The recent recall of more than 7 million Keurig Mini Plus brewers reminded me anew of the importance of our Revuu site.
When an appliance causes injury (90 users of the Keurig Mini said they were burned by hot water spraying from the one-cup brewers,) the media and government let us know. The Wall Street Journal and other newspapers reported the recall, and the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission provided information about how to get a defective model repaired for free.
Hurray for this! It’s great to have a system in place that helps protect us from dangerous, everyday products. But what about when the danger is to our wallets — or to our time – and comes from best-in-class brands?
How, for example, can you find out if the Gaggenau Fully Automatic Coffee Machine 200 is worth its $3,000 price tag or whether Thermador’s built-in version (Model BICM24CS) is a better value at $2,600? Or whether you should instead stand in the line at Starbucks to buy a $4 latte and keep a $16 Mr. Coffee at home for emergency caffeine needs?

Review at Revuu

To find out if these and other luxury goods – appliances, window treatments, furniture, fixtures, lighting, cabinetry and more – are as dependable as they are beautiful and expensive, you need to come to Revuu.
Read Revuu to find out why one user says the Thermador coffee machine “isn’t the fanciest brand, but it’s the most reliable” or be the first to review the Gaggenau, Miele, Bosch and Scholtes luxury coffee machines on Revuu.
Review your favorite or disappointing high-end brands on Revuu to help ensure that companies such as Waterstone, Ernestomeda and DwellStudio live up to the promises made by their glossy brochures and glib salespersons. And that the advice we receive from our interior designers, decorators and contractors is trustworthy.

Promises, Promises

Wouldn’t you like to know before you become best friends with the repairman that a certain line of luxury-brand ranges or refrigerators was trouble-prone? Wouldn’t you like to know before you placed a 100 percent deposit on custom-made cabinets that the builder was always six months behind on orders? Wouldn’t you like to know before you reupholstered your sofa in $200-a-yard “kid-friendly” fabric that the manufacturer had never met a normal child?
I would! I do! That’s why I founded Revuu and why I’m committed to making it the place to share informed, unbiased opinions about the things we covet after reading the latest issue of Traditional Home or Architectural Digest, spending Saturday mornings in designer showrooms or Saturday nights in the homes of our friends’ lavishly remodeled homes.

Investment Protection

Renovating a home is expensive. U.S. homeowners spent $130 billion on remodeling projects in 2013, the last year for which U.S. Census Bureau statistics are available, and an upscale project may run $500,000 or more.
And senior adults are doing much of the spending. Those older than 55 control 75 percent of America’s wealth and outspend younger generations by $400 billion each year, according to research compiled by Immersion Active. This includes spending more than $20 billion annually on home remodeling.

But while older adults have more money to spend on their homes, they don’t have more money to waste. Their earning potential is limited, and they want to spend wisely on their luxury home goods.
Before shelling out $8,000 for, say, a Kohler walk-in bathtub, an older adult wants to know if the tub will add to or detract from the home’s resale value, how much it will cost to fill the 72-gallon tub with water and whether the plumbing will work properly or the faucets will leak to distraction.
He wants to know if a bathtub that seems practical for an older person is really a better investment than an older-looking clawfoot tub that sells for one-fourth the price.
This review posted by a Revuu user might reassure him: “I always wanted a clawfoot tub, and the Elizabethan Classics clawfoot tub sure is pretty. But getting in and out of it is a clumsy process, so it’s become more of a decorative item in my bathroom.”

Resolve to Revuu

I’m not old enough yet to shop for a walk-in bathtub, and I don’t feel “senior” at all despite my children’s reminders that the mother of teenagers is, by default, ancient. But I have lived enough years to remember when “built to last” was a promise, not just a slogan. And, with your help, we can make the designers, builders and manufacturers of luxury home products keep their promises.
But only if you keep this promise to yourself: resolve to post a review to Revuu. Help others make thoughtful purchases of high-end products. And help yourself do the same by returning frequently to Revuu to find out what homeowners and industry experts are saying about the products you want to buy.

Ready to post a Revuu? It’s easy. Click here to get started. Want to read some reviews first? Check out the latest reviews on our home page!