apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Unplggd reader Art was kind enough to share his home office project, transforming a guest room closet into a bright and organized space to get his work done without too much clutter and with an efficient use of space. Details of all the components and solutions below.

Equally a sculpture as much as an audio speaker, Studio Lim's porcelain Sound Pot design handles user interaction in a unique direction. A user turns on the unit by grabbing the white NURB shaped device by the knob handle. Flipping it right side up, the speaker blinks on and begins playing; volume is controlled by carefully rolling it from one side or to another.

Airlock is an affordable $7.77 OS X application which installs a system pref onto your Mac, which in turn recognizes your iPhone or iPod Touch via Bluetooth to provide user-specific access based upon that digital handshake between phone and computer. When you leave your computer's perimeter with your iPhone or Touch, your computer locks itself from being used. Come back within Bluetooth range and it grants access. At least in theory.

Sure, we might outwardly roll our eyes at the neighbors up the street who create a huge holiday fantasy land in their front yard, but secretly, we're big fans of holiday cheer displayed outside. We wouldn't go so far as to call that wasted energy, on account of the joy it brings, but we do applaud the idea of an energy alternative. Enter Solar Santa.

Read more about the Solar Santa over at Re-Nest.

Here's a stocking stuffer for your favourite hardcore GMail user looking who might enjoy streamlining their keyboard shortcuts to a single key command. The 19 key GBoard is a Windows and OS X compatible keyboard which activates and enables common keyboard commands in Gmail into specific single keystrokes. A little bit silly, yet kinda cool at the same time. Check out the vid below and decide for yourself.

If there's one thing our friends seem love doing it is getting together to karaoke. It's a passion we don't seem to share; if we wanted to listen to poorly song pop songs, we'd watch all those reality show talent competitions. But if karaoke is a passion, why not do it with some panache, like with these Lucky Voice Party Box mic and microphone mixer?

We sorta love these preppy travel and tech accessories designed for laptops, iPhones and whatever else, finished with a serious-studious appeal instead of the usual too-cool-for-school or business-blah offered in the department of laptop accessories. The Ivy League good looks of these Norwegian crafted leather and 100% certified organic Turkish cotton are being exclusively offered by the Obamas' favourite clothing catalog retailer, J. Crew.

Those of us who like to fancy ourselves cooks know timing is everything. For those of you looking to spice up your kitchen timer options, and who also like rolling dice, can we propose the IDEA Cubic Timer? The dice-style timer can be set for 3 (for eggs), 10, 30 or 60 minute countdowns instantly by putting desired number facing upward.

Here's a stylish way to clearly designate the use of different cables connecting your computer to the various peripherals that are sure to be on or around your workspace. The LaCie Flat Cables are space saving in design and offered in a variety of colours for USB, Firewire and eSATA connections.

Finnish design student Hannes Vaht wrote in this morning to share his beautifully designed birch veneer and laminated veneer work desk. Specifically designed for laptop users, the Communication Station was designed for the Stockholm Furniture Fair for his school's "slow now" project, impressively made from recycled materials from previous year's show stands and wall structures, offering some great hide-your-tech features any laptop user will love.

Roadsworth's street artwork reminds us all to plug in onto the way to work, and to remember to unplug on the commute back home.

Designed with the concept of merging elements of nature and technology for guest decor, the WT Hotel project is a partnership between Well-Tech studio and several materials and technology partners, resulting in some very inviting and tech rich accommodations. Eco-friendly materials and solutions are merged with technological details such as smart windows that can be dimmed with liquid crystal, electrochromic, and suspended particle devices, eliminating yesterday's curtains. Touch screen controls are available to change the mood of their room via Jonas Samson designed LED embedded wallpaper, with entertainment offered with BRAVIA series Sony displays.

We're always envious that the European market for many products offers a wider selection of colours compared to the domestic market here. It's no surprise that the colour-loving Italian market would be targeted by LG with these slim Starburst-candy-meets-LCD-displays, the W30S series.