Vertical Spine Bookcase - via The Design Files

4 Fab Bookcases That Take Up Little Room

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Short on floor space? Here are four fabulous bookcases that take up very little room.

Vertical Spine Bookcase - via The Design Files

 

DESIGN WISE | Those of us living in condos and townhomes are forever on the lookout for ways to save on space. One way to do this where books are concerned is to store them horizontally in a vertical bookcase that climbs up the wall rather than in one with a more conventional shape that gobbles up a larger floor area.

Vertical spine book towers can hold lots of books in a vertical stack. Here are four of our favourite models. Read more

Front Loading washing machine - 123rf

Get Rid Of Stinky Washer Once & For All

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What you need to know about eliminating the disgusting smell in your front-load washing machine.

Front Loading washing machine - 123rf

 

THE FIX | Stink happens. If you have one of those pricey front-load washing machines and do not micromanage its maintenance, the chances are great that the tub will develop a foul odour and your freshly washed clothes will eventually take on the sickly sweet smell of pond scum. Read more

Prize Winning Ribbon-Shutte

Is Consumer Choice Award A Gimmick?

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A sloppy house-cleaning job by The Maids prompted a look at the Consumer Choice Award, a marketing-driven awards program.

Prize Winning Ribbon-Shutte

 

CONSUMER BE AWARE | With company coming over the holidays, I did what I do every year and gave myself an early Christmas present by hiring a cleaning service to power scrub my house. In the past, I’ve used Molly Maid, but this year I waited too late to book them and wound up looking for an alternative on the Internet, which is how I discovered The Maids. Read more

It’s Easy To Make Crispy Krispy Chips

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Why would you ever buy prepared kale chips when you can easily bake up a batch of this tasty snack in your own kitchen?

kale+chips

 

EASY & DELISH | Kale chips are the currently cool snack among the super health conscious (kale is a seriously high in beta carotene and vitamins A and K). Snack manufacturers such as Rhythm Superfoods and Kaia Foods (both sold at Whole Foods) have jumped on board to churn out very small packages of very pricey dehydrated kale chips that are, in my estimation, so overseasoned with flavours like mustard, cheese and chocolate that you’d think their producers were trying to disguise the true taste of this big leafy green.

The best kale chips are only lightly seasoned so the subtle yet distinct flavour of the vegetable is equally present as any seasoning. The best kale chips are the ones you bake yourself, which you can easily do in fewer than 15 minutes.

Here’s how. Read more

Back Painted Glass Vases - John Sinal

Use Marine Paint To Make Old Vases New

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Add rich colour to plain, old clear glass vases by using this simple painting technique.

Vases - John sinal

 

DO IT YOURSELF | Clear glass vases are the classic and obvious choice for displaying flowers and branches, which is why most of us have probably collected a few extra ones over the years. Many of these are no doubt tucked away in the dark reaches of rarely opened cupboards. Why not bring these dusty specimens back into the light and turn them into something different and original by painting their insides with coloured enamel.

This technique has been a design trick for years on sheet glass (to create lustrous walls) or as ornamental glass insets in furniture. Read more

Bluelounge CableBox mini

Untangle Cords And Cables With Bluelounge

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If you have a tangle of power bars and cords threatening to overtake your work area, Bluelounge could solve your problem.

Bluelounge CableBox mini

 

PROBLEM SOLVED | I don’t make New Year’s resolutions unless they’re the Babylonian variety (CLICK HERE  for our story on this). That said, this year on J 01 I did make a plan to put an end to the chaos of cords, surge-protected power bars and mutant dust bunnies that reigns under my desk. I wanted this task completed by J 31, and I’m happy to report I’ve put the issue to bed and it’s only mid-January. Read more

Hello Moto

Hello Moto: Where To Find Jackets Now

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If you have been thinking about adding a motorcycle jacket to your wardrobe, now would be a good time to do it.

Hello Moto

SALE ALERT | Everyone’s favourite bad girl jacket—the moto—was a big deal on runways in this past fall, with innumerable high fashion players putting their own spin on the snaps, zippers, ribbed leather panels and belt loops that characterize this iconic piece of outerwear. Naturally ready-to-wear followed suit—and sure as Christmas rolls round in December, the purveyors of these less expensive versions have now put their jackets on sale.

If you’ve been thinking about adding a little biker chick chic to your otherwise girly wardrobe, here are a few great value motorcycle jackets we found for your consideration. Read more

one-click-butter-cutter

Pat Down: We Love The One Click Butter Cutter

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This handy kitchen gadget measures out perfect pats of butter that are easy to spread.

one-click-butter-cutter

 

MONEY WELL SPENT | Yes, I know butter is healthier for you than margarine is (CLICK HERE for an excellent Globe and Mail article on the subject), but tell that to my knife in the morning when I’m trying to have my way with toast.

My biggest beef with butter is that it’s always cold and hard when it comes out of the fridge when I need it to be soft and ready to spread like margarine. For this reason, until recently, I always chose a schmeer of oleo rather than a chunk of butter when it was time to slather warm buns. Read more

Super White Teeth

How To Use Baking Soda To Whiten Teeth

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Baking soda will definitely whiten your teeth. Here’s how to use it properly.

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CHEAP & EFFECTIVE | There’s no question that brushing with ordinary baking soda will remove surface stains from your teeth and contribute to a pearly white smile. Toothpaste manufacturers know this, which is why some of them have taken a page from 19th- and early 20th-century history books—when paste made from hydrogen peroxide combined with baking soda was a common agent for cleaning and destaining teeth—and included baking soda as an active ingredient in their product.

With baking soda’s proven track record, it’s no wonder people are curious about using it by itself as an inexpensive alternative to bleaching trays to whiten their teeth, though many worry that its abrasive properties will strip the enamel from their teeth. Read more

Sheffield Heirloom Silver-Plated Flatware - Pottery Barn

Now Is The Time To Replate Silver Flatware

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To replate, or not to replate your worn out silver-plated flatware: that is the question. Acme Electro-Plating & Silversmiths’ semiannual resurfacing sale may help you address this conundrum. (SALE ALERT)

Sheffield Heirloom Silver-Plated Flatware - Pottery Barn

 

DARE TO REPAIR | As interesting as it looks and as cool as they make it sound, Pottery Barn’s Sheffield heirloom mixed-pattern silver-plated flatware (pictured here) feels like a waste of money to me. But then, buying any new silver-plated flatware doesn’t seem like a good investment unless it’s from a rarified manufacturer like Christofle or one of the few ornate patterns that for whatever fickle reason retains its collectability. Read more