit. At this time, a new cover would have cost 300 Euro more, we were also told we would have to wait over 4 weeks for the new cover in the color we wanted to be in stock. We decided to just say the heck with it in the end and leave after talking to an 'IKEA Master' in the couch area. I have never been so disappointed with IKEA's customer service or lack thereof as I was that day. To make matters worse my husband's wallet was also stolen while we waited to speak with customer service on the issue with our couch cover.

It is now 3 years later and my couch is a very horrid yellow in certain spots and faded blue in others. Not exactly the couch of my dreams. :(

If I win I would love to have a new slipcover from bemz in Chocolate Brown, it would go nicely with our newly redone wood floors.
Please help my dream come true again!" - Maureen



want to win $500 to spend at bemz? here's how to send in your entry.
click here to view all entries.