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The Good Life

David Stirzaker — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:55:39 -0500

The Good Life - Escape the 9 to 5

We all dream of the good life learn how to live life by your rules.
Be your own boss and take steps towards a better life for you and your
family.

'Continue Clock' and More Furniture That Will Make You Go Huh?

Kit Eaton — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:09:33 -0400

Dutch designer Sander Mulder's clock re-inventions have already amazed us, and now YDN DesignGuide has him on video talking about his latest works. They're all explorations of archetypes, which explains why his Continue Time turns the traditional three-handed clock inside out, and why his Voroni flower pot--traditionally a very subtle piece of furniture--looks like a scale model for an aggressively ultra-modern metal skyscraper.

Book Review: Your Eco-Friendly Home by Sid Davis

Kelly Jad'on — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:55:16 -0400

By Kelly Jad'on

Microsoft Moving Surface Off the Table and Into Your Home

Kit Eaton — Thu, 14 May 2009 07:05:02 -0400

Microsoft's Surface shows off the capabilities of multi-touch computing admirably, but it's still limited by the machine's box. It's no surprise then to find plans to take Surface off a flat screen and dot it all over your home.

The BBC video below, shot inside Microsoft's showcase house of the future--The Microsoft Home--which is designed to demonstrate technology that may come to our homes in "five-to-ten years." Though the Microsoft Home isn't exactly a new concept, we still thought the BBC video was pretty cool, so we'll show you anyway:

Clayton Homes' i-house Combines Energy Efficiency and Modular Affordability

Ariel Schwartz — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:33:57 -0400

Paper House for Disaster Zones Makes 3 Little Pigs Jealous

Kit Eaton — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:21:55 -0500

Grandiosely titled The Universal World House, a new temporary home is being touted as a solution to homelessness and displaced persons in disaster areas around the world. And amazingly it's made of paper.

Black and Decker Car-Style Remote Opens Your Front Door

Kit Eaton — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:33:04 -0500

Black and Decker have taken a long hard look at the boring old front door lock, and added in some technology that takes it into the 21st Century. Namely a car-style remote key fob so you don't kave to fiddle with a physical key, and internet-accessible locking.

MSFT and Cray Team Up For Home Supercomputer

Chris Dannen — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:10:29 -0400

This week, Microsoft [MSFT] announced a new partnership with Cray Computers [CRAY], makers of the well-known CRAY-2 supercomputer. The deal will result in a small, reasonably-priced Windows-based supercomputer meant for home power users that require power-intensive computing environments.

Five Reasons Why Now Is The Time To Buy A Home

Joe Manausa — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 10:18:16 -0400

Special occasions occur in life at various times, and when they are acted upon in a timely manner, they can change our destiny. I believe now is one of those times. The “perfect storm” of economic events and global opinion has created a small window of opportunity for us regular people to take advantage of something normally only available to the financially advantaged.

Alternative Transportation

Suzanne O'Leary — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:23:48 -0400

Raise your hand if public transportation is not available along your commute.

Drive Conservatively, Get More MPG: what Obama knows.

Suzanne O'Leary — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:42:39 -0400

Research suggests that observing the speed limit not only keeps
roads safe: it's helping you save on gas! The US Government's website www.fueleconomy.gov
states that fuel efficiency decreases rapidly after 60 mph. For every 5
mph over 60 you drive, it's like paying an additional $0.30 for
gasoline. For all those commuters bombing down the highway at 80 mph,
that's like paying $4.45 instead of $4.15. At 90 mph, you're not only
breaking the law, you're breaking your bank at a whopping $4.75 per

Renovate + Recycle! How to Recycle Waste When Renovating

Suzanne O'Leary — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:38:07 -0400

If you are renovating your home and are replacing things like
cabinets, fixtures, windows, appliances, or pretty much anything that
still works... please look into recycling these valuable items. All
your donations are tax-deductible and will help someone
else looking to renovate on a tight budget who wants to choose a more
sustainable route as well. Learn more about how you can donate your

Tip Tank - a water conservation game for kids (and adults)

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:23:42 -0400

I am going to openly admit, I had a great time playing this fish tank match-the-blocks-to-fill-the-tank game.
The tips for water conservation that go along with each block image are
really interesting and helpful. For example, before I played Tip Tank,
I didn't know that you could save 600 gallons of water by making sure
your laundry loads are full each time you put a load through the
washer. 600 gallons! Introduce your kids (or yourself...) and learn all

Is it hard to knock down a wall?

