Remodel
fromWIRED
3 days ago15 Design-Forward DIY Tools Worth Upgrading to This Year
DIY has evolved into a significant cultural force, with the global market nearing a trillion dollars, driven primarily by cost-saving motivations.
In the nineteenth century, entire railway networks became obsolete almost overnight, not due to physical deterioration, but because of changes in the technical standards that supported them. The expansion of railroads across Europe and North America adopted different track gauges, and as a dominant standard gradually emerged, these infrastructures became incompatible with one another.
Perforated metal has long been valued for its strength, versatility, and clean visual appeal. Created by punching patterns of holes into metal sheets, it offers a practical balance between airflow, light control, and structural support. Across industries such as architecture, construction, mining, and interior design, perforated metal has become a go-to material for projects that require both function and style.
Like before, the person's weight was hanging from the phone's hinge while the sides of the phone were attached to the ceiling (and previously, to the zip line). This is not the weakest orientation for the hinge, but it's still way above the strain that the hinge will face in daily use.
Originally conceived by designer Niels Diffrient over twenty years ago, the Diffrient Lounge is not just for relaxation, it also happens to be a great spot to work in. Ok, so you might not think of a lounge chair as something you would use in your work from home setup, but with its integrated work surface and ergonomic design, you won't want to work anywhere else.
Creating a home that fits your lifestyle isn't about following trends or copying a perfectly styled space you saw online. It's about designing a home that supports how you actually live, starting with choosing the right type of house for your needs, from busy weekday mornings to slow weekends and everything in between. When your home works with your routines instead of against them, everyday life feels easier and more comfortable.
Most utility knives live in junk drawers until you need to open a box. You dig out something with a flimsy plastic slider, a rattling blade, and a body that feels like it costs exactly one dollar. They are treated as disposable, even though you use them constantly for packages, tape, and workshop tasks. There is room for a small knife that feels as considered as the rest of your desk or carry.
Arguably one of the best inventions ever made is the foldable dining table. Whether you're hosting a small dinner party or a cozy evening for two, this pick extends so that you can fit up to five people. When not in use, it folds to an island that you can float around and place against a wall. It comes with cabinets for storage, and its own chairs with designated storage spots, too.
Our pilots make every effort to deliver on schedule, but unforeseen circumstances can introduce delays - not limited to undetected black holes, pods of space whales, and existential panic in our workforce when faced with the endless night sky and the sudden certainty that they are a meaningless mote in a timeless, uncaring void. We're working hard on resolving these issues. Meanwhile, read HERE about our wormhole delivery service, coming soon to a system near you.
the automation of heavy machinery enabled plants to operate continuously, increasing productivity and revenue. The downside was that any small hiccup was acutely felt, cascading through the production line. At first, it was assumed that inadequate lubrication of factory equipment was causing parts to seize up or break apart. And so, the Lubrication and Wear Group of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, along with the Iron
Having explored adaptability at the city scale, we are now zooming in on the building itself-and, crucially, on practice. How can architects, developers, and consultants embed adaptability as a measurable, mainstream outcome? This question will be on the agenda at the Adaptable Building Conference (ABC) on January 22 at the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, where architects, engineers, policymakers, and industry leaders will explore the potential of adaptable buildings-and how to deliver them at scale.
These unassuming pliers replaced my multitool for a fraction of the cost But sometimes there's a tool that completely changes the way you work, and you wonder why it took you so long to get one. This is how I feel about my Stanley Maxsteel MultiAngle Base Vise . It's an invaluable tool that goes a long way for me in the workshop.
An exoskeleton is a relatively new class of wearable device designed to enhance, support, or assist human movement, strength, posture, or even physical activity. The main piece goes around your waist like a belt, and from it, a pair of hinged, mechanized splints extend down over the hips to strap onto each thigh, where they provide some robotic assistance to normal movements like walking, running, or squatting.
Drawing Architecture Studio presents The Clock House No.2 at the 7th Shenzhen Bay Public Art Season in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, on view until April 19th, 2026. Commissioned for the public art program, the Beijing-based practice reinterprets the historical automaton clock as architecture, using low-cost industrial components to construct a structure that chimes and glows every fifteen minutes. Where the clocks once gifted to emperors represented technical virtuosity and expensive craftsmanship, this installation adopts a deliberately rough and economical construction.
Small workspaces demand accessories that earn their place on the desk. Every item needs to justify the real estate it occupies, which means multi-functionality isn't just a nice feature-it's essential. The desk that once felt spacious quickly becomes cluttered when traditional peripherals take over. A separate keyboard here, an external monitor there, pens rolling around, and suddenly your workspace feels more chaotic than creative.
How did a material conceived for bridges, factories, and large-scale structures make its way to the living room bench, the apartment bookshelf, the café table? For centuries, metal was associated with labor, machinery, and monumentality-from the exposed structures of 19th-century World's Fairs to the productive logic of modern industry. Its presence in domestic interiors is not self-evident but rather a cultural achievement: the transformation of an industrial material into an element of everyday, intimate use, in close proximity to the body.