Hasta La Ideas

Two pandemic-inspired trends that have lasted through 2024: Somewhat paradoxically, people are spending more time at home, as well as spending a lot of time outdoors. Here are the innovations we saw this year aimed at both of those environments.

To meet a German client’s needs, Polish architecture firm KWK Promes developed this privacy fencing that appears at the push of a button.

In Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, these roller shutters are common. They resemble the rolldown gates urban American stores used to protect their businesses, but here the application is domestic, allowing homeowners to black out a room in seconds.

In a village in Canada, residents are used to visiting bears destroying their privacy fences. Some neighborhood kids devised this outside-of-the-box solution.

This homeowner hacked a way for his robot dog to help him out with yardwork.

Worried about your tissue box blowing away in a strong breeze? Japanese design firm Form Design Studio created this tissue box made out of iron.

Canadian firm Bateman Labs has a new take on work-from-home and gaming set-ups. They’ve devised a new furniture category: Modular armchair-based workstations and gaming stations.

Tracing paper patterns onto fabric is time-consuming. This hi-tech Ditto system projects the patterns directly onto your fabric.

In an effort to combat clutter, industrial design firm Kritzer came up with this unusual U-shaped power strip.

No room for a laundry rack? Singaporean company Good Living offers this hi-tech automatic ceiling-mounted retractable laundry rack.

Running out of space in the kitchen? Japanese company Yamazaki offers this add-on kitchen drawer and worksurface.

A company called Rinseroo has harnessed the properties of thermoplastic rubber to create this Slip-On Tub Hose.

U.S. Gymnastics coped with this year’s sweltering Olympic Village by bringing in BedJets, which are in-bed air conditioning systems.

Chinese company Xiaomi designed a draft-free air conditioner that exploits cool air’s tendency to sink.

If you’re DIY’ing your house’s interior, Trusscore is a user-friendly sheetrock alternative.

Moving outside the house, the Bola Grill Master is a low-tech design for a barbecue grill with height-adjustable cooking surfaces.

A similar take, with a different execution: The Takibi Stand, a space-saving Japanese alternative to the barbecue grill.

Also from Japan comes this Square Kettle, which the manufacturer says boils water faster.

Meant to cope with uneven ground, this camping table from Ruck & River only has one leg.

For those who prefer four legs, French company Fixmotion’s self-stabilizing outdoor tables get rid of wobble on uneven surfaces.

Veteran tent designer Jake Lah created this Cot Tent for Helinox. No more sleeping on that cold, hard ground.

Gear Aid’s Heroclip is a carabiner with a swing-out hook and a pivot.

Australian industrial design firm Tricycle re-thinks the design of the overlanding water tank with their G-Series.

And finally, Gnara’s GoFly zipper design makes it easy for women to pee outdoors.