Home and Kitchen

News, reviews and articles about home and kitchen products.

Un-invite mosquitoes from your next outdoor activity

terminix allclear tabletop mosquito repeller

I think most states joke about mosquitoes being their state bird, and North Carolina is certainly a state that could make the insect their official bird.  It’s been warm here for a while, and I’ve already gotten bites.  Terminix has a line of AllClear mosquito “solutions” that looks interesting.  Instead of using light to attract […]

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Keep your coffee hot during your morning commute

hotrod mug

Are you still trying to figure out what to give your dear old Dad for Father’s Day? If he’s a coffee or tea drinking commuter, the ThinkGeek Hot Rod Heated Travel Mug might be a good option. This insulated mug features a 12-volt DC adapter that you can plug into your car’s power socket to

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Make Dad the true King of the Grill!

five cooking methods grill

Does your Dad (or your hubby) fancy himself the lord of the BBQ?  Father’s Day is coming soon, and here’s a gift that could make him the true king of the grill.  This Five Cooking Method Grill from Hammacher Schlemmer puts five cooking methods at his fingertips.  (Click the photo for a larger image.)  This

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Need to adjust your bed? There’s an app for that

reverie

Reverie sleep systems feature mattresses with air cylinder technology which can be customized to your personal level of firmness. Combined with an  adjustable base that offers a Zero Gravity position that emulates weightlessness and a 4-wave massage function, you may never want to get out of bed. You can control this bed with a boring

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Put a little Zing in your water, vodka and salad dressings

zinganything

I was finally able to kick my daily 20 oz Diet Coke habit several months ago by using a 24 oz. Bubba Brands Hero insulated steel bottle. I fill with 5 ice cubes from home and when I get to work, I fill it with cold water and 2 Twinings Cold Brew iced tea bags.

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Trongs – Eat with your fingers, skip the mess

trongs

If you dislike the greasy, sticky fingers that go along with eating BBQ ribs, wings, corn on the cob and other foods, consider using a pair of Trongs next time. Trongs are made of food-safe polypropylene and have been  designed to help you grab food with your fingers, without actually touching it. These one-size-fits-all flexible

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Clean Bottle The Square water bottle review

cleanbottle square 4

I work in a corporate office (Cummins Inc.) with 100’s of other people. It was once common to see people carrying around soft drink bottles to and from their meetings. But in the last few years, soda has mostly been replaced by water. Where people once carried around Coke, Pepsi and Mt. Dew bottles, now

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Adagio Fandom Tea Sets – Harry Potter + caffeine = I want a cuppa

adagio fan teas

If you are bored with your daily cup of Darjeeling and are looking to add new flavors to your morning tea routine, check out these fun Fandoms Sampler Sets from Adagio Teas. $39 will get you 10 one-ounce metal tins filled with themed signature blends of teas. Sets include Dr. Who, Harry Potter, Potter’s Potions, Sherlock,

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Turn most any lamp into a wireless speaker

hammacher schlemmer lamp speaker

I’ve seen lamps with built-in speakers before, but they aren’t usually the type of lamp you’d want in a formal living room.  With The Invisible Speaker from Hammacher Schlemmer, you can add a speaker to most any shaded lamp.  You remove the harp (the metal piece that the shade sits on) from the lamp, then

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Photo-Canvas photo canvas print review

photo canvas 8

I don’t consider myself a true photographer, but I love taking pictures and every so often I manage to snap one that I’m really proud of… like the one above, which I captured last year on a vacation to Lake Michigan. When London based Photo-Canvas.com asked if I would be interested in reviewing their photo

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Eton FRX3 American Red Cross Emergency Radio review

eton frx3 AMR 01

Unless I’m in the car, I don’t listen to terrestrial, broadcast radio anymore.  At work I have satellite radio, and at home it’s an iPod in a dock.  I haven’t had a dedicated “AM/FM” radio in ages, but since I live in earthquake country (San Francisco Bay Area), I’m overdue.  Thank goodness the Eton FRX3

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Click & Grow Smartpot flowerpots get even smarter

smartherb

Last month I posted a review of the Click & Grow Smartpot flowerpot and had a positive experience with it except for one important thing… Trying to grow a plant in Southern Indiana during the winter months, even with an auto watering flowerpot, just doesn’t work that well due to short sunlight hours. The folks

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Netatmo announces nationwide retail availability of their Urban Weather Station with Brookstone

netatmo urban weather station

We told you about the Personal Urban Weather Station from Netatmo last year.  This weather station comes with indoor and outdoor sensors that monitor temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, sound levels, and indoor CO2 levels.  The collected data is sent to your mobile device, so you can monitor current conditions where you live – not the

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Cree’s new LED light bulb is the best thing since the invention of the light bulb

The title of this article is Cree‘s slogan for their newly released LED light bulbs.  These bulbs look like the normal incandescent bulbs we’re used to seeing, so your light fixtures will look like they have normal bulbs in them.  Cree says their “innovative bulb is illuminated by Cree LED Filament Tower™ Technology and provides

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Krups XP1000 Solo Steam Espresso Machine review

krups espresso 01

If you’re a coffee person, chances are you’ve owned a Krups product over the years.  They run the gamut in small appliance product offerings from toasters and blenders to juicers, panini presses, and high end pump espresso machines.  It was a Krups drip coffee machine that got me through my college years, and although I

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