Popup Colander - easy on your storage space

I love colanders but I don't love the space they take. So I've been eyeballing some of those silicone pop-up colanders as a solution. This collapsible colander has a handle and would be easy to use with pasta. But this one is interesting in that it has legs and could sit in the sink but still be elevated enough for draining or rinsing food. That would allow for hands free use and still be sanitary.

Greener Gadgets Competition 2009

I love finding sites like this! The Greener Gadgets Design Competition is part of an annual conference focused on developing electronics that are environmentally sustainable. There's some pretty funky concepts showcased each year.

PCWorld has a slide show about the competition that you may find easier to explore.

Folding kitchen cart

I've had my eye on a folding kitchen cart for awhile but I've been wondering how good it is and how well it would work in my galley kitchen. Has anyone who has bought one have comments about their experience with it?

Here's my favorite so far - Folding Kitchen Island and a review by someone whose has one.

Here are links to some others;

Oasis Folding Kitchen Carts - several variations available

Winsome Wood Foldable Kitchen Cart with Knife Block, Light Oak

Kitchen Island Company has several varieties available

Book Review: Collapsibles

Collapsibles: A Design Album of Space-Saving Objects by Per Mollerup,
Thames & Hudson, 2001, ISBN 0-500-28309-5

TOC:
Introduction, 1. Fold it, 2. Mechanics, 3. Furniture, Sources

This book was written to serve as inspiration to designers as well presenting an overview of man's early and current collapsible products. Man has been creating collapsible products, tools, and furniture for centuries. They include paper light shades, telescopes, tents, fire truck ladders, and umbrellas. Collapsibles can be in all kinds of configurations including stress (stretching), telescoping, creasing, folding, rolling, nesting (stacking), fanning, or inflating (and a few others).

It's an interesting book with plenty of illustrations and you will see a lot of old standbys that you use all the time but don't think about. Saving space is certainly not a new idea, in fact it's looking like it has been around since man started making tools.

Washup - washer/toilet combo

Washup - washer/toilet combo was a notable entry at the 2008 Greener Gadgets Design Competition


Most of us would not look at this concept twice, but if you are really looking to save space and live greener this design bears thinking about. Having the washer hang above the toilet saves floor space, and using the dirty wash water to flush the toilet saves water.

One site noted that this would not be advisable if you have pets who persist in sneaking drinks from the toilet.

Wee House

Johnson Creek weeHouse Prefab Home - simply gorgeous! The wee House is a prefab home located in Honesdale, Pennsylvania and was designed by Alchemy Architects. But at 2,200 sq. ft. its larger than my house!

Check out Alchemy Architects blog about their weeHouse.

I love how much light there is in the main living area!

Desk organizer that clamps on your desk

Twinray makes a organizer called the 'Organize-Up' that can clamp to the edge of your desk or table. I have three, one in my home office, one at work, and one in my craft room. You can use the included base support if the Organize-Up can't be clamped to your work surface.

What I like about it is that it frees up space on my desk, keeps my pens handy, corrals some of the smaller items, and gets my drink off the surface of my desk. I don't have to worry about accidentally pushing my drink over when moving paper around or having it leave a ring on the wood. The cup/glass holder even has a indention in the bottom to collect any drips or condensation. The model I use (Arts & Crafts in purple) has a built in tape dispenser as well.

The fact that purple is my favorite color might have helped convince me to get one but they've more than paid for themselves. When I looked last week only their home site sold the units. I bought mine from one of the catalogs I get regularly, unfortunately I can't remember which one.

For even more organizational joy get a tube of restickable glue and stick small pads of PostIt Notes on the pencil holder. The pads have to be small and not too heavy, restickable glue has it's limits.