I have had several reader write-ins lately about the fabulous Home Hero Fire Extinguisher. This fire extinguisher has all the bells and whistles that you would expect to find in a fire extinguisher plus something you wouldn't, stylish design. It has a ergonomic shape for easy one handed use, and a modern look that will fit into about any decor. The idea is to create a product that looks nice enough that you can actually leave it in a place that will be easily accessible, not buried in the back of a cupboard underneath your tupperware collection. They also have a 2 in 1 smoke and carbon monoxide detector that connect wirelessly to other Home Hero smoke detectors. This creates a system similar to hard wired smoke detectors where if one goes off, they all go off.

Fire extinguishers are available exclusively at Home Depot for around $30.

Thanks for the tips!

Robot Candy cards have been around since 2001, but they just recently arrived over at Elsewares. Each card is hand printed using hand carved blocks and archival ink. The insides are blank for personalized messages and the outside features wonderful simple and friendly pictures of snails, elephants and hedgehogs. Cards measure 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" and include an envelope.

Available at Elsewares for $3.

I don't usually venture into the realm of fashion, but these pendants are just too cute and too affordable to pass up. Made by a mother daughter team out of Madison Wisconsin, these pendants are made from origami and other fun papers which are applied, decoupage style, to 1/8 inch masonite. They then receive a layer of sealer on the front and sides for extra protection. They have a wide variety of prints available, and they are all very affordable.Available from the Madison Craft Studio Etsy page. Prices range from $3.50 - $6.50

Our bathroom is almost completely done. We finally finished the vanity a couple months ago (more on that later) as well as installed the hand held shower wand (more on that too). All we have to do now is a little touch up paint, add a towel hook and a toilet paper holder. This one from Eva Solo caught my eye because it is very simple and I kinda like the way it sticks out of the wall. The roll is held in place by those spring loaded black parts. No idea on pricing yet as it is due to come out sometime this month along with their other new products, but how much could a toilet paper holder cost.

Wall graphics are all the rage now, and there are no shortage of companies out there producing some great stuff. I was pleased to find that there are several people on Etsy that were making wall graphics as well. Elly Nelly's Tree Hugger wall graphic (shown on the left) measures 29" high and 21.5" wide. It is available in 14 different colors and is priced at $35. One Up Design is responsible for the nice floral Early Bird graphic shown on the right. It includes 20 graphics from 3.25" by 1" to 30" by 6" (botanical) and 1 @ 7" by 7" (bird) and is priced at $45. That is pretty close to the price of Blik graphics or something similar, and you get to directly support the designer. You gotta love Etsy.

The only thing better than an Ikea sofa, is an Ikea sofa on sale. Their prices are already pretty great, but now through Dec 22nd when you buy any version of the five sofa's shown above you get 20% of the price back as a gift card. Sure it's not really like you are spending less, but that means if we get that Kramfors loveseat and chaise we have our eye on, we get $280 back to spend on other Ikea goods. Not too shabby.

Colorware PC has been adding color to the sometimes dull drab computer world for quite some time now, but just recently has it offered it's services to the new iPhone. You can design your own style, and buy directly from them, or you can send your iPhone in to them to have it spruced up. The fee isn't exactly cheap, $149 for an 8GB iPhone, but in lieu of recent iPhone price drops, that still makes it cheaper than a plain one was several months ago. Colorware has also included the new iPod Nano, Touch, Classic, and the new iMac in it's lineup. Available from Colorware.

In a market that is absolutely flooded with iPod and iPhone accessories it's hard to get my attention when a new product comes out, but Vers has done just that. Vers currently has only one product in their line, but its a good one. The 2x is a stereo for your iPod/iPhone with a similar shape and design of Apples Hi-Fi. Instead of plastic though, Vers has elected to go natural. The enclosure is made of beautifully crafted eucalyptus and pine with a cherry veneer. The packaging is also just as natural, made of 100% recycled paper. No idea yet on how it sounds in real life compared to the Hi-Fi, but priced at $179 it is sure to be a big competitor. Available this fall at Target and others for $179.

I put in some serious late night hours on monday night getting everything clean and today they started work on our flooring. It is a product called Miracote which is a polymer of some sort. This is poured over the gypcrete and becomes the final floor. We tried to choose a color that would look like the most like natural concrete. They are applying three coats total. This will give the interior of the home a nearly finished look. These photos show it as it is drying and the finished product will be much more consistent than what you see here. As you can see we have functional stairs, finally! Stairs are so much better than ladders. For tread material we used o.s.b. that will get a sanding and a heavy varnish. Benchmark came and finished all of the cedar siding and it looks awesome. They also built our front and back porches and the driveway and sidewalks were poured. We are making great progress. We should be almost entirely finished next week and moving in shortly.

Our trusty mixer broke almost two years ago, and we have been making due without ever since. Most things aren't too bad to try and do by hand, but mashed potatoes have been the biggest challenge. For those of you who have been struggling to make mashed potatoes by hand, help is here. The Chef's Planet Potato Masher makes it easy to make perfect mashed potatoes. By simply rotating it in a circle it mashes and fluffs your potatoes to perfection.

