Blog Posts by Emily Hsieh, Shine staff

I've always been a sucker for an infomercial. Yesterday, a friend mentioned something about The Flip Fold, a contraption that sounds kind of asinine, too good to be true, and totally tempting at the same time, as all infomercial products do.

I looked it up just now and it's basically a template/board you use to fold t-shirts and sweaters into neat, uniform stacks. While there's certainly a part of me that feels this is somewhat of a useless gadget for obsessive types (and is totally suspicious about the company's claim that the ventilated panels somehow help reduce static cling), I'm actually intrigued from a space-efficiency perspective.

I'm constantly battling with my husband for more room in our shared closet, and I wonder if this would help maximize what I've got. The skinny flocked hangers I sprang for were totally worth every penny (seriously life-changing: it's amazing how much more stuff I've able to fit on the clothing rack with these), and I wonder if The Flip

* Post-makeover, with painted tiles, new fixtures, and pretty fluffy towels I'm hoping my bathroom will look something like this.I'm moving at the end of next month, to a 100 year-old house that, while charming in an old, pretty moldings kind of way, is also starting to show its age-and not in a good way. There are endless home improvement projects to tackle, and though I wish I had the wherewithal and the budget to deal with it all at once, I'm trying to take things one step at a time to avoid getting completely overwhelmed emotionally, financially, or otherwise.

The first order of business is dealing with the bathroom, which in its current state is covered with tiles in a clashing jamboree of aqua, pink, and beige-y yellow (at one point the latter may have actually been white, though it's hard to say for certain). They're tired, cracked, and really quite dingy (and don't even get me started on the grout, which is a whole other mildew-y horror show in and of itself) and though I'd like nothing more than to start from scratch with new tiles, I've gotten a few bids and this would cost well into the

This being summer and all, I feel like all of us are spending more time than ever running in and out of the house. The other day I realized I could really use a new doormat as a first line of defense for trapping dirt and whatnot before it ends up getting tracked all over the floor inside my apartment. I'm now more motivated than ever to buy one after seeing so many handsome, stylish, reasonably priced options on the market. Here are ten great options, ranging from $7.50 to $30. Which one's your favorite?

With so many kitchens decked out in stainless steel these days, you'd think there'd be more options for fantastic made-for-stainless cleaners on the market. If you've ever shopped for said products though, you'd probably agree that the choices are pretty dismal. I've tried a couple different aerosol sprays, but they were so chemical-laden I always wound up with a splitting headache after using them and the nagging feeling that inhaling the fumes was generally just a bad, unhealthy idea. So I was thrilled to see this post on unplgged.com recently, which outlines some simple mild-but-effective solutions to get stainless steel sparkling:

For light cleaning (like fingerprint stains and little smudges), try a window cleaner. To amp up the cleaning power, you can also use vinegar (seriously, what can't this stuff be used for?!) and buffing spots gently with a microfiber cloth.

Bar Keeper's Friend-which I've been meaning to try for years now after hearing so many people rave about

The biggest trend in patio décor to emerge in the last couple years is the outdoor rug. I'm all for them: just as they would indoors, these floor coverings make any space look more cozy and more finished, and the latest crop are so much better-looking and more durable than ever. They're also a very

Grant K. Gibson

Lately I've been noticing a curious new trend within the interior design community: backlash against the toilet paper holder, something I hadn't really given any thought to until recently. Top decorators like Rita Konig in New York (who also pens a column in The New York Times, where she wrote about her "loathe" of the bathroom accessory) and Grant K. Gibson in San Francisco have been leading the anti-TP holder charge, and curious to hear more about why, I phoned the latter.

"They're ugly and stick out far too much," Gibson declares. "They just get in the way, and I'm not into their usual space-age industrial look. Why not put toilet paper in something more interesting?" Gibson solves this issue in his own bathroom by replacing his with a vintage trophy. "I happened to have a trophy cup in the right size, and it makes it look special and unique rather than boring," he says.

He gives back-up rolls the special treatment too: "If you're like me and have relatively small storage