News, reviews and articles about home and kitchen products.
Home Depot is offering a 2-pack of Philips 60W-equivalent Soft White A19 LED Light Bulbs for $4.97. These bulbs use 8.5W and produce 800 lumens of 2700K light. Philips says they use 85% less energy compared to a standard incandescent 60-Watt light bulb and cost about $1.02/year to use (assuming 3 hours of use/day at […]
Replace your existing bulbs with Philips LED bulbs for less than $3 per bulb Read More
Whether you call it the IOT (Internet of Things), being plugged in, or something else, I really enjoy using connected devices. Some people will say, who needs a thermometer that saves your readings or a fitness tracker that tells you how many steps you’ve walked each day. I say why not! I don’t have the world’s
Fitbit Aria WiFi Smart Scale review Read More
This seems to be a product in search of a problem, but the PAVARA sink tidy is also in search of funding at Kickstarter. I’m just getting started on the process of updating my kitchen. You know me, I’m always interested in new gadgets, and a gadget for my upgraded kitchen seemed intriguing. This product
PAVARA sink tidy aims to keep your kitchen stylish by hiding soaps and sponges Read More
Almost five years ago I reviewed a wrapped canvas print from CanvasPop. That review inspired several others resulting in a lot of original framed images on my walls. Recently the people at CanvasPop contacted me to ask if I might like to do a new review. At first I didn’t see the point but then
CanvasPop framed print review Read More
If you put the battery-powered BerryBreeze on the top shelf of your refrigerator, the manufacturer promises that it will keep your stored foods fresher for up to 2-3 times longer than normal. The BerryBreeze “filters and cleans the air in your fridge. Using newly-patented technology, BerryBreeze fills your refrigerator with activated oxygen to neutralize bacteria,
Keep your food fresher longer and your fridge sanitized with the BerryBreeze Read More
This may look like a travel mug, but it’s a full coffee brewing station. Unscrew the lid, and you’ll find a coffee grinder and a filter basket inside. Put 20g of coffee beans in the grinder, crank the handle to grind the beans directly into the permanent filter basket, then slowly pour hot water through
Brew fresh coffee anywhere with the Cafflano Klassic Read More
Phillips has a variety of lights for their WiFi-connected Hue system. There are color-changing bulbs, white light-only bulbs, strips lights, and tabletop lamps, but they all have one thing in common: they have to be screwed into a lamp socket (bulbs) or plugged into a power outlet to work. The Go lamp is the first
Phillips adds the portable Go lamp to the Hue lineup Read More
I’ll admit that I thought this was an April Fool’s joke when I saw it yesterday, but it’s a real offering from Amazon. The Amazon Dash Button lets you re-order laundry detergent, paper towels, diapers, pet food, even mac & cheese with the press of a button. You just adhere the button to your washing
If you’re lucky enough to have a personal outdoor area to enjoy warm weather, check out this lighted umbrella for your patio table. The ATLeisure 9′ Easy Light Touch Solar Umbrella with 44 LEDs will fit in the umbrella holder made into most patio tables, or you can use it without a table if you purchase a
Light up the night with this solar patio umbrella Read More
Last August Kathleen reviewed the TaoTronics Elune Dimmable LED Desk Lamp, a small task lamp that used LEDs instead of traditional light bulbs. LEDs are very energy efficient, last longer than regular light bulbs and don’t generate a lot of heat. Fast forward to now and we have the aerelight which features OLEDs instead of regular LEDs. What are
aerelight is the first affordable organic LED table lamp Read More
I love iced coffee drinks from Starbucks, but they do get expensive, especially when you have three coffee drinkers in the family. You can make your own iced coffee drinks from coffee you brew at home with the Zoku Iced Coffee Maker and save tons of money. You just pour fresh-brewed coffee into the pre-chilled
I scream, you scream, we all scream for iced coffee drinks Read More
Last spring I helped back SnapRays, a Kickstarter project for a wall outlet cover plate with built in auto-illuminating LEDs. The project was a big success and they actually delivered the products to their backers on time, which has not been the norm for most of the projects I have backed in the past. Now
SnapPower Charger easily adds a USB port to a wall outlet without rewiring Read More
Several companies sell modules that you can plug in between the wall outlet and your device to monitor how much power it uses. That’s great, but you can monitor energy usage by plugging your device directly into the Outlink wall outlet. Outlink replaces your current wall outlet. The bottom socket is standard, and the top
Monitor your energy usage without having to use a special plug-in module Read More
About a year ago, I hopped on the essential oils bandwagon because several people I know use them for health and wellness purposes. However, I simply enjoyed the aroma and so did my kids. I’ve since purchased two ultrasonic diffusers, both of which have had drawbacks. One of these, the H2EO Ultrasonic Diffuser, leaves about
Miu Color 300 mL Aroma Diffuser Ultrasonic Humidifier review Read More
We recently told you that Ikea has announced a line of furniture and lamps with built-in Qi chargers. What about people who don’t use Qi charging? We want nice things, too! Well, Hammacher Schlemmer has a Device Charging End Table that has a built-in charging station for those of us who still need to cable
Device charging end table for those of us who don’t use Qi wireless charging Read More
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