Believe it or not, Do-It-Yourself isn’t just the realm of Bob Vila and that dude Ty on all those Discovery shows. You can, in fact, do it yourself. With a helpful bit of inspiration and an almost complete lack of instruction (exactly how we like it), you can combine found items and a bit of know-how into some seriously awesome stuff for your home – without the obscene price tag that high designers and big box stores would charge you for similar items. Like any good vacation, the planning of any project starts with the destination. So here you go, here are your destinations. Just add testosterone and power tools wherever possible.
Disclaimer: Real life DIY doesn’t have a standby emergency team. Exercise some caution because those comical mishaps Tim “The Toolman” Taylor is known for aren’t as funny when you’re the one getting electrocuted. Knowing is half the battle, so if you don’t know, find someone who does.
This Hyundai sponsored post is about snapping out of the norm and creating your own awesome. Thanks Hyundai!
Wall Lamp
Like the functional Erector set cranes you used to build as a kid, this lamp combines a few pieces of wood, some nuts and bolts and electrical hardware to create one of the cleanest wall or desk lamps that you can save roughly $250 building yourself.
Pipe Shelf
Calculate your desired shelf size. Visualize your shelving victory. Screw together some lengths of galvanized pipe and some wall mounts and paint it black. Take that IKEA.
Beer Bottle Chandeliers
The perfect light fixture for any man cave or game room, the best part of this project is definitely “creating” all the empty building materials.
BoomCase
On the surface, it’s just a cool vintage suitcase with speakers inside. Unless you know how to wire up speakers though, it can be quite difficult. Find your speakers and your case and then hit up the nearest car audio place for some assistance with the wiring.
Metal Barrel Cupboard
Take one oil drum, some rubber molding, paint and sheet metal and combine it with a sweet Mad Scientist outfit and industrial grinder. As with any operation that generates high-velocity shrapnel, wear proper eye protection.
Pipe Works Coat Rack
If you’re looking for a little more garden/plumbing industrial design in your foyer, this is the piece for you. Since it’s really just plumbing fixtures, you can add more interior sections as necessary to accommodate your her sizable amount of outerwear.
Mr. Wilson
Part Pac-Man, part Federer weapon of choice, Mr. Wilson is a tennis ball suction-cupped to your wall that will devour wet towels, bath robes or anything else you could possibly want to hang from the wall.
Pallet Coffee Table
Take one industrial pallet (tip: you can usually pick these up from hardware stores on the cheap) and screw a piece of wood and casters to the bottom – instant coffee table with storage. Find the nearest graffiti artist and coerce him into throwing some designs on top for an added pop.
Globe Lights
Finding the Prime Meridian was never all that easy, so you might as well take that outdated geographic relic (USSR, anyone?) out of storage and turn it into something useful – like an awesome light or chandelier.
Pipe Lights
The possibilities are literally endless when it comes to Tetris-ing together lightbulbs and plumbing pipe. Since you don’t have to deal with waiting for the straight pieces, piecing together these lights is just as much fun as it is productive.
License Plate Bowls
Bolt together two license plates (everyone has license plates lying around somewhere) then cut and bend where necessary to create a bowl so cool you could sell it on Etsy. Don’t forget to use protection though, make sure you seal everything in with a few healthy coats of lacquer.
Altoid Tin USB Battery Pack
It doesn’t matter if your connection device of choice is a Blackberry, iGadget or Android device, you’re going to run out of juice at some point. Take two things everyone has (AA batteries and an Altoids tin), throw in a little bit of soldering and voila – instant portable battery power.
As part of Hyundai’s “SNAP OUT” Sweepstakes (fine print here), Cool Material and Hyundai are providing you with one Arrowhead Road Sign Bowl by artist W. Holman ($75 value) for free. Leave a comment below describing one of the DIY projects on this list that you’re man enough to tackle and you will be entered to win. We’ll choose a winner 3/1. Good Luck!
CONTEST CLOSED!
Congrats to Daniel (comment #16) winner of the Arrowhead Roadside Bowl. Thanks again to Hyundai for sponsoring the post and contest.
