Regular hardware store metal window screening, with its nostalgic cottage connotations, has obvious uses—and some that are less apparent. Here I’ve folded it into holders for votive candles that are straightforward to make. Read more
BUY RIGHT | I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about bedding. It’s one of those product areas where well-known designers license their name in an effort to reach a broader market. When you purchase sheets by Ralph Lauren, Barbara Barry, et al., you are paying foremost for name recognition, not necessarily for quality. This is particularly true of designer middle-market lines destined for department stores such as Macy’s or The Bay, or discount emporiums like TJ Maxx and Winners. These sheets are always more expensive than the house brands, which may be equal or even superior in quality to designer-logo-label ones.
After snagging a particularly poor quality set of 500-thread-count sateen Barbara Barry sheets on sale at Winners, I decided to educate myself about sheeting so I wouldn’t get stung again.
WTF may be considered a profane acronym in certain circles, but in sheet world it stands for the three things that matter most: weave, thread count and fibre. Read more
THE CREATIVE SOLUTION | When you have large numbers of magazines, quick reference is not always easy. The standard way to keep periodicals organized is to store them in magazine file boxes, but these containers, which are often made of flimsy cardboard, hold only a minimal number of copies. As your magazine collection grows, so does your need for file boxes, which can end up looking like an unattractive, mashed-up mess when you can’t find more to match the style you started out with.
Faced with this very problem awhile back, I came up with a flexible yet consistent-looking way to sort and store my favourite mags. Read more
CREATIVE SOLUTION | It may not be the biggest problem of our time, but how do you keep a bar of soap from turning into sludge—or sliding all over the place? Read more
CREATIVE SOLUTION | We’ve all seen dried or preserved foliage—tired, dusty, brittle arrangements begging to thrown out. Preserving leaves in glycerin not only keeps them supple but makes them as tough as leather. Keep a bunch on hand for ready bookmarks or, if you now read all your novels on an electronic device, label them with metallic ink to use as place cards or gift tags. Read more
If you are planning a summer dinner party and want to decorate the table in a way that’s fresh and easy, here’s a spin on the current penchant for using formal table arrangements made of single flower variety in a single colour packed tightly into a vase. Read more
PRICELESS | This little story has nothing to do with our ongoing conversation about saving money, time or energy, but it is about celebrating hometown design heroes—molo’s Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen—and visually devouring their latest creation, an activity that’s absolutely free. Read more
THE CREATIVE SOLUTION | When you think of craft projects involving driftwood, does your mind meander back to the mid-1970s and wall hangings made of macramé and driftwood? Where 70s-style craft projects tended to be hippie-like and folksy, the current spin is toward Zen-like minimalism. Materials are organic and weathered, but shapes are defined and graphic, together evoking a calm, spiritual quality. In a word: elemental. These candleholders are my nod to the return of organic. Read more
CHEAP & PERFECT | Sam Carter introduced me to the joy of collecting inexpensive Asian blue and white dishes. Carter, who is now professor emeritus at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver and currently working on a variety of innovative international projects—including facilitating internships for Emily Carr students in China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan and Korea—has, for the longest time, picked up antique and contemporary blue and white dishes wherever he touches down. Read more
CHEAP & PERFECT | Say what you will about the note-taking capabilities of a laptop, smartphone or tablet, sometimes it’s more satisfying—and quicker—to write stuff on actual paper. For me, jotting works best on notebooks that are both attractive and quirky, and the best selection of these kinds of notebooks I know of is at Daiso, my favourite dollar-style store. Read more