Dirt Devil Kone

Let's face it, it is hard to get kids excited about cleaning (and frankly I don't blame them). I am however, a big believer in making them do it anyway:). Teaching my kids to clean while they are very young is big in my book, so when I find a product like the Dirt Devil Kone, my money parts with me quickly.
The "Kone" was the brainchild of famed product designer, Karim Rashid. He has also recently launched the Dirt Devil "Curve" line of vacuums, which I think are probably easier to hold, but every time I see them I think of a lava lamp, so I am sticking to my Kone.
We have owned ours for 9 months now, and have used it on a daily basis. It is the perfect clean-up tool for my 4 and 6-year-old. The Kone is cordless-which means no outlets for them to fool around with- and turns on (and off) with the simple press of a button at the top of the machine. The filter is easy to clean off and not that expensive to change out completely. If any precious objects are accidentally inhaled, retrieval is quick and easy with a twist of the vacuum's mid-section.
After my girls clean their room, they know that the last step is to search for crumbs and dust bunnies with the Kone. They actually fight over who will get this job.
I love the Kone because it is great for small pick-up jobs that you don't want to get the full-sized vacuum out for- like dry food spilled in the stroller, highchair, and around my girls chairs after mealtime (once again a responsibility I can delegate, YAY!) This vacuum would also be great for all you car owners out there because it is cordless, so it can be toted out to the garage for a quick squished Cheerios clean up.
Yet another positive: it is stylish enough to leave it out on display. There is no need to search through my closet for the hand vac, because this one sits right on my window sill in my living room!
The only drawback to the Kone really is the size of the debris container. It maybe holds of cup of material- so this is not the tool you would use for heavy duty debris cleaning. With that said, the container is easy to empty, so really this could stand-in for a larger sized job.
You can find the Kone at dirtdevil.com, and Amazon. It will suck about $40 out of your wallet.

Miele for Me

I love my new vacuum. A few weeks ago our old upright vacuum bit the dust. I had been secretly hoping for weeks that it would meet its maker. The thing was old, and not as great as I had thought when we first bought it. It was one of those canister vacuums. The bagless ones that make you really excited about all of the huge amounts of money you will be saving because you do not have to purchase bags anymore. The only problem was that I HATED emptying the container. It was disgusting. And the filter, you were supposed to suction out with another vacuum. What!? Another vacuum? I only have one- do a lot of you own two vacuums? So I would end up cleaning it out with a butter knife-gross. So, when the vacuum finally found its way into the garbage room of our building I was extremely excited to get a vacuum that actually had bags. What was old is new again.

We have only owned this vacuum for three weeks. I love it. I will warn you people with Mansion Houses (def. anything > than 15oo sq ft.)- this is not for you. There are other Miele's out there for you, just not this one (the Carina). This vacuum is perfect for small homes with wood floors or area rugs. You are not supposed to use it on wall to wall carpeting. It is perfect for reaching under beds, under couches, under tables, pretty much under everything. It gets all of those gross dust bunnies our last vacuum never came close to. It also comes with great little attachments. I will say I was almost completely sold by the suction power of this thing, and then I found this cute citrus color- and the deal was sealed. What an adorable little functional vacuum. Anyway I have got to run. I am feeling the urge to vacuum again.