Americans love luxurious toilet paper -- sales for brands like Cottonelle Ultra and Quilted Northern Ultra shot up 40 percent in 2008. Basically, people figure, the more TP can resemble a cashmere throw, the better. Sadly, that whipped-cloud texture can only be attained by using fi...

Walking into a room, you probably flip on the light automatically. Even if you're concerned with energy conservation, it's hard to conceptualize how much you're actually using in such a simple task. That's where the SmartSwitch comes in. Designed by two Stanford students as a replace...

Downy makes dryer sheets that smell like a clean breeze because, well, people like their clothes to smell like a clean breeze. Why not go for the real thing? You can try, but America's more than 300,000 association-governed communities are going to give you hell for it. Millions of citizens are ...

Oh my...........could they be any lovelier?  Could they be any more talented?  Could they be any more accommodating ?  Why blogger Melanie of Modello Designs and the new flock of Peacock Painters were downright embarrassingly good (and darling)..... each and every one of them....

Recent musings on the ubiquitous commercials for ShamWow! (and really, why does Bloggingheads even require those stupid headsets) inspired the Governess to ask, "WHO USES $20 WORTH OF PAPER TOWELS A MONTH? That's insane." Well, thinking on it, maybe I do? I've never really kept track but I think it'...

Most of the green holiday tips that pop up in the blogosphere tend to focus on Christmas, so we'd like to dedicate this post to the eco-minded Jews out there. Whether you're celebrating Hanukkah, Chanukah, Chanaka, or Hanukah (or if you just like lighting candles), there are several ways to ...

  I've been having guests stay at my small cottage, so I stop by now and then and stock the fridge, wash the sheets and now I'm decorating it for the holidays. I hung up the grapevine wreath I had in storage on the front porch.  Last year, I wrapped it pretty densely with LED str...

Damn you, rich people who own really giant homes. I have been designing libraries for my dream home since I was, like, ten — and now I find out that the home library is now trendy among the wealthier folks. Who, natch, like them for décor....

Thank you for all your comments on my decision re: the outdoor table.  As you can see, I have gone with the round LL Bean table.   I love it and thank you for your help. Speaking of the table, notice the sunflowers in the pitcher on top? I stopped by my local farm stand and found gian...

Just a pretty photo I took this morning: the antique baby chick water feeder that I'm using at home to give water to our wild birds.    I found this for $10 at an antiques show and---after seeing versions of this in other shopping trips---I snatched it up this time and brought ...