December 17, 2010

Stylish and Hardworking Kitchen Sink and Faucet

Design, Products

T’is the season to celebrate! And if done right, a newly renovated kitchen makes it easy to party. And among the essentials that can help most are a quality sink and faucet, like those from Elkay’s Avado collection of products in this updated kitchen. The sink is line’s the simplest under-mount version, which is made of durable 16-gauge stainless steel. It also incorporates a proprietary Sound Guard that mutes the sound of dishes and utensils knocking about inside. The faucet sports an elegant low-profile (it rises less than 12 inches from the countertop surface) and is finished in brushed nickel. To be as eco-friendly as possible, … Read Post

December 8, 2010

The Newest, Energy-Efficient Lightbulb

Products

Talk about a bright idea! Most people know that one of the easiest ways to go green and save money at home is to replace a standard incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent. Well, now it’s just as easy to go even greener and save even more money by replacing that incandescent with new a new bulb from General Electric. Called the EnergySmart LED, the 9-watt bulb is super energy efficient—it generates the same amount of light as a 40-watt incandescent with 77 percent less power. It also produces the same omnidirectional quality of white light as an incandescent, unlike … Read Post

November 26, 2010

Beautiful, Eco-Friendly Kitchen Countertops

Products

Choosing an eco-friendly countertop in a kitchen renovation isn’t just good for the planet, it’ll make your life easier, too. The engineered stone countertop in this kitchen is called ECO by Cosentino is made by the same Spanish company that produces another well-known quartz surface called Silestone. Here are seven reasons to love it: 1. It’s beautiful 2. It’s composed of 75 percent post-consumer and post-industrial recycled raw materials, including glass, mirror, porcelain and industrial furnace residuals, and 25 percent natural elements, including quartz, other stone scrap and corn-oil-based resin, which makes it incredibly eco-friendly 3. It’s extremely durable 4. It’s non-porous … Read Post

November 17, 2010

Cleaning and Protecting a Hardwood Floor

Products

Anyone with a newly installed hardwood would do well to keep it in the best possible shape. And Bona, the Swedish floor care company, has mastered the preservation wood floors. Its three-part cleaning and care system includes one swivel-head mop, two cleaning and polish solutions, and three cleaning and care pads that are cost efficient, eco-friendly and super-easy to use. Here’s how it works: Daily: To reduce dust and allergens that accumulate on your floor, you simply apply the fluffy, white dusting pad to the mop head and use it to dust the floor. Its electrostatic charge attracts dust and … Read Post

November 15, 2010

Thanksgiving with a Twist

Products

Interested in the idea of serving a traditional feast with a modern twist? Picture fresh bread or rolls served up in this clever “Wicker Basket” or a yummy dessert offered up in iconic “Tapio” cocktail glasses, designed by the great Finnish designer Tapio Wirrkala in 1952. Both are available through yoox.com, a ten-year-old virtual boutique established in Italy that offers multi-brand fashion and design objects from a wide range of companies like Muuto, which offers the work of contemporary Finnish designers, or Iittala, a contemporary design brand based in Finland that produces products by design greats like Aalvar Alto, Aino … Read Post

October 29, 2010

Customs Closets Can Change Your Life

Products

Thanks to some good advice from organizing expert Lisa Zaslow, the owner of Gotham Organizing in New York, as well as some help from Kioka Abbott from California Closets, a shallow linen closet in this New York City apartment was converted into a built-in bookshelf with made-to-order shelves. Books may be relics of a bygone era to a lot of people these days, but to others they’re like old friends—always ready to inspire or comfort. At the same time California Closets created two custom wardrobe closets: One includes two hanging rods, one on top of the other, for the husband’s … Read Post

October 21, 2010

Window Treatments That Can Help You Sleep

Products

If you or a family member are light sleepers, consider installing a shade with a premium blackout liner, which can help a person get an extra 45 minutes to an hour of sleep each night. This shade is from Budget Blinds (don’t let the name of the franchise fool you—the window treatments the company offers are high quality—it makes curtains, shades, shutters and blinds for every budget—low to high—and provides top-notch custom service, too). And according to Budget Blinds expert Suzi Carragher sleeping problems aren’t uncommon. In fact, she notes that 65 percent of respondents to a 2008 Sleep Foundation … Read Post

October 14, 2010

An Eco-Friendly Way to Dispose of Old Appliances

Design, Products

Whether you’re simply replacing an appliance or two or starting from scratch on a kitchen renovation, consider recycling products in reasonable shape rather than sending them to the landfill. DiggersList.com offers ways to donate old appliances along with elements like countertops or shelves to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore. DiggersList.com is a free online classified site, where you can buy and sell affordable remodeling products, such as flooring, fixtures, appliances and other used and new excess supplies left over from remodeling projects. The site also lets you search for service providers, such as contractors, floor refinishers, painters and the like. And … Read Post

October 12, 2010

Maximizing Storage Space with Affordable Organizing Systems

Products

Ready to organize your hall closet? Then consider Ikea’s Pax organizing system, which can help you maximize the “vertical real estate” (see our post on Clearing Clutter with organizing expert Lisa Zaslow). You can use the store’s handy online tool to pick out the components you want to create a super-efficient utility or coat closet in the hall. These units are tall and meant to be standalone storage systems in a room, but if your closet is deep enough they can work as internal closet organizers, too. They arrive flat-packed, so you’ll need to be prepared to put them together … Read Post