The slightly elliptical form with rounded corners creates a fluent edge line and thus reduces the appearance in the room. The gap to the floor makes the unit appear to float and leaves the floor plane visually interrupted. Finally, the necessary grill patterns are morphing into the closed sides of the casing to blur the otherwise sharp contrast between open and closed.

At least that's the description offered by Swedish design studio, Claesson Koivisto Rune, about their air purifier design for Blueair's HEPA air purifier. To our tech-tinged eyes, it looks like an external hard drive. Still, one of the best looking air purifier designs we've yet seen... More

Our family has been considering air purifiers lately. We live relatively close to a freeway in an urban area, so is it important for our kids' health to put purifiers into their rooms? We wanted to see where you stand. More

From the onslaught of sneezes this week I knew that the dreadful season had arrived. Of course my fellow allergy sufferers know that I'm talking about Spring. Every year this season brings with it much discomfort and often, pain, despite being on prescription allergy medication. To help make it through I look to technology. In a similar boat? Take a look at the tech in my spring survival arsenal. More

I returned from Costa Rica this morning and was immediately struck by the dry air in New England. My skin felt tight and the air felt less than easy to inhale. When I returned home I turned my humidifier to 'full blast' in my bedroom. Mine is not much to look at but it sure does work well, so it got me thinking, are there well designed units out there? Why yes, yes of course! More

There's been a constant stream of projects around my home lately. They've ranged from exciting (new kitchen cabinets) to demoralizing (finding mold in our guest room ceiling), but they've all included a fair bit of construction dust. Along the way, I developed this checklist for cleaning up efficiently.

If you just finished a major renovation that required moving everything out of your home, you can probably skip a few steps. If your furniture was pushed into a pile and covered with plastic — as mine was for one project — you may need a bit more elbow grease. More

I've been rockin' a Brita for years, but in 2012 I've resolved to finally start filtering my shower water. While away for the holidays, I was amazed by the way my "problem" hair was soft and glossy and my post-shower skin was no longer itchy and red. Unless my mom's Costco shampoo is a serious miracle worker, I'm pretty sure the pure, clean well water at my parent's house was the catalyst. More

Today's modern humidifiers aren't only stylish and smaller than their older counterparts, they can also be quite colorful! Don't let harsh winter weather dry out your rooms or skin; gravitate toward these brightly-hued humidifiers for a little moisture help. More

When it comes to a healthy home, we know air and water quality are important. We've covered the bases on how to rid your home from pollutants, and how to prevent more from creeping in.

TOP ROW
• 1 How To Seriously Improve Your Indoor Air Quality
• 2 Freshen Up! Spring-Inspired Tips for Cleaner Air
• 3 Indoor Air Quality: Is Your Home Healthy?
• 4 8 Ways To Protect Your Town's Water Supply
• 5 Top Ten Air Purifiers for Small Spaces More

Waterwise Distiller W/ Electronic Monitor
• $429.00
• GAIAM

Living in an older building with pipes that could only be described as "aged", I've always wanted a reverse osmosis system installed to improve upon the usual Brita/Pur pitchers we already use. But being a renter, installing a system can be expensive and we'd have to get sign off from our landlord to alter the plumbing. This tabletop filtration solution isn't cheap, but it's a convenient option for purifying tap water by first turning it into steam, converting it back to liquid, and then filtering it one more time through a carbon filter for a 99% reduction of "inorganic and radiological contaminants". The process takes about 4 hours, and up to 6 gallons of drinking water can be made a day, so we could imagine filling up one of those larger water storage bottle for use throughout the week.

Colder temps means many of us are cranking up the heat, which in turn reduces interior humidity, causing dry skin and none too pleased nasal mucosa. Sure, you can always slather a little lotion on your skin or add some oil to your bath, but what about your nasal passages? That'd be uncomfortable to say the least. So in the name of avoiding cracked, bleeding skin we're bringing the humidity back with some home humidifiers. These beautiful devices come in all manner of size and style. More