Design: do-it-yourself or done-for-you?

Last week's poll asked readers whether they're more do-it-yourself (DIY) or done-for-you (DFY) when it comes to their home decor projects.

A quarter of readers, at an even 25 per cent, said they would hire a designer to help out while nearly half, at 43 per cent, said no.

An additional 31 per cent said they might enlist professional help in their home decor.

Personally, I'm a DFY kind of girl. I like to have input and seek out products that I love, but I'd love to draw on the connections and knowledge base of a designer to help me achieve "my" look. They have the know-how to let clients know if a dream product actually exists, and if it doesn't, they know who can make it happen. Discounts on higher end products and access to trade-only goodies doesn't hurt either!

This week, our poll asks whether the ability to turn a condo into a walk-up would make a building more appealing. One condo owner profiled this week did just that, creating a homier-sized unit by working with the builders. Read more here and here.

For more fab weekend reading, check out what I had to say about the Interior Design Show and take a peek at Colin and Justin's gorgeous kitchen reno (I wish I could just transplant it into my own home! Those mirrored cabinets are divine.).

Me and Karim Rashid!

So, IDS last night was full of gorgeous displays and wonderful products (get a much more eloquent description here), along with a healthy dose of Veuve Clicquot and Belvedere Vodka, but getting my photo taken with designer Karim Rashid was a real highlight!

Rashid is the industrial designer behind many familiar household products, including the iconic Umbra garbage can.

I'm on the left, and to the right is my style-savvy colleague Brandie Weikle, editor of parentcentral.ca and healthzone.ca.

Read more about the Interior Design Show here.

Slow cookers hot for '09?

While anchoring may be the premiere trend expectation for 2009, this is really a catch-all term for the many things people will do to nest in the coming months — from purchasing cable knit blankets and gourmet hot chocolate to kitting out home bars and theatre sets.

One fascinating facet is the prophesied rise of the slow cooker. One such prediction comes from the CBC's Food Bytes team, which writes that as people stay in more, they will turn to the slow cooker, "the perfect vessel for comfort food, and turning inexpensive cuts of meat into nourishing meals."

As a new-ish slow cooker owner, I'm still learning to branch out from the chili and pasta sauce standbys, but certainly enjoy coming home to a warm, cooked meal after a day of work.

And, I recently learned there's lots of room to grow — props to Food Bytes for sharing the link — with the "A Year of Crockpotting" blog.

Blogger Stephanie was a little ahead of the curve, spending 2008 trying a different recipe every day. From a solid beef and broccoli recipe (which I tried yesterday) to candles and even a full turkey, she reviews each effort — including some failures — for a full 366 days (it was a leap year).

What do you think? Will you dust off your slow cooker and/or try some new recipes this winter?

Buy a skillet, plant a tree

OK, so maybe it's not as catchy as "Save the cheerleader, save the world" but I think Earthchef has got something going for it!

The Canadian line of earth-friendly pots, pans, utensils, induction cooktops and cutlery, manufactured by Berghoff and sold at the Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters (check them out online here) also happens to be pretty and both user- and wallet-friendly.

The company has also partnered with Tree Canada to reduce its carbon footprint, and for every 11-inch skillet sold, the company will sponsor the planting of one tree and its maintenance for five years.

They sent me their 11-inch skillet to try, and I must say that I was very impressed. The non-stick ceramic coating (touted as being six times stronger than traditional non-stick coatings) lived up to its name, surviving both my metal spatula and my cooking without incident.   

That performance, when paired with the skillet's $30 price and recycled packaging, was enough to convince me to check out the rest of their line on my own dime - I've already got my eye on their bamboo cutting boards.

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.

Condo show sneak peek

Last night I had the pleasure of hitting up a sneak preview of this weekend's Toronto Condo Show at the Metro Convention Centre.

By going early, I got to miss the crowds and actually spend some time speaking with exhibitors. The downside was that not everything was set up yet - one booth was still receiving its first coat of red paint when I left - but I still got a taste of the show (as well as a Pravda vodka sample).

This year's event is focused on all things green - it's zero-waste, bullfrog powered and features green-themed speakers and exhibits.

A personal highlight was the chance to poke around the Canuhome, pictured right.

The Canuhome, so named because it looks like an upside down canoe from the outside, is a 850-square-foot residence exhibit built to meet environmental standards and outfitted with eco-conscious products. Canuhome has been on tour for a while, but this was my first chance to see it up close.

From adorable ant-printed pillows from MADE (I know, it doesn't sound cute, but trust me on this one) to the lime green quartz countertops from distributor CIOT (it's available in 25 other colours), the model home also helps show that green can be fun and trendy as well as environmentally responsible.

As I wandered along, listening to a great presentation by keynote speaker Andrew Bowerbank on the role homes and houses play in representing our concerns as a race and the role we, and our buildings, have to play in combatting climate change, I couldn't help but find myself drooling over the condo-sized furniture at casalife - which had a fab black lacquer-finished desk that expands to full table size - and the space-saving, trendy designs at Roomy's exhibit.

