Furniture Modding
From Mod Mania
Contents |
Introduction
Since there has been furniture, people have altered it to suit them. Starting as word of mouth, then commercialising as handy hints in magazines and papers, the concept of furniture modification has recently taken off in an even bigger way with the development of the Internet. With such global exposure, the trend of ‘furniture modding’ has the strongest presence in a network of weblogs such as Design*Sponge, Craftyness and IKEA Hacker, and has an international following. Follow the links to experience this phenomenon for yourself.
Design*Sponge
A weblog (also known as a blog) is a site where contributors post regular information on topics of their choice, from writing a journal of their life to focusing on black and white photography. Design*Sponge is a blog dedicated to home and product design, with daily posts on, and links to, products for sale, artists, other blogs and craft ideas. Written by Brooklyn based Grace Bonney, the site has a world wide following, and was a pioneer of online interiors with it’s launch in August, 2004. It remains a leader in its field with commendations from Vogue magazine, Good Morning America and The London Times, and named one of Time Magazines “Design 100s” for 2008.
The blog has ‘Do It Yourself’ (DIY) tutorials every Wednesday, with projects including furniture mods such as draw dividers and mirror stencils. DIY is the largest presence of furniture modding, appearing on blogs, websites, home expos and television shows. These tutorials explain how you can make the most of your space by using benches as shelves or how you can bring new life to an old chair by reupholstering it.
There is also a ‘Before and After’ category (example above), where readers (often other bloggers, artists or craftspeople) can send in photos and discussions on a DIY project they have done. This is often reupholstering furniture, but interesting ideas on how to give old furniture new life in an unexpected way are also common.
Comments
On Design*Sponge, readers can comment on posts (see below image), typically:
- A closed comment on how they like the project
- A suggestion on how it could be improved, that they have been inspired to do the project, or
- A question clarifying something (what paint was used, how the nails were hidden etc).
Rarely are there negative comments, partly because the blog author restricts posts she deems “do not contribute constructively to the conversation at hand…” This creates a healthy environment for modders and fans to relate to the project and each other.
To increase awareness and help readers develop connections, if a blog author leaves a comment, their name appears as a link to their page. As a blog writer myself, I have previously left comments on high traffic blogs and have afterward noticed a significant increase in traffic to my own blog.
Surprisingly, there are very few posts on the readers’ experience of doing a project after reading the tutorial. I believe that this is because this blog exists as a place to dream up your perfect home interior, and acts more as inspiration and encouragement than suggesting that you should undertake projects exactly as they appear. Readers may also feel they do not have the time, motivation and especially materials to embark on them.
This limited interaction between the reader, the project and author is due to furniture modding being a very new concept. Of the six or so bloggers I contacted in my search for specialised online furniture modding communities, not one could point me in the direction of one I had not already found. The trend does not have the history and experience that other modding communities do. It is also quite different to long standing mods such as car, bike and game mods in that factors change as different furniture is used and material availability varies with every state and country. It is therefore hard to work on a group project that would have readers and writers from across the globe gaining a sense of unity, as other online groups do.
Online Community Structure
The online furniture modding community appears to be split into two groups- the ‘crafters’, and the ‘readers’. The crafters write the blogs, invent and undertake the projects and write in with ideas and tips. The readers are more passive, they love to be awestruck by the posts and leave comments to show their admiration and in this, you feel that they are wishing for the creative genius of the crafters, or even just the time, resources and motivation to replicate DIY tutorials. In this way, the crafters are satisfying a desire in the readers, who in turn admire and inspire the crafter. This supply and demand allows the online furniture modding experience to retain the momentum to keep gaining followers and exposure.
Craftynest
A younger, smaller and more furniture specific blog also reflects this observation. Launched in June 2008, Craftynest is the brainchild of Monica Ewing who aims, “to share practical and pretty DIY ideas for the home.” She posts one project per week, ranging from replicas of products seen in stores to reviving thrift store finds, her focus remains on making the product as cheaply as she can in an environmentally friendly way. The post includes materials, tools, suppliers, step-by-step instructions and lots of photos (see below), making them very easy to do.
The recent creation and consequential success of this blog is evidence that the trend of furniture modding is becoming more recognised in the already popular online craft world. Interestingly, it is also a trend driven largely by women, who are defying the tradition of furniture construction being a largely male field.
Ikea Hacker
IKEA Hacker is an even more specialised blog, focusing on ways to use IKEA branded furniture in a way not intended by the designer. Having been around since June 2006, the site has evolved to be extremely encouraging of conversations between readers. This is done through comments, like Design*Sponge and Craftynest, but the site goes one better and shares a forum (image below) with IKEA Fans, a site with similar content. This allows much more interactive discussions between a larger range of readers. They can start threads looking for answers to a question, or just a conversation. The forum is very active and blurs the line between aforementioned ‘crafters’ and ‘readers’. Making the most of every available and popular technology, there is even an [IKEA Hackers Flickr group] that supports the trend.
Thus, the IKEA Hacker is the most advanced of the furniture modding websites, as it does not rely entirely on the author, but more on readers writing in with their own mods, and discussing their own experiences. This is made easy as the materials required are easily obtained at any IKEA store worldwide. IKEA has not taken any action to stop the activities, as it is quite good publicity for them, encouraging sales and brand awareness. It is a positive relationship for all those involved.
Conclusion
The online world of furniture modding communities is a young, but swiftly growing one. Learning from experience and the precedent of other modders, the trend is taking advantage of available technology and becoming increasingly accessible. It’s a great job or hobby for today’s society, encouraging creativity, innovation and material conservation and reuse, for this reason picking up fans left, right and centre.
