Via 2Modern, we find the site Live Now. A great place to visit for some daily inspiration, Live Now is about 1,000 steps above typical inspirational goodness as the site features not only uplifting messages but fantastic designs. You can also find out about purchasing an image for your home here. Happy Monday, indeed. –Mary T.

1) Um…you’re messy. The chance to win a free DustBuster has you all confessing your housecleaning shame. Don’t worry — we are right there with you! A lot of the entries have made us laugh, like this one from Mary, who says: “The pile of dog and cat fur I swept up last night was so big that our cat thought it was another animal! Once he spied it, he first darted down the hall and then peeked around the doorway to keep an eye on it. This is after not sweeping the living area for just three days. DustBuster, I’d like to welcome you to my world.” Ready to confess your mess for the chance to win a DusBuster? Click here.

2) We love kitschy mailbox treatments. Jen loves the horseshoe mailbox post that Megan spied, but says, “Where I live, that would last about 2 minutes before someone would destroy it.” Jen, do you live near an angry group of jockey scofflaws? Ellie says, “My favorite spotted DIY mailbox was a stack of bowling balls drilled out and slipped over the post.” Oh my gosh — now we want that, too.

3) Sites promising DIY solar panels may be fishy, but here’s a cool way to heat water. Solange says: “Here in Brazil there’s a lot of projects (ever supported by government) to use plastic bottles and milk cartons to heat water.” That sounds fascinating! Click here to see her links in comments.

4) DIY cord and cable corrals are simple. More than one of you uses paper binder clips to keep your computer cords together. Melissa says: “You just clip them around your cables (don’t clip the cables themselves, just pull your cables into a single packet and clip around them, so they’re in the hole in the middle).” See the cord and cable solution suggestions here.

5) Couroc of Monterey made glassware, too. Ita-darling says: “I just found the bull and bear plate in a thrift store last year for pennies on the dollar….a few months later and I was in another thrift (go figger) and I found the matching Bull/Bear Couroc glassware! I was unawares that Couroc even did coordinating glassware!” See that fabulous Bull and Bear ware here.

Pickles has the Puff Daddy — a knitted stool that everyone loves! Too cool. (Via Maja Brugos of Tikoli.)

City chickens nothing — we’re talking pigs, at Adventures in Eco-Living.

Some people see a conspiracy when there really — really — isn’t one, like accusing the First Lady of faking her garden’s growth, at Gawker.

“Little projects are never little,” say the folks at Our Mid Century Ranch-Bungalow. Truer words were never spoken! But they’re getting great results. (Via Retro Renovation.)

Measure, plan, become your own decorator, at Casa Sugar.

Art that celebrates summer at poppytalk.

More cool stairs, these painted pink, at Absolutely Beautiful Things.

The DustBuster is celebrating its 30-year anniversary, and we get the present! Our friends at Black & decker are giving us a 4.4V Cordless DustBuster Cyclonic Hand Vac to award to a lucky Shelterrific reader! But not so fast — first you have to prove how much you need it. None of us is perfect, and we confess that even though we love our homes, it doesn’t mean they’re perfectly free of dust bunnies or dog hair. So tell us — what’s your housekeeping shame? Do you have a forbidden closet of clothes you haven’t worn since the Clinton administration? Have you thrown out a rug rather than clean it? Confess your mess in comments now through the end of Wednesday, June 24. The story that amuses (or appalls?) us most will win the Dustbuster. Bonus points if you provide a link to photos. Get commenting now!

Comment now to win a Black & Decker DustBuster:

- 14.4 volts of power for extreme suction
- Cyclonic action — powerful spinning action keeps dust and debris away from the filter so suction power stays strong
- Accu-reach nozzle extends for reach in tight spaces
- Filter refresh dial clears debris from filter to improve suction
- 3 stage filtration prevents dust from escaping into the air

Thanks, Black & Decker!

Since Mary’s recent modern mailbox post, I’ve been keeping my eye on mailboxes everywhere. On a walk recently, I spotted this nifty, more-than-likely DIY mailbox post made from welded together horseshoes. I think it’s kitschy and fun — and more sturdy than the usual wooden post! What do you think? –Megan B.

I’ve been spending some time on Twitter lately, and I’ve noticed more and more Twitterers with “eco” in their names who are doing a hard-sell on “DIY” solar energy. (I’m not going to link to them as all the sites I’ve seen are potentially spam-y.) It got me curious, so I did a little poking around. At Re-Nest, I read about Sungevity, a Berkeley-based site designed to make it easier to equip your home with traditional solar panels. And TreeHugger has a story on someone who made his own solar panels with damaged panels purchased on eBay. But aside from the super-salesy sites, I haven’t found much on build-it-yourself solar panels. So I’m throwing it to you — what do you know about this, and where can we find out more? –Mary T.

P.S. You can follow Shelterrific , Mary T and Katie D on Twitter. Let us know if we should be following you.

Photo via Re-Nest by Hardy Wilson, San Fransisco Chronicle

I need some of these CableDrop cable clips from Bluelounge. I thread all the cords for my computer through the small space between the back of my desk and the wall, which takes all my patience and a bit of contortionist skill. Inevitably, every time I take my computer to the couch, the unplugged cords practically dive back down into the space behind my desk. I would happily stick a couple of these to the desktop (they come in packages of six for just $9.95) to hold my cords and save me this frustration. Has anyone used these, or any other similar product? Is there a quick-fix DIY version someone can suggest? –Erica P.

Click here for another cool laptop fix.

I don’t even have kids, and I am loving ecotronic toys! Hey, name a toy “Mr. Robot Head” and I am ready to play. The genius behind ecotronic is that each colorful toy is green. Instead of using batteries or electricity, they’re people-powered — winding up or shaking the toy results in light and sound. Mr. Robot Head is kind of a twist on “Operation” where you try to move a wand along his antennae without setting off his buzzer. There are windup radios in all kinds of cute designs, a light-up rocket ship that is super cool, and even a voice-projecting microphone. Parents will appreciate the packaging, too — not only is it 100% recycled and 100% biodegradable, there are no blister packs, no twist-ties, and no tiny plastic loops to remove. Find ecotronic toys at Chicken Little, Thinker Things, and Jenny Bec’s, or download a catalog from the ecotronic toys site. –Mary T.

Let’s face it — there is not much I deprive myself of when it comes to food. I feel strongly that it is OK to eat what you like, as long as you have a well-balanced diet and practice a bit of moderation. This is why I’ll never buy into the idea that spaghetti squash is a good substitute for plain old carb-laden, delicious spaghetti. Don’t get me wrong — I love me some spaghetti squash, but I cook it when I feel like squash, not when I feel like pasta. This dish comes together quite easily and tastes great. (Especially when you’re in the mood for squash!) –Erica P. Click through for the recipe! (more…)

Now that cookout season is officially upon us, I’ve been enjoying the great outdoors (and ribs) quite frequently. As my boyfriend, the grill master, experiments with homemade marinades, I’ve been experimenting with new types of fruit punch and lemonades — we’re like mad scientists, only with BBQ. Of course, nothing ruins a batch of strawberry and watermelon lemonade faster than melting ice cubes in the summer sun. Enter the Bromioli Rocco Kufra pitcher to make life easier (and less diluted)! The central tube is filled with ice and sits inside your delicious lemonade, keeping it cool without thinning the flavor. They’re sold at Bed Bath & Beyond for just $9.99 a piece, so I can afford to buy enough to serve all of my favorite summer punches. –Katie D.