Manolo for the Home

When you’re using an eco-friendly washing up liquid, it seems a shame to let all that potentially useful gray water swirl down the drain into the municipal sewer system. It feels particularly wasteful when you live in a city or state that has passed extreme water restrictions. And if you live in a country currently facing a water crisis, saving gray water is a no-brainer. But how do you collect usable waste water without sloshing a bucket round the kitchen? Hughie of Australia has one solution in the form of a removable sink insert with carrying handles and a conveniently placed underside drain. First you wash your dishes (or clothes or what have you) in it, then you take it outside or over to your winter garden and give your plants a good dousing. At $25 AUS it’s a pretty good deal if it will fit seamlessly in your sink, though if you’re not down under, you could just find yourself a Rubbermaid dish pan with handles and tip it out as necessary.

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When I lived in Berlin back in the day, the tiny kitchen we had in our otherwise massive flat contained a refrigerator that was orange. I mean bright orange. None of this white, cream, black, or stainless bunk for the Germans. Though I can’t recall if our stove was equally colorful, I can remember being surprised and delighted by the orange refrigerator that complemented our orange kitchen. That room in particular could easily be described as retro-modrn, and that was just the built-ins!

It’s a shame that the only places selling very colorful kitchen appliances here in the States seem to be Big Chill and Northstar. And then, of course, they’re quite expensive and really only work if you’re a fan of retro kitchen appliances.

I do like them, but wouldn’t it be nice if some of the European kitchen appliance manufacturers would decide to sell to us here in the U.S. of A. so we could all have colorful refrigerators and stoves without having to opt for retro kitchen appliances. Of course, everything would still be quite expensive, but at least there would be some variety beyond the usual four-color palette!

With five cats, it sometimes feels like there is no avoiding cat hair in food and in drinks and on candy and in one’s morning coffee cup.

Méret Oppenheim, a German-born Swiss, Surrealist artist, and photographer incorrectly associated with the Dada movement, may have been thinking of this non-perk of mammalian pet ownership when she created Object (Breakfast In Fur) in 1936. While her cup was apparently created from the fur of a Chinese gazelle, it could just as easily been crafted from the leavings of cats or dogs or any of the other animals that shed their fluff into modern homes.

To avoid having one’s breakfast look like a piece of Surrealist art, I heartily recommend that pet owners purchase one of these:

Because having a Roomba means never having to say you forgot to vacuum.

Note: Art featuring coffee, tea, and hot beverage accessories is quite abundant. One wonders why… is it their ubiquitous nature perhaps?

I <3 Mid Mod Pam of Retro Renovation, and not just because I learn something new (like the definition of ‘hootie ring‘) every time I visit her blog. If you’re into the retro decor, the vintage decor, or the mod decor, I definitely recommend you check her out. Anyway… it turns out that she’s selling the greatest retro kitchen faucet ever, i.e., the Dishmaster, through her site.

I’m lucky in that I already have a husband who does most of the dishes because he knows how much I absolutely cannot stand doing dishes and we have no space for a dishwasher. He even wears a repro apron I sewed using a vintage pattern from the 1940s. Hot stuff, right? And yet I know that he’d think our sink was so much cooler if we were living the Dishmaster lifestyle.

What is Dishmaster Living? Slow down. Cook up a storm. Make a happy mess in your kitchen – then have some more fun cleaning up. Yes – the Dishmaster’s circa-1948 faucet makes washing the dishes fun via the “Push Button Dishwashing” action of the special aerator brush wand – which dispenses soapy sudsy water and rinses clean, too. Feel good about use of precious resources as well: The Dishmaster conserves water, energy and detergent. And, it’s Made in America, by a small company right in Indiana.

Seriously… how cool is this faucet?

Yesterday, the mysterious machinations of fate brought me to the ‘toilets in Japan’ entry on Wikipedia, and I was reminded of the three seashells in Demolition Man. Many have speculated as to the correct usage of the three seashells, and the Poop Report even claims to have figured it out. That great quandary unraveled, I believe that the Poop Report should now help us all understand the vagueries of the Japanese toilet.