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:22:39 -0400

If you are thinking of knocking down a wall to join two spaces or
make a room seem more open, good news: it's not hard. The major thing
you need to know before taking a rotating saw or huge rubber mallet to
it is if it is load-bearing wall or not. A load-bearing wall is one
that holds up a significant amount of weight of a structure, sending
the force down to the foundation beneath it. This type of wall can not
be simply 'punched out' as a non-load-bearing wall can. Something needs
to replace it, such as a beam spanning across the new opening you

Green Wave: Where We Live Effects How We Live

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:40:12 -0400

Having been a Bostonian for the past six years, and a native
Massachusetts resident for life, I cannot help but notice the increase
of people wearing green in the past few weeks. One group of teenagers
went careening through an intersection waving their hats and shouting,
“Go Celtics!” to the people waiting to cross the street and beeping
their horn. People standing nearby cheered and pumped their fists in
the air. Beyond the Celtics winning the NBA Championship, there is

Road Trip to Discover Sustainability in USA

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:39:03 -0400

These guys are super cool. No doubt. I've watched several of their
blogumentary videos so far, and not only are they funny, they are very
informative about different environment-related issues and happenings
on their one year trek around the US. This is their description of the
project:

Message in the Waves

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:29:07 -0400

There was no greater time I felt as connected to the ocean than
while I lived in Hawai'i. Every year, Jack Johnson, a native of O'ahu,
puts on a concert to benefit the Kokua Foundation, which he founded to
help support educate children in Hawai'i's school system about
sustainability. Message in the Waves
is a video by BBC Hawaii. Check it out for information on how all the
trash we throw away winds up harming our oceans and all the animals
that live there. There are a number of shocking facts you will find out

Monetary Incentives to Go Green

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:15:58 -0400

One of my friends has been involved in my business from day one of ThinkDwell.
He has been thinking more green and making choices to live more
sustainably ever since. He just let me know that he is thinking about
buying a Toyota Prius because it gets around 48/45 mpg.

:) That makes me a happy camper.

Sandals from Garbage

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:14:44 -0400

Check it out!

These Splaff Flopps are on sale for $26, and they are made entirely from recycled material. Check out the rest of their stuff on splaff.com

The Green Loop is cool for products that are green, but they are really pricey.

OVER AND OUT!

~SUZY

Keep your kids safe: It's green lights for the CFL! Be sure you know the facts.

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:12:24 -0400

Cleaning Products Safe to Breathe Around

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:11:22 -0400

In reference to green cleaning products; I came across these today.

Good things to ask about when inquiring information about products are:

Global Warming Threatening Your Home?

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:09:15 -0400

Global Warming is a threat to us all. This goes into detail about what is in the near future for these cities and geographic monuments
if we keep contributing pollution at our present rate. Wow, it is
shocking.Â NYC, Death Valley, Tokyo, Virgin Islands, London, and on and
on. London will most likely be under water within 100 years. Maybe
learning about how your home will be affected will make you think twice
about putting extra effort into living more green.

More MPG

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:07:10 -0400

With the price of gas what it is today, we're all looking for a
little more MPG. It turns out, back in 1973/4, during the first oil
crisis the US experienced, Car + Driver magazine ran an article
featuring $11 worth of modifications to a Ford Pinto, plus some radial tires
and got a whopping 25% better fuel economy. How so? They focused their
attention on minimizing the work the engine had to do (which was mostly

The Green on Clean

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:05:38 -0400

Info about health and cleaning products.

Top 5 Benefits of Green Roofs

Suzanne O'Leary — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:02:10 -0400

Definitely check out the link "5 Benefits of Green Roofs" . But here is a summary:

Keeps buildings cold in summer, warm in winter.
Helps irrigation and stormwater runoff.
Reduces urban 'heat island' effect.
Reduces outside noise.
They're just plain beautiful.

STAY GREEN OR GO GREEN!

~SUZY