None of the houses I have owned have ever had a doorbell. Maybe it’s time to change that. While I haven’t been a huge fan of Spore’s doorbells in the past, their new doorbell “True” may be changing my opinion.

True bridges the gap between modern and traditional design. An all-metal push button is surrounded by a thin halo of LED-illuminated color, which also reflects against the mounting surface. Designed to fit well with residences built from 1900 on, True comes in several finishes and three illumination colors, as well as a non-illuminated option. Substantial in feel but narrow in diameter, True mounts well to narrow doorjambs and other tight applications.

Make sure you check out their “Ring” doorbell chime as well. I love the simplicity of it.

Available from Spore.

Anyone else have a favorite doorbell or chime?

I’m fascinated when people are able to rethink old ideas and come up with something completely new. The Node electrical outlet was designed to address the issue of not enough wall sockets. It’s unique design allows you to plug in multiple two pronged cords. While I’m not sure that it is really any more practical than your traditional electrical outlet (it may be less practical really, no three prongs here) you can’t deny it looks better.

If anyone finds out if these are available stateside, let us know.

Available from Metaphys

Oh, IKEA. You never cease to amaze me with your clever ways. Meet the SUNNAN Light – a handsome little fellow free of wires and powered by the sun! With a full charge (9-12 hours of sunlight), this desk lamp will put out 400 to 500 lux at its starting point. After 3 to 4 hours, the light intensity will decrease to about 300 lux. Uses LED bulbs.
SUNNAN Light from IKEA: $20

Almost a year ago we posted about a wind turbine that Philippe Starck had been working on. The object was to make it attractive and affordable. Unfortunately it looked like it was going to be unavailable as there has been no mention of anyone actually building it. Now it looks like the designer wind turbine might actually be more than vaporware. While the details are still pretty sketchy, it appears that the UK branch of Pramac will be producing the turbine, and according to their website it should be “available soon”. There is even rumor of a new three blade vertical axis ‘Darrieus’ style turbine (shown left). We just hope that something actually gets made, and that it is close to the original rumored price of $800 – $1,200.

via

If you’ve had your eye on the super simple steel pipe bed frame from MUJI, now is the time to buy it. Until Sept 6th they are 50% off, making them an extremely affordable $59. Of course when you see a good deal like this there is always a catch. In this case it’s that you can only purchase it from one of their three New York stores. If you are looking for a deal online though their amazing wall mounted CD player is 30% off.

Available from MUJI.

Hopefully everyone here has already heard of McMaster-Carr. They are a sort of do it yourself industrial superstore. With over 480,000 products, there is a good chance that they have what you need, if only you could find it. I know that there are some great treasures amongst those 480,000 items. I almost bought some track for a sliding door from them once, and seriously looked at some of their faucets too. If you have been brave enough to wade through all the 480,000 products and found some good ones, we want to know.

What are your favorite items from McMaster-Carr?

Do you have any other similar websites with great finds?

Here are a few vintage ads that ought to put a smile on your face! Have a great weekend!
From Flickr group “I Love My Electric Appliance!“

The D/A clock takes the styling of the basic LED to a whole new level by creating a completely mechanized version of the iconic numbering. Designed by Alvin Aronson and made from corian and a lot of ingenuity the D/A clock is pretty impressive. With the change in time, the numbers slowly transition by raising or sinking into the clocks surface. While it doesn’t look like it is available for sale yet, with an idea this good it shouldn’t be long before it gets to market. Make sure you check out the video after the jump.

D/A clock by Alvin Aronson

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Tokyo Flash has long been one of my favorite sites for unique watches. The recently have broadened their product range to include bags, clocks, hats, jewelry, t-shirts, lighting and design goods. With all those new different categories it seems like it would be hard to have a line as original as their watches, yet they seem to pull it off quite well. While the “fashion” items don’t get me too excited, all the design goods show off the classic simple japanese style. While some items like the Juke Tower look like they could be right out of a Muji store, others like the Erect calculator have a certain craziness that make it a classic Tokyo Flash piece. Due to the weak dollar pricing ranges between $50 – $200 on most items. It’s going to cost you if you want to be the cool kid on the block.

Available from Tokyo Flash from $50+

Though I am usually a big supporter of form and function I sometimes find the absolutely pointless wrapped in a pretty package quite appealing. Take for example this “sound machine“. It’s a good looking little red box that is packed with all sorts of useless sounds at the touch of the button. Some of the more interesting ones include bronx cheers and shotguns, plus the old standbys canned laughter and applause. They will be shipping out this spring, and are on pre-order now for $17.

Available from Unica Home for $17.