In Here – Co-Geeking

Dark Academia: A Moody Celebration of Higher Ed and Cultivation

March 1, 2023December 4, 2022Eppu1 Comment

Have you heard of the style dubbed dark academia? According to Wikipedia, dark academia is “a literary and social media aesthetic and subculture concerned with higher education, writing/poetry, the arts, and classic Greek and Gothic architecture.”

Sounds very geeky and nerdy, doesn’t it? (Apparently, again according to Wikipedia, a number of genre novels are, indeed, cited either as inspiration for or popular among the subculture.)

Well, it seems dark academia is now sufficiently popular that mainstream sites have started catering to its fans. While digging into it, I’ve seen clothing, books (of course), movies (ditto), and PC wallpapers for sale. There are also beginner’s guides, playlists for studying, recommended emoji combos, mood guides, critiques, and opinion pieces. (You know a thing has made it when opinion pieces appear!)

I found dark academia when a DIY / thrifting / home decorating blogger I follow and admire, Sarah Ramberg, published her own take on it for the October 2022 challenge in their Thrift the Look series. Here’s one view of her vignette:

Sadie Seasongoods Dark Academia Challenge

Ramberg used mostly thrift store items to outstanding effect. The crystal skull is in fact a thrifted vodka bottle, and it looks stunning. (It’s my favorite element in her recreation, in fact.)

While dark academia (like its kissing cousin steampunk) is not quite my cup of tea, I found it an interesting version of literary appreciation.

Image by Sarah Ramberg at Sadie Seasongoods

In Here highlights interesting spaces created by our fellow geeks all over the world.

Stars in Your Bathroom Floor

March 20, 2019March 3, 2019Eppu

Oh my, this is stunning: a DIYed bathroom floor lights up with tiny fiber optics stars!

Instructables Balrd Star Floor — Balrd at Instructables

The secret is to thread the fibers into the grout lines. Apparently, for safety, the light source needs to be outside the bathroom (or, I imagine, whatever the local code calls for) and, of course, you need to start with a bare floor or to demo the existing surface, so it’s not a quick project by any measure. The results are amazing, though.

See the full star floor tutorial by Balrd at Instructables.

Found via Buzzfeed.

In Here is an occasional feature highlighting geeky spaces created by our fellow geeks all over the world.

DIY Star Wars Marquee

August 10, 2018July 7, 2018Eppu

Ashley DIYed a really cool Star Wars marquee. It even lights up!

The base is a handmade wooden sign stenciled, painted, and varnished.

Wow. I don’t think I’d have the patience! Full props for such a meticulous job!

See the full tutorial at Handmade with Ashley.

In Making Stuff occasional feature, we share fun arts and crafts done by us and our fellow geeks and nerds.

Built-in Brick Space Invaders

July 10, 2018June 24, 2018Eppu2 Comments

When you really love a game: Klopper & Davis Architects in Perth, West Australia, built Space Invaders critters into the walls of this house. The critters are made with depressed brick, and appear both indoors and outdoors. Take a look:

Not an easily DIY-able project, but very neat.

Found via Desire to Inspire. (Visit the DtI blog post for additional Space Invaders views!)

Images: Klopper & Davis Architects, via Desire to Inspire

In Here is an occasional feature highlighting geeky spaces created by our fellow geeks all over the world.

A Washington State Hobbit Hole

February 7, 2018February 4, 2018Eppu

Kristie Wolfe built a Hobbit hole in the mountains of central Washington state. And what great work it is—the attention to detail is superb!

The house hole has a bedroom, a small living room, and a bathroom with a large wooden oval jacuzzi. As befits a Hobbit hole, the structure is mostly underground and has a round door.

The small yard is edged by a stick-and-branch fence woven by Wolfe’s landscaper sister.

There are loads of thought-out details like the floors made of wooden disks of various sizes and a beautiful metal door decoration/knob. But where is the kitchen? Wolfe explains in this video:

A Hobbit House You Can Stay In by Zillow

In case you can’t access the video, she says she’s planning a total of three holes, and since it’s not very practical for each to have its own kitchen, she wants to build a bigger shared one in the style of an English pub.

Read the article at Zillow for more details and photos.

I can understand that you can’t always overcome restrictions, but I still think a kitchen is vital, VITAL, in a Hobbit home. On the other hand, an indoor bathroom is often omitted in favor of an outhouse when building in a challenging location, so full marks to Wolfe for including a full bath.

Also check out a Scottish Hobbit hole I blogged about earlier—which do you prefer and why?

In Here is an occasional feature highlighting geeky spaces created by our fellow geeks all over the world.

Spot-on Hobbit-Style House in Scotland

May 17, 2017February 4, 2018Eppu1 Comment

Reddit user KahlumG shared photos of an amazing Hobbit-style house built by their uncle outside of Tomich, Scotland.

Look completely like it could be from Bree, right?

The inside looks as appropriate as the outside.

And—and I almost can’t believe it, it’s so perfect—the house has an outbuilding with its own water wheel!

Kudos! Visit the imgur gallery for many more photos.

Images: kahlum1986 on imgur

Edited to correct an inaccuracy and a typo.

In Here is an occasional feature highlighting geeky spaces created by our fellow geeks all over the world.

DIY Portal Mirrors

June 17, 2015June 23, 2015Eppu1 Comment

Reddit user corttana and her husband dahburbb have a pair of Portal-themed mirrors in their basement den:

Reddit User corttana Imgur Portal Mirrors — Reddit User corttana on Imgur

They were DIY-ed with mirrors, LED rope light, and wood, plus glue and various attachment / hanging supplies. There are some detail photos on Imgur, and dahburbb provides a list of materials and a how-to. This project is four years old already, but still oh, so good. 🙂

In Making Stuff occasional feature, we share fun arts and crafts done by us and our fellow geeks and nerds.