Sometimes I think the rest of my life is going to mainly consist of asking, “that was how long ago?” The passage of time is on fast-forward. It’s already been five years since our friends Laurie and Jeff moved a house to cottage country. …
Throwback Thursday – A Moving Experience Read More »
It appears that I won’t be writing House Proud for Sun Media anymore. My column has been running across the country for about 9 years now, but the marketplace has changed and the newspapers sections are getting smaller. But my terrific friend Erin had a great idea. …
Everything Old is New Read More »
Everyone is familiar with the Man Cave, that secluded spot where the male head of the household can go alone to watch sports, or invite his buddies and maybe enjoy a stinky cigar without fear of reprisal. But what about the female head of the home? If Dad can have a cave, then Mom should have one too. …
House Proud: Mom Cave is an Idea Whose Time has Come – Sept 17, 2014Read More »
House Proud: Mom Cave is an Idea Whose Time has Come – Sept 17, 2014 Read More »
My latest House Proud column is about our new deck, which you might be sick of by now! It’s been the subject of a few posts lately. …
House Proud: Spiffy addition raises age-old question: To stain or not to stainRead More »
House Proud: Spiffy addition raises age-old question: To stain or not to stain Read More »
If you’re lucky, you get to see trends come around a second and possibly even a third time. When platform shoes came back into vogue in the late 1990s, how I wished I’d kept the ones I wore to my Grade 8 grad. …
House Proud: Parlez-Vous Parlour? for Sun Media Read More »
Over many years and several houses, I’ve painted dozens of rooms and a hundred pieces of furniture. It drove my husband crazy when I wouldn’t properly prepare the space for inevitable splatters and spills. And then there’s cleanup, which is even worse than getting ready. There’s no putting lipstick on this pig. Painting stinks and I have plenty of reader input to show I’m not alone. …
House Proud: Simply Put, Painting is Hard Work Read More »
A colleague is taking a night course in beer tasting and he came to work the morning after a recent class with a new understanding of his girlfriend. Having spent the evening trying to distinguish between flavours with the slightest differences, he finally got how she could spend hours poring over paint chips, when to him, they all looked pretty much alike. Beer, like paint, is made with different undertones and finishes. But only one of them looks appropriate on your wall. …
House Proud: Beautiful Blues to Reign as Colour of the YearRead More »
House Proud: Beautiful Blues to Reign as Colour of the Year Read More »
It’s a skin-tight, shimmering gown on the runways of Paris. It’s the ornate, metallic detail on an imposing cabinet. It’s the mirrored finish surrounding a well-stocked bar. Glam is back, baby, and if it’s not kicking minimalist to the curb, it’s entering the room like a showy cousin. …
House Proud – Glam is Back, Baby! Read More »
My work has brought me a lot of cool things from concert tickets, to clothes, to opportunities to meet special people. And last week, my position as columnist for Sun Media brought me a happy box of stuff that could only appeal to someone like me. …
A Box Full of Happiness Read More »
The first time I saw a commercial for 1980s invention, The Clapper, I nearly fell off the couch laughing. The device enabled the sharp sound of clapping one’s hands to turn a switch on or off. The clappers in the commercial were used mostly on lamps. Unfortunately, The Clapper could also be triggered by a dog’s bark or a cough but it was an early attempt at hands-free technology. …
House Proud – Touchless Technology Enters the HomeRead More »
House Proud – Touchless Technology Enters the Home Read More »
“Those patio lanterns, they were the stars in our sky.” Kim Mitchell …
House Proud – Summer Has Some Bright Ideas Read More »
We seem to have finally reached a point where we no longer have to justify a devotion to our pets. A decade ago it raised eyebrows when people learned I routinely took my back-injured Border Collie to a chiropractor. I recall one colleague asking, “Where do you think you’re living, Hollywood?” She didn’t understand that this dog was a superstar to me. …
House Proud – Pet-Friendly Styles are All the RageRead More »
House Proud – Pet-Friendly Styles are All the Rage Read More »
Six years ago, I wrote in this space about decorating kids’ rooms and recalled my obsession with the colour purple, inspired by Donny Osmond, and lovingly indulged by my Mom and Dad. …
House Proud – Decorating Kids’ Rooms Should be FunRead More »
House Proud – Decorating Kids’ Rooms Should be Fun Read More »
Photos of the hideous, shared bathrooms tweeted by visitors to the Olympic games in Sochi, Russia got me thinking about a typical Canadian bathroom, and whether there even is such a thing. I’m assuming those tweeted pictures of cramped, stark toilets were atypical in Russia. At least, I hope so. …
House Proud – Cramped Toilets in Sochi Were StartlingRead More »
House Proud – Cramped Toilets in Sochi Were Startling Read More »
A squeak in the floor is more than just annoying. It ruins sleep. It interrupts a conversation. And it has the potential to wreck a really good practical joke. Just as you sneak up on your intended victim, the squeak gives you away. …
Silence Those Squeaky Floors – House Proud, Sun MediaRead More »
Silence Those Squeaky Floors – House Proud, Sun Media Read More »
Flip through photographs of homes of the very wealthy and you won’t see a lot of bare wood. Furniture is either highly glossed or adorned with elaborate finishes that cost thousands. While a cherub-painted ceiling and gold-embossed night-stands might not be to your taste, a few ornate pieces here and there can really bring a home to life. …
House Proud – Create An Opulent Finish That’s AffordableRead More »
House Proud – Create An Opulent Finish That’s Affordable Read More »
We ask a lot of our bathrooms. They have to function well and wash, flush and drain away the day for us. Even more than our bedroom, the bathroom is where we retreat to when we need to shut out the world and find some precious “me” time. They hold and they hide our secrets in the form of lotions and potions and much like Las Vegas, what happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom. …
House Proud: Bathrooms are Meant to be Enjoyed – Sun MediaRead More »
House Proud: Bathrooms are Meant to be Enjoyed – Sun Media Read More »
Frequent dinner-party guests know there are three topics to avoid if you want to have a pleasant evening: politics, religion and countertops. No matter what you prefer in a kitchen counter there will undoubtedly be someone who thinks you’re out of touch and can’t wait to explain why before they’ll pass you the rolls. …
Countertops No Stranger to Controversy – House Proud, Sun MediaRead More »
Countertops No Stranger to Controversy – House Proud, Sun Media Read More »