This interface looks fairly straightforward, though I have never experienced the urge to shower in my toilet. If a shower isn’t a shower in this context, what precisely is the difference between the shower function and the bidet function? Never mind…one would hopefully figure it out without spraying one’s trousers. The following interface, on the other hand, requires a lot more thought, along with a thorough knowledge of Japanese.

All right, so I press one button for a gentle spray, one for a stronger spray, one for a special spray just for ladies…and I press the last button for what, a strip of crispy bacon? Now that’s a toilet.

Wikipedia has this to say about so-called super toilets:

Other features may include a heated seat, which may be adjustable from 30°C to 40°C; an automatic lid equipped with a proximity sensor, which opens and closes based on the location of the user. Some even play music to relax the user’s sphincter (some Inax toilets, for example, play the first few tunes of Op. 62 Nr. 6 Frühlingslied by Felix Mendelssohn). Other features are automatic flushing, automatic air deodorizing, and a germ-resistant surface. Some models specially designed for the elderly may include arm rests and devices that help the user to stand up after use. A soft close feature slows the toilet lid down while closing so the lid does not slam onto the seat, or in some models, the toilet lid will close automatically a certain time after flushing. The most recent introduction is the ozone deodorant system that can quickly eliminate smells.

The mind boggles!

All you need to make your own fabulous headboard is a little paint…and a little talent with a paintbrush and a steady hand, I suppose.

Domino says “Linens from the other side of the color wheel amp up the whimsy” in this unique bedroom. I like how subtle the pattern is because it’s just a few shades off from the color of the larger wall. If it was white, this painted headboard might me less elegant.

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Maybe it’s just my aversion to all things medical — I prefer to think of myself as solid inside like a potato — but these refillable I.V.s for plants from Vitamin Living really, really give me the creeps.

I always wondered what first motivates rats in experiments to push that magical lever that delivers a delicious morsel of kibble, cheese, or crack cocaine.

Now I can finally find out! Chococlock is a clock that delivers a treat every hour on the hour…if, that is, you are deft enough to grab it within thirty seconds. Too slow? The shutters close, and you’re out of luck for another sixty minutes. Well, there’s always the cheat button.

For the weak-willed amongst you the Chococlock features a naughty but nice cheat button that will deliver a treat whenever you press it. Yes, that does rather defeat the whole ‘good things come to those who wait’ ethos, but don’t worry, we won’t tell.

The young Lindsay Lohan clone in the pic above seems pretty jazzed about Chococlock. I’d suggest modding it for more excitement — perhaps by affixing pointy spikes to the shutters so the whole thirty-second rule takes on a new diabolical twist. Maybe you could rig it so it delivers a hallucinogenic chocolate 15% of the time, or just take a cue from the lab rats, toss the chocky altogether, and fill that bad boy up with some science-grade crack cocaine.

Director Roland Emmerich bought a house in the Knightsbridge district of London, only to find out that his new ‘hood was a little staid for his tastes. Presumably to ensure that he wasn’t unduly influenced by the relative conservatism of his neighbors, he (according to a slideshow in the NY Times) “instructed the designer, John Teall, of Flux Interiors, to make it so that ‘when the neighbors peek in, they might want to call the police or something.’ A taxidermy zebra faces the living room, which reflects his predilection for art with a political edge.”

Ooh, cheeky. I rather like the dolls in the fireplace.

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When I was but a wee lass, I remember being absolutely scandalized by a light switch cover my father’s friends had in their bathroom. It was in the shape of a flasher with his trademark trench. Apparently, said flasher didn’t find waiting around in the dark terribly exciting, but when one flipped on the light, whoa. Hopefully, you get the picture and I don’t need to explain it further. For those who remain perplexed, here is a similar light switch cover.

It is because I can picture that one tiny home accessory so clearly after all these years that I will never buy anything remotely like this:

I don’t want my future children coming home from college for a Christmas visit and saying, “Mom, do you remember those sick coat hooks you and dad had when I was a kid? Well, those freaked us the hell out.”