Combining both function and eco-friendly design, the Spanish Innovation Lab - Roca, has created a neat L-shaped sink and toilet combo. By combining the two elements of a bathroom house owners can save a significant 25% of the water that is normally used in the bathroom.

This would be great for some of the older buildings in Europe which have small apartments with smaller bathrooms and with this unit you save some serious space. Only obstacle is the EUR 2,731 price tag that comes with it.

None the less it's a great example of using design to solve everyday problems i.e. space and waste water. Two thumbs up to the Spanish!

via electrolux.se

join me on twitter here

Those craze Swedes are at it again, in a place far, far, away Electrolux has been testing the effects of music on your cleaning habits, specifically - vacuuming. What they found was that with music your the following happens:
- Hip movements.
- More calories burned.
- Hard rock got the job done faster.
- Jazz made people more thorough.

They even made a video of vacuuming to music just add an iPod! 

For all of us that dislike vacuuming our apartments, this would sure make it a lot more fun and enjoyable. This would be one iPod accessory that I would love to see in the apple store. One to try out...

Here's a great product that allows you to transform your office or home into a giant whiteboard. Ideapaint is a DIY paint product that allows you to create dry-erase surfaces virtually anywhere, we made our own white board in our last office but if this had been around I guarantee you that our office space would have taken on a whole new look. Great for those of us that are visual and like to communicate through drawings, charts, diagrams and mindmaps. Anyone used this? Would love to hear some stories or pictures.

A cool ruler that uses the conductive properties of the lead pencil to measure the distance between points. Great for architects or technical drawing. Best of all I think this is a great example of integrating a new technology into an old one, without losing any of the function or form of the ruler.

A great piece of design work, I love way the designer has brought nature in from the outside and placed it on the inside. I really like how the garden is integrated into the clean minimalistic design of the house, creating both a visually unique and different living space which allows the residents to feel a closer association with the garden.

I really like it. Check out the link for more pictures from the house.

For all single guys out there looking to save space and add a little functionality to their ironing board, designer Therese Glimskär gives you the Reflecting Ironing Board. One side - Ironing board other side - Mirror! Extremely simple way of making use of your ironing board without it just collecting dust in your cupboard.

I want one!

Website: yankodesign.com

Creating a new variation on a pretty standard item Gordon Yeh has come up with a gorgeous design for the coat hanger. They look pretty and will compliment those expensive suits that you own. The USP is the both the expandable color rubber ring (not really explained), which is said to be designed to create stability, and the use of superior quality raw material. Time to update your wardrobe?

These LED lamps by Kurage, composed of optical fiber, are the third series designed by sschemata and the largest in size 1.5mm in thickness. This thickness of wire was determined to be the ideal size for the lamps form able to provide adequate luminance.

The lamp comes in 4 types of forms that can all morph color with the brightness of the wires can be adjusted by the size of the curve which explains why the different forms have different luminescence. By bending the optical fiber, the whole area is illuminated outside of the immediate area of the light, and together, they can make very soft light.

It’s time to play… Twitter Trivia!

June 15th, 2009 | By Rebecca Thorman |

We’re starting Twitter Trivia this week! We’ll be tweeting trivia questions at various times throughout the day for several days and if you’re the first person to answer correctly you could win. Prizes will vary from an Alice.com t-shirt to who knows what else!

Here’s all you have to do to participate:

1) Follow us on Twitter.
2) Watch for trivia questions.
3) When you see a question, be the first to reply with the correct answer to win.

Twitter trivia questions will be related to household products or Alice.com. We’ll be tweeting trivia questions at any time, day or night, so keep your eyes peeled. We’ll direct message the winners, and announce each answer and winner on Twitter.

Alice.com's social media manager gets how to engage their audience and customers. This is just one of the ways they engage them with Twitter Trivia, check out their twitter profile for further inspiration.