Looking for really unique products? Log on to Kickstarter

Michael Slack and his grandmother’s project, Goodnight Pillowcases, got 68 backers pledging $1291—their goal was to get $1000—before they ended their fund-raising some years ago. Another project that found over 200 backers putting in more than £13,000 is the Fancy Stamp Ring with interchangeable faces. The silver-brass rings have an interchangeable rubber stamp/wooden insert that allow you to bang on a desk like House of Cards’ former protagonist Francis Underwood and mark your stamp in the process.

The chances of finding eccentric, innovative products at low cost attract buyers to shop from Kickstarter. Unlike other ecommerce sites, like Flipkart or Amazon, which you visit to buy something specific like washing powder or a cell phone, there is an element of surprise with KS.

The Green Conspiracy – Grow Food with Confidence

With health and food fads dominating dining room conversations, it would be perhaps a good idea to grow some of your own food. This would require a little bit of space at home, like a balcony, and gives you boasting rights of calling yourself a farmer. Help comes in the form of The Green Conspiracy, a planner for urban gardening needs. It assists set up, keeps track of your produce, and documents the whole process.

Besides helping you cut down stress through the process of tending and nurturing, gardening allows you to grow food you will not get in the market, reconnect with nature and eat organic—a win-win for all.

Costs: £34 (plus £12 shipping)

Delivery time: Up to 10 days
 

Limbo: The magical top that spins for hours
If you are the kind who likes to look dreamily out of the window or watch paint dry, this is a perfect gift for yourself—and your home. The Limbo also claims to have the Guinness world record for the longest spinning mechanical top—27:09:24 hours. According to the site’s description, it’s a “smart, self-balancing electric gyro, disguised as a beautiful CNC-machined spinning top that spins for hours”.  

Besides, it comes in more than half-a-dozen varieties. So the next time, post lunch on a rainy day, you feel like you are in a limbo, just spin and watch a Limbo.

Cost: Starting from $59 ($10 shipping)

Delivery time: Uncertain, with some risks.

Detox Your Place: Room-by-Room Remedies for Nontoxic Living

This book, by the fascinatingly named Meadow Shadowhawk, goes beyond the dust-termites-bugs-and the mud-the-kids-brought-in aspects of cleanliness. This is about wholesome health, exposure of toxins we cannot see and what modern, industrial households have that’s harmful to us. The 128-page tome authored by a veterinary technician provides short and long-term solutions—on paint, furniture, lighting, water filtration, food containers, non-toxic makeup etc.—that will make your home a healthier place to live in. Some of the solutions may not be easily available in India, but that should not be a problem for our well-travelled readers of Beautiful Homes.

Cost: $12.95 (ships everywhere and available as ebook)

Available: From July 14, 2020

Trace Collective: Fashion to Regenerate Our Planet
This is one of those projects that uses all the sustainability ideas we love: 90% less water, 50% less energy used to produce clothes compared to conventional fashion brands. Also includes free repairs, ensures 100% biodegradability and recycled textiles. For example, for a pledge of £55 or more, the donor gets an organic linen T-shirt, one kilo of carbon saved, 235 hours of bulb energy and 229 days of drinking water saved—and a clean conscience.

Cost: £20 and above (ships everywhere)

Available: From March 2020 onwards.