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| Laser-cut acrylic table by David Eveleigh and Melissa Evans |
View other creative re-imaginings of traditional objects in acrylic such as the Louis Ghost Chair by Philippe Starck for Kartell and the Ghost Candelabra by Jon Russell for Innermost.
Free Shipping on orders of $25.00 or more! New Customers Only. (Ends 4-30-06) from drugstore.com
This is a great opportunity to try Vital Radiance and L’Oreal HIP among other products (drugstore.com also offers an extensive selection of eco-friendly housecleaning products) and have your order delivered directly to your door.
Now that the holidays are behind us, we’ve been jolted back to reality credit card bills for holiday shopping coming due. Before too long, we’ll be getting tax forms from the IRS and state revenue departments. It’s a good time to think about organizing bills and receipts.
The best advice that I’ve found for organizing bills and receipts came from the book Confessions of an Organized Homemaker
This system has served me well for many years. I’ve extended this idea to set up four hanging file folders, one for each quarter of the year:
Quarter 1: January-February-March
Quarter 2: April-May-June
Quarter 3: July-August-September
Quarter 4: October-November-December
I use a different color file folder for each quarter: for example, the three file folders for Quarter 1 might be red, while those for Quarter 2 are blue, those for Quarter 3 are yellow, and those for Quarter 4 are maroon.
For 2006, however, I’ve discovered something new: the File-it Calendar
Once I’ve received the monthly bank or credit card statement, I check the receipts against the statement and shred those receipts that I won’t need anymore. To prevent identity theft, I also shred mailing labels from catalogues and magazines that I’m going to pitch. I recommmend that everyone have a heavy-duty paper shredder
At the end of the year, the folders can be moved to a twelve-pocket accordion folder
I am instantly drawn to stripes, and this article CARS AND STRIPES from Design Within Reach’s DWR Design Notes tries to verbalize the appeal and significance of stripes.
The author writes, “Once you take notice, you realize that stripes are ubiquitous in the environment. My earliest recollections of stripes come from childhood, and they’re all joyful: funny socks, Dr. Seuss hats, summer beach towels and surf mats.”
Perhaps that explains why I’m drawn to multi-colored stripes, as on pajamas. They are so cheerful.
The author continues, “If you doubt that they carry meaning and cultural significance, consider flags generally and the flag proposed for the European Union in 2001 by Rem Koolhaas; it was an attempt to combine the spirit of many nations through stripes.”
How could this author cite the hyperkinetic proposed EU flag (which wasn’t adopted; instead, the EU adopted a more sober flag with a circle of gold stars on a dark blue background) and ignore the Stars and Stripes? Out of snobbery?
The Style Page has its eye on Asian-inspired furniture. Furniture brands that have caught my eye are Gump’s, the San Francisco-based home furnishings store and Wisteria, which imports Asian furniture, home accessories, and antiques. You may purchase furniture and home accessories directly from the web sites for Wisteria and Gump’s (you may also shop Gump’s via amazon.com).
Modernseed is both a web site and print catalogue offering contemporary furniture, clothing, and other products for kids. However, offerings such as the Modu-licious and Chicago case good collections from the Minneapolis-based design Blu Dot appeal to adults as well.
Pottery Barn’s PB Teen also offers products that appeal to adults. The Style Page uses PB Teen’s locker storage bins to stash magazines and catalogues and even file folders!
Categories: Home, Housekeeping
I just completed an update of the HOUSEKEEPING page. I discovered that this page had not been updated in several months. This page provides links to many house cleaning brands that are environmentally safe and non-toxic (solid waste from empty containers continues to be a problem, however). Formerly, one could only find these products at health food stores; now, one can find them at supermarkets and other mass-market retailers. Target is marketing products from Method Home. Williams-Sonoma has a line branded under its name, but read the find print, and you’ll see that the products come from Caldrea. Restoration Hardware is also marketing a line of environmentally safe and non-toxic cleaning products. Direct sales company The Pampered Chef sells environmentally safe and non-toxic cleaning products through its sales consultants.
The Style Page has tried Method laundry detergent, Method liquid hand soap, ecover lau
ndry powder, Tsunami Wave laundry capsules, and Caldrea dishwashing liquid, and can recommend them all. Our household relied on ecover for laundry as my husband and I were being treated for dermatitis. Those who follow this blog should know by now that I’m a sucker for great packaging, and the packaging for Method liquid hand soap is really cool!
The Style Page is not a granola-munching, Birkenstock-wearing purist: the Housekeeping page also provides links to products from 3M and Proctor & Gamble. If you cannot justify paying a premium for natural cleaners, simply use less of your current products: for example, try halving the amount of laundry or dishwashing detergent you use per load and see if the results are about the same. You know by now that wash-rinse-repeat is merely a marketing gimmick to get you to buy shampoo more often; now simply use less detergent for dishes and laundry.
I took a bath using the ME! Bath Ice Cream bomb in Vanilla Purity, which turned my bathtub into an oil slick. It was time to clean the bath tub and the whole bathroom, in which case I decided to offer some tips on cleaning bathrooms.
I like using Marla (“FlyLady”) Cilley’s (search “FlyLady” on The Style Page) approach to cleaning tubs and sinks: fill the tub or sink with hot water, add chlorine bleach, and let sit for one hour. Afterwards, scrub the tub or sink with scouring powder (I like Bon Ami). If you wish, you can wipe down the tub or sink with a window cleaner like Windex. Be careful if you decide to subscribe to her e-group! I did, setting the option to “individual mails” and my Email box was flooded!
One hour gives you a lot of time to do other things – set the kitchen timer for one hour and find out. Clean the toilet – 3M has come out with the Scotch-Brite Disposable Toilet Bowl Scrubber with built-in cleaner. Freshen your bath mat by running it in the dryer – I prefer terry cloth bath mats to bath rugs because they’re easier to wash and dry. Clean the floor – I use the Swiffer dry mop
to lift up hair. Empty the trash can and install a new roll of toilet tissue if necessary. I use Lysol disinfectant wipes to clean the interior of the trash can. Housecleaning experts like Don Aslett recommend that you clean top down, but with Marla Cilly’s shiny sink, you can’t use this approach. At the end, I clean the bathroom mirrors and any chrome fixtures with window cleaner.
Cold Cream 'n' Roses 
