Pretty papers

 

I love things that feel real to me: glass, linen, wood, stone - and paper. I grew up in a home that always had beautiful embossed stationery, and have always adored the feel and smell of gorgeous paper. So Deborah Norton is a true kindred spirit. 

Norton had been making cards for family and friends for years before she turned her attention to it full-time four years ago, launching The Paper Parade. 

A self-taught artist, Norton says she thinks creativity is in her DNA. “My family is all very artisitic. We were always exposed to the arts, and both my parents are gifted amateur artists. My brother is a professional photographer. So I come by it honestly.” 

Vintage paper, in the form of illustrations, cards, maps and art, have always fascinated Norton, and it’s this love that fuels her work, which includes lovely, hand-printed cards and tags. Until recently, it was all available on her Etsy shop, but a full-on renovation has shuttered the shop temporarily. “My studio is in the house, and we’ve had to move out. I’m still doing custom orders, and I’ve started doing some styling. I also have my lifestyle blog. So one thing seems to keep turning into another. We’ll see what happens next.”

While you may not be able to access Norton’s work, shown here, she has a few  other fave paper places she thinks you’ll want to check out. They are Kozo Studios Tanya Roberts and Pantry Press

 

I Kijiji. Do you?

Personalized décor. When it comes to home design, that’s the new buzz-phrase being used to describe a home rich in furniture, art and accessories that tell your story, and reflect your tastes, rather than what the design divas decree is the current must-have what-not. You can get the look by purchasing pricey pieces from new cool-kid stores that have figured out used is useful. But if you’re on a budget, and really do love to search out that one-of-a-kind find that fits your space perfectly, or you love polishing a diamond in the rough into something stunning, you might want to start doing your “shopping” on an online site like Kijiji.

There’s another aspect to shopping this way that really appeals to me. It’s so eco-friendly, diverting  gently-used items from the landfill, and allowing me to shop locally and spend less time travelling by car. And there’s almost nothing you can’t find on Kijiji - from BBQs to hot tubs, garage doors to patio furniture.

This week’s Hot Home column focused on a series of DIY projects I recently did, all using items easily found on Kijiji. There wasn’t enough room for all my pics, so I’m including before and after below. With Earth Day coming up, I hope they inspire you to reduce, recycle and redecorate!  Check back here next week for more ideas. And in the meantime, why not share with me your fave online find?

Think this $10 table is Dullsville? Not!

Look below...

 

Use accent paints to co-ordinate furniture with your decor

 

Turn usable parts of stained or damaged table linens into guest towels

 

 

Stripping gaudy plastic tear-drops, painting it out in a rich colour and

adding funky bulbs turns a chandelier from frumpy to fabulous

 

An inexpensive lamp kit turns an old urn (below) into a special lighting accent

 

It's all about the possibilities

 

 

From mundane...

 

 

to marvelous, all with a bit of fabric and some craft glue

 

 

Ah, spring - all about rebirth, and reupholstery

Andrea Ford can help you turn an old chair into a glam decor piece

April, May and June are all about rebirth. So why not give new life to a tired piece of furniture? Andrea Ford of Restyle Studio  offers DIY workshops on re-upholstering everything from ottomans to chairs to headboards. I have at least three items I need to work on. I have a feeling Andrea and I might be seeing a lot of each other over the next few months. 

Another gorgeous creation from Ford

 

 

Colour - work it!

This week’s Hot Home Products column is all about painting with colour, an especially tempting idea in the deeply dreary days of mid-winter. BTW, if you’re leery of painting at this time of year, keep in mind that low and no VOC paints are much easier and safer to work with than older formulations. As long as you can crack a window open for a bit, you should be okay.

Of course, using milk paint is an increasingly popular option, partly because of the subtle colours and slightly chalky finish, but also because you don’t have to worry about fumes. We like local company Homestead House Paints, which now also offer courses on using milk paint. Homestead also makes a zero VOC line.

Some tips for working with colour from Alison Goldman, communications manager for CIL.

