On My Mind: Felted Barbie Heads and Stylish Cat Trees

We’ve already ruled out medical issues, so I’m about to start testing the Litter Robot. The self-cleaning litter box is eye-poppingly expensive, especially since I also have children who should be doing the daily scooping for the low fee of zero dollars — living in the house means helping, right? But we’re all on edge about smells and catching the little dude before he can squat where he shouldn’t.

I like raised feeders because they’re supposed to help with digestion and promote good posture as the fuzz balls are snarfing their food. We’re using one of these bowls from Smalls for each; they are quite smart-looking and, crucially, dishwasher safe.

There are a lot ofcat treesavailable now that aren’t total eyesores, but they tend to get pretty expensive, and even the stylish ones don’t always fit seamlessly into a room. I like this design fromMaubecause it’s a good combo of form and function, it’s still not as pricey as lots of others I’ve browsed so far, and many of the parts are replaceable if they wear out or get gross over time.

I went a bit wild when thenew John Derian collection launched at Targetover the weekend and bought theshrimp-cocktail bowl, this light-up wreath blow mold, anda handful of Christmas ornaments. Christmas ornaments are a vice for me (look for a related story on the site next month), and these ones aresogood. They’re made of glass with beautiful details, each one comes in a gift box, and they’re remarkably priced at $8 each. (Sadly, themushroomlampsdid not seem to be available during the drop, but I’ll be looking for them on their new November 23 launch date.)

My living room is long and narrow, as well as a pass-through to two different rooms, so it doesn’t lend itself to a stationary coffee table. (The fact that the floor is usually covered in Magna-Tiles builds does not help.) We mostly rely on a few small round drink tables that we move around wherever we need them. But sometimes we do want a bigger surface, so I’m really intrigued by this table that assembles (and disassembles) magnetically, supposedly in under a minute. It looks like it would be really easy to move around and store — maybe even under the couch? — when we want a clearer space.

Not collapsible, but cheaper, plenty easy to move, and possibly more versatile: this pill-shaped “coffee table” from the House of Noa’s new line ofNugget-challenging “soft furniture.” I’ve been testing it for a few months and so far it’s been used not only as the coffee table it’s billed as, but a bench seat, an ottoman, and the counter for a pretend coffee shop called the Coffee Cats whose proprietors are my 7- and 10-year-old daughters (it’s only open on weekends when they’re not in school). Especially nice is that the cover is removable and washable, and it comes with a waterproof liner to protect the inner foam.

Mustard Made recently launched magnetic bulletin boards that are literally just powder-coated steel rectangles. But they are powder-coated steel rectangles that can be easily mounted horizontally or vertically and come in averygood color palette that coordinates with the brand’sshelvesandlockers. So now I’m envisioning hanging six or so edge to edge in a grid to use as a large-scale living gallery wall for photos, kids’ artwork, and assorted ephemera.

During a recent weekend trip to Royal Oak, Michigan, I stumbled into a thoroughly excellent kids’ bookstore calledthe Caboose— it’s just a couple storefronts away from its charming adult sibling,Sidetrack Bookshop— and spent about two hours there. I picked up this drawing book for my kids, who’ve been studiously working their way through its endearing collection of bats, demons, ghosts, and more.

My 7-year-old also requested her own copy of this old favorite, which we check out of the library every October.

These are my 10-year-old’s new favorite jeans, because she absolutely will not, under any circumstances, abide anything other than an elastic waist (smart girl). The sale price has hovered around $12 since I first bought her a pair in September, but now I’m picking up another while they’re down to $10.