The orange octopus is absolutely adorable. $28 at Chiasso.

 
Smart, stylish, and functional cookware designed by Jan Hoekstra. Each piece is thoughtfully crafted to handle little things in life that matter - like lid locking and storage snapping. Love the military inspired color scheme. Price varies (and generally expensive). Available at DWR

 
Quite an elaborate contraption for herb storage. Not sure how well this works but the concept makes sense. $34 at A+R

Lovely organic little spoons. From 10 euro ++. At Egg Mercantile.

I’m loving this Crate and Barrel Tasting Salts packaging. $29.95.

These super sweet versatile Alto cabinets are now on sale at DWR at a really great price — $958 marked down from $2,250 for each side. (By great price I mean DWR’s version of great price, quality and craftsmanship considered) The small footprint and good use of vertical space along with the nice hinge door make this cabinet a winner on many levels. You can store a TON of stuff stylishly without taking up a lot of room or feeling cluttered. Here’s what this baby come with (quote from site):

“Each cabinet includes a stemware rack that can hold up to 49 glasses. A middle compartment has a pull-out tray that can store cutlery, placemats and napkins. The lower cabinet includes a removable glass shelf.”

2 units pictured here.

The Lamborghini of espresso machines. This Gaggia is said to be the best of its breed. At $1299, you better be quite the drinker to make this baby worthwhile. (As seen in Men’s Health Mag)

The clever Japanese seem to never run out of ideas when it comes to too-cute-for-words random little animal thingies. These looks like they might be soap dishes. Available at Day-Lab for $12.

Lovely little egg-shaped planters for your favorite herbs. $38 for set of 4 (basil, mint, thyme, and italian parseley) at Moma Store.

The talk of “green living” is everywhere these days so it would be more of a repeat preaching if I go into why it is good to recycle. But really now, that big blue bin with the “recycle” stamp really doesn’t elegantly fit anywhere in a home without causing a horrific scene amidst your otherwise harmoneous interior. Ours didn’t fit in the kitchen so we kind of tucked it by the foyer. It has been greeting visitors for years.

Domino ran an article a couple of issues ago on how to elegantly recycle. I was mildly dissapointed by their choices which mostly consisted of various round trash bin selections. (Btw, Simple Human makes fantastic trash bins) Empty bottles and cans require a whole lot more space than regular trash. And if you want to be a really good recycling citizen, pre-sorting usually makes it easier for someone else down the road

For those of you who are totally committed and can afford the price tag, The Eco Pod is a stylishly fantastic way to recycle cans and bottles ($328 at William-Sonoma. The crushing mechanism help saves lots of space so you don’t have to have a big hunk of bin to store the remains of that diet-pepsi obsession. Both black and white options are equally hot.

An alternative to spending 3 digits on a recycling bin is to use something more utilitarian like a hamper. I’ve been thinking of getting a sectional hamper to replace the ugly blue bin for a while now. It doesn’t cost a lot (left: ikea LINNAN $12.99; right: Heavy Duty 3-bin Laundry Sorter from the Container Store $49.00). It’s spacious enough so I don’t have to visit the trash room every other day. Its tall enough that my ever-so-curious dogs can’t dig into them. The ones that come with sections allow me to pre-sort. I can just line it with small trash bags and take them out when I’m done or better yet wheel them to the trash room if I get the ones with wheelies. I can also get the ones with lids which will be more elegant. The choices are quite good. Of course there’s no hamper that comes with automatic can crushing thinggie, but you get what you pay for.