A small, but beautiful, world

 Ever had that experience of running into someone from high school in sad straits – like finding the captain of the football team flipping fries at Mickey D’s after doing a stretch in the Big House for passing bad cheques? So depressing. Then there are those times when you find out that two of the coolest girls in high school both grew up to be successful artists. Love it! The world needs more artists.

I discovered this week that Sharon Fox (now Fox-Cranston) has her own gallery in Westport, north of Kingston. I like her work a lot, and have posted a couple of examples above. Coincidentally, it turns out that another former King City-ite, Holly Jenkins  (now Ounapuu), who lives and works in Paris (Paris, Ont., that is), will be Sharon’s featured artist for May. Her bright and sunny floral paintings (see below) made me smile during these last few grey days of winter. When I win the lottery, I’m going to buy Sharon’s Frozen Buoys of Westport(first pic above) and then I’m going to commission Holly to paint a HUGELY HUGE floral piece in big fat reds and oranges and yellows for my living room, which I just painted a dark apricot.

Looking back, it doesn’t surprise me that these two women turned out to be artists — I think they both must have always had an eye for the beautiful. If I remember correctly, (and that’s, um, questionable) Sharon had a way cool fringed suede jacket that she used to rock and Holly Jenkins was, and may still be, one of the few women on the planet who could pull off a denim jacket. I recall that she always wore hers with a kind of casual chic while the rest of us, I’m pretty sure, had more of a hayseed hoser thing going on.

I've marked my calendar for May - great time of year to take a day-trip out that way!

 

Waste not

For years, my husband John has kept piles of used batteries, almost-emtpy paint cans and broken electronic junk in a corner of his work-room telling me that “one day, honey, they’ll recycle all this stuff”, or “you can’t throw THAT in the garbage – it’s toxic!) I love that he cares, but it was getting a little crowded down there. It’s true that over time, more and more of these items have been diverted from landfill sites, but my problem was that I could never remember where I could take what. That’s why I was delighted to learn from my friend Richard about dowhatyoucan.ca. This website helps you find places to drop-off household hazardous and special waste and unwanted electronics that can’t be put in your Blue Box and should not go in the garbage. You can search for places by municipality, postal code or material. Very clever. So, John can now get back three cubic feet of his work-room. Which means, of course, that he’ll have plenty of room to fix the broken drawer that’s been missing from the secretary desk for the past six months.

Crazy dreams

 In between appearances at the National Home Show yesterday, I dropped into the Eurodale Dream Home (sponsored by the Toronto Star). What a great space. Designers Karen Sealy, Sharon Grech, and Ramsin Khachi did fabulous work — I especially loved the crushed glass counter-top in Ramsin’s kitchen and the delicate branches festooned with crocheted flowers Karen hung over the master bed to create an enchanted forest look, while Sharon created a bedroom and play area any self-respecting kid would be crazy about. But it was Janette’s whimsical entranceway and dining room that really made me smile. It’s not a look you’re likely to see often at a consumer home show – which is precisely why I loved it. It’s a cleverly cluttered, elegantly down-at-the-heel look that reminds us the most interesting spaces are rarely magazine-shoot perfect. You can check out these two shots for a feel, but — better by far — to run down to the show and take a look. Don't forget to ask about the forward-thinking modular design.

I’ll be back at the show on Thursday, co-hosting a Girl’s Night Out event with Janette, where I’ll be showing how to make great spring-inspired tablescapes with fun and affordable linens and the ridiculously versatile Bistro line of dinnerware by PC Home that I’ve recently discovered and made my new best friend.

More water, please

 
As I mentioned in my Hot Home Products column this week, I am loving the glass water bottles sent to me by Raquel Youtzy. Since there was no room in the paper for a pic, I've included one above. I also came across a couple of other new water products too late to get them into the  column. One is clever new counter-top water cooler/filter from PC Home. While I normally drink water straight from the tap, I’d be inclined to try this one at my cottage. There, we fill up jugs of drinking water from a municipal tap in town. The water is perfectly safe, but it does have a slightly tinny taste, and I’m loathe to buy bottled water. So this well-designed new cooler might be just the solution. It would also be great in an office setting, I think. PC Home also has a reusable personal water bottle that comes with a built in filter for about $10. And here’s another cool new product — the Vapur Anti-Bottle, a flexible bottle that, when empty, can be rolled, folded or flattened to fit into a purse or pocket (see pic below). It’s made from polymer and contains no BPA (Bisphenol A),and can be placed in the freezer, microwave, or dishwasher. For more information on water safety in Toronto, click here. and for info on federal guidelines, click here.

Home-spun charm

Madly rushing to get ready for the National Home Show, but I just had to share this image my friend Sue, who runs a venture called Indigenous Crafts from Bolivia, just sent me. It’s of a wallhanging done by an artisan from Artesania Sorata (AS), a Bolivian fair trade group that specializes in alpaca that is spun by hand and dyed with natural dyes to make – in addition to the hangings - beautiful hats, mittens, mitten and scarves. The wall hangings are made with alpaca (for the stitched areas) and another blended textile called vayetta is used for the appliquedéd sections and the background. The pastoral themes reflect Bolivia's Aymaran culture, everyday life and their "earth-centered" spirituality. Interesting, no? And pretty. More on this later. In the meantime, check  out the website for shows and events at which these wares will be on sale. And I'll see ya at the home show, k?

Watch it, honey

My Hot Home Products column got bumped this week, so the blog entry I had prepared for today just won’t fit. However, I did just receive a press release about this lovely limited edition Chrono Classic Lady from the same company that makes the Swiss Army Knife, so I thought I would drop it in, just in case my husband is reading this, so that I leave my faithful readers with something beautiful to look at - even it’s not home related. I think it would make a fantabulous V-Day gift, but since it does cost $1495, it’s probably not appropriate for those uh, gentlemen who have multiple sweeties (a fast-growing breed, apparently), unless they’re also very, very rich.

Between the sheets with Colin and Justin (yes, yes, I know - very original!)

 
 I’ve been hit with a hideous flu, so I’m going to keep this short before heading back to bed. Speaking of bedding, did you know that the sassy Scottish design duo (and contributors to the Toronto Star's New in Homes section) Colin and Justin are launching a new “bed in a bag” line in Zellers next week?  Here’s a sneak peak of two designs ($199 each) from the fellas. Pretty, no?

Eeek! That's so cute!

Trust Janette Ewen to inject some fun into the dining room design she's creating for the Eurodale Dream Home feature at the National Home Show, which kicks off next week and is sponsored by the Toronto Star (yeah!) and CityLine (also yeah! - I'm  a  fan). That's what I thought when she emailed me a pic of the teeny tiny mice that will serve as uninvited residents in her dream space. Look in this Saturday's Toronto Star for more on Janette's design and visit the show site for information about all the terrific seminars by guest experts (including moi). 

 

Clutter in your closet? There's help.

I promised in this week’s (Feb.  6th) Hot Home Products column (so go and buy a paper, already!) to include some links with good information about home organization and storage. So, here they are:

Home Hardware’s ever-increasing online offering  now includes kitchen and closet organization software that lets you custom design a closet to your own specifications. Ever if you don’t go with the product they offer, I think it’s a useful exercise.

The Unclutter.com  has good daily tips and advice on staying organized, and a forum where regular folks swap ideas on ways to met the challenge of chaos in the home.

While taping a segment on the Steven and Chris show this week, I met Gretchen Ruben, author of a new book called The Happiness Project. Haven’t read it yet myself, but producers who had were RAVING about it. I scooted around her site, and found some insightful observations about clutter in one of her blog entries. By the way, did you know you can sign up for a Steven and Chris newsletter that contains exclusive information and way-cool giveaways from the boys? Yes, you can!

The Tiffany’s of home organization products for some, Rubbermaid,  has ideas and product suggestions for getting your organizational act together.

And I just this week found out about NeatFreak.com, a new company that offers a variety of home organization products. I hope to meet with them soon to learn more. You, gentle reader, will be the first one with whom I’ll share my news.

Not too shameless self-promotion

Yes, my darlings, it's true, I have started writing a quarterly kitchen trend column for Homefront magazine. You can see it  online but do get your hands on a copy if you can. The sexy, high-end images on lovely thick paper (ahh, yes,  the heady fragrance of glossy paper perfumed with ink) are, my dears, too too divine.