Ever since Julia Child and her famous kitchen became a fixture of American TV, I think everyone has not only looked at cooking differently, but the use of pegboard too. Before it was maybe just something used to hang tools in the garage, but once Julia's husband Paul lined their kitchen with it and used it to display all those gorgeous copper pots, there was a bingo! moment where people realized they could use it in other parts of their home as well.

Although some may still think it looks too industrial or cheap (it is happily inexpensive!), take a look at these following uses. I think you'll be surprised to see its functionality and visual interest.

My husband knows that before we make any major home purchase, there are two things I’m going to need: My drawer full of Bed, Bath & Beyond 20 percent off coupons, and my back-issues of Consumer Reports. My mom may not have taught me to keep the house clean or separate my laundry -- she’d rather be writing ... and who can blame her? -- but she did teach me to stretch my pennies 'til Abraham Lincoln looks like Gumby.
 
Consumer Reports is a non-profit organization that tests household products and rates them by durability and whether they’re worth the money you pay for them. They don't take ads, and they don’t care if companies get mad at them. So when it’s time to buy a vacuum cleaner and you want to know if Dyson really never loses suction, Consumer Reports is your impartial third-party, removing the hype from the infomercials.
 
And today (July 5, until 3 a.m. EST on July 6), they’re free.

We have a great friend named Marc who is a true DIY dad. He re-did his kitchen (like plumbing and all), he's refinished bathrooms, he's built furniture. He is the friend you always want around, the one you would almost pay to have around when you are re-painting as he does a professional-level job. Seriously, we have one wall in our apartment that looks awesome, while the rest are kind of so-so -- we call it the Marc Wall.

Marc is the dad of two amazing little ones, and his wife is always in search of cool tools, gadgets, whatnots to give him. Father's Day is no different, so I'm helping her find some fabu gifts that celebrate his DIY-ness!

It is coming up. Father's Day. June 19, people. I'm thinking of my dad aka The Colonel. He is a gardener. He has 4 hoes. He has his one favorite pair of gloves. He knows his way around Lowe's blindfolded ... and his local nursery owner asks him for gardening tips. Sound like a dad, a husband, a man in your life with a green thumb?

For any holiday or birthday, I know I can't go wrong with a garden gadget or two for The Colonel. But which one? As I was hunting for this year's Father's Day gift, I thought I'd pass my findings along.

I fell in love with this R2-D2 trash can when I saw it a month ago. I’ve since been obsessed with tracking down great-looking external trash cans – probably because, as a California resident, I’m stuck with the boring ones we’re required by law to use.
 
Unlike toilet seats, these are remarkably hard to find! Seems like very few people are into the idea of attention-getting trash bins – or, as a commenter pointed out on the site where I saw that can, they’re worried the darn thing will get stolen.
 
Still, I found a few kicky garbage bins to brighten any sanitation worker's day…

Homeowners who live in a historic area like Brooklyn or San Francisco often come up against an annoying problem: If your home is declared a historic landmark, you get bragging rights, but you also get financial headaches. There are strict rules about what you’re allowed to do with your home, because you can’t alter what makes it so special. So routine maintenance can become an expensive headache.
 
And forget making a major change that’d make your life infinitely easier and solve problems that weren’t even on the horizon when that cramped, old-timey place was first built!
 
Except hang on -- this architectural firm made a very, very cool James Bond-style change to a building that kept the charm of a Victorian building intact while leaving room for an automatically opening garage door into their five-car garage. You have to see it to believe it.

We’re all decorating on a budget these days. Which is why really, really shabby chic is all the rage -- at least at my house. I’m always looking for ways to give my décor a little oomph, which is why I squealed with joy when I saw this pig, the creation of Minnesota-based artist Brock Davis.

Interviewed recently about his 2009 project, Make Something Cool Every Day, he needed to come up with something, well, cool -- and quick -- for the segment. Spotting an electrical outlet, his synapses fired and he was inspired.

So was I. Behold, my Sharpie-style “something cool”:

Gallardo LamborghiniI've had some bad service in my day ... products that I've purchased, expensive ones at that, that have failed miserably. Usually I find a functional semi-functional customer service rep, that makes me jump through the mandated hoops, then gets me what I need. Had any of my "products" been a Lamborghini I would expect zero hoop jumping, and a service rep waiting on me hand and foot.