Sample first. The colour you love on the chip may not look the same when it’s on your wall, because of lighting and other materials used in the room. Take the time to slap some of the colour on the wall and live with it for a few days. Many companies now offer very affordable sample pots. An oversized chip is next best, but because they’re usually printed — not painted — it’s not the same.

Strong colours show up imperfections, so prep walls carefully. Again, this small investment in time will pay off. And while more and more companies are offering paint and primer in one, I tend not to use them — unless the colour being applied is very close to the one already on the wall.  To get a true colour, you need a blank canvas.

Sharp cut lines count when you are using strong colours. Use a good tape. I like ScotchBlue Edge Lock, which contains a chemical that forms a leak-proof bond, but which comes off easily. Love it! 

Pics above come (in order) from Farrow and Ball, CIL, and Pittsburgh Paint.

A cuppa Christmas cheer

Another festive holiday decor idea from designers Jim Connelly and Peter De Sousa that doesn't cost a bomb or add to the waste stream. With it, each guest will find their dinner place easily, and be treated to a lovely  hostess gift.

Festive Tea Cup Name Holder

Supplies

• Old cup and saucer (mis-matched will do)
• Spray paint
• Glue gun
• Miniature Christmas tree
• Tartan fabric
• Faux red berries
• Faux Raspberries/Blackcurrants
• Paper
• Pen

Instructions

• Wash cup and saucer with warm, soapy water to remove grease, dirt or fingerprints
• Let dry completely
• Cover tabletop with newspaper to create a clean work surface
• Spray the cup and saucer with a very light spray of paint**
• Let dry completely
• Repeat two to three coats, letting each coat dry completely until surface has an even finish
• Use glue gun glue to join cup and saucer
• Let dry completely
• Cut a square of Tartan fabric and wrap around the Christmas tree
• Glue the Christmas tree into the cup let dry completely
• Apply some red berries into the tree branches to fill in the open areas
• Add some Raspberries/Blackberries into the tree branches and onto the saucer
• Cut out a piece of paper to make a name tag and write your dinner guest’s name on the saucer

**Do this in a well ventilated area and wear a face mask

Funk it, don't junk - such a jolly idea

 

This week’s Hot Home column includes ideas from designers Jim Connelly and Peter De Sousa for creating holiday décor from recycled elements - like the festive chair (shown above). So clever, so pretty, and so affordable.Instructions are listed below. These boy geniuses have a ton of other  easy and fun projects, which I’ll post over the next few weeks. So keep watching this spot.

Festive Silver Chair 

 Supplies

• Old chair from thrift shop, basement or curb-side
• White bonder primer sealer paint
• Size/glue (for applying silver leaf)
  
• Silver-leaf squares/foil
• Water-based silver paint
• Silver glitter
• High-gloss exterior varnish

 

Directions

•  Wash the chair with warm, soapy water to remove any grease, dirt or fingerprints
• Let dry completely
• Cover tabletop with newspaper to create clean work surface
• Remove the seat from the chair frame
• Paint the chair frame with white bonder primer sealer
• Let dry completely
• Paint the chair with a water-based size/glue
• Let dry completely (the size when dry will remain sticky to the touch)
• Apply the silver-leaf squares or transfer foil to entire chair
• Seal chair with exterior high-gloss varnish
• Let dry completely
• Using a small paint roller and tray, paint the old fabric seat with water-based silver paint (apply heavily if necessary to cover any pattern on the old fabric)
• Sprinkle silver glitter over the chair seat
• Let dry completely

 

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.  

They're baaack - eco energy grants add incentive to make household upgrades

It was pretty much a no-brainer that the federal ecoENERGY Retrofit program would be reinstated in the last budget. Why not continue a plan that’s good for the environment, and the economy?

Naturally, that's being applauded by manufacturers such as Owens Cornings, who make EcoTouch Pink Insulation batts and AttiCat expanding blown-in insulation system and Roxul, which makes stone wool batt insulation (shown above).

