New curated series kicks off at HomeSav

Since launching earlier this year, HomeSav.com has been quickly picking up speed, rapidly attracting both consumer and media attention. The members-only shopping club offers brand-name home décor, furniture and accessories at up to 80 per cent off, with new sales starting every day at 10 a.m. Items, (such as the Crescent Chair above) are available for three days in limited quantities. To become a member, shoppers must register. It's easy to do - and free.

Since learning about HomeSav, I have frequently found items on it I'd like to include in my Hot Home Products column. I tend not to, though, because I feel sure the stuff will be gone by the time I go to print.

Now HomeSav is launching a Designers Picks series; monthly sales featuring products and brands selected by well-known interior designers, artists, and experts. Each will focus on a specific theme or room. The first event begins Thursday, August 25th, and will be curated by Karl Lohnes. Metro newspaper’s national décor columnist, and Home and Decor expert for CTV’s Canada AM.

Karl has lovely taste, and I’m excited to see what he’s chosen for his signature look. And I'm dying to know who else has signed up for the series. I'll keep you posted.

I looked into the future and saw...more laundry

While researching a Hot Home Products column about laundry appliances, I learned some cool things that I just didn’t have room for in my piece. For instance, Philippe Meyersohn, general manager for GE Appliances Canada, told me that the future will belong to smart appliances, which will be able to do fancy stuff like adjust the water temperature of the washer based on electricity prices. This generation of machines will require shape-changing municipal infrastructure, but GE has already tested the technology with good results in Vancouver. Meyersohn also said that while there are currently no Energy Star regulations for dryers, the company expects to see something in place by 2015.

“These changes will come about as people more concerned about environment, and because water and energy costs will keep going up,” says Meyersohn.

I also chatted to Steve Preiner, director of marketing for Bosch Appliances, about his company’s decision not to introduce steam,  which  is a hot (get it?!) feature on many lines, into its laundry products.

According to Preiner, steam adds cost to the machines and may not actually add that much functionality. “If you get a high enough temp in the wash, you don’t really need steam,” he says. “As for the dryer, you can get the same effect by spritzing a garment with water and using a gentle cycle.”

It’s a good tip, one I’ve frequently used. In fact, even with older or basic machines, good laundry “habits” can produce cleaner clothes. For example, do you:

• Shake clothes out before you put them in the wash, and turn them right side out?
• Make sure you’re not overloading the drum?
• Add detergent to the water before adding clothes, rather than loading the machine and pouring detergent on top?
• Treats spots and stains as soon as they happen, rather than letting them dry?
• Sort clothes appropriately, separating, for example, natural from synthetic fibres?

   

  Don’t forget that this hot, dry weather is perfect for line-drying clothes. At these temps, they’re ready in a snap, and the sun helps to bleach and sanitize whites.   Pic courtesy of Bosch
  For more laundry tips and advice, check out Clorox’s Dr. Laundry site.

   

  Pic courtesy of Bosch
  

A well-designed laundry room (and some good tunes) makes the job just a little easier

The efficient laundry room requires more than just good appliances. Perhaps that’s why Whirlpool enlisted the help of Clare Kumar, professional organizer, to design what it calls an "intuitive” laundry room (see example above).

Here are a few tips from Kumar:

Create an efficient layout with enough counter space to have a prep station for laundry products, and to serve as a folding surface when needed.

Use under-counter space to store hampers, and add shelves or baskets for supplies

Paint the walls a fun colour, and keep a radio or I-Pod nearby to listen to music while  working. My current fave song for folding laundry is by Fitz and the Tantrums 

Whirlpool Duet laundry pair (see pic below) also has some features that will save you time and trouble, including a “sixth sense” technology that measures the size of each load to determine how much water and detergent is needed, a built-in fan that  tumbles wet clothing for up to 16 hours, and an anti-vibration/noise feature. The set comes in white, red and silver. Prices start at about $2,500.

 

 

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.

 

Good news if you love westelm and Pottery Barn

Heard this week that you can now shop online in Canada at potterybarn.com, potterybarnkids.com and westelm.com and have it delivered.  Prices reflect duty, and shipping rates are comparable to the U.S. Here’s what I’d buy online right this minute. Shane Powers' hanging glass vases (see above - also love his ceramics, also shown above) or terracotta “Hive” vases that have – you guessed it – a pentagonal pattern. This because I’m running out of vessels for the peonies from my garden, with which the house is now dripping. Naturally, I need more vases - because after the peonies come the poppies.

 

Dizzying design

 
If you took science in high school, you may remember hearing of the Coriolis effect, named after the French physicist who in 1835 described how the shape of rotating objects appears to change. That's what inspired Thomas Heatherwick, the ridiculously inventive designer who straddles the world of art, architecture and design and whose London-based team tackles everything from a monastery in Sussex to a rethink of London’s iconic buses. It’s all pretty spectacular, but I fixated on the glass bridge at King’s Cross in London I saw on the website. Why, pray tell, can't we have public design like that in Toronto? Is it because we're headed by Mayor Stop the Gravy Train™, who probably thinks that such stuff is pinko frippery?

Heatherwick’s Spun Chair was shown at the Milan Furniture Fair in carbon steel and bronzed brass finishes. It’s described as “a functional chair constituted by a single profile rotated through 360 degrees which transforms the domestic seat into a beautifully rendered spinning top.” Put more simply: when upright, it’s a piece of sculpture, but when seated it in,  a body can swivel in a complete circle. Wheeee! A marvellous idea, but I think I’d go easy on the cocktails if I was sitting in it.

