Take part in the OddJob tool giveaway!

Happy weekend!
I've just reviewed the OddJob tool by Crescent. It's a compact 11-in-1 tool that is pretty handy to have around the house. Great for quick fixes, like tightening a wobbly IKEA stool (it has a hex bit), hammering in a nail and other minor touch-ups. 

Cresent is giving away a set of the OddJob tool to a lucky reader too. You can read my full review and take part in the giveaway here.

~ Jules

Your Ikea hack could lead to design fame and a new sponsor

Is your Lack-Billy-Akurum Frankenstein a winner? There's only one way to find out. Platform21, BRIGHT and Superuse are running a contest and the winning design will be exhibited at the Bienniale Montreal 2009 and in the BRIGHT stand during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. Submit before 15 September for your shot at fame.

Go here for details.

*** 

Next, please welcome Ikeahacker's latest sponsor eRoomService, an online store that offers modern designer furniture. I spent an hour or so drooling over its amazing collection of living, dining, bedroom and children furniture. Way, way gorgeous! Definitely not stuff you'll find at your local Ikea. Hop over and check them out.

Interested in advertising on Ikeahacker? Email me at ikeahacker [at] gmail [dot] com for rates.

Simone and Bubo says "hi!"

Simone won our last contest with her heartfelt story of Bubo, the abandoned kitten and the need for a new slipcover. I contacted her recently for an update and to see how her sofa (and Bubo) is doing.


With her prize, $500 to spend at bemz.com, she's changed her old sofa from this ...

to this ...

 

  

 

Camera shy Bubo

Simone tells me, "I've finally gotten a chance to take pictures of my beauuutiful new slipcover! I tried to get Bubo in the pics with the couch -- but I'd just used the vacuum cleaner and he was hiding on top of my Expedit bookcase!

Thanks again for this wonderful contest, and for helping my new apartment look so good!"

spongefish's genius hack contest is on!

think your hack is hip enough to win a nintendo wii?

spongefish, a newly launched social site where people share what they know, is running a genius hack contest with fabulous prizes up for grabs.

a little bit on the contest ...

"We're looking for genius hacks. By hack, we mean an act of creativity that solves a problem, alters or adds functionality, or a clever prank. Your hack should demonstrate intelligence, organization, skill and humor, and not hurt anyone or destroy anything valuable. To enter, you should describe the hack and provide some information about how you did it. Visuals help, so please show the hack in pictures or video."

the genius hacks contest runs through february 16th and all you need to do is join spongefish and upload your hack.

prizes!
first prize: Nintendo Wii
second prize: iPod Touch
third prize: $100 Gift Certificate to ThinkGeek
fourth prize: $25 Gift Certificate to ThinkGeek

check out some of the contest entries:
> how to make and hold fire balls
> homemade metal detector
> how to hack open a lock

by the way, i am one of the judges, so i may be biased to ikea hacks. :P

see contest details and entries.

win a customized bemz slipcover

so you have an old ikea sofa or armchair looking like some thing the cat dragged in? you're in luck then! cause you're about to get to give your sofa/armchair a second chance.

i am very happy to announce a brand new contest from ikeahacker and bemz, the company that sells removable, washable slipcovers for sofas, armchairs and cushions, tailor made for the ikea range.

want to know what you can win?

$500 to spend at bemz!

now that i've got you excited, here are the easy steps to take part:

1. take a photo/video of your tatty old ikea sofa/armchair. ideally, your photo should highlight the condition of its current slipcover, with particular focus on rips, tears, stains or other signs of its eventful existence on planet earth.

example: if you have a klippan, take a photo of its current condition.

2. go to bemz.com and pick a new slipcover for your ikea sofa/armchair. save a photo of your selection by clicking on �zoom in� and then right-clicking (mac users should control-click) to save the image to your computer.

example: the gustavian flowers black for klippan

3. write or tell us your heartfelt reasons why you deserve a new bemz slipcover.

4. finally, email your photos, the image you downloaded from bemz.com, and your reasons why your sofa or armchair needs a new bemz slipcover to ikeahacker [at] gmail [dot] com. please write "second chance contest" on the subject line.

all submissions will be posted on ikeahacker. readers can vote for their favourites. votes do carry some weight but the final winner will be decided by our judges - bemz� in-house designer, katarina wiklund, susan martin of ikeafans and of course, moi.

so, bowl us over with your reasons and we may just give your sofa/armchair a second chance. send your photos/videos in by 5pm PDT on friday, october 5, 2007. the winning entry will be announced on october 10, 2007.

click for more information about bemz.

contest terms
the prize, up to a value of USD500, is only redeemable for bemz products and shipping costs at www.bemz.com, and is not exchangeable for cash. should the prize winner�s total order invoice exceed USD500, any additional costs over USD500 will be borne by the winner. no cash will be awarded should the prize winner�s total order invoice be less than USD500. only one prize can be won.

and the winners are ...

votes have been cast and the judges have chosen their favourites.

armand's picks:

1st - lack shelving in the style of charlotte perriands.
witty, stylish, cheap.

