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By Nature Design

Studio Sessions At The Eastside Culture Crawl

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Doing the Eastside Culture Crawl, Vancouver’s longest-standing open studio event, calls for getting strategic.

By Nature Design

 

SHOPPING AROUND | With 427 artists showing their artworks and wares at 82 different locations, it’s hard to know how to attack Vancouver’s 15th annual Eastside Culture Crawl, which starts November 16 at 5 p.m. and continues through Sunday.

If you’re like me, there’s no way you have more than an afternoon to spare gallivanting around these studios so you’ll need to get strategic. Read more

My Spice Files - C. Rule

How To Make An Easy Herb & Spice File

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How to devise a storage system for herbs and spices and forever do away with novelty spice racks and their special containers—or purchasing extra spice packets you don’t really need.

My Spice Files - C. Rule

 

PROBLEM SOLVED | Has this ever happened to you? You’re ready to whip up a dish from scratch when you realize your recipe calls for a dried herb that, after rummaging among your cache of spice bottles and bags, you appear to be out of.  So you rush out and pick some up only to discover later that you already had a bottle on hand—three, actually, stashed away in the dark recesses of the various places you store this stuff. Read more

Chinese Lanterns On Mini'lights - Martin Tessler

Make A Lantern Plant & Mini-Light Display

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

Chinese Lanterns On Mini'lights - Martin Tessler

 

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

Karlstad Warranty- IKEA

Questions To Ask When Buying IKEA As-Is

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

Karlstad Sectional-Apartmet Therapy

 

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

GOOP turkish-t-for-goop

Hamam Or Huckaback: The Linen Towel Option

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Fed up with soaring energy bills? These stylish well-priced alternatives to triple-thick bath sheets could lead to savings.

GOOP turkish-t-for-goop

 

SHOPPING AROUND | Leave it to sophisticated Europeans to promote a stylish/ecofriendly way to dry your body after bathing. Flip through any of their high-style décor magazines and you’ll run into references to both linen and flat cotton towels, which are a true and viable alternative to those triple-thick terrycloth bath sheets we North Americans appear to prize—a choice that has our dryers set on overtime and our energy bills on the rise. Read more

Votive Candle Holders - John Sinal

Make These Window Screen Candleholders

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Sure it’s great for keeping out bugs, but metal window screen also shines as a candleholder.

Votive Candle Holders - John SinalRegular 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

Italian Hotel Satin Stitch Bedding White Collection- Restoration Hardware

Sheet Music: How To Buy Well Made Bedding

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

Italian Hotel Satin Stitch Bedding White Collection- Restoration Hardware

 

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

Soap Dish by Brendan Power- Heather Ross

How To Make A More Effective Soap Dish

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Here’s an attractive and easy way to address a perpetually slippery problem.

Soap Dish by Brendan Power- Heather Ross

 

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

Garden Planter- Pottery Barn Kids

The Perfect Planter Box For Wee Gardeners

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On sale right now at Pottery Barn Kids, this planter is perfect for wee gardeners or patio gardens.

Garden Planter- Pottery Barn Kids

 

SUPER VALUE | If you want your kids to fall in love with gardening, it’s a good idea to get them digging early. To very young children, popping their first seeds in soil, watching them come up and then harvesting the fruits of their labour is powerful magic.

When I was in Pottery Barn Kids a few weeks ago, I spotted the rectangular galvanized planter shown in the photo above (on the left) and thought finally a decent-size soil receptacle raised to just the right height so little people can easily tend and keep an eye on seeds they’ve sowed (it’s also the perfect size for adults wanting to grow herbs or a small crop of salad vegetables). Read more

Blue & White China-Clinton Hussey

Where To Find Asian Blue & White Dishes

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Gorgeous, everyday blue and white dinnerware from around the Pacific Rim is inexpensive and plentiful. Here’s where to find it right now.

Blue & White China-Clinton Hussey

 

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