Available at Target for $10. Anyone ever tried this one out in real life?

It looks like Design*Sponge isn't the only one who has a new look. The fine ladies over at Better Living Through Design gave their site a major overhaul recently. I love the simplicity of the new site, the navigation is intuitive and the clean layout really lets the products speak for themselves. The new design also features some additional sections, such as a Remodel section, a Read section, and a Travel section. If you haven't checked them out recently, make sure you do.

I'm sure that most of you already know that Design Sponge finally left blogspot and can now be found at designspongeonline.com. If you haven't already checked it out, make sure you do. Grace not only has a great eye for design, but she is also doing some great things to give back to the community that made her a success. Her new site will feature a job board, and scholarships for starving artists. For the ladies, Grace has been sponsoring Biz Lady Meetups around the country, one may be coming to your town soon.

My wife and I both love Dahlia's, so much in fact that we tried to grow some in our small (read miniature) garden. Unfortunately we had mild success at best. For those of you who don't have a green thumb but love the look of Dahlia's, your in luck. Sprout home has a pearly white porcelain Dahlia. It is supposed to be a candle holder, but it is so good looking I almost think it would ruin it to stick a candle in it. It is a approximately 2.5"h x 7"dia.

Available from Sprout Home for $26.

I admit, Sears is probably one of the last places I would ever look for affordable modern home furnishings. Thanks to Ty Pennington of Extreme Makeover: Home Addition, Sears has a little bit of style, Ty Pennington Style that is. His whole line is found exclusively at Sears, and surprisingly most of it isn't too bad, and some of it is quite good. Take these vases for example. Simple, ceramic, white and only $7 each. The are actually on sale right now, as is most of Ty's line. Apparently the normal Sears shoppers don't quite like his style as much as they thought, go figure.

Available from Sears for $7.

If you love to cook like I do, it seems like you never have enough cutting boards. While it's hard to beat the price of Ikea (there cutting board is only $19) if you are looking for something a little bit different, make sure you check out this Scooter cutting board designed by Olze and Wilkens. Olze and WIlkens are two German Industrial Designers that have a background in carpentry and psychology. How that translates into cutting boards, I have no idea, but I do like their style. These beauties are made of Acacia wood which is know to be very durable. If you're not into scooters, they also have a diver and skier. Available from Elsewares for $38.

Now that unique stuffed animals are all the rage, it's hard to find one that stands out above the crowd. Sure, your ugly doll comes with a little story about what that doll is like, but really you know that there are a million "unique" dolls just like it. Odkins surpass mere dolls and are complete stuffed individuals. Each is hand crafted with hand stitched facial features to give them that human touch. What's more, each comes with an elaborate story that really gives you an idea of their true character. For example read the description of Tomika Munkin:

Tomika Munkin is a monkey with a rich inner life, by which I mean she is always imagining strange worlds and scenarios in her little monkey head. You can often find her playing by herself somewhere, maybe crouched looking at some ants, or making little structures out of twings. In such instances, she is often quietly humming to herself, and if you stare you can almost imagine the story she's concocting about what she sees (ants becomes herds of buffalo, twigs are giant, ancient trees). She will be startled if you speak, as if you've pulled her right out of a different world.

She is truly special, and individual, just like the creator of these wonderful plush friends.

Available from the Odkins Etsy Shop for $30.

Avalisa, one of my favorite makers of wall art has taken her great design sense to a whole new level. Her wonderful graphic prints are now available on wool rugs. There are no prices yet, but they will be available for ordering on Oct 1. They come in 3x5, 5x8 and 8x10 sizes, and a variety of colors and patterns. Check out this PDF in the news section to see all the patterns (Be patient it's a big download).More pictures available after the jump.

The new CB2 catalogue is out and available online. Generally speaking my favorite things from CB2 are their lighting and their dishes. They seem to walk the fine line between affordable and stylish. I was glancing through the catalogue this morning and noticed this go-cart side table. It's simple, a little industrial, quite sturdy looking and affordable. While it may look most at home in a dorm room, it's simple enough to be able to slip into just about any home and still look good. Available from CB2 for $69. What's your favorite thing from the new catalogue?

Before I got married I was one of those people that would wake up the first time my alarm went off. My wife is the exact opposite and used to even have two alarm clocks (one across the room). Now a days I can hit snooze for 1/2 hour, no problem. For those of you looking to break your snooze habit, Clocky is here. You can set how many snoozes you get before clocky takes off rolling forcing you to get up to turn him off. Clocky circulated around the internet as a concept idea for a while, and I'm please to see that he made it to production. He is available in blue, white, orange, and mint. Available from elsewares for $49.

I stumbled across this pendant looking for some good "green" modern furniture over at Green Culture. It is actually in Green Culture's sister site Eco-Lights. I was excited to find the site, thinking it would be full of unique recycled glass lamps etc. The simple shape and minimal materials of the Fiona Pendant caught my eye right away, but the only thing that I can find that makes this light "green" is the fact that it uses a halogen bulb. It is however, a very nice looking lamp, you can never go wrong with glass and chrome, especially for $162. It is currently 30% off, along with everything else on Eco-Lights. Available from Eco-Lights for $162.