Beware of mold, and tackle it whenever it turns up

Not only can mold and mildew affect the way your home and furnishings look —  it can contribute to an unhealthy air quality. Concrobium, which makes a range of mold-fighting products, has some good advice for dealing with this unwelcome visitor. Let’s call it “the five D’s”.

Deflect – To prevent mold you need to stop water from entering and accumulating in your home. So check that downspouts are doing their job — deflecting water away from the building. Make sure, too, that property is graded away from the foundation, so that water runs away from the house.

Dry - Mold can grow on water-damaged surfaces in as little as 24 hours. If flooding happens, remove excess water with a shop vacuum or water pump. When water is removed, use fans to circulate and absorb moisture in the air. Open doors and windows if possible; indoor mold spore counts are typically higher than outdoor counts. Call a pro if the job feels too big or if you suspect sewer back up.

Discard - Throw out water-logged and mold-infested materials such as carpeting or ceiling tiles. If drywall has absorbed water, it should be cut out 12 inches above the water level and replaced when the space is dry again.

Deactivate - Use bleach-free Concrobium Mold Control to fight remaining indoor mold.  It kills mold and prevents it from coming back. Treat hidden areas such as crawlspaces, closets and under furniture. Special fogger units, which mist Concrobium Mold Control into the air, can be used to treat large or inaccessible spaces such as basements and attics.

Dehumidify - Run a dehumidifier to take additional moisture out of the air. Maintain relative indoor humidity between 30 and 50 per cent. Monitor humidity levels with a hygrometer, an inexpensive device that you can pick up at your local
hardware store.

There’s also excellent information about mold and moisture issues on the Canada Mortgage and Housing website

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Sculpting with light, or overdoing the Yuletide cheer. You decide.

Over the holidays, I unleashed my inner hippie (never far from the surface, I might add) to create a mood light with an umbra Fotofall  stand and  Sylvania’s  new Mosiac strips on which I clipped the strip.

Up to ten strips can be joined to create up to 20 feet and special connectors can be used to negotiate corners. Strips can also be cut with scissors at pre-marked spots. A remote lets the user choose from 15 colours, including white.Personally, I don't go much for flashing, blinking lights. If I want that, I'll go to Vegas.But I do like being able to change the colour to suit moods and decor.

A kit, which comes with four two-foot strips, sells for about $50 at Home Depot. Well, what do you think?  Pure genius? Or probably drunk?

 

 

 

I want flowers for Christmas

A few quick floral tips from the lovely and talented Bruno Duarte of Fresh Floral Creations. 

If you haven’t visited his little jewel box shop on Danforth, you should. It may just be the Platonic Ideal or a floral shop.

If you can't get down there, you can at least drink a few drops from the font of his floral wisdom. Here it is:

Line vases with a leaf to cover stems; Duarte likes dark brown Thai leaves.

Keep topping up water, but don’t add powders — they’re mostly sugar and can cause bacteria that contributes to rot.

Work with a maximum of three colours.

Stay away from too much glitter (however tempting it may be).

On a dinner table, the height of an arrangement should never be taller than the length of your elbow to your hand.  If you’re table is long, consider three several smaller arrangements.

For something different and striking, cut Amaryllis, and hang them upside down. Gather the stems loosely but firmly with a floral wire and fill the stems, which are hollow, with water. Suspend from a hanging light fixture. (And if you can’t figure out how to do that, call Duarte – Editor)

Want to switch it up for New Year’s Eve? Go with white, says Duarte. “You will have been bombarded with red and other colours. White will be fresh and clean, just like the new year.”

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Lovely Lisi.....

Speaking of artisnal

 Michael Simardone is a Toronto furniture builder. If that’s not artisanal enough, he also makes just about everything from building refuse and cast-aways. He and his wife Caroline are in the process of opening up a Junction storefront with his own pieces and accessories.

He and I worked together on an Upcycle Challenge for Habitat for Humanity Toronto this year, in which we strung together building  left-overs to craft something new. See the results below.

All that to say, if you’re an artisan, you might want to contact la Simardone about selling your stuff through his store. Even if it doesn’t turn out to be the century’s best business deal, I guarantee you’ll like him.

Michael is on a nice little stretch of street that seems poised to take off. Same neighb as the always-worth-a-visit Eclectic Revival  (Artisanal Steampunk?). And if memory serves, there’s a little resto about half a block west (north side) of Simardone that makes amazing pastry — some of which gets stuffed with fruit. Yum.  Art you can eat. 

Who has great BBQ tips? Naz haz.

BBQ Naz says it's all about the prep, baby

Barbequing is supposed to epitomize easy summertime living. So why do so many home cooks approach with a touch of trepidation? Weber's grilling expert Naz Cavallaro (AKA BBQ Naz) has a few suggestions for grilling without groaning.

