At first this looked like one of those cool one-off concept designs that never sees light of day. But the Lapka environmental personal monitor system, comprised of 4 pieces+app is slated for a September release this year, bringing home users to monitor environmental levels through their iOS device... More

Back in January, I told you how I'd committed to using a shower filter to reduce chemicals in my water and help my hair and skin look and feel better. Well, it's been seven months, and I'm ready to reveal my results. Want to know the verdict? More

Product: Honeywell AirGenius 4
Price: $199.00
Rating: Recommend*

Sniff, sniff, achooo! If that's a common summertime tune at home, it may be time to consider getting an air purifier. Our 1920's Los Angeles apartment is the perfect real-world testing ground for air purifiers, thanks to the urban setting, poor window and door seals, and two feline occupants. More importantly, I live with a seasonal allergy sufferer, allowing reviewing and recording the effectiveness of the new Honeywell AirGenius 4 as easy as sniffing the air and listening for sneezing throughout the day... More

I always thought of my water filter as something purely utilitarian — something to hide in the refrigerator, or an ugly but ultimately necessary plastic bulb sticking off the side of my kitchen faucet — so the charcoal water filters Italian designers Formafantasma created for the Vitra Design Museum threw me for a loop. Could water filters be art?
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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