Here’s the latest from DLT‘s latest contributor, Amanda Szot. Pronounced just like “hot,” she’s our favorite local blogger, fashionista, amateur chef and aspiring TV host. Look for Amanda every other Thursday, as she serves up recipes (especially desserts), outfit suggestions, do-it-yourself home and fashion projects and the trials and travails of a wannabe television host and personality.

IKEA is known for inexpensive, contemporary, hard-to-assemble furniture, and who could forget the meatballs, but the big box furniture stores fans have spawned a whole new level of creativity by personalizing and repurposing the inexpensive products. So naturally when I needed a new desk, I stopped by the as-is section and scored a small wood desk for $75 that proved well for function, but not so much in aesthetic. Me, being the DIY queen, always wanting to re-create or enhance something to its fullest, was down to repaint the ugly wood and refurnish the desk into a modern piece with my own personal flare and bring some new life into my room. »READ MORE

Playing table tennis outdoors is preferable to an indoor setting, but typical indoor composite setups don’t stand up so well to the elements of nature. Enter Henge Concrete Table Tennis Platforms ($3,500). Made up of three pieces of sculpture-like reinforced concrete, these sturdy surfaces bounce more or less just like their indoor counterparts, conform to International Table Tennis Federation specifications, and include nifty powder-coated steel nets that should make for some very interesting deflections. [Uncrate]