With the peak summer season just around the corner, it’s time to turn your attention outside and spruce up your decks, balconies and patios to create a beautiful outdoor oasis for your guests. As our six simple tips demonstrate, whether you have a tiny balcony or a sprawling patio, it doesn’t take much to elevate your outdoor spaces to rival those of an upscale boutique hotel. Afterall, that is the experience your guests are looking for this summer. 1 A STATEMENT AREA RUG – Any outdoor space will be elevated immediately when it’s anchored with an outdoor rug. Rugs are also a good way to intro ..read more

Whether it’s a small original, a limited edition print, or a massive canvas, art that speaks to you creates a layered and interesting home that will stand out in the sea of AirBnB listings. We are sharing our five favourites places to source artwork that benefits the maker – no big box solutions here! 1. ART GALLERIES Become a regular visitor – either online or in person – at your local, or not so local, art galleries. Typically a gallery will have a broad range of style and price point, and feature emerging artists as well as established artists. I follow a number of galleries across the cou ..read more

With the influx in demand industry wide, vendors of furniture across the globe are seeing unprecedented delays. Here’s why. 1 – MATERIAL SHORTAGES The increase in demand for furniture has resulted in production delays for the raw materials needed to fabricate everything from furniture to appliances – think wood, foam, steel, fabric. Foam particularly has been hit hard: most foam manufacturers are located in Texas and Louisiana. With the addition of a hurricane and an extremely cold winter slowing production, foam still is in high demand and low supply. Even though we have pivoted to work wit ..read more

  Ahh, the humble white subway tile. While it was the design darling for a while, of late it has lost a little bit of its’ lustre and has been relegated to the boring pile. However, I think this classic 3 x 6 tile still has merit, much like a good pair of jeans and a white T. Here’s why: It’s cost effective – at $2.30ish a square foot from your local big box hardware store, it represents unbeatable value for money. And who doesn’t like a bargain in the midst of a renovation? It’s versatility – there are so many ways to make this cost effective tile work for your personal style as there ar ..read more

Move over boring backsplashes, it’s time to up the style quotient and impress your personality on your kitchen with a jaw droppingly awesome tile backsplash. I personally love a statement making tile – you can keep all the other elements in your kitchen conservative, or cost effective even, and then add an amazing tile to your kitchen to elevate it to something truly special. Tile magically blends three characteristics – colour, shape and pattern. I’m sharing some of my favourite ideas to demonstrate what’s possible: 1. ONE COLOUR + SHAPE Amazingly simple, but impactful. These two examples s ..read more

There is no doubt that renovating a kitchen is one of the most highly anticipated renovations. With kitchens now operating as the hub of the home, the impact of creating a spanking new space from which to command day to day life can’t be underestimated. And who wouldn’t be excited about saying sayonara to an old, dysfunctional and ugly kitchen!? Kitchens are also one of the most costly renovations to undertake. If you are struggling to stay on budget and you’re not sure where to cut costs without sacrificing the overall look and function, read on. I’m spilling the beans straight from the desig ..read more

  Summer is here , and it’s a great time to update the exterior of your home with paint. Although in some cities there aren’t too many true mid-century gems, there are still 50’s and 60’s bungalows, and rad properties from the 70’s whose simple architecture lends itself to a mid-century inspired update. As the colour of your home has a huge impact on curb appeal, and is something you don’t change very often, it’s a good idea to take your time to plan the right colour choices to create the mid-century inspired exterior for your home that you have been dreaming of. Here are my tips for choo ..read more

Are you working from home for the first time?  I’ve been based from a home office for the majority of my working life, and if you can believe it, many of those years were spent sharing the same office space with my husband, who also works from home. We decided to share our tips on what we do to make it work, juggling family commitments, and how we manage to spend so much time together without a mention of the ‘D’ word! 1. CREATE A ROUTINE Do your best to get up at the same time each day, shower and dress for work and build in time for other morning routines. Journalling, meditating, rea ..read more