Wishing for a green thumb

With the National Home Show coming up this weekend and Flower my latest PlayStation 3 obsession, I find myself wishing for a green thumb.

I don't need to be super garden savvy. Living in Toronto means I have a deck in lieu of a backyard, and odds are I'm never going to be the type to successfully grow my own food. However, it would be awfully nice to be able to keep my African Violet, which I have been slowly killing over the past two years only to nurse it back to health and start the process all over again, blooming.

I should have known not to take on this plant. When my husband brought it home, complete with velvety leaves and deep purple flowers, I already had an unfortunate track record.

During university, a friend was leaving the province and was kind enough to leave me three of his well-tended houseplants. By the end of week one, the first plant (which I suspect must have been on the way out before it landed on my doorstep) was withered and unrecognizable. I still claim this was in no way my fault, though, on some level, I will admit that a lack of sunlight and water probably didn't help.

The other two began their demise more slowly. Some days, all three roommates would lavish them with attention, turning them to the sun and filling their pots with water. Other times, days (or weeks) would pass until someone (often a guest) would take pity on the poor plants. Once all the leaves had fallen off and there was only the slightest glimmer of hope for survival, I passed the care of the two hard-done-by plants to my grandmother, who nurtured them back to health. I'm happy to report that they're thriving, far, far, away from me.

And, as for my African Violet, I'll keep trying. It actually bloomed last summer, which almost fooled me into thinking I had cared for it properly. Then, slowly, the flowers and the leaves began wilting and dying. Now, I've got a few healthy leaves left, so I'm hoping not all is lost.

Maybe some day, I'll pick up the Botanicalls kit ($100 on ThinkGeek) that connects your beloved houseplants to the internet, allowing it to alert the whole Twitterverse when you leave it gasping for breath or drown it.

In the meantime, I'll keep my houseplant count at one (or half, if only having a few leaves doesn't really count as a full plant).

Get some real gardening advice on Yourhome, including columns on proper plant care by Sonia Day and three easy steps to planting a flower garden.

Ba dun ba dun ... time for tea!

Pop some tea into this infuser and have a Jaws-themed cuppa!

In honour of the Interior Design Show (read more here), which starts tonight and runs through Sunday, I thought I'd share this clever and functional design.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter have already been sent this link, but I thought it was just too cute/gory not to post a photo! (Don't worry, it's just red tea!)

The Sharky infuser, by Argentinian designer Pable Matteoda, won third place in designboom's Beyond Silver competition, which aimed to find designs for functional and prestigious silverware with a twist.

On the competition page, Matteoda says, "INFUSION means to extract certain properties from an soluble ingredient such as tea leaves , herbs or fruit by soaking in liquid (water) until it gets saturated. So we can say that a infuser is the in charged of make this happen. This is a ludic point of view about the color given off from the phenomenon, which makes more interesting the waiting of the whole process."

Would you let Sharky take a swim in your mug?

I totally would. And would hum the Jaws theme the entire time! Ba dun ba dun ....

Found via 2modern. Check out more quirky products in the Conversation Piece column and stay tuned for all the latest from the Interior Design Show in our decor section!

I can has Cheezburger?

With this bed, you can "has cheezburger." (If you don't get the reference, read up on I Can Has Cheezburger and Lolcats here).

This bed, called the "Hamburger Bed", even though the mattress topper is cheese, also includes an oversized bun duvet and lettuce sheet, tomato and pickle pillows and a meat patty mattress.

I can't promise comfort, but this quirky bed has been popping up all over the blogosphere, and even has its own website and fan group on Facebook.

Would you sleep on this bed? (And maybe add a french fry container dresser to polish off the look?)

Found via jars of cute.

I dream in black and pac-man...

As my box-room project slowly starts to chug along, I'm seeing more and more of the nautically-inspired blue walls, which, sadly, just don't float my boat.

So, my husband and I have been daydreaming about what we can do to create the perfect working space and guest room environment, while still remaining landlord-friendly.

My favourite idea so far is to do a black feature wall (Benjamin Moore has a totally brill shade called Black Satin) and then stick on some of these ever-so-trendy decals from Gecko (you'll find some serious eye-candy on their site, and yes, they ship to Canada!) for a fun and fresh look.

My husband and I love the 25-piece "Pac Pocket" set (pictured), due to its retro, playful vibe and the fact that we're huge video game nerds. (It even comes in purple! But Mr. Speedy is partial to the authentic yellow...)

I know this would make me smile every time I settled into the desk for a long evening of work.

At least this would let us embrace our geekiness in style? Maybe?

Here Clocky, Clocky

I've got to admit, I've got a habit of personifying my day-to-day objects. As a result, I've got a soft spot for Clocky.

This adorable alarm clock gives you one chance to wake up, then jumps off your nightstand — alarm sounding — and wheels around looking for a place to hide. (Watch the animation on YouTube).

For people like me, who use their snooze buttons until they wear out, he also addresses the issue of turning off your alarm in your sleep. It's pretty tough to auto-snooze him if you can't find him!

While a game of hide-and-seek may be fun, or necessary, once in awhile, sometimes a girl just wants to sleep in.

Luckily, Clocky can be set not to run away at all. And, he comes in pink!

Designer Gauri Nanda says the prototype - which she describes as a pair of Lego wheels and motors and a shag covering - was inspired while she was a snooze-button reliant student, who would hit the button repeatedly without ever realizing how late it was getting.

At US$50, I think Clocky's a great gift for the playful snoozer on your list :)

Fried egg candle

Some things are just too weird not to share. This Fried Egg Candle, by designer Jaehyung Hong, is one of those products.

Designed for Designersblock London 2008, the yellow candle perched atop a glass saucer looks just like the popular breakfast dish.

Light it and the egg yolk dribbles.

I can't decide whether it's cool or gross, but I think we can all agree that it's certainly quirky!

Found via 2Modern Design Talk.

How's this for a space saver?

Lately, I've been struggling to find a place in my apartment where I could set up a second desk. The whole husband-wife sharing thing has been stretched to its limit while my computer has been in the shop, and it's time for me to carve out a niche away from my husband's office space.

Our guest bedroom/office/box and storage room will not fit a second desk. Which means I've been roaming the hallways with a measuring tape, looking for a corner to stow a desk for my soon-to-be-repaired laptop and a stack of home decor catalogues, magazines and books. The only acceptable space seems to be in my bedroom, and I worry about having to stare at my work while trying to go to sleep at night.

But, if I had this nifty room in a box - called Kenchikukagu - from Toshihiko Suzuki, I wouldn't be shopping for screens. They offer a kitchen, guest room and office.

Best of all, it only takes up space when you're using it! When you're done that article/meal/good night's sleep, you simply fold it back into it's handy storage box and tuck it into a corner or closet - what more could you ask for?

I stumbled across this Japanese company's "Architectural Furniture" - and the must-watch video - via the ISO50 blog - which also, incidentally, thought these rooms were super keen.

Obviously I'm keen on the office, because it would solve my current dilemma. The guest room would come in super handy for more than a few of my friends, and the kitchen is just too cool not to mention - can you imagine what you could do with all that extra space previously occupied by full-sized, fixed countertops?

The rooms are available on Amazon's Japanese site - but they're not cheap at 800,000 Japanese yen, or just over $9,700 Canadian.

Newspaper furniture

I saw this great product in my blog roll this morning (thanks to Inhabitat) and just had to share it!

The U.K.'s David Stovell design uses tightly rolled newspapers for its Sunday Papers series, which includes stools (pictured), chairs and tables in a range of sizes and styles.

What I love about it, beyond the obvious eco-friendly aspect of re-using newspapers, is how you can pretty much read the headlines.

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a nerd, but can you imagine getting a stool made out of the leftover papers from major events? It sure would beat scrapbooking!

Pac-Man and Mario and Donkey Kong – oh my!

My husband, who works in the tech media, is a huge video game fan, dreaming of the day when a corner of our home (likely his office) will be decorated to reflect his passion and display his ever-growing collecting of swag.

It’s an industry largely marketed with child-friendly cardboard cut-outs, stickers, posters and plastic statuettes, so I must admit that I was very impressed with his latest game-inspired décor finds, many discovered via gaming blog Kotaku.

So impressed, in fact, that I just had to share two of them with you.

First up is “Poufman” from QAYOT, a line of seating sets that evoke classic video game hero Pac-Man - had he eaten squares instead of pellets and been covered in stain-resistant fabric.

Poufman is available in red, black and turtledove (classic Pac-Man yellow is notably absent) and shoppers can mix and match their sets of cube and round Poufmans, even combining multiples to meet seating needs for groups on those long nights of gaming.

The second find is a thoroughly authentic – and licenced – series of Nintendo wall decals from Blik. The $75 sets offer surprisingly stylish scenes from Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong and the New Super Mario Bros, shown right.

As an added bonus, the decals are made using Blik’s Re-Stick – which means video game buffs can move and reuse them.

With these great seats and decals, it looks like video game decor - while still child-friendly - is growing up with its fans.

All the cool kids are talking about it...

The blogosphere has been buzzing about Glide's TwistTogether Lamp.

The glowing Lego-like blocks can be twisted together in a ton of combinations to build your own fun, custom lamp.

Looking at them, I can't help but hear the Super Mario theme song and envisioning our plumber hero jumping over them.

You can even add additional sets, a light up stick man or the soon-to-be released twist-together shelves to the mix.

They're available in chocolate (pictured) or candy colours and are US$109 + shipping per set of four.

See them in action here.