Friday, September 9, 2011

Back in the Saddle + Living Room Feng Shui

Google just released an iPhone app, so I think it's about time to hop back in the saddle and do some house bloggin'.

Since I installed my projector so the screen was at the end of the room, my living-room has barely been used. The couch was arranged with it's back to the dining-room/kitchen and as a result the only time ppl would feel comfortable sitting on it was when everyone was in that area. I wanted the projector that way so that it could be seen from throughout the house and so the speakers would cover the whole floor in sound... But ultimately, it just wasn't a great arrangement from a Feng Shui perspective.

Recently I had an epiphany: the screen didn't have to be parallel with one of the walls! Why not put it at an angle and then rotate the couch so it's back was facing the wall?

Doing this has really opened up the room and made it more inviting. In the last couple weeks alone, we've hung out in the livingroom more time than we have in the last couple years! It's great, an makes tons of room for the new XBox360 Kinect I got :P

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Acoustic Reticles I

In case you haven't read the blog before, I get the white foam from my work because it is used to ship some of our raw materials in. It's really high quality foam (polypropylene, not polystyrene), so rather than throw it away I've been keeping (read: hoarding) lots of it in my basement planning to do something like this for a long time now.

The white foam mainly diffusers (scatters) sound but the grey and red foam that I've added absorbs the sound, so acoustically it's a good compromise of features.... plus I think it looks pretty awesome.

The blocks are all held together using magnets and stick to small L brackets attached to the wall to give it a cool "floating" look. The magnet technique needs to be perfected a bit, but once complete will really ease installation and that's something I've been striving for to allow other people to put them in their house without complicated hanging instructions.

I plan on doing a 4x4 grid on my other wall, then trying to get some online press for them and spread the word.

BTW - The name "Acoustic Reticles" came from the silicon microphone wafers that the white foam is used to ship. A reticle is an electrical design/pattern which is repeated across a silicon wafer which in the case of my company are used to make tiny microphones.

"New" Bed and Wall Decorations

I'm baaaaack!

I hope to get a number of house projects complete this summer so I figure it's time I get the ole blogspot up and running again. Today's update features one new and one new-to-the-blog items... Both of which are contained in this photo:

New-To-The-Blog is the wall decorations, which I scored from Construction Junction for $10. I sanded, fixed and re-painted them from their original red color, but the mounting hardware on the back made them relatively easy to hang.

New-new is the bed. My buddy Brandon and I built the box you can see there last night... and by that I mean I followed Brandon's lead and tried to keep up :P He works for Kramer's Kustom wood shop right down the street from me in the Southside and we whipped this together in a couple hours. This is just the start though. Next we'll add drawers, a front panel, a headboard and integrated side tables so the drawers can slide under them. All of this will be finished with a to-be-determined exterior like laminate, vaneer, metal... who knows. All I do know is it's gonna be awesome.