2nd - ikea meldal greenhouse.
anything green get my GO signal.

3rd - ikea skubb monster kite.
what would the world be without whimsy?

arash and kelly's picks:

1st - tini because the transformation comes 'alive' and a great game for kids and dogs. the most imaginative of all we thought

2nd - randall for the Charlotte shelving.
most stylish idea

3rd - giusy's greenhouse.
a great new line for ikea

my picks:

1st - tini's skubb kite.
most creative use of an ikea item. taking it totally out of its usual parameters.

2nd - randall's shelving.
a touch of class for the lack shelving unit

3rd - winnie's rapunzel bookcase.
i think it's such fun.

popular vote

1st - randall's shelving with 77% votes

2nd - winnie's rapunzel bookcase & tini's skubb kite (tied at 11% each)

after tabulating the scores ... i'm proud to announce that we have the winners of the genius ikea hack contest.

first prize goes to randall kramer for the lack shelving in the style of charlotte perriands.

tini's skubb monster kite takes second prize.

and coming in third is guisy's meldal greenhouse.

congrats winners! your geniuspad, compliments of arash and kelly, will be enroute to you soon.

thank you everyone who sent in an entry or voted in the polls. it's been fun! if you have ideas for a new contest, do let me know.

click to view all entries.

vote for the genius ikea hack

submissions for the contest has ended. thanks, peeps, for your entries. we have 6 really fun ideas and i'm loving them. i hope that they will be realised some time.

1. tay's super shelf which is a suped up billy shelf with secret panels.
   
2. bj's emmabo rocking chair with premiar wall art. definitely fresh and funky.
   





3. guisy's ikea meldal mini greenhouse which is great for the balcony.
4. tini's skubb monster kite which will eat up the sky.
   
   
   


5. winnie's rapunzel fairy tale bookcase. a dream come true for any little girl.
6. randall's charlotte perriands lack shelving unit - designer furniture without the price tag.
   

hop on over to the forums to cast your vote for your favourite genius ikea hack. your votes will decide who gets into the finals and win the prizes from arash and kelly. click here to vote. voting ends 18 march.

the genius ikea hack contest

i'm so happy to announce ikeahacker's first contest in collaboration with the good folks at arash and kelly. woo! can you tell that i'm excited?

best thing is, you don't need to have scored an ikea hack to take part. just your ideas, your brainchild, juice, the eureka! i'm sure that's wonderful for all you "some day" people who may have an ikea hack idea brewing but never got round to actually doing it. now is the time to put it down on paper and win some goodies in the process.

here's how it goes.

1. pick ANY one or more ikea item(s) you would like to hack.
   
2. on a piece of paper (no larger than A4) draw/scheme out your genius of a hack idea. please remember to identify the ikea item(s) hacked. (sample below) just go crazy. get creative.




3. scan and email your drawing to ikeahacker [at] gmail [dot] com. please write "genius hack" in your subject line. in your email, also include your full name and address, should we be sending the pressies to you.
4. entries will be posted on ikeahacker and open for votes. your votes will determine which hack gets into the finals.
   
5. our panel of judges will then pick the top 3 winners from the finalists.

easy. so, what's to win?

these amazing genius pads! giant sized (approx 12"x12") sticky presentation pads for big ideas. great for brainstorming, planning, doodling and keeping all your important telephone numbers on one page.

1st prize:
300-sheet genius pad

2nd prize:
150-sheet genius pad

3rd prize:
80-sheet genius pad

and finally, introducing the judges:

• armand of positive fanatics, ikea's unofficial web journal. he is an artist and aspiring photo documentarist based in illinois, usa. armand also runs www.moleskinerie.com, the world's premier fan site for moleskine notebooks.
• arash and kelly of well, arash and kelly. they are designers based in west london, uk, and creators of cool stuff such as the genius pad and big clip.
  
• lastly, me! not much to say in this department except that i live 15 minutes away from ikea. :)

hacks will be judged on creativity, good use of the ikea item(s) and originality. so, blow us away.

get cracking. submissions and voting ends march 11th.