News, reviews and articles about home and kitchen products.
Have you ever taken a picture and thought how wonderful it would be if you could recreate that picture as a piece of artwork? Unless you have an artist handy or are gifted with art skills yourself, the picture just stays a photograph. I’ve been happy to see services cropping up that will paint the […]
Pixelist oil paintings review Read More
Washing clothes can make the fabric pill and the colors fade. Dry cleaning your clothes is costly and inconvenient. Of course, you need cleaned clothes, so what do you do? You could use the SWASH Express Clothing Care System instead. Hang one or two items in the SWASH, insert a SWASH Pod, and your clothes
Stop washing your clothes. SWASH them instead! Read More
Water is such a beautiful, life giving precious resource and a fascinating chemical enigma – definitely something to be conserved. One of the ways to save water is by using low-flow shower heads, however “Low flow shower heads are weak and frustrating. No wonder nobody wants them!” (just ask Kramer for you Seinfeld fans out
Now you have a reason to sing in the shower Read More
There are a variety of ways you can open and lock your home’s door without using a key. I tried a WiFi-connected deadbolt that didn’t work, no matter what type of interpretive dance I used to approach it. I’ve been intrigued by other Kickstarter products that still haven’t made it to market long after the
Replace your door’s deadbolt key with Sesame and a smartphone app Read More
Nyrius has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new method of automating control of lamps and small appliances in your home. The Nyrius Smart Outlet connects to an app on your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, so you don’t even have to have an internet connection to use them. So long as you are
Nyrius Smart Outlet controls your lamps and small appliances without WiFi Read More
We’ve just started planning for a small kitchen update. We’re replacing the countertop, replacing the flooring, and modifying a cabinet to replace the existing cooktop and wall oven with a slide-in range. We’ve been taking lots of measurements, and it’s a pain to take a measurement and stop to write each down so we don’t forget.
Take the guesswork out of taking measurements Read More
All fans of both Star Trek and sushi are going to need the Star Trek USS Enterprise Sushi Set. When you’re ready to eat some sushi, remove the “warp trails” from the nacelles and you’ll find they are actually BPA-free plastic chopsticks. Lift the lid from from the ship’s saucer and use it as a
Where no soy sauce has gone before Read More
Dyson vacuum cleaners are extremely popular for their superior suction power and bagless design. Last year I reviewed the Dyson D65 Animal vacuum and was impressed by almost everything about it. Dyson’s latest model is the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal + Allergy vacuum which looks almost identical to the D65 but has a very important upgrade. It no
Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal + Allergy vacuum review Read More
If you’ve been thinking about swapping out all the light bulbs in your home with bulbs that can be controlled with your smartphone, I have an alternative product that you might want to consider. Switchmate, an Indiegogo crowdfunding project, is a switch that fits over your existing light switch plates by using magnets to snap onto the
Control the lights in your home without buying special bulbs Read More
Most single-cup coffeemakers require you to use pre-made pods with coffee inside. If you fill your own reusable pods, you can use your own freshly ground beans, but you have no idea how long ago the stuff in those pre-made pods was ground. To insure you have the freshest, tastiest cup of coffee without having
The single-cup coffeemaker that grinds your own beans before brewing coffee Read More
When I reviewed the Keurig 2.0 K550 Coffee Brewing System last November, the only complaint I had was that you can’t use your own coffee in a reusable capsule nor can you use store-brand pods. Green Mountain Roasters, Keurig’s parent company, had put some sort of “DRM” restrictions in their new 2.0 machines so they
If you have teens who eat a lot of pizza, and you’d like a cheaper way to supply all this pizza other than delivery, consider the cute little Cuizen Pizza Box Oven. It can cook up to a 12″ pizza, and it works with either homemade or frozen pies. You don’t have to dirty up
Forget delivery. Make your pizza in this little pizza box. Read More
If you cringe every time a new electric bill comes in the mail and you wish there was an easy way to monitor how much power and money your appliances are using, you should check out the ego smart Wi-Fi socket from Efergy. This small module plugs in between a wall socket and the appliance
Efergy ego smart Wi-Fi socket review Read More
I don’t know much (ok I don’t know anything) about wine. But I do know that traditionally, the best wines have been stored in oak barrels as part of the aging process. The wooden barrels impart flavor, color and even texture to the fermenting beverage. That’s for the good stuff though. If your budget is more
Enhance the flavor of cheap wine with the Oak Bottle Read More
A few days ago I posted a review of the Varidesk Pro Plus standing desk. I’m enjoying the versatility of this desk and the ability to easily go from standing to sitting in just a few seconds. But after a couple weeks of standing, I’ve started noticing some problems with my knees hurting from standing in
FluidStance Level is a surfboard for your standing desk Read More
This Blue Rely-A-Light Lamp looks too pretty to be emergency lighting, but it is. It functions as a normal reading lamp, but it has the added bonus of a USB charging port built into the base. When you lose power, the lamp has bright LED emergency lights that switch on automatically and can stay on for up
Emergency lighting that doesn’t look utilitarian Read More
I love tea. Hot tea and iced teas are what I drink 99% of the time. When I’m home and at work, I drink from ceramic or glass mugs, neither of which are convenient to use when I need to be mobile like walking to and from meetings, etc. The MIU COLOR glass water bottle
MIU COLOR glass water bottle with tea infuser review Read More
If it’s ever not winter again, you’ll probably plan some picnics or pool parties to take advantage of the sun and warm weather. With the Spruce Silicone Wine Glasses, you won’t have to worry about breaking the glasses should you drop one. They are made of BPA-free, hypoallergenic food-grade silicone that is flexible, virtually unbreakable, reusable,
These wine glasses won’t break if you drop one Read More
IKEA just announced they will be introducing a new line of bedside tables, lamps, and desks with Qi chargers built-in. The wireless charging furnishings will be available in Europe and North America beginning this April, with global availability soon after. You can read the entire press release at PRNewswire. Check the IKEA website for availability information
IKEA announces new products with Qi chargers built in Read More
If the thoughts of turning your “dumb” home into a smart home sounds appealing but also too expensive and too daunting, consider Neurio. Instead of connecting individual sensors to all of your main appliances, Neurio is one sensor that installs into your home’s electrical panel (no cutting or disconnecting wires is required). This one sensor uses
Neurio turns your house into a smart home with just one sensor Read More