From March 22nd to the 25th, the new CE Centre on Uplands drive hosted the Ottawa Home and Garden show. With lots of room inside, the CE centre allows for a much more unified show than Landsdowne Park. Aside from venue, the main difference between this show and the Ottawa Home and Design show is that the latter has more interior design, and this one has a lot of temporary indoor gardens and smells way better! There are couple of [...]
Architect Mies Van der Rohe famously said “less is more”. When your home is a small house or apartment, this phrase can become a lifeline – especially if your taste in décor is contemporary. It can be very difficult to change from a hard-boiled packrat to minimalista, but the rewards are many. Over time I have developed a need for a certain amount of negative space in my interiors. As a girl I covered every conceivable inch of wall space [...]
Making the Decision A kitchen renovation is one of the most difficult projects a DIYer can attempt. With structural, plumbing, wiring and carpentry components, kitchen renos are definitely a complex undertaking. The inconvenience during the project is at a maximum as well: a whole new strategy for food preparation and clean-up has to be devised (dishes in the bathtub, anyone?). Sometimes, just getting to the point where you can start a project that you really want to do can be [...]
Sadly, I think the people who really need to read this post never will. Regardless, and at the risk of preaching to the choir, I offer for your consideration the following love letter to my own neat freak proclivities. First Thing’s First: Why Bother? Before you spend a lot of time and money on bathroom renovations, I recommend that you adopt an intensive weekly cleaning regimen for a number of reasons: To figure out if you actually need to renovate. [...]
My inner tree hugger is completely at war with my inner neat freak when it comes to composting. Not only have I composted at home for a few years, but I have also been taking home the compost from work. This means that I have 4 bins to manage: The mini bin in my kitchen (thank you, City of Ottawa) The mini bin I use to truck compost home from work The large green bin that goes to the curb [...]