I also eyed some movable, and wall mounted, condo-sized electric fireplaces, which, with the temperature dropping like crazy this week, seem like a particularly alluring investment. My last home had a remote-controlled one, and the extra warmth (without any cleanup!) was very welcome all winter long.

I snagged some great 'greening' tips from the Ontario Centre for Green Building Design and Development - like turning down water heaters and using ceiling fans to help ease heating and cooling - as well as super simple step-by-step tips on buying new and resale condos from Heenan Blaikie's reps.

I also had a nice time chatting with folks from home staging company designedtosell.ca, who said working as a stager - while obviously enjoyable - was also a little bit like moving every day.

One thing I did miss out on by coming early was the near-legendary condo site bus tours, which ferry you around to the latest developments. While many developers were at the show - with mini condo towers and gorgeous renderings on display - nothing beats actually checking out the location.

The condo show runs all weekend. Tickets are $12 for adults.

Willing to give wallpaper another chance?

While wallpaper may be gaining ground in magazines and among designers, Yourhome readers answering last week's poll said they're not planning to embrace the trend when they redecorate their homes.

More than 66 per cent said they wouldn't paper their walls, while just under 20 per cent said they were thinking about it and 15 per cent have already broke out the paste and tried it in their home.

I've personally been tempted to wallpaper at least a portion of my new apartment after drooling over the lush new colours and textures on the market - a bold, graphic print may make an excellent accent wall in a trendy condo while a textured or foil paper can add interest to almost any room. Other noteworthy new trends include wallpapered ceilings or framing a particularly lovely paper sample and treating it as art.

However, like many of the voters in the poll, I've been hesitant to take the plunge and paper my walls - in part because I can still remember an ill-fated redecoration when I was a kid, in which the paper actually fell off the walls in the middle of the night.

As a result, I'll likely continue to paint, throwing in some texture techniques to add that extra little bit of visual interest that window shopping for wallpaper has made me crave.

This week's poll asks readers to choose their favourite room to redecorate - I know it's hard to pick just one, but give it a try! Cast your vote on the bottom left of the front page.

Crate and Barrel opens in Canada

U.S.-based home decor, housewares and furniture chain Crate and Barrel opened its doors in Canada for the first time yesterday, drawing a big crowd at its new Yorkdale Shopping Centre location.

By 11 a.m., a mere hour after opening, shoppers were crowding the halls, baskets laden with contemporary-looking dishes, cookbooks and decorations as well as pillows, sheets and blankets in lush and trendy colours — including fabulous mossy greens and vibrant royal purples (which we all know I have a weakness for.)

As I wandered around the bottom floor, filled with kitchen supplies, office furniture, decor items and throw pillows, I was thoroughly overwhelmed by the number of other shoppers (it was a Thursday, so while crowds were expected, I figured some of those eager shoppers would need to work) and the sheer quantity and variety of products in my favourite shade of purple.

On my first trip through the lower level, I was so taken with the dinnerware and decor that I missed the healthy smattering of dining and living room tables and chairs dotting the floor, decked out in ways sure to impress guests for Thanksgiving or Halloween.

All hands were on deck at the banks of cash registers, and the staff was almost surprisingly cheerful and upbeat considering the crowds. Checkout time was speedy, and two very helpful salespeople were more than happy to answer my questions, help me with my basket and just welcome me to the store.

And, customers were just as happy to welcome them. It seemed like every time I turned a corner, someone was exclaiming happily, "I've been looking all over for this" or "Finally, something that will match my living room." People were happily stacking up goodies for their holiday tables, gifts and kid's dormrooms.

Shoppers were also busy at the contest kiosks, where you can enter to win a $500 gift certificate in monthly draws — and, by the looks of the baskets and people roaming around, no one would have any trouble spending it!

Moving upstairs in the 35,000 square-foot-store, I was greeted by even more shoppers testing out comfy looking sofas and chairs, gorgeous beds and checking out the rainbow of fabric samples, textures and colours to customize their choices.

A lot of the products are Crate and Barrel exclusives, which helps the store carve out its niche in an already crowded market, and another nice perk is that much of the furniture is made with eco-friendly concerns in mind, including sustainable sources of wood. In the States, the store is almost legendary for its gift registry, which offers registrants the chance to purchase the rest of their goodies after the event with a 10 per cent discount. Sadly, the registry won't be online until 2009.

I kept telling myself I was visiting solely for research purposes, but couldn't help but fall prey to a fabulous silver vase (it looks simply smashing on my bookcase), purple glass tealight holders (only $1.50 a pop!), silver picture frames (how else will I showcase those wedding photos?) and a few other odds and ends for my still-in-progress living room.

I did exercise some restraint, opting to take some time to think about the soft purple throw for my yet-unpurchased new sofa (though a microfibre fawn three-seater did catch my eye) and a lush, antique-looking purple velvet chair.

I wove my way out of the still crowded store more than an hour after I ventured in for what I promised my husband would be a "quick trip, just to poke around.”

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.