BUY IT: Now that you have a little robot vacuum cleaner to do your dirty work, you have all this time on your hands, don’t you? And, wow, it’s become so boring sitting and watching that busy beaver roam round and round your floors. Not nearly as much fun as watching the clothes whip about the Laundromat dryer. So, thank heavens iRobot Skins have come along.
Introduced in the spring by SkinIt, the vinyl Skins come in hundreds of designs — from flowers, eyeballs and smiley faces to college logos and those of professional sports teams.
They’re made of professional-grade vinyl and are easy to put on iRobot RoombaR Vacuuming Robots and iRobot ScoobaT Floor Washing Robots. You can order iRobot Skins ($19.98 to $29.98) at www.irobotskins.com.
— Elaine Matsushita
SEE IT: The Champagne Chair Tour, highlighting the winning miniature chairs in a national design contest, arrives in Chicago this week. The design challenge is to create a miniature chair using only the cork, wire and foil from no more than two champagne bottles. From more than 600 entries from all over the world, including New Zealand, Croatia and Malaysia, judges for the annual contest sponsored by Design Within Reach selected 50 finalists. Those 50 chairs, including the winning creation by Krista Charles of Indianapolis, the Sara Chair by Chicagoan Hector Sanchez, and other judges’ picks, are being exhibited at 17 DWR Studios around the country through October. The exhibit hits the DWR Chicago Tree Studios, 10 E. Ohio St., on Tuesday and will be in town until Aug. 7. For more information, call 312-280-4677 or visit www.dwr.com/champagne.
— Mary Daniels
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