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?

 

 

 

Chef Tom to the rescue with summer menu ideas

One of my bestie foodie friends - Chef Tom

Chef Tom Filippou, executive chef for President’s Choice Cooking Schools  thinks busy home cooks often need a little inspiration for putting together menus for summertime suppers with friends and family. So he and his team have come up with some easy–to-assemble suggestions using, naturally, the President’s Choice product line, which seems to be growing ever bigger, and ever better.

One zesty suggestion - pair Jalapeno cheese burgers with Corn Relish on Round Pretzel Buns, with a side salad dressed with Avocado Dressing, Lime and Jalapeno. Or top a chicken burger with the Zucchini Relish and Monterey Jack with Jalapeno Pepper mini cheese slices. I also like the Sofrito, which is, typically a mix of flavour-rich ingredients indigenous to various regions. PC’s entry is tomato-based with onions, green, red and jalapeño peppers with notes of cilantro, garlic and lemon. It makes for a great burger dressing, but also works with cheese on crusty bread for a vegetarian option, or as a zingy compliment to perfectly scrambled eggs.

They also have a few dozen suggestions on the website for topping their mini burgers and sausages.

I think sandwiches make great summer fare, and Chef Tom agrees. That’s why he suggests putting a little bit extra on the grill to be used for sandwiches the next day. Think about pulled pork, or hot Italian sausages, made with the new PC baguettes. Add roasted pepper or eggplant, portebello mushrooms, sliced raw red onion or caramelized onions.

I happen to like the red pepper rounds buns with almost anything, but especially with fresh LOCAL tomatoes and crisp lettuce, and Formaggio di Bufala Fresh Soft Cheese. For a fun side to a bun-less burger, try roasted beets, sliced very thin and served with toasted walnuts, goat cheese and a drizzle of flavoured olive oil. The magnificent Lucy Waverman turned me on to serving these with chive oil (combine ½ cup chives with ½ cup chives and 2 tablespoons chopped green onion. Bring to a simmer and then sit for 2 hours. Strain).

An easy way to serve an elegant dessert is to pile ice cream — say, the Loads of White Chocolately Raspberry Treats — into a waffle bowl and heap it high with fresh LOCAL raspberries. Peanut butter and jam ice cream, is pretty delish with fresh cherries, imho -  I keep a bag of mixed frozen berries in the freezer for the times I run out of fresh, LOCAL (I think I've made my point, no?) seasonal fruit. You could also dress a Dulce de Leche cheesecake with fruit and/or toasted nuts which you would serve, of course, in very skinny slices.

I really must get out more - just not to the mall

Got a pedometer this week, and was told that I should be walking about 10,000 steps a day. To my utter shame, I am averaging closer to 1,500. But it’s not my fault, I swear. It just seems to get easier and easier to conduct life from a chair in front of a computer. For instance, one hardly needs to go out to shop anymore. There is an upside, of course; I can say with confidence that if I never visited another “power centre” again, it would be too soon. So maybe it’s a good thing that the world of online shopping is exploding. This seems to be especially true of sites devoted to design and décor.  News of two more crossed my desk over the past week. Both are well worth a look.

Dering Hall  is an online design marketplace where interior designers, architects, artisans, and design dealers can show their wares in almost 100 permanent virtual storefronts. The lucky ducks have an “a strategic partnership” with Hearst Magazines, which includes financial support, and print and online media collaboration with Hearst titles ELLE DECOR, House Beautiful, and Veranda. Designer products from the magazines and the accompanying websites will be available during “featured sales”.

There are a few cool features: Dering Hall users can:

follow favorite designers (all look to be U.S.-based at this point, but I did see the magnificent Martha Sturdy on there) through storefronts and automatic weekly email updates. Shoppers must check with individual vendors for information on shipping to Canada.

engage directly with individual designers to ask questions, and order product

find talent in a Designer Directory

browse editorial pages with shopping links

post and share news of Dering Hall merchandise and designers on Facebook

I could easily window shop here for a few hours — if I didn’t have to get up and walk around the block ten times! Of course, unless your daddy’s rich, you may want to be sitting down when you look at the prices, which include $425 for a pillow and $12,000 for a lighting fixture. Granted, both are exquisite — but they may be outside the reach of les pauvre schmoes comme moi. (that's French for "poor schmoes like me".)

 A new flash sales website called The Foundary brings to market a curated selection home and lifestyle products — both from brand names and emerging designers — at up to 70 per cent off retail. It’s the latest venture from the folks at Hayneedle, an online retailer that opened in 2002 as NetShops, offering consumers product from niche webstores. It quickly became one of the biggest online retailers of home and lifestyle products. In August 2009, NetShops became Hayneedle Inc., an umbrella for over 250 stores. At this point it seems more focused on selling — there are no inspirational blogs or lists of tips and tricks. But there is an extensive product selection — encompassing everything from tabletop to furniture to toys.

Alas, the Foundary only ships a few items to Canada. For an extensive online selection that ships to both Canada and the U.S., check out HomeSav, which offers great deals on a wide range of home decor items.  And, ahem, you might want to make a special note to visit their virtual store on Nov. 8, which is when a sale of tabletop and entertaining items picked by me, moi and myself will go on sale. It will be a great opportunity to stock up on lovely additions to your dining/entertaining arsenal, without busting your budget before the gift-buying even begins! 

 

 

 

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.

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.  

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.  

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.

 

Wondering about e-waste? You should!

 
A few months ago, I mused in this space about whether the decline of paper communications (newspapers, notebooks etc), and subsequent rise of electronic media, had been good or bad for the environment. After all, I asked, hasn’t the electronics industry created a lot of waste? (Bias alert -- I still love my Moleskin - see below!)

That drew an invitation from Matt Weiner, marketing manager of IT solutions for Samsung Canada, to chat about whether we should be concerned about e-waste clogging our landfills.

In fact, Weiner seemed to share my worry that people aren’t sufficiently aware of what happens to old electronics when they’re no longer functional. He explained that Samsung was involved in a survey of businesses with between five and 100 employees that looked at whether purchasers of IT equipment considered end-of-life issues for the products. The results were not encouraging. “It was very disappointing to us that many purchasers making a big decision to buy a system do not think what the heck will happen to it at the end of life,’ says Weiner.

But end users, he insists, are just one piece of the puzzle. “The user has to have some responsibility when they get rid of items, but manufacturers should be making it easier for them to do that,” he says.

To encourage consumers, Samsung has launched a program called Recycling Direct that allows people to drop off used electronics at 45 locations across Canada. From there, product goes to their recycling partner, Global Electric Electronic Processing (GEEP)  where plastics, glass and hazardous materials such as cathode ray tubes are removed and electronic components are taken apart and sorted. Plastics are recycled or converted into diesel fuel; and metals like copper and iron can be re-used.  

This program is expected to expand in 2011 to over 75 locations. Non-Samsung-branded electronics are taken, but a small fee is charged.

Weiner says this process is vastly preferable to having waste shipped overseas as scrap, where highly dangerous materials are sorted by poorly paid workers, many of whom are children.   

“Our promise to customers, whether they are business or consumer, is that no product will be sold off to third-word or hit a landfill or go back into the waste stream,” says Weiner.

While he’s enthusiastic about the recycling program, Weiner still thinks there could be more awareness of the issue of e-waste. Given the chance, he says, most people will choose to recycle. He point to the company’s experience at the Green Living Show .  “We had a program (under which) you could get in for free if you dropped off used electronics. The response was overwhelming; 10,000 people gained access by recycling,” he says.

Confidence that the company will do the right thing is one reason to buy from a major brand, says Weiner. “Most major manufacturers are now doing a recycling program,” he says. “For the most part, it’s the smaller vendors, where it’s some weird name you have never heard of and that’s often made in a third world country, where you need to be careful.  Their rules and regulations may not be the same as here — so you won’t be sure.”  