First of all, says Naz, preparation is key. "Get it all ready before. Chefs call that mise en place – putting everything in place. If you’re doing skewers, do them beforehand. Prep the veggies and have it all ready to go.”

Good prep takes food safety into account, he adds. “People overlook it. You need to keep your proteins in a shaded area and on ice until you are ready to cook them. Don’t cook it all at once and let it sit on the table for too long – it’s better to grill some, have people eat it and throw more on as you need it."

 As with any kind of cooking, timing is everything, says Naz. “Time your cooking, and don’t get sidetracked and start chatting too much. It’s easy when you’ve had some practice. You could, say, start with sausages and then move them up to the warming rack before cooking chicken. When the chicken is almost done you can tent it and throw on the next item.”

The only situation in which a little inattention is appropriate is when you are cooking something low and slow. “Every time you open your grill, it takes 20 minutes to get temperature back up. Leave it!”

It's not too late for spring cleaning

Spring sprung early this year and then took a back seat as winter made another late appearance, throwing the seasonal change-over off-balance. That meant that many of us skipped the annual ritual of the Spring clean-up.  But lifestyle expert Janette Ewen has a message on that point — better late than never.

“Spring is a natural time to tidy, because you are letting air in. It’s almost as it that flow works on a sub conscious on your mind as well," says Ewen. But if you missed the first wave of Spring, Ewen cautions against waiting until the next natural marker in the fall. And Ewen says it’s not just your mental health that can suffer from clutter — it’s your pocket book as well.

“Canadian Tire sponsored a survey that found 68 per cent of Canadians say they’ve rebought something because they couldn’t find it in their house and another 71 per cent say they’d rather toss things out than find a place to store them!”

Ewen has a well-honed system for keeping clutter udner control. “I do a mini purge about once a month. I sell some stuff on Kijiji, which lets me make a little money, some of which goes to a favourite charity. If I get lazy, my assistant makes me do it. Staying on top of it helps me avoid getting overwhelmed.”  To help you from getting suffocated by stuff, Ewen has some suggestions:

• Sort stuff into three plastic tubs — one for recycling, one for garbage and one for stuff you’re going to give way. Be disciplined — if you haven’t used it in the last year, you probably won’t. For sports equipment, she’ll stretch it to two years. Before you unload items, consider doing a swap meet with friends — a great way to extend the life of items that no longer work for you.
•  Allow yourself a cabinet for sentimental memorabilia. After all, some things are worth keeping.
• Designate a shelf system for various types of items; one for temporary pieces that you’re not sure you’ll need long-term or not, one for craft or hobby supplies, one for seasonal.
• Use modular storage systems to create customized units that fit different spaces throughout the home.
• Instead of keeping mountains of mags, go through copies and pull the pages/pics/pieces you want and put them in file folders that can be housed in attractive holders.
• Use dead space by, for example, putting shelves above a garment pole in a closet. Consider a second shelf even higher up for items rarely used. Keep a foldable stepladder for easy access. How about under-stair storage?
• Use an under-the-bed storage unit.
• In the kitchen, line the space above upper cabinets with baskets (make sure they have lids)
• Pretty storage items will motivate you to stay organized. Ewen likes Debbie Travis’ line for Canadian Tire.
• When purchasing new furniture for the home, look for pieces that offer functional storage, such as ottomans with lids or closed entertainment units.  Tomorrow —  tips from Ewen on switching up decor for Spring.

Design DNA does its work

BREAKING NEWS -- Well, okay, maybe not. But it's news to me. Exciting news, in a stop-what-I'm-doing (which, technically speaking, was goofing around) kind of way. Sir James Dyson (a very dear friend of mine - see below) has, apparently, an equally brilliant and handsome son, Jake, who designs spleniforous lighting.

The Motorlight Floorlight  is described as the world's first variable angle uplight, allowing the user to adjust the beam angle between 8 and 60 degrees. As an aluminium wheel at the front of the luminaire rotates, the outer reflector raises and lowers,  increasing and decreasing beam span. Controls on the back of the light allow the angle to be fixed, or set to continually create waves of  light. The CSYS LED task light is a dimmable LED that produces a bright warm white, and its makers claim it will perform for upwards of 37 years. 

Love them both.  Sadly, they're not (yet) sold at any Canadian retail spots. Take a look. Magnificent, no?

 

 

The pleasures of spring are sweet but, alas, short-lived (Anonymous)

It gets old fast, but even weeding dandelions has a special charm for the first few weeks of spring. Try Garant’s new weeder to remove the entire root without damaging the lawn. ($40 at Rona and other retailers) 

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