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An Attractive Way To Cover Over Ugly Tiles

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Pebble Tile is a shockingly easy and highly attractive way to cover over ugly old fireplace tiles.

 

DO IT YOURSELF | Before I moved back into my 1920s home, I had a lovely tenant with impeccable taste who lived there for several years. When she asked if she could repaint, I gladly gave her and her decorator the go ahead, and they mostly did a great job respecting the original design.

My heart sank though when I discovered that she had also painted the tiles on the fireplace surround and hearth. The results looked cheap and more than a little tacky. I was prepared for major expense and a big mess to replace the tiles. Read more

Hunter Boots

Canada’s Full Of Gilt (.Com)—And Loving It!

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The website that pioneered members-only time-limited shopping now ships to Canada. Woo Hoo!

Hunter Boots

 

SHOPPING AROUND | With its crazy good deals on coveted designer products like the Hunter boots pictured here, Gilt used to be one of my favourite online shopping destinations.

But then the trouble of getting my purchases home—Gilt only shipped within the United States—eventually got to me. Besides, we Canadians finally got our own flash shopping sites (CLICK HERE for our story). Still, I’d wistfully check Gilt every so often if only for inspiration. Read more

Hedge, France - Ron Rule

Choosing A Hedge: Which One + Why

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Hedging is one of the most versatile and cost-effective green materials you can use to carve up a garden.

Hedge, France - Ron Rule

 

MONEY WELL SPENT | Carving up the garden into outdoor rooms has been so popular over the past 20 years that some designers believe it’s time to retire the idea, but I think it still has value, especially for a small plot where a wide-open design has the potential to be anticlimactic. Garden rooms create opportunities for mysterious and surprising moments, and walls made of hedging material are the easiest, least expensive and most natural way to fashion these kinds of spaces. Read more

Bleach Bottle - Shutterstock

Is Bleach Superbad For The Environment? You?

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Is common household bleach a threat to the environment? Can it kill you?

Bleach Bottle - Shutterstock

 

BACK TO BASICS | Call me a freak, but putting on rubber gloves and plunging my hands into my own toilet bowls to clean them with a scrubbing sponge doesn’t bother me at all. What does bother me is that no matter what cleaning products I use, the bowls of my newish toilets look dirty again in days. Frustrated by the ineffectiveness of Vim, Ajax, Lysol et al., I turned to cheap, common household bleach. Read more

Appliance Buyers Guide Wolf 36" Gas Range

Pro-Style Wolf Ranges At Super Low Prices

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Vancouver’s Dirty Apron Cooking School is selling its commercial-style ranges at an appetizingly low price.

 

 

 

STEAL THIS STOVE (01.11.11) | Ever since the late 1970s, when homeowners first began to modify their kitchens to install authentic commercial ranges, the Wolf brand has been the go-to for serious home cooks. Wolf Gourmet, the company’s “commercial-style” home model (introduced in 1987), is a heavy-duty appliance with features that please both amateurs and pros. This is one of the reasons that two years ago chef David Robertson chose it as the teaching machine for students at Vancouver’s Dirty Apron Cooking School—that and the fact he has cooked successfully on Wolf commercial ranges for ages. Read more

Hunting For Ghost Chairs Repro Or Real

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High or low, original or repro, there is more than one way to track down Philippe Starck’s iconic chair that isn’t there.

 

SHOPPING AROUND | If asked to select one chair to represent the first decade of 21st century design, a lot of interior designers would point to the instantly recognizable Louis Ghost chair. Designed by Philippe Starck and introduced to the world in 2002, this elegant item, made of high-impact thermoplastic, is a cleaned-up contemporary take on another icon, the ornate 18-century French Louis XV chair. Read more

James Perce White Tee Shirt

Yesss! OxiClean Is A Miracle Stain Remover

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We’re kind of obsessed with clothing stains around here, and guess what? We’ve finally found the perfect—and easiest—way to remove them.

James Perce White Tee Shirt

 

PROBLEM SOLVED | At Frugalbits we’re suckers for expert advice so last spring, when we wanted to know how to remove perspiration stains from white tee shirts, we contacted Madame Paulette in New York City, an international expert in fabric care. The company president graciously shared Madame Paulette’s DIY stain removal formula with our readers (CLICK HERE for the story), and although it is good and useful, we’ve recently been introduced to an even simpler solution that’s equally effective and no work at all. Read more

It’s Hip To Strip Metal Furniture: Here’s How

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Stripped bare and pummelled with walnut shells, vintage metal furniture takes on a cool, contemporary look.

Metal file cabinet

 

THE CREATIVE SOLUTION | Metal home or office furnishings dating from the 1950s are hot accent pieces for contemporary interiors, but painted items must be stripped entirely to the raw metal to bring them right up to date.

There are three ways to strip metal furniture. People with the space, time and muscle can use a biodegradable chemical paint remover such as Heirloom Furniture Stripper. Another method is to sand the paint off with an electric sander using a sanding pad specific to metal. Sanding leaves painty skid marks and a distinct pattern, giving the piece a timeworn look. Read more

Undecorate Interior - Melanie Acevedo

It’s Time To Give Undecorating A Shot

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Today’s most fashionable interiors reflect the quirks and passions of the people who live in them. Welcome to the world of undecorating.

Undecorate InteriorDÉCOR TREND ALERT | In the world of interior design, undecorating is enjoying a moment. Undecorating, for the uninitiated, is what happens when stylish people forgo convention in favour of fearlessness, expressing their own eclectic, eccentric, creative, adventurous sides in the way they beautify their homes. The bible for the movement, published this past March, is Undecorate: The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design by Christiane Lemieux, a Canadian expat living in Manhattan. She is also the creative force behind DwellStudio, an immensely successful online emporium for modern décor that includes Lemieux’s own covetable textiles and bedding. Read more

Distilled White Vinegar - C. Phaisalakani

Ordinary & Amazing: Vinegar Cleans Up Good

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When it comes to certain kinds of cleaning jobs, distilled white vinegar really is the liquid miracle it’s touted to be.

Distilled White Vinegar - C. Phaisalakani

 

THIS STUFF WORKS | What is it about ordinary distilled white vinegar that encourages list making? Google “vinegar” and you’ll see what I mean. Here are a few of the crazy numbers vinegar lovers throw around in their effort to woo you to their website:  “74 Little Known Uses For Vinegar,” “1001 Things To Do With Vinegar” and, I kid you not, “A Billion Bitchen Things To Do With Vinegar.” Read more