Limited editions will be sold in London at the tres trendy  Haunch of Venison which is, I could not help but notice, showing an exhibit of photographs — many new — from filmmaker Wim Wenders,  who directed the film classic (it's on my personal  top ten list) Wings of Desire. Sadly I can never think of it now without being reminded of the shudderingly bad remake done with, God help me, Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan called City of Angels.

Trolling for good design pays off

 
 
 
  
 
Some may call it goofing around, but for me trolling online for interesting design and useful products for the home is research. And it’s darn hard work, too At least that’s how I justify letting hours dribble away while I amble around the net! But it really does pay off sometimes. It was during such a fishing expedition that I discovered a young Chinese design company called Innovo, which is run by a trio with a decidedly international flavor — with principals Zhang Lei,Jovana Bogdanovic and Christoph John coming respectively from China, Serbia and Germany. They met — where else — in Milan. I found work from these youngster’s firm on Inhabitat, which is my favourite green/sustainable design weblog. Great design, global reach and good writing. The boilerplate description is that it’s “devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.” Well worth following. The coverage of the Xuan light, made with bamboo grass, and the Paper Chair, which riffs on ancient Chinese paper-making arts (both shown above) were part of Inhabitat’s coverage of the Milan Furniture Fair.  Are they not the most beautiful things you’ve seen today (at least so far)?

A cause that's close to my heart

 
Autism affects about one out of every110 kids. In my own family, it turns up in the form of Asperger’s Disorder, so I’m pleased to share news of how you can help —  just in time for World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd.  As with  all mental illness, there's not enough research done into it, and families suffer silently, because there's still such a  taboo about talking about disorders of the mind. That's a shame, because these family need support. Scentsy, makers of decorative warmers that use a 25-watt bulb to melt scented wax to produce a candle-like light without an open flame, are donating 100 per cent of net proceeds from the sale of each “Piece by Piece” warmer to Autism Speaks Canada. You can buy a “Piece by Piece” warmer for $42 from now through August 31. Click here for more information.

Colour me confident

 
 
 


This week’s Hot Home Products looks at the trend toward stronger colours in home décor. One of the easiest — and most affordable — ways to achieve this is, of course, with paint. As homeowners become more colour confident, many are also playing with it — using blocks of colours — to create an effect, or to define space.

If painting is on your to-do list this Spring, you might want to experiment with colour blocking. If you do, the folks from Sico (see top pic above) suggest that you first decide  what effect you want to achieve. In a small space, for example, a horizontal stripe, either on one wall or all four, creates the illusion of width. I also love the look of wide bands of colour, in a subtle palette, all the way up a wall (see pic above from Pittsburgh Paints).  A large block of colour can also provide focus for a favourite painting or piece of furniture.

Remember that curved lines create a more casual, fun look, whereas the sharp lines of squares and rectangles tend to suggest a more formal design. It’s a good idea to map out your design on a piece of paper before measuring and drawing it on the wall with a light pencil. Use painter’s tape (I like Scotch Painter’s Masking Tape ) for straight lines.  Use a paint brush rather than a roller - as you would for a stencil - and don’t overload your brush.

Pittsburgh Paints reminds us that the ceiling offers a great canvas for an extra touch of colour. So don’t always set the default to white. If your room seems too vault-like, add intimacy and warmth by “lowering” the ceiling with a hue that’s darker than the walls. If the ceiling’s too low, go lighter.

And if you have a room with sloped walls or dormers? I have to admit that in rooms like this, I’ve always painted them out in one colour, because I could never figure out where to switch out! A similar problem might apply if you live in an open concept space. Here, Pittsburgh suggests the technique of chiaroscuro, a palette made of a single color used in different hues. This will add visual interest and variety without chopping up your space.  

If words like chiaroscuro have you scatrching you head, or if you want to learn more about how colour affects the perception of space, check out this Color Theory primer.

Now, aren’t you dying to get painting? I know I am. In fact, I’m using three (!) new colours from Pittsburgh Paints for a hallway that desperately needs an update. Check back here soon for before and after pictures and tell me if I got it right!

Forced to choose testosterone over tempra this weekend

 

 

This week’s Hot Home Products column features an online site that sells hand-painted reproductions of works by old masters. I find that interesting for a number of reasons, which I won’t go into now (would it kill you to buy a paper on Saturday?)

If original art is more your thing, get yourself down to the Artist Project event  running from March 3 to 6 at the Queen Elizabeth Building at Exhibition Place. You’ll see works by over 200 independent artists, such as Montreal-based Janice Taylor, who did the mixed media piece above and Russell Brohier, whose photograph of an under-loved classroom is also shown above.

There will also be a slew of other features, including UNTAPPED, an exhibition of 25 emerging or self-taught  artists, works by photographers using 3D technology and a competition of works based on the theme of lemons (yes, the fruit).  As part of an Art Chats series, art writer and educator Betty Ann Jordan will tell you everything you always wanted to know about abstract art but were afraid to ask, and Melony Ward, publisher of Canadian Art magazine will host a panel that looks at the state of art in Canada. (No word yet as to whether Rob Stop the GravyTrain ^TM Ford will attend this one, but my guess is not.) Installation Alley will showcase large-scale sculpture and conceptual art, while a Video Art Wall will introduce work by digital media artists.

If my son didn’t have hockey play-offs this weekend, this is where I’d be. Instead, I’ll be the mom screaming “play nicely!” while testosterone-fuelled 15-year-olds smash into each other. Which is, in its own way I suppose, a kind of performance art. But at least Art Project attendees won’t have to watch psychotic parents of artists projecting their own long-lost hopes on their kids, and nobody will be carted off with a concussion. We hope.