🪞The Rec Room - Issue 02
You know when you ask a group ‘Anyone have a good recommendation for…?’ That’s what Mirour is. Featuring "arts & crafts (the perfect antidote to the AI-slop-pocalypse)."
Wait… what is this?
Welcome to The Rec Room, a newsletter from Mirour - the recommendation network built on real wisdom, shared in real time.
We started Mirour because we wanted a better way to trade tips, share what’s working, and discover through each other. This is where we round up what we’re hearing, loving, and learning on the journey.
Some of it’s practical. Some of it’s niche. All of it’s real.
🌀 What We’re Seeing: Craving The Messy Middle
We’re seeing more people crave the freedom to just share without having to be so curated.
Brain dumps. Mid-thought, mid-process, mid-everything. Seeing this on Linkedin, TikTok, as well as some user sign ups…
Over curation seems to be exhausting and becoming adding to the noise vs that human element we’re all craving.
People are starting to say: “Here’s what I think - right now.” And that in itself, is enough. We think that’s pretty cool.
🌐 3 Cool Things We Discovered This Week
🗓️ Skylight Calendar
Recommended by a founder over lunch who said:
“This calendar completely changed everything for my family.”
Big words. And now I’m curious. Especially the lists feature - which honestly feels like something Mirour should plug into one day. Imagine a home hub but for community-shared wisdom.
☕️ Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine
Breville coffee makers, we saw them getting love on Mirour AND saw them in 3 x different houses in the past month (wild). The coffee was good to be fair, but I’m still a lover of a simple french press done right. Worth it? You’ll have to let us know.
🍞 Cutting board alts
Plastic cutting boards - why are you everywhere. Wooden ones aren’t great for cleanliness, so what are our options? This q, was asked both at our Favorite Things Party (‘clean’ theme) and by a creator on TikTok and so far responses have been stainless steel and glass (but glass freaks us out…)
👋 Rec Room Spotlight: Melanie Crissey
Fractional Product Marketing Manager. Watercolor enthusiast. Domain name collector.
Melanie is a longtime internet human, early Mirour tester, and the kind of person who will casually drop a freezer cake hack one second and recommend AI disruption reading the next.
She’s thoughtful, honest, and creative as hell - and her recs speak for themselves:
Quick Hits: Get to Know Melanie
🎭 Recently obsessed with:
Indyx - This is basically Cher’s wardrobe planning computer app from Clueless (1995) but it lives on your phone. You can use it to track cost-per-wear, watch what percentage of your wardrobe is new vs. thrifted, and even style your friends. I won’t buy a pair of socks without uploading a flat lay.
✅ Under $100 that changed her life:
A decent pair of dishwasher-safe kitchen scissors goes a long way to make life better in the kitchen. No more slimy green onions slipping around on a cutting board. Every salad is getting snips of chives this summer.
🥐 Hack to live by:
“Freeze leftover birthday cake. Slice it, wrap it in Cling Wrap, store it in a Ziploc. Boom. Emergency Cake. Thaw and enjoy as needed.”
✨ Wish more people knew about:
Right now I’m super into independent artist shops. Menmin Made makes beautiful tote bags. I have a friend in Johns Creek who does strange taxidermy and it’s a total riot. One of the most empathetic people managers I’ve ever worked with makes compassionate art, stickers, and coffee mugs—plus she just released a set of coloring book pages!
Arts & crafts feel like the perfect antidote to the AI-slop-pocalypse.
I’m also always recommending the Ghia N/A spritz to friends and family. The sumac-and-chili flavor is my favorite. Over ice in a steel wine tumbler while you float in the pool? Heaven.
🧼 Dream splurge:
A matching pair of Brumby rocking chairs for my front porch. One day!
😍 Inner circle rec experts:
My friends Steph & Hanna always know the best restaurants in every major city. Atlanta, San Francisco, Asheville, NYC… I’m dining wherever they send me.
⛔️ Currently figuring out:
Where are we going for exceptional bath mats and towel sets? I’m DONE with Target and Amazon and my department store towels have unraveled so quickly, they’re only good for cleaning muddy paws off the dog. Help, I want to feel like I’m in a luxury spa every time I step out of an everything shower!
🔍 Real Questions We’re Hearing This Week
“What’s the best white tee?” - Top recs came through were: Buck Mason, Uniqlo, Aritzia, LA Apparel via Depop
“Best chic, comfortable clothes not made from synthetic materials (does not include polyester, elastane, nylon, acrylic, spandex, rayon)?”
“Dupes for the most over-hyped influencer faves that are actually better?”
Got thoughts? Reply here, drop it in the chat, or share on mirourmirour.co
💭 Before You Go…
Mirour is for people who believe recommendations are a love language. We’re here for half-baked thoughts, evolving opinions, and sharing in progress.
Thanks for being part of it.
🪞 Join us → mirourmirour.co
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See you in the DMs, the garden, or the group chat.
— Loren & The Mirour Team
We have the Skylight and while I'm still adjusting to it, so far, it's helped. We keep a running grocery list on there, so both parents can add to the list and if I happen to be out, I don't have to send a text "do you need anything at the store?" and wait 5 minutes for a reply. I like the tasks for daily stuff, we even put who is in charge of carpool that day, and other things we need to do like "make a dinner reservation", etc. As for the towels, we love Weezie towels! Mine have lasted 5 years and still look great!!