For Rent's Jodi Gilmour shares tips for choosing a rental

HGTV's For Rent is back for its third season (Mondays at 8 p.m.) and host Jodi Gilmour has some tips for when you're searching for new rental digs:

- Don’t limit your rental search to the internet. Visit your preferred area and look for “For Rent” sign in windows. Sometimes low-tech landlords are a diamond in the rough! 

- Don’t judge a book by its cover; sometimes the photos posted online don’t do a good rental justice. That makes it worth a look!

- If you have a very specific need in a rental, like a bath tub (or) full-sized stove, it’s worth calling ahead and asking the landlord before you book an appointment.

- Think ahead: if you’re renting in the winter, don’t forget to ask about air conditioning for those steamy summer months! Ask who maintains the lawns, gardens, etc.

- Choose a neighbourhood if it puts a skip in your step, and small sacrifices won’t seem so bad. This can be far more important than having somewhere to store your juicer.

- Pick a rental where you like to hang out. Your friend will be more likely to come and visit! Just make sure the commute to work isn’t too killer.

- Basement apartments are always less money. If you’re considering a basement apartment, also consider how you’d get out if your main door was not an option….

Check out Gilmour's tips for making your rental feel more like home.

Now you can have Martha's style at home

Sadly, I missed Martha Stewart at Canada Blooms last month, but, with her new product line at the Home Depot, you can bring home her carefully selected lamps, furniture, paint and even plant bulbs. 

Some of the products are currently available, while others will be landing on store shelves over the next two months. Personal favourites include her cube shelf organizers (starting around $40), with fabric drawers ($6.99) that would be perfect for keeping home office, or video game, clutter in check.

I'm also tempted to pick up some of her fun patio textiles, like this red swirl lumbar pillow, $14.99.

And, last but not least, I love the line of textured, paintable wallpaper - an easy way to add a little bit of extra pop to your walls! I think it would look great even if you left it white. Available in damask (shown), panelled tile, herringbone, faux bois, and beadboard, $24.99 per roll. 

For more great spring style tips, check out our top 5 home decor must-haves for spring and our spring cleaning guide.

Shop like a pro: Clean up your act

Spring cleaning is a cinch with these bright ideas for organizing clutter, rounded up by Shop like a Pro's Angela Koszuta (shoplikeapro@hotmail.com).

Kickerland Charging Station, $29.90, at Ziggy's At Home.

Corky Girl bulletin board, made of 100 per cent recycled materials, $39.90. At Ziggy's At Home, 794 College St.

Magazine storage boxes from the Grey Arcadia Home Collection, $14.99. At Chapters and Indigo.

Get Sorted three-tied shoe rack, $12.97. At Zellers. 

Take-out menu organizer, $12. At Ziggy's At home.

Breakfast at Tiffany's weekly organizer, $14.99. From Indigo and Chapters.

Evertidy Laundry Room Organizer, $69.99. Check www.evertidy.com for availability.

 

Set of five clear shoe boxes, $5. At Wal-Mart.

For more spring cleaning inspiration, check out our full guide.

Weekend roundup

Yourhomers may have been celebrating the Easter weekend, but they weren't basking in bunny and egg themed decor last week, with only 20 per cent of those who voted decorating their homes for the holiday. 

This week, we're still on the spring theme, but this time we're looking at that dreaded annual tradition of spring cleaning (incidentally, find out why we feel the need to spring clean here).

What's you're most dreaded part of the cleanup? Hate washing windows? Dusting baseboards? Rescuing long-forgotten socks from the back of the closet? Check out our full spring cleaning guide then cast your vote in the front page poll. 

And, for some more weekend reading, check out:

- A retro diner kitchen, Colin and Justin style

- A peek at the home of singer Matt Dusk, with video

- HGTV's Peter Fallico helps our writer tackle her closet

- Tips for a green lawn this summer

- How condos get their names

- Crooked playhouses charm children

- How to melt your mortgage (and you can do it on TV, too!)

My five-minute, free chair makeover

Mr. Speedy and I are currently in the process of replacing our dining room table and restoring the balance in the room with a matching set of chairs, to be painted a glossy black.

We've had mismatched chairs since just before Christmas, when one of our slightly rickety set of four finally kicked the bucket. That, of course, leaves us with three stragglers that can be deployed throughout the house!

The first one to find a home ended up in front of my vanity. But, it was in serious need of a makeover.

Without the time, patience or weather to give it the white paint job it so richly deserves, I turned my attention to the upholstery. I wanted something more fun and modern.

Scouring my stack of remnants (with a little advice on my final decision from the Twitterverse), I grabbed a piece left over from my mantel art makeover.

After cutting it to size, and carefully folding and re-folding it to get the corners just so, a few hits with my staple gun and the chair was transformed (without costing me a penny).

I was careful to keep the fabric taut, and used a little bit of glue to secure the roughly half-inch of excess fabric that came past the staples and risked being a little floppy.

And, here it is in front of my vanity! The mirror was a Craigslist find, and I have some under-counter lighting that still needs to be installed to finish off the look. All told, setting up my vanity will have cost less than $40! Now I've got a great place to stash away my jewellery and put on my makeup - plus something pretty to sit on!

Stay tuned for the rest of my master bedroom makeover (on a $200 budget).

Switching it up for spring

The grass is turning green, our living space is expanding outdoors and our barbecue has come out of hibernation - all signs it's time to freshen up my home's interior too!

In addition to giving everything a good cleaning (check out some of my best tips in Make Life Easier March, and our full spring cleaning guide for more), I also like to rearrange my decor come springtime. All those long nights trapped inside during the winter months can blind you to how much you love that photo or vase in its current position!

I started off with my mantel, giving my large picture frame a summer update with a great graphic hit, courtesy one of Ikea's new fabrics.

Here it is before (though I promise, those stockings and presents have been long gone since January!):

And after:

I also swapped out the items on the mantel for the seasons, just to change things up a little bit more.

The candlesticks that were there previously ended up on my dining room table (which, I pray, won't be host to mismatched chairs much longer):

And the glass vase, which had been filled with ornaments, is now home to whatever lemons and limes we can keep in stock:

Even the pictures on the shelves beside my faux mantel got a bit of a re-jigging to make them feel new again:

Small changes, for sure, but they help make my home feel a little bit fresher, just in time to throw open all the windows and let the sunshine and fresh air in!

Signs of spring

The lovely weather this weekend had me spending a lot of time on my back deck, with some cool beverages, and inspecting the new growth in my garden.

Of course, I wasn't alone in my excitement to get back out in the yard - my pet bunny Allistair was also
pretty thrilled to have grass to munch on again!

Our lilac tree is budding, and our forsythia bush burst into bloom this morning. There are even some day lilies starting to poke up from the soil!

While the holiday was a stretch of self-imposed relaxation, I can't wait to whip the yard into shape this coming weekend - and see what other plants survived my slightly neglectful gardening style.

For tips on getting your own garden ready for spring, check out our Outdoor Living guide.

Weekend roundup

Apparently, you can put a price on a good night's sleep - and it's not $75,000! In last week's poll, 78 per cent of Yourhomers said they wouldn't splurge $75,000 on a bed, even if money was no object.

Twenty per cent were willing to pay a pretty penny for sweet dreams, while the remaining three per cent said they didn't know. (Read the full story)

This week, in light of the long holiday weekend, I'm asking a very simple question - do you dye eggs and haul out the baskets this time of year? Let me know whether you decorate for the Easter Bunny in the front page poll (scroll way down on the left).

For some long weekend reading, check out:

- Easter table settings

- Colin and Justin makeover a kitchen with some (OK, a lot) of help from IKEA

- Tips for making your Easter lilies last

- Mark Cullen's guide to starting your veggie garden

- How to max out your home's curb appeal

Happy Easter (and long weekend)!

Fold up some Easter bunny napkins

Easter has kind of sneaked (or hopped) up on me this year. Not a single egg is dyed, nor a single basket made ready. In fact, I haven't done one speck of decorating! I'm letting myself off the hook because I'm not hosting any dinners or brunches this year, but I still can't help but think about what I would do, had I the time and motivation.

And, this cute little bunny napkin fold from Good Housekeeping has certainly caught my eye.

While I haven't tried it myself yet, it seems simple enough - start with a square napkin (they recommend a starched one, and note that thinner is better), then do a series of 10 folds! (Read the full instructions).

If you're feeling particularly ambitious, the 12th step suggests capping it off with a button nose and whiskers, though I think it still looks cute (and obviously bunny-like) without it.

Check out the full instructions, with illustrations, here. And check out our story (featuring these cute critters) on setting your Easter table without breaking your budget.

(MCT photo)