According to Owens Corning, an attic insulated to the recommended standard of R-50 will save a half-ton of greenhouse gas emissions annually. It will also make your home more comfortable.

Insulation is just one route to a more energy efficient home. If you want a larger plan, consider having an energy audit done by an organization such as GreenSaver, Ontario’s oldest not-for-profit provider of energy audits and services.

What does a home energy audit entail? To get the full story, go to GreenSaver’s website. Basically, it’s a review of your home’s energy efficiency — inside and out — and includes a “blower test” to measure air leakage. After the review, you get a report detailing suggested improvements and after they’re made, GreenSaver comes back to measure your efficiency gains. That document can be used to apply for various grant programs. 

For more information on government grants and rebates for home improvements, as well as how-to guides for making your home more environmentally-friendly, go to Show Me the Green.

If it’s cooling you’re looking at (and who isn’t during this blast of heat), you might consider whether a ductless system, such as that made by Daikin, would work for you. Many models qualify for eco-retrofit grants, information about which can be found at Natural Resources Canada.

If I had extra money sitting around (dang! why did my 1992 Mercury Sable have to die this summer, forcing me to buy a new car?), I think I’d invest in venting skylight window or a roof window (shown below) from  Velux. (I already have one of their sun tunnels, which has become one of my fave features of my house). If I did, I bet I could pretty much turn off the central AC (which I only use on the hottest of the hot days) as opening a skylight allows hot air to escape. I've been told that some models qualify when they are used to replace inefficient skylights and that each reno that includes an Energy Star skylight is eligible for $40 per skylight. The company’s solar water heaters, which save CO2 from the atmosphere and can lower water bills by up to 60 per cent, would also qualify.

Best to get moving on all this, though. The grant program will close by March 2102, or when the $400 million runs out, whichever comes first.

 

Phone it in

Kohler Canada has just launched  a free mobile application for IPhone and I-Pod Touch users that it’s touting as a hardworking resource for designers and homeowners alike. Features include the ability to access product images (like the gorgeous toilet and shower head shown above) and instructional videos, a database of KOHLER retailers, and a product catalogue.  

Keeping it green, clean and pretty

Two of my pet peeves? Liquid soap and disposable hand towels. I was recently sent a hard-plastic liquid soap-dispenser with a battery-powered motion sensor, and a box of paper towelettes; the manufacturers were touting both as a way to fight germs in the home. I just don’t buy it. Institutional settings are a whole other ball-game, but in your own home – unless you’re called on to perform an emergency tracheotomy on Aunt Edna at Thanksgiving — I think a bar of soap and cloth towels that get washed on a regular basis provide an adequate level of hygiene. (If the house is hit with the Norwalk Virus, of course you'll have to ramp up your defense plan.)

I’m queasy about (although admittedly ignorant of) the additives used to keep soap liquid, and I hate that it comes packaged in plastic containers. My solution for our tiny powder room? I buy up large vintage linen napkins (no, of course, they don’t have to match!), plunk them in an old wooden tool box and keep pretty bars of soap on hand, as in the pic above. I actually ironed these napkins, because I wanted to impress you, dear reader. But normally, I just line-dry them in the sun (which kills bacteria!), fold them and plop them in. Why use energy when the sun and wind will do the job for you?

I pick up wrapped and boxed soap at one my favourite discount stores, HomeSense  and use them as needed. The boxes are used on my vanity to hold hairpins, tweezers and lipsticks – all that necessary but slightly unsightly girlie stuff, which I stack on a little tray, made from an old cabinet face and two handles from Stanley’s excellent hardware collection  

The pot of flowers on it were a little treat to me from myself — and got plopped into an old biscuit barrel that long ago lost its lid but which now has a second life. Take a look below. You like? 

Are you lovin' the green tips? Then check out the uber-useful Practically Green website, and tune in to their Twitter party today at 9 p.m. It's where all the cool kids will be, including me! I can't wait to get in on all the good  ideas  from fellow Greenies.