 

Tomorrow: Let’s talk about plastic bags. Seriously, folks.

 

 

Wary of waste

 

 

 

These pretty images of Moleskin notebooks reminded me yet again of how much I love paper products. I know, I know, paper is supposed to be wasteful and the world would be a better place if we all communicated electronically all the time. Technology will set us free from wateful practices, right? Except, except, I’m stumbling on this one, as I become more and more conscious of e-waste. A couple of recent light-bulb moments:

In the last two months, I’ve had to ditch two point and click digital cameras (not cheapies) because they just stopped working. I was advised by the repair department at my local camera shop that fixing them would probably cost more than they were worth, and that because they were past the warranty, the manufacturers wouldn’t replace them.

When the digital LED-lit temperature gauge on my oven stopped working, I phoned my repair guy, thinking I was probably in for a simple, inexpensive repair. After all, it just meant replacing a little light, no? Ah, no. I was told that the entire front panel of the stove would have to be removed (and sent to landfill, presumably) and replaced with a new panel that would cost — get this — $500. That’s just plain goofy.

So I’m now asking myself – just how much electronic waste are we creating? To give you an idea, there’s some interesting numbers on U.S. e-waste on Retrevo.com.

If like me, you’re becoming fascinated by waste issues, don’t miss Ellen Moorhouse’s Trash Talk column. In the meantime, if you have e-waste you want to get rid of safely, go to Do What You Can, a site that tells consumers how and where to dispose of their e-waste across the province. I’ve also just found out about Ifixit.com, on online resource for DIY  gadget repair. So maybe those cameras aren't  fit for the pit just yet.

 

Second hand is super hot

While researching this week’s Hot Home Products column about the trend toward used and reclaimed décor, I posed a few email questions to Eric Pierni, of Kijiji Canada, about how it’s affecting sites like his. Got some interesting information, which I’ve transcribed just for you, dear reader:

Q: Is the area of home decor and improvement products growing as a category for Kijiji?

A: Categories related to home décor and improvement products continue to grow rapidly on Kijiji.ca. For example, in the last year, the art and collectibles category has grown by 44 per cent, the furniture category has grown by 53 per cent, and the home and garden category has grown by 55 per cent.

Q. Why do you think this is?

A: Kijiji’s growth in general, and especially in the buy and sell category, is due to a few things. Consumers are increasingly budget-conscious, concerned about the environment and looking to shop locally. They’re looking for a convenient option that satisfies these needs.

Q. What do you think is behind consumer interest in second-hand and gently used home products?

A: For some, it’s all about looking for more affordable options while still being stylish. Finding gently-used items on a site like Kijiji saves money and also offers a wide variety of choice. If, for example, a consumer is looking for a piece of furniture from a certain era, say 1970’s kitsch, or art deco, they’re sure to find those kinds of items in the buy and sell category. For others, it’s all about saving money. For many, it’s also looking at ways to be more eco-friendly. By buying from a local classifieds site, consumers are saving items from going to landfill, as well as keeping their carbon footprint low — since the item is available locally and doesn’t need to travel a great distance.

Q: What “tips” do you have for consumers shopping for goods at a site like Kijiji for getting the best possible product at the best possible price?

A: Consumers should be persistent. The key is to be an avid shopper by coming back regularly. New home décor items are constantly being placed on the site. They should also be precise; if you know what you are looking for make sure to search for that item using the search box or browse in the most relevant category. Also, the more exact your search, the better, so use brand names if appropriate when performing searches. Finally, if you see the item you want and you like the picture make sure to respond to the ad as soon as possible by either giving the seller a call or sending them an email. Once you’ve connected with the seller, simply arrange a time to meet so you can see the item before committing to buy. Most importantly, Kijiji is all about local transactions. Always, always purchase an item in person and don’t send money online.