Recent Posts By erindoland

One unitasker everyone should own is a fire extinguisher. With good luck, you’ll never have to use one. But, it’s better to have it around than to believe that luck will keep you safe.

Last week, on the website Not Cot, I learned about the beautiful Fire Design fire extinguishers made in France:

I dislike cables and cords and the mess they make at the back and underside of my desk. It’s as if a couple of octopi decided to take up residence with my computer and its peripherals.

As a result, I’m always on the lookout for better ways to handle my cords. Since I just redid my office and outfitted my desk with elfa, I’m not in the market for a new desk. But, when I spotted the StudioDesk and its cable-wrangling abilities, I had to share it with you.

Over the years I’ve become pretty good at keeping expired food out of my kitchen. I do a check of the food in the pantry every spring and fall and a weekly sweep of my refrigerator and freezer shelves. Unfortunately, I’m not so great at checking the expiration dates on the food in the doors of my refrigerator and freezer.

Inevitably, it’s the condiments that manage to stay in my refrigerator well past their prime. This weekend, I remembered to check the doors while I was making my grocery shopping list, and I came across four different bottles of things that expired in 2007!

To my knowledge, no one has used these condiments since they were safe to eat (which is why they lingered), but it still bothered me that I hadn’t check on them earlier.

Yesterday, the Lifehacker website wrote about two ways to help keep clutter out of your refrigerator. The first article was the Periodic Table of Condiments that outlines when condiments go bad. The chart is cute, and informative.

Living and working in small spaces greatly affects how you view furniture. Most everything in my home and office can be used in multiple ways (a pull-out couch, end tables that can be used as seating, an ottoman with hidden interior storage). In addition to being utilitarian and multi-purpose, though, it’s nice when a piece of furniture is also beautiful.

My friend David recently redesigned his office and purchased a table for it that swivels to the height that meets your needs.

Coffee table:

My husband and I split the laundry duties in our home. One way that we keep from accidentally shrinking the other person’s “Do Not Put in the Dryer” items is to sort them out of the regular laundry immediately when we take them off.

Attached to the side of our laundry baskets are these hooks from 3M.

As an expectant parent (my husband and I are adopting), I’ve grown increasingly annoyed by the unwarranted advice people keep giving to me about baby products. “You have to get the Exersaucer!” “You have to get a glider, not a rocking chair, for your nursery!” “You have to get the video baby monitor!” “You have to get the baby wipes warmer!” “You have to get a [insert product that didn't exist until five years ago]!”

Every time someone tells me I have to get something, I’m immediately skeptical and don’t add that item to my shopping list. As a result, my list of things I plan to buy after being notified that we’ve been chosen as parents is steadily getting smaller and smaller:

• Diapers
• Place for kid to sleep
• Bottles
• Formula
• Car seat
• Sling or carrier
• Wash-and-wear clothing

My friend Krystal’s refrigerator recently died. The worst part about its death was that it gave no warnings about its illness. There were no rumblings, no clanks, no gurgles. Krystal just woke up one morning last week and noticed that the ice cubes in the freezer were puddles of water, the fish was fragrant, and all the vegetables were wilted.

In addition to having to replace her refrigerator, she also lost hundreds of dollars of food. I truly felt for her pain in her pocketbook.

On the upside, she was in a position that most of us only encounter when we move into a new home. She got to start fresh, clear out all of the clutter, and begin some new meal preparation habits.