All My Favorite Products in One Place

I am a very very picky person.  It’s terrible for when I’m trying to find a place to eat, but great when it comes to finding good products. Contrary to what this website might portray, I rarely shop. So when I do, I make sure I spend my money carefully and effectively.

With that said, I’m happy to launch my favorite things page which is a meticulously curated collection of things I personally own or have used.  All these products have a couple characteristics in common and they must pass the following requirements for me to promote them:

Durability and Longevity

I hate it when I spend money on something only to have to replace it within a year or two. This happened to me with an electric toothbrush that I spent $200 on.  Even though it worked really well, after 2 years the thing stopped working entirely. Even more upsetting, I had missed the warranty window by a couple of days.  I ended up buying a manual toothbrush specially designed for gum health, which ended up working just as well if not better. Needless to say I learned my lesson and now I champion products that I know will last a long time.

Comfortability or Functionality

Depending on what it is, a product should either be comfortable or very useful.  I have seen people purchase a couch because it looked pretty but was literally painful to sit on.  Buying a visually pleasing product that defeats the purpose of its function is a colossal waste of money.  Some examples from my own experience include: a glass pitcher that was too heavy to lift, throw pillows with scratchy covers, a kettle that didn’t whistle, and a high back office chair that kept knocking over the microphones in my recording studio.

Beauty

Beauty is certainly subjective, but I do have a few objective criteria I try to abide by when purchasing something. I avoid plastic like a disease.  This is not to say all plastic is bad, but a lot of plastic products age poorly.  Their color fades, they scratch easily, react poorly to heat and once thrown away, they are really bad for the environment.  I generally try to stick to natural materials like wood, glass, metal, natural fabrics and ceramic.  I avoid excessively trendy things especially something that could look dated in a couple of years. I most often spend my money on classic items that will endure stylistically and age gracefully.

Affordability

Buying the most expensive and exclusive thing is not an option for those of us who don’t have millions of dollars to blow.  While I do advocate for saving up to purchase things you really love, I don’t think expensive always means better.  All of my favorite things have not only been well constructed and beautiful, they were also affordable.

So if you’re looking for some gift ideas for the holidays or in the market for some new home products, check out my favorite things and see if they work for you. Happy shopping!