It's easy to love a house with lots of natural light, so I find myself drawn to rooms with large scale windows. Here in France, we're renting a gorgeous farmhouse in the countryside, and the room we spend the most time in is the room with the biggest windows. Of course!

This roundup of beautifully designed sun rooms will make you want to knock down a few walls and make a cozy, sunny spot of your very own.

Let’s be very clear about one thing: I’m not a huge fan of energy-saving light bulbs. In fact, when we moved into our current apartment, the bathroom light was filled with the ugliest version of these things, and they’re still there because who has the cash to get the prettier ones?

I hate composting, too, but I freakin’ do it because I don’t want the earth to be taken over by giant landfills any sooner than it has to. No-brainer, right?

Except some knucklehead politicians actually put their time and energy into overturning a law creating new energy standards for light bulbs. Instead of, I dunno, creating jobs or figuring out healthcare. Light bulbs. They were fighting about light bulbs. And they finally have lost their fight, thank goodness.

Open letter to Washington: I want safe, efficient stuff in my home, and I want it to be as cheap and easy to find as possible. So stop fighting for energy-wasting home accessories.

There are a lot of stereotypically feminine gifts I will toss back if I fish ‘em up. Box of chocolates? My tush is big enough, thanks. Bath products? At this point, I only take baths when one of the kids says “I don’t want to! Will you come with me?” (Which is lovely, but not conducive to relaxation.) A spa day? I would seriously sooner have a root canal.

And scented candles? The bane of my existence. A fire hazard that stinks like a flower threw up? No, thanks.

And now I've been given the best argument against scented candles ever: They’re as bad as cigarettes. So if you’re the type to flap your hand across your face when you exit a building past a crowd of smokers, well, get flapping in the Yankee Candle store, too. And prepare yourself, scented-candle-burners: I'm bringing a jumbo-sized hand-fan to your sickly-sweet-smelling home.

So what’s so bad about scented candles?

A friend of mine got a Roomba just for the hell of it, and found it made a perfect toddler babysitter: his 3-year-old would follow the damn thing around the house, chirping, “Woomba! Woomba!” as if it were his beloved pet. Myself, I never found the things to be all that useful as a cleaning device -- by the time I finish de-cluttering the floor, I may as well vacuum the place myself.
 
But a group of German industrial-design students saw an amazing potential in the Roomba: they attached lights to the automatically-piloted vacuum cleaners, and took long-exposure photographs of their journeys. The results? Gorgeous, Spirograph-like images of light sculptures.
 
Here’s how they did it. Don’t you wish your housecleaning left such a cool image?

Are you a stamp geek? I don’t mean a collector -- come on, that’s just weird. I mean, when you get to the post office, do you find yourself drifting over to the board of new stamps and going, “ooh ... Simpsons! I need those!” even though, in this age of online billing and Evites, you almost never actually get through a page of stamps?

I am. And the latest stamp-fest is made for me: it celebrates pretty, pretty industrial design -- pretty appliances, fancy furniture, and classic tchotchkes. Do you think these designs are stamp-worthy? What would you nominate for the next round, if you could?

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.

I love when someone takes the simplest sort of materials and makes something absolutely striking. I was amazed to find out that this glam chandelier pictured above is actually a DIY project made from a wire hanging basket and wooden beads. Doesn't it look expensive?

Find instruction links and see more DIY chandelier examples below. 

I love natural light, despise most overhead lighting. But I work in an office cubicle far away from a window so that means I'm stuck with the drab ceiling lamps that cast unsightly lighting that affects my productivity and mood (and makes me look awful in a mirror!). No one wants a crankypants co-worker. So when Philips sent me their Wake-up Light Plus, I wanted to try it out at my desk ... immediately.

It's like sunshine in a lamp -- something I'm lacking in my dark cubby -- and it's said to increase my alertness. Which is great, because a coffee run at 3 p.m. each day (in addition to my morning cup) is starting to add up.

Could a lamp lift my mood and make me feel more awake without caffeine? After testing it out for a couple of weeks, I know it can! Philips was so excited to hear about The Stir's enthusiasm that they sent us lamps for everyone in the CafeMom office. Everyone's desk (and mood) got a little makeover. Check out some of the testimonials ....