November 24, 2011
Replacing single-glazed windows with brand new double-panes used to be the energy-wise solution. Not any more.
When it comes to improving the energy efficiency of older buildings, one of the major things we tend to think of is replacing single-glazed windows with double-glazed models. A 2004 CMHC report on energy savings proves otherwise. Their case-study research found that replacing doors and windows averaged just 12 percent energy savings compared to 34 percent from insulating the foundation and ceiling plus draftproofing the rest of the house, 14 percent from insulating exterior walls and 39 percent from upgrading the furnace.
So it seems that dumping your single-glazed windows in the landfill and installing double-paned ones, which will have to be replaced if the seal fails, is not only more expensive but it’s also less sustainable. Get the whole story »
November 19, 2011
The gardens of international superstar Luciano Guibbilei are filled with great ideas both for people who love to work in gardens and for people who just love to look at them.
FREE & AMAZING | I’ve collected lots of garden design books over the years, and one of my all-time favourites is a 1971 black and white photo essay on Villa Gamberaia. I’ve never visited this surprisingly sculptural 17th century garden in Florence, and although I’d love to see it, I feel like Hungarian architect Balthazar Korab’s photographs already capture Gamberaia’s startlingly dramatic moods and educate me in ways no single visit ever could.
I pulled Korab’s book from the shelf recently when I realized that several of his photos had been used in Luciano Giubbilei’s 2010 picture book The Gardens of Luciano Giubbilei. Giubbilei, a garden design rock star in England who will be giving a FREE LECTURE in Vancouver on November 19, traces his passion for the style of gardens he makes to a stint in the trenches at Gamberaia and a gift of Korab’s book. Get the whole story »
November 17, 2011
Kick off your Christmas shopping tonight with the Shop Hop sale at numerous groovy Gastown boutiques.
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL | ’Tis the season, and the discount shopping is easy—or at least it will be tonight if you wander down to super-walkable Gastown where Shop Hop will be going on. This evening, between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., 31 of Vancouver’s most stylish shops will be offering pre-Christmas specials you won’t want to miss.
There’ll be music, of course, and free drinks, plus every purchase will net you a coupon you can exchange for comestibles at any of seven groovy eateries. To jump the gun (but never the couch, Tom), we canvassed participating merchants for a preview of what they’ve got on sale; in a holiday mood, many of them were only too happy to share. Get the whole story »
November 16, 2011
The website that pioneered members-only time-limited shopping now ships to Canada. Woo Hoo!
SHOPPING AROUND | With its crazy good deals on coveted designer products like the Hunter boots pictured here, Gilt used to be one of my favourite online shopping destinations.
But then the trouble of getting my purchases home—Gilt only shipped within the United States—eventually got to me. Besides, we Canadians finally got our own flash shopping sites (CLICK HERE for our story). Still, I’d wistfully check Gilt every so often if only for inspiration. Get the whole story »
November 14, 2011
Hedging is one of the most versatile and cost-effective green materials you can use to carve up a garden.
MONEY WELL SPENT | Carving up the garden into outdoor rooms has been so popular over the past 20 years that some designers believe it’s time to retire the idea, but I think it still has value, especially for a small plot where a wide-open design has the potential to be anticlimactic. Garden rooms create opportunities for mysterious and surprising moments, and walls made of hedging material are the easiest, least expensive and most natural way to fashion these kinds of spaces. Get the whole story »
November 9, 2011
Is common household bleach a threat to the environment? Can it kill you?
BACK TO BASICS | Call me a freak, but putting on rubber gloves and plunging my hands into my own toilet bowls to clean them with a scrubbing sponge doesn’t bother me at all. What does bother me is that no matter what cleaning products I use, the bowls of my newish toilets look dirty again in days. Frustrated by the ineffectiveness of Vim, Ajax, Lysol et al., I turned to cheap, common household bleach. Get the whole story »
November 5, 2011
Omer Arbel’s iconic Bocci lights are seriously discounted at this warehouse sale. And half the proceeds go to charity.
GET & GIVE | International superstar Omer Arbel’s stunning bubblelike pendant Bocci lights are only six years old, but they are already considered classics, as recognizable to design devotees as Noguchi coffee tables or Eames chairs would be.
Arbel’s Bocci lighting is manufactured locally in the Armory District in a boutique factory just upstairs from the brand new LivingSpace interiors showroom, which Arbel also designed. Today, Bocci is opening its doors to the public between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. for a warehouse sale and factory tour. With deep discounts on Bocci fixtures with slight imperfections (and believe me they’re slight; I’ve seen them) and a cool-looking factory (plus showroom) to view, serious design lovers will want to take advantage of this event. Get the whole story »
September 20, 2011
Harvest Chinese lantern plant pods to create the perfect, illuminated Thanksgiving or Halloween display.
I first spotted brilliant orange Chinese lanterns fitted over mini-lights on an organically decorated Christmas tree. This is one way to use them for sure, though I like them better when they are used to create an original Thanksgiving or Halloween display. I love them threaded through a tangle of branches on the front porch or on top of the mantel or on a dinner table. I also love mini-lanterns strung around doorways for a punch of spot-on seasonal colour. Get the whole story »
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August 25, 2011
Here’s a way to control weeds that’s ecofriendly and economical.
When it comes to weed control, there are people who swear by landscