Storage that's hard-working, attractive and practical

Two teenagers. Four sets of house keys. Three cellphones. Four kinds of glasses. Chez nous, it all makes for one big mess by the front door. Somebody must have explained this pitiable situation to the folks at Rubbermaid, who’ve come up with a new line of storage boxes called Bento containers that combine functionality with good looks.

The multi-sized boxes have flexible dividers inside them that
pop out, which means the user can customize compartments for various items rather than dumping everything inside to simply cerate another disorganized mess in a box. They also have open handles on the sides so that picking them up to move is easy. And the larger sizes have lids that cleverly transform into trays, which means they can do double duty as low-rise end tables. Bento containers have immediately gone on to my list of contenders of fave new products for 2013.

For me, four of the smallest size at the front door would mean that everyone would have a spot to park their stuff, and the number of times I’d hear somebody moaning about keys/glasses/transit passes they couldn’t find would diminish.

In the office, I’m using larger ones to store printer paper and
accessories, while other sizes house CD’s and supplies. The smallest help me keep my jump drives organized and all of them can sit nicely in a neat stack in a corner.

You could also use them on open shelving to create a co-ordinated look. Or to hide outdoor patio gear - napkins, tea-lights, etc - by the back door or balcony. In our tv room, I'm considering hiding weights and bands in one, so it will be easy to do some exercise while watching the Leafs win the Stanley Cup this year. And did I mention I love the spicy paprika colour they come in?

My 20-something daughter spied them the other day and said they’d be great for storing hair/make-up/jewellry stuff in the tiny bedroom of her university-town apartment. Sadly, when I suggested to my 17-year-old son that he might like a set to store his stuff in his dorm room next year, he said, “but that’s what the floor is for, isn’t it?” There is much work to be done between now and September, apparently.

The pretty boxes are made from MDDF board and covered in durable polyester. Prices start at about $10 at Target  

Mad for mid century modern?

Janine Morrison has a theory about the enduring appeal of mid-century modern, which is the subject of a delicious new book by Judith Miller called Mid Century Modern (reviewed in my Hot Home Product column in the New in Homes section of the Saturday Toronto Star). As the owner of Tonic Living, which sells contemporary fabrics and custom-makes window treatments, pillows, and futon covers, Morrison was thrilled to come across a stash of vintage fabric when she started her business on E-Bay in 2000.

"It became so wildly popular around the world,” says Morrison, “but one sad day we came to the end of it.” At that point, Morrison began sourcing new fabrics that had the same aesthetic vibe. Since then, the biz has ground by leaps and bounds, and Morrison is in the process of opening a new, larger operation. Stay tuned for news on that.

Why was she so drawn to mid-century design? “It has a simplicity that is just so appealing. It references a simpler time but also an emergent time, where everything was exciting and modern. Whether we even remember the era from our own youth, we sense that it was a time of innovation and social shackles being released. There was such beauty in that,” she says. You can find out more about Tonic Living in the next issue of ReStyle, which appears quarterly with the Toronto Star. In the meantime, here’s a list of places in Toronto that offer mid-century décor.

Atomic Design 965 Queen St West 416.912.2358

Owner Lawrence Blairs loves Scandinavian art glass, modernist studio jewellery, abstract sculpture, and post modern Italian design. The store is also home to an extensive reference library on twentieth century design and decorative art.

Bungalow  273 Augusta Avenue 416.598.0204

Kensington was into mid-century modern a couple of decades before it gained widespread cool. It’s still home to the much-loved Bungalow where you’ll find vintage clothing, retro furniture, home and fashion accessories.

Design Within Reach  435 King St. West 416.977.4003

If you are falling in love with modern design, Design Within Reach is a shrine at which you must worship. Take note that “within reach" means things not found elsewhere and things in stock, not necessarily within reach of your puny décor budget. But even if you don’t have $5,700 for an Eames Lounge and Ottoman, go to this store if you want to see best in class. Worried about snooty salespeople who will sniff you out as a neophyte and treat you accordingly? Not an issue. The staff is terrific, love to share their knowledge and won’t blush even if you ask a dumb question. I speak from experience.

Ethel - 20th Century Living  327 Queen St. East 416.778.6608

Self-described as the spot where Mad Men meets your best friend’s basement, this Corktown store seems to be a fave the bloggers who responded when I asked for top spots in Toronto for mid-century modern.

EQ3 222 King Street East  416.815.2002  and 3-51 Hanna Avenue. 416.533.9090

This Winnipeg-based company specializes in modern design. On top of their own product range of furniture, which can be custom finished, they offer brands such as  Herman Miller, Stelton, Vitra, and Alessi. Also has a great selection of Marimekko yard fabric and accessories at the Hanna Street location.Pssst. Check out the lovely and affordable glass and plate ware.

Machine Age Modern 1000 Queen St E 416.461.3588

For a sneak peak of the extensive offering, check out their inventory blog.

StyleGarage 938 Queen Street West 416.534.4343

StyleGarage offers made-to-order upholstery, storage, dining, and accents.

Miller's book is chock full of pics of the best of mid century modern design

 

Did I miss any great spots that you love? I’m sure I did,so let me know and I’ll add them. Also heard (on Machine Age Modern's blog) that Modern Furniture in Canada 1920 to 1970 by Virginia Wright is a great overview of the era from a Canadian perspective. I’ve got my eye out for a copy and will add my own mini review when I find it.

Related articles

Eames poster art print Mid Century Modern by WeaversofSouthsea

Kaffe Fassett - a colourful life

What a pleasure to talk to Kaffe Fassett last week. Here are lots of pics of his work, and a few thoughts from Fassett, one of the most important textile designers of his time, that did not make it into the paper.

On textile being a medium that gives the artist great colour control:

When I first started knitting lots of people were into Fair Isle -  that scattered colour into little tiny facets. I was so thrilled by all the colours sitting in the  basket, and saw them as units, and I began to build those geometric patterns into bigger patches of colour. I like pools of colour.

On everyday beautiful:

I remember knitting a hat for a little child. The father came to me three or four times and said, "you have no idea the amount of beautiful aesthetic information you put into that hat". He was living with it and realizing how special it was.

On colour and contrast:

The other day there was amazing mist when I was in Mt Pleasant -  a thick mist on the just-turning autumn leaves. We were just tripping on it. I think my appreciation for that kind of palette comes from antique textiles — old faded, dirty patchwork – in which the colours have gradually become more harmonious and muted and less sharp. Beautiful.

 

A young and handsome Kaffe Fassett with the (under-appreciated?) 60s fashion designer Bill Gibb

 

Chenille, lurex and pearls for Bill Gibb

 

 

Incredibly, Fassett had two clients paint over wall murals he'd been comissioned to do. "Never again," he vowed, after I invited him to come to my house and do one, with the promise it would stay forever. "I poured myself into those and to see someone come and just make it disappear..."

 

 

Sumptuous, subtle colours. Fassett points out that his colour pairing for quilts are always low contrast.

If this has you dying to learn more about his work, you'll want to know that Fassett tells his fascinating life story in a beautifully written and illustrated autobiography, Dreaming in Colour (www.melaniefalickbooks.com. About $30 on Indigo.ca and Amazon.ca.)

 

 

 

 

Everything you always wanted to know about — raising chickens?

Raising chickens in the backyard probably isn’t the top item on your to-do list. But that doesn’t mean a quaint little book about how to do so isn’t a terrific read.

In municipalities that allow small-scale residential farming of chickens, the slim copy of Minnie Rose Lovgreen’s Recipe for Raising Chickens that recently crossed my desk will have definite educational value. But for the average cityslicker, it will be Lovgreen’s oddly compelling, down-to-earth voice that’s the real appeal of this book —without a doubt the most delightful and engaging piece of writing I’ve read in a very long time.

Lovgreen probably never thought of herself as a fascinating person. But consider her life story. Born in 1888 in England, Lovgreen was the eighth of nineteen children. In 1912, she and her brother decided to set off for Canada on a ship called the Titanic. But Lovgreen got bored waiting for the ship to be sail-ready, and hopped instead onboard another Montreal-bound ship. Those details alone were enough to make me place my order for Lovgreen’s other book, As Far As I Can Remember; Minnie Rose’s Story, also available at Trillium Press. 

By 1920, Lovgreen had made her way to Washington State, where she met and married Danish-born Leo Lovgreen.  They worked together for 30 years, creating a 170-acre dairy farm, where Lovgreen also learned all about rising chickens. After some 60 years, she decided to collect her wisdom in a simple, hand-lettered 31-page booklet, which was illustrated by Elizabeth Hutchison Zwick.

If you do want to raise chickens the old-fashioned way, this is probably an excellent primer. If not, it’s full of wonderful insights from Lovgreen, and delightful gems of wisdom, such as:

You’re much better off with a broody hen, even if you have to borrow one.

One or two white eggs in a box bring out the value of the brown ones… they look real pretty.

If two roosters get fighting hard, the only way I can do (sic) is to take a board and slap one of them in the face.

A quick read, this is the perfect book for the cottage — as bedside reading or, in a comfy chair in the shade.  But while it’s tempting to characterize it as charming anachronism, it’s worth remembering that Lovgreen lived in a time and place when connections to the land, and to the food chain that sustains us, were much stronger and more visible.

Lovgreen and her husband probably got just about everything they needed to survive from the land, or the local community. When I compare that with the fact that my husband, who’s an elementary school teacher, regularly encounters kids who don’t realize that apples come from a tree, I worry about what we’ve lost by becoming increasingly removed from the realities of food production. Makes you wonder about the nature of our progress, doesn’t it?

And if you read and enjoy this book, you must look for a copy of Betty MacDonald’s The Egg and I, about a young newlywed— also in Washington State ­ — who finds out that her husband has plans to start a chicken farm. The book was made into a sweet and funny little movie of the same name, released in 1947, and starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray.  

Book burning - but in a good way

This week’s Hot Home Products column is about the role books play in décor, and includes a great interview with Lisa Occhipinti, who turns neglected old books into beautiful objets. Occhipinti manipulates pages and covers in a number of ways, including burning the edges of book pages.

“It makes brilliant black edge, an amorphous shape that you could not draw — it’s so elegant,” says Occhipinti, whose smaller works are available on Etsy.

If you’re nimble of hand, you can recreate some of her designs, because she’s also written The Repurposed Library ($30 list price, available from Chapters), which includes 33 projects designed by Occhipinti and other artists and crafters — with detailed instructions for making everything from a chandelier to a hanging book mobile. 

Just don’t assume that Occhipinti’s work reflects a lack of respect for the text. She’s a life-long book lover who despairs over the declining role books play in many lives. “I feel like people don’t read entire books anymore – people read blogs and tweets. But when you get involved in a book you slow down time and create a quiet time to contemplate yourself and the world. My work is partly a motif for that. I get a lot of feedback from people who say my books give them a break from the cyber/virtual/digital noise.”

If you love old books, and old book stores, you MUST check out the website Biblio-Files. Going there if like a mini vacation for me. And if you’re looking for an old or obscure title, check out the wonderful ABE Books. Don’t leave the site without visiting the Weird Book room. Because in a way, weird books are what make the world go round.  

Reading, relaxing and rosé-ing

Here’s what’s NOT on my to-do list this weekend. Cut the lawn, trim the shrubs, clean out the garage, or alphabetize the spice rack. Other than that, plans vaguely include a chaise, a bottle of rosé and a pile of books. Who knows – a gossip mag may actually find its way in there — given that Marlene Arpe had the nerve to take some time off her blog, which is one of my secret guilty pleasures. The other one is Coronation Street — guess they’re not secrets anymore.

Some of the titles I plow through may actually be instructive, although I’m handing off one of those that I read this week to my daughter. It’s called Must Have Been Something I Ate, and it’s written by Peggy Kotsopoulos, the pretty, perky resident nutritionist on CBC's Steven and Chris show.

The just-launched book  draws the connection between the food you eat and how you look and feel. Kotsopoulos promises that whether you’re feeling blue or bloated, bitchy or blemished, her tips can boost your health, while keeping muffin tops and man boobs at bay.   

The tone is light and funny (as opposed to preachy) and there’s a ton of good information. Occasionally, it veers toward the simplistic; proclaiming that excess sugar consumption can lead to alcoholism, for example, could do with more explanation. On the other hand, there’s a clear explanation of the role of insulin, good information on why we need and how our bodies use vitamins and minerals, along with explanations on why certain foods either aggravate or alleviate certain conditions.

Kotsopoulos plays the role of healthy food cheerleader well, encouraging folk to start by making small changes. Apparently, it works. Since picking up the book, I’ve chosen tofu over beef for dinner one evening, made a healthy quinoa salad, cooked with coconut milk and stuck (more or less) to my pledge to run every day (call me crazy, but I’m not going to run in the rain). So if  Kotsopoulos’ aim to is to get people thinking about shifting to healthier lifestyles one step at a time, she’s already made at least one convert. For this weekend I am, however, sticking to the books, the chaise and the rosé. Don't try and stop me.

Hitting the tiles in Vegas

 

 
LAS VEGAS - Just a quick report for you, dear reader, from my perch at Coverings, the huge (46,500 sq.-ft.) stone and tile trade show here in Sin City. Three things I've noted here so far. One is the huge effect the evolution of digital print and ink-jet technology is having on the world of flooring. I'm seeing durable, affordable porcelain made to look like everything from marble to scraped wood. (There's a green story there that I'll get to.)  Texture is another big trend; there are tiles with wonderfully undulating surfaces and with finishes that look like basketweaves and herringbone. There's also an astonishing (to me, anyway) number of regional artisans making amazing small-batch and custom-made tiles. Mirrored and glazed finishes appear to be making gains with the cool kid designers. OK - that's four things - I'd better run. I'll return soon with more news (I've met manufacturers from both the US and Canada, and today we're checking out new products from Italy and Spain) and lots of pretty pictures. But here's one beautiful shot from a company called Stonepeak -- just to whet your appetite. Oh, and by the way, it's sunny and  26 degrees in L.V. Sorry about that.

Mark Bittman saves my culinary reputation - once again

Made the most scrumptious dinner the other night, and could not resist sharing. I stopped at the little Persian market on my hurried way home and grabbed a whole white fish (made them remove the head - yuck) and two bunches of fresh cilantro. Thanks to Mark Bittman , I knew that if I put the cilantro, a pinch of salt, some garlic and three tablespoons of peanut oil in the blender, turned it on till it was all mashed up and then added a tablesppon of lime juice, I would have a yummy sauce for the fish.  Made a few slits in the fish, shoved in some slices of fresh ginger, rubbed it with oil and stuck it under a broiler for about six minutes per side. After I grilled the fish, I stuck some very thin middle eastern bread which I had rubbed with olive oil and herbes de Provence under the grill till it got crisp and cracker-like. Did I look like a star, or what? Thank you, Mark.

Grilling is hot (d'oh!)

Is it my imagination or has grilling suddenly gotten um, extra hot, this summer? Every time I turn around, I’m faced with another press release about a new grill or BBQ product. This week, the cool kids all want to talk about ceramic grills. Except, a-hem, I did write about one of these, The Big Green Egg — shown above — last year which does put me, a-hem, slightly ahead of the trend.

According to the World’s Largest BBQ Store Ontario Gas BBQ, ceramic grills are typically egg shaped and charcoal fuelled, and use less fuel than almost any other cooker. Because the ceramic shell provides excellent insulation, they can reach very high temperatures, and the dome-shape aids in convection cooking (very even heat).

The technology can be traced back 3,000 years to the days when meals were prepared in clay pots over fire or coals. Today, the same technology has given rise to what’s known as kamado style ceramic barbecues. It’s found in the tandoor ovens of India and the mushikamados of Japan - round clay pots, fuelled by charcoal that have a removable domed clay lid, a damper and draft door for heat control. This ancient cooking technique, which takes its name from mushikamados, apparently came to North America after World War II.

DIY Design

If, like me, you’re a person of a certain age, who grew up surrounded by mid-century modern design (which promptly got tossed out in the seventies to make way for rough and wobbly pine pieces from Quebec and - I am greatly pained to admit - macrame plant holders) you may experience sticker shock when you look at the prices some of that same stuff is now fetching in second-hand vintage shops. Like me, you may now kick yourself for not hanging onto those great teak pieces, sleek lamps and colourful enameled clocks. If you want to get the look and find your budget is tight, or if you simply enjoy using your hands to make something beautiful, as do the good folks at Curbly, you’ll want invest in a copy of Make It! Mid-Century Modern, a soft-cover booklet with 12 mid-century design projects with detailed, step-by-step instructions and photographs. I came across the booklet one day when I found myself ignoring a deadline researching trends by visiting Curbly, an online community where homeowners share DIY ideas, inspiration and advice. Truth be told, I spend way too much time on Curbly trolling for inspiration. You can download a copy of the booklet  for U.S. $10 or get a print version delivered for U.S. $18