Shopping | Offbeat Home

This is Offbeat Home's archive of Shopping posts.

Turn to our shopping category when you need offbeat decor — whether its from a link we've posted or one of our awesome sponsors.

Most Recent Posts About Shopping

In our previous blog post we identified 27 cars based on a list of features, and then narrowed our list down to 3 based on Internet data and test drives. Now, it is time for more data!

DEEP DIVE

With a list of cars this small, we can do more in-depth research. We found out the cost of car insurance, average maintenance costs, vehicle crash ratings, accident data, and insurance data. We also tried to estimate how much each model would cost to own over 5 and 10 years.

However, the most interesting data was about crash test ratings and accident statistics. Vehicle crash-test ratings are designed to be predictive, which means they try to imitate real-world conditions. Accident data is far more interesting, because it shows what actually happened.

My wife, Kate, and I were perfectly content to drive her car, a 1995 Honda Civic. It never gave us trouble…until it died last December. Then we needed a replacement.

After mourning the passing of our reliable steed, we decided we did not care about specific car brands or models. We cared about features. Our goal was to buy a car with features we care about, for the best price. Our first step: decide what functionality we wanted most.

In this set of blog posts, I will cover my experience in buying a car using data. I'll go over some of the advantages, like ignoring all of the ~~lies~~ marketing.

Anyone else noticed a distinct lack of PHOTOS in their home? As a kid I spent hours looking through family photos. Sorting, resorting, picking out my favorites, choosing funny photos to display.

We still TAKE loads of photos — with phones instead of cameras — but they never make it to print. New sponsor Uprinting is here to save the day! They have lots of ways to add art, personality, and interest to your walls using the photos you already love…and a couple opportunities to get rad freebie prints.

We talk a lot about successfully riding the bucking stallion of cleaning and organizing, and today Nony from A Slob Comes Clean comes on board as our new sponsor.

Nony's got a new e-book called 28 Days to Hope for Your Home, wherein she lays out a simple, stepped plan for conquering your inner slob. Using kind words. Words that won't spook your feral inner slob.

The scratch map.

It'll help her keep track of where she's been. It'll look nice on his wall, no matter where he is.

The scratch map, $17 on Amazon.

When your home doesn't work right, your life doesn't work right. Marjory Mejia studies the flow of buildings and our interactions with them, and helps people create living spaces that enhance their lives.

Anyone shopping for a horrific touch in the bedroom? Get individual sheets and pillowcases from christiemelissa — or a whole set for $125.

Circo? Is that a kid's brand? It had some circus-y merchandise around it, sure, but certainly I didn't buy something aimed at kids again, did I? Yep, that's my burden. To search the world for elephant-shaped mugs and eyepatch-wearing bird art. Hi. I'm Superman, and I buy children's decor but have no children (that I know about).