Today’s Neat Features post seems to come just in the nick of time for me.  Just last week I came across two large boxes of 3.5 floppy discs.  (Because back in my day when we were walking up hill both ways to school, we took our homework on floppy discs, and we liked it that way!)  Since I found those floppy discs, I’ve been wondering what I should do with them.  Sure I can’t use them anymore.  I’m not even sure I have a working floppy drive.  But it still seems like a shame to throw them away (yes I realize they are useless).

Fortunately some clever people over at Instructables may have solved my problem.  They’ve created a tutorial on how to reuse old floppies and turn them into pencil holders.

One of the things we talk about here on Neat Features is that Neat Features can be very complex or very simple.  It’s not the size or expense that matters.  It’s whether something has personality and attitude.  Does it make you want to live there.  Those are the three characteristics that make up a neat feature.

And you don’t get much smaller than floppy discs.

Do you have a Neat Feature of your own?  Consider submitting it, and we may post it.  Image courtesy Liefehacker Tip Testers photo pool by user vokabre

A while back we showed you a room with a pretty elaborate jungle paint job.  Perfect for the 7 and under crowd.  But what about older kids.  (Or the older kid inside all of us?)  I don’t know about you, but as cool as the jungle was, I’m not sure I really want to go with the "Welcome to the Jungle" feel. 

Well here’s an office that was painted in argyle. 

Neat Features don’t have to be expensive, they don’t have to be complex, and you don’t always need an engineering degree to lay them out.  Sometimes you just need some paint and tape. 

Do you have a Neat Feature of your own?  Consider submitting it, and we may post it.

I like to work.  In fact, I work a lot.  Sometimes it’s work I get paid for, sometimes it’s work I just enjoy doing for a hobby, and other times it’s work I do on a volunteer basis.  The bottom line is, I always have something going on.  And I like it that way.

But being so busy has its own challenges.  Especially when I head home.  Where do I work?  How do I keep things organized?  How do I keep track of what I am supposed to be doing?  Sure it can be nice to have a home office.  But if you’re there, you know there are distractions – TV, cleaning, and the like.  Plus if you have kids, you can’t always guarantee they are going to stay out of your office.  Do you really want your 5 year old to “improve” your newest report for work with Dora the Explorer stickers?

Because of all this, I’ve been thinking about having a separate room or office.  What got me started on this was seeing a shed on a house that was wired for electricity.  I figured a little bit of renovation and I’d have a perfect place to work.  So since then I’ve been looking for better solutions.  Which led me to this house with it’s small studio / room / office / shed.  (OK, so I don’t really know what to call it.)  But something like this would give me all the benefits of working from home (convenience, relaxed atmosphere, ability to concentrate) with a lot less of the “at home distractions.”

That’s what I would use this space for, how about you?

Do you have a Neat Feature of your own?  Consider submitting it, and we may post it.