Smart Stuff - The World's Smartest Stuff

Easy emptying dust pan.

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:06:47 +0200

What can you say? Ask why no one has come up with one before? Or just tip ones hat? "Ductpan" concept by Kawamura Ganjavian design- and architect firm.

Use a comb to hold your nail.

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:29:35 +0100

Hitting one's thumb is painful. And punching dents or holes in one's walls because one has missed the nail's head is tiresome. Here's an idea that could make both easier to avoid if you still use nails rather than screws. Keep the nail in place with a comb. Smart.

Anti-theft-rug.

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:17:15 +0100

If this won't make the hamburglar change his mind, I don't know what would. Trouble may ensue when said neighbor gets his eye on it, though.

Lego cake.

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:14:54 +0100

There's nothing particularly smart about this, at least not in the traditional sense, but we do love the creativity that must have possessed the pastry-chef. And the skills it took to make the little Lego pieces out of marzipan.

Dining table and seats inside kitchen drawers.

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:26:34 +0100

Isn't this a wonderful idea? We have no idea how this would actually work, or even if it'd work in the first place... doesn't the table look a bit too deep for the depth of the bench? Maybe it could extend into the next room like the work tables in Terry Gilliam's "Brazil", if you remember?

The Savile Row Fold.

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:58:37 +0100

We don't know if they use this trick in the tailor's shops on famous Savile Row in London, but either way we think it's both smart and simple. And that's just how we like 'em. The only possible objection we can think of is that this trick seems to require a low slung hanger bar of some sort (or three hands). Hanging pants this way is supposed to insure that they don't slide off the hanger and end up in a pile on the floor. This problem is probably most common when you're dealing with finer suit pants made from soft and smooth material. Here's how to: 1. Hold your pants upside down, with the legs straddling the hanger. 2. Fold one leg in through the hanger, pulling the leg all the way down so the bottom hem sits right above the crotch of the pants. 3. Then, just fold the second leg over the first.

The Systembolaget iPhone app.

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:48:43 +0100

Now, this app will do small wonders for you if you live in Sweden and read Swedish. But even if you don't, it might serve as an example of what one can do with an app and a huge amount of information. Systembolaget is the Swedish state owned chain of liquor stores. It has more than 400 shops and a stock of more than 10,000 different products, all with a description in the style of taster's notes. Every single one (we haven't actually tried all 10,000 but they should all be there) is available through this wonderful little app. If you don't know the name or the number of the product you're looking for you can use a host of different search filters to find what you want. Once you've found it, you can save it to your favorite's list and find out if there are any left in the store you want to shop at. It will also tell you exactly where in the store it is, saving time browsing the shelves looking for it. (Systembolaget has the quirky policy of sorting its inventory after price, rather than for instance alphabetically och or by country of origin, and this takes some getting used to.) Available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. iOS 4.0 or later.

Collapsible bucket.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:40:36 +0100

Made of flexible silicone with a stainless steel handle. 29 cm Ø at the top, 18 cm Ø at the bottom. Height 4,8 cm collapsed, 22 cm expanded. Weight 860 g, room for 7 liters. Available in six colors. It's GBP 19:95 (approx. USD 31:-). So great we're surprised no-one has come up with it before.

Organize matching bedsheets.

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:13:20 +0100

If you have beds in different sizes, or if you just want to keep tabs on which sheets and pillow cases that go together, here's an easy organizing tip. It's even free. Just gather up all the sheets and pillow cases that belong together and stuff them all inside one of the pillow cases. Thus you have a package that's easy to handle and store.

Smart stemware holder saves expensive wine glasses.

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:29:19 +0100

Really nice stemware can make a dinner party. And break the budget if you can't be bothered to wash them by hand afterwards and they break in the dishwasher. So, if you won't settle for Ikea's stemware (which is pretty good, by the way), here's a way to keep them from crashing into each other in the washer. It's really simple; one end attaches to the stem of the glass, the other to the rack och the washer. All set. They're USD 15:- (approx. GBP 9:72) for a pack och four at Quirky. Design by Gary Rose.

Simple photo stand with light box and background.

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:26:59 +0100

This is something we'd find useful here at Smart Stuff HQ. We do snap the occasional product shot every now and then. We usually rig some opaque pieces of plexi for a diffuser, but this thing seems smaller and easier to use. This thing is built for mobile cams and light compacts and we use our trusted Lumix for the shots, but the cellphone cam's are getting better all the time so why not? The Steady Stand comes from Modahaus and it's EUR 30:- (approx. USD 40:-).

Soft strainer and pourer for pots and pans.

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:07:59 +0100

Pouring or straining liquids is never entirely without problems. This applies in particular if you want any solids to stay in the pot. We suppose this sieve/strainer/pourer is still a concept but it should not be too hard to produce. It's thought to be made from soft silicone and it can be made with different strainer density and of course in different colors. Designed by Yu Zhigang, Chen Chao, Lv Changfu, Yuan Chenxin och Wu Jia.

iPhone headphones works as wire shutter release.

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:04:57 +0100

Taking pictures with one's cell is cool and all, but the phone isn't a very stable platform for photography. Now, here's a solution. As far as we know it only works on iPhones and only under iOS 5. Who figured it out we don't know; it's been making the rounds on the 'net for a couple of days now and who's to know who was first to post. Anyway, under iOS 5 the volume-up button on the iPhone becomes a shutter button when the camera is active, which prompted some smart and curious person to find out if the volume-up button on the headphones could do the same trick. And it does. We've tried it on iPhones as old as 3GS. If it works on older phones we don't know. So, with the help of the headphones you could set up your iPhone in some steady spot and hopefully take perfectly sharp pictures. And, since you want to know, it works with video as well. The jury's still out on if it works with Bluetooth headsets as well, but that would be really cool.

Home office in six different ways.

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:26:26 +0100

Since probably most people have a computer of some sort at home these days, most people probably also have to think about where to put it. Out of the way but reasonably accessible would be the ticket. Many designers have given this thought, too, and here are of those ideas. Number one above comes from German mail order firm Magazin and offers space for both your laptop and some files and binders. It's EUR 990:- (approx. USD 1,333:-.) Number two is not quite as fancy, but will probably do it's job anyway. It's from IKEA and it's USD 59.99 i the USA. Besides these two, we've found some other ideas for the home office over the years. You'll find them under "Related" after the jump.

Xovel. New attempt to create smart shovel.

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:36:14 +0200

We're fast approaching the snowy season (at least where we live) and it seems that the concept of the shovel won't give designers any rest. Maybe it's because everyone probably has had first hand experience of shovelling. And of the back-aches afterwards. This latest installment, the Xovel, is designed to make shoveliing easier both on arms and back. What's new with this idea seems to be tha fact thsat it's modular with exchangeable shovels and that it has a small flashlight on the forward handle. Idea and concept by Jaeseok Han.

Thank you, Steve.

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:51:38 +0200

Illustration by Jonathan Mak Long, 19, of Hong Kong. In a stroke of genius the picture sums up Steve Jobs' impact on and omniportance to Apple and the Apple brand. Hat tip to Jonathan Mak.

Power outlet in a drawer.

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:55:19 +0200

Idea guy Bob Fleming warns that contractors should speak to their inspectors before installing one of these. He also says the outlet meets "the requirement of outlets along the counter", but that inspectors needs to be "flexible in their interpretation". Red tape aside, we still think it's a cool idea. We would want to put in an entire power strip to be able to charge a bunch of stuff without cluttering the counter-top.

Free on-line language lessons.

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:34:42 +0200

Maybe it's not Berlitz, but on the other hand it's free, the way we like it. Pronunciator is a free on-line language class. Or anyway a pretty simple way of learning a few useful phrases in a foreign language before you go. You can chose between having a host of useful words read to you, or if you hook up a mic, you can repeat them yourself and have your pronunciation rated. Cool. At present they have 60 different languages and some 3 million lessons. We could not help but try the English -> Swedish part and even though they didn't use a native Swedish speaker, and some of the phrases are a bit off, it's pretty darn close. If any of the other languages have the same problem, obviously we can't say, but the ones we have a working knowledge of sounds okay.

Kitchen sponge with faucet gripper, version 2.

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:04:37 +0200

Back in July 2006 we found this smart idea for a kitchen sponge (left) on the website of Italian Coop, designed by Carlo Contin. Read that post here. Since 2006 we haven't heard anything about the clever sponge, so we thought it had been left in the bottom left hand drawer and forgotten about. But lo and behold. The other day we stumbled upon its younger cousin. It's the one on the right. The smart sponge had returned, albeit in a slightly different shape and designed by someone else, Robert Audroué. We still think it's a smart idea, so we hope it'll get all the way to production this time...

Adjustable cheese slicer.

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 19:02:57 +0200

We just found this cheese slicer in a small antiques store, and since we've never seen anything like it, it begged to be added to our collection of odd kitchen stuff. The asking price was just SEK 30:- (about USD 4:69 or GBP 2:89), so here it is. You adjust the thickness of your slices of cheese by loosening the screws (top right) and turning the cutting part slightly. Tighten the screws again, and you're good to go. It has no stamps or markings except "ROSTFRI SV.FABR." (bottom right) which translates into "STAINLESS SW.MADE". This of course tells us it was made in Sweden, but there are no patent or patent pending markings anywhere, so it was possibly never patented. The handle is made of some kind of off-white plastic that suggests it's from the fifties, but we could of course be wrong. Now we're asking you, our readers; have you seen a cheese slicer like this before? Do you perhaps know who designed it or manufactured it? Please send us an e-mail if you do. We'd love to know more!