decor Archives - Frugalbits

Chinese Lanterns On Mini'lights - Martin Tessler

Make A Lantern Plant & Mini-Light Display

October 24, 2012/0 Comments/in D.I.Y., DECOR & DESIGN, DIY, HOME, HOW-TO KNOW-HOW, View All DIY Stories, View All Home Stories, View All How-To Stories /by Editor

Harvest Chinese lantern plant pods to create the perfect, illuminated holiday display.

CREATIVE SOLUTION | I first spotted brilliant orange Chinese lanterns fitted over mini-lights on an organically decorated Christmas tree. This is one way to use them for sure, though I like them better when they are used to create an original Thanksgiving or Halloween display. I love them threaded through a tangle of branches on the front porch or on top of the mantel or on a dinner table. I also love mini-lanterns strung around doorways for a punch of spot-on seasonal colour. Read more

Questions To Ask When Buying IKEA As-Is

September 12, 2012/3 Comments/in HOME, Home & Garden, View All Home Stories /by Editor

As-is items from IKEA carry the possibility of problems. Here are some questions to ask before you buy.

BUYER BEWARE | For years, although I popped into IKEA’s as-is section every time I visited the store, all I’d ever bought was a $10 lamp. Then recently I came across a Karlstad corner sofa in Isunda grey (like the one pictured above), usually $1,199, for $899. I had been thinking about buying a sectional for some time but never did anything about it. Now here was the very one I’d been eyeing for $300 off.

I asked why it was as-is and was told it was a return. Nothing seemed amiss: no snags, tears, stains, dents or sags. The Richmond IKEA has furnished its returns waiting area with Karlstad sofas in the same slipcover and they seem to be holding up well, plus a friend of mine has bought two as-is sofas from IKEA with no problems. And there it was, assembled and ready to go. I bought it.

Here are the questions I wish I had asked. Read more

Italian Hotel Satin Stitch Bedding White Collection- Restoration Hardware

Sheet Music: How To Buy Well Made Bedding

August 27, 2012/7 Comments/in HOME, Home & Garden, HOW-TO KNOW-HOW, View All Home Stories, View All How-To Stories /by Editor

Nothing makes me sing out loud like well-made, well-priced bedding.

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

Stenciled Sheers by Brendan Power - Martin Tessler

How To Stencil On Sheer Curtain Fabric

June 20, 2012/0 Comments/in D.I.Y., DECOR & DESIGN, DIY, HOME, HOW-TO KNOW-HOW, View All DIY Stories, View All Home Stories, View All How-To Stories /by Editor

Printed sheers make stylish window covers. If you already have drapes, try slipcovering cushions in brightly patterned sheers.

CREATIVE SOLUTION | I was never a big fan of anything stencilled until I tried stenciling on sheer fabric. Printed sheers are fashionable, make great curtains and are easy to customize on your own. Read more

These 3 Paper Pendant Lights Are Must Haves

June 20, 2011/0 Comments/in Home & Garden /by Editor

Nothing makes a unlit corner or a dining room come alive quicker and with more personality than a show-stopping pendant lamp (or three). These inexpensive paper versions are more than up to the task.

CHIC + CHEAP | It is not a stretch to attribute our current fascination with exotic pendant lighting to the return of the chandelier. After years of living with residential lighting programs dominated by invisible pot lights or tech-looking track, the glittery old-as-Methuselah chandelier showed up a decade ago to re-bedazzle the design world—and rekindle our interest in ceiling-hung light fixtures of all sorts, including these delicious ones made of paper, priced from $5 to $99. Read more

Ming Got A Ding? Where To Get It Fixed

May 4, 2011/0 Comments/in Home & Garden /by Editor

Antique china is irreplaceable—but if it {or any glass or pottery item} breaks, here’s where to fix it locally.

DARE TO REPAIR | My grandmother passed on to me not only a love of beautiful things but some of the beautiful things she loved—like a set of delicate Czech glass goblets. I carefully packed them in a box and brought them home on the plane from Winnipeg as carry-on. At least that was the plan. As I watched the box go through the airport security x-ray, I realized to my horror that I’d carried on the wrong box and the goblets were taking their chances as regular luggage. Read more

Omer Arbel Explores Vancouver His Way

August 27, 2010/1 Comment/in CANADIAN CONTENT, Columns, My5 Finds /by carolannrule

Internationally renowned designer Omer Arbel burns, illuminates and drives his way around Vancouver.

Every so often Vancouver produces a superstar— like internationally renowned Vancouver designer Omer Arbel, touted by Wallpaper magazine in 2003 as one of the 15 designers of the future. His bubblelike cast glass pendant Bocci lights, just five years old, are already iconic, as much a design staple as a Noguchi coffee table or Eames chair. He has designed everything from furniture, interiors and electrical sockets (see below) to the 2010 Winter Olympic medals in collaboration with aboriginal artist Corrine Hunt. His numerous awards include the Canada Council’s Ron Thom Early Design Achievement Award, International Design Award and the Design Prize of the German Republic.

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