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Why Reupholster When A Nip And Tuck Will Do

August 4, 2011/2 Comments/in Home & Garden /by Editor

Why flat out reupholster your old, classic sofa when a nip and a tuck may be all it takes to give it a lift.

SERVICE ALERT | Although home décor and design are all about modernism right now, I’m still in love with the George Smith-inspired scroll arm sofa and chair I bought on sale at Conran’s in England when my now-teenaged son was small. One thing I appreciate about my pieces is the way their fabric has faded ever so softly over the years in that endearing English country house way. It made me sad to think about completely recovering them when two of the arms frayed, one each on the sofa and chair, but what else can you do when your living room starts to look more shabby than chic? I had pretty much resigned myself to an expensive upholstery redo when Susan Poling walked into my life. Read more

Go, Go {Kitchen} Gadget: 2 Top Products

August 2, 2011/2 Comments/in Home & Garden /by Editor

Sweet solutions for ripening and peeling your favourite fruits and veggies.

MONEY WELL SPENT | With so many kitchen gizmos out there, you’d have thought that someone, somewhere would have long ago designed an attractive receptacle for ripening market-hard fruit on a windowsill. You can find clear plastic fruit ripening bowls, of course, dome-lidded containers that sweeten up a pile of fruits simultaneously (doubly quick when you add a banana to the mix), but I find these products cumbersome counter hogs. What I want is something that will tuck up out of the way on my windowsill and ripen just a few fruits—pears, tomatoes, avocados, the occasional cantaloupe or pineapple—in natural sunlight; something that looks attractive empty. Read more

Stage Craft: How To Sell Your House Quick

July 8, 2011/1 Comment/in Home & Garden /by Editor

If you want to cash in on the current real estate boom by selling your house, here’s what you can do to sell it quick.

TIPS & TRICKS | The real estate market is so white hot across Metro Vancouver right now that I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you were thinking about selling your place—or knew at least six other people who are contemplating selling their homes, too. But when there’s a plethora of properties to choose from, how do you make your home the one shoppers need to buy? Read more

Carmen Ruiz y Laza Shares Her Vancouver

June 23, 2011/826 Comments/in CANADIAN CONTENT, Columns, My5 Finds /by Editor

Media relations maven and woman about town Carmen Ruiz y Laza shares her sources for looking good and living well without breaking the bank.

A hyper-connected media relations specialist with clients who have ranged from Cartier and Hermès to the Vancouver Opera and United Way, Carmen Ruiz y Laza knows what’s what and who’s who in Vancouver. As a producer of high-profile events like the Fashionista’s Ball (see our story here), she always needs to be well-turned out. Originally from Spain, Carmen follows the old European tradition of wearing timeless classics. She invests in a few really good quality items in neutral colours and wears them for years. Here are her five cheap, free or worth-it things to do, see or buy in Vancouver. 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

Win Two Heritage House Tour Tickets

May 23, 2011/0 Comments/in Home & Garden /by Editor

Subscribe or Invite a friend to receive Frugalbits FREE daily email by MAY 27, and be entered to win 2 tickets to Vancouver’s 2011 Heritage House Tour (value $80).

(23.05.11) Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s 2011 Heritage House Tour is a one-day, self guided tour of a selection of historic buildings in Vancouver. Now in its 9th year, this event has brought over 15,000 people into over 100 privately owned, unique heritage buildings in our city. Each year, a different selection of homes is opened, showcasing a wide variety of traditional house styles and interesting historic neighbourhoods.

Your ticket is a 28 page guidebook with a map in the centre showing you where the homes are located, a full page write-up about each house, lunch suggestions and guest essays by local authors such as Michael Kluckner, Bruce Macdonald and James Johnstone.

Visit any or all of the participating homes on June 5th between 10 am to 5 pm in any order you prefer. Your guidebook is a numbered passport that will gain you access into the homes.

SUBSCRIBE or INVITE a friend to receive Frugalbits’ FREE daily email by May 27, 2011, and you will be automatically entered for a chance to win two tickets to Vancouver’s 2011 Heritage house Tour, and so will your friend, if they subscribe.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE; CLICK HERE TO INVITE

Photo: courtesy Vancouver Heritage Foundation

Luxury Lovers Will Heart This Moving Sale

May 11, 2011/1 Comment/in Home & Garden /by Editor

Livingspace Interiors is having the mother of all moving sales, and the prices for high-end merchandise are surprisingly low.

SALES WE LOVE (11.05.11) | It’s rare to read the words “deep discount” and “luxury brand European furnishings” in the same sentence. That’s because retailers that sell furniture by recognizable high-style manufacturers, like Minotti and Paola Lenti for example, are more interested in showcasing sublime design at a warranted price than they are in unloading merchandise at bargain basement prices. High-end furniture retailers do put their products on sale but seldom at the blowout prices of the Livingspace Interiors everything-must-go moving sale. Read more

Home Upgrades That Really Don’t Pay Off

May 5, 2011/2 Comments/in Home & Garden /by Editor

Renovation projects that experts say aren’t worth your time (or money).

NEVER DO THESE | Not long ago, the website real simple.com ran the headline we’ve republished above. When I first saw it, I jumped on the story, only to find myself disappointed when some of their suggestions didn’t seem to compute: like never changing a bedroom into a home office because people won’t be able to imagine reconverting it into a place to sleep. Or that you shouldn’t install a concrete patio because it can crack and is too harshly reflective; hello, concrete done right should hold up—oh, and it can be repaired btw. Or the idea that you mustn’t waste wads on tennis or basketball courts, as if these were popular additions.

In the spirit of the realsimple idea, we decided to create our own Never Do List. Here are three reno projects local realtors say aren’t worth the time or money.

What Not To Renovate 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

Old School Slides Used To Make A Pendant Lamp Shade

Make A Lampshade From 35mm Slides

April 17, 2011/3 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

How to make a conversation-starting pendant lampshade using 35mm slides.

Have you got boxes of old 35mm slides that need to be scanned and transformed into digital files on your computer— then turfed because you’ll just never, ever look at them on a slide projector screen again? Well, here’s something novel you can do with a stack of them.

My inspiration for this retro-look pendant lampshade came from the infamous credit card dress that a fashion designer wore to the Academy Awards ceremony a number of years ago. The construction method for both items is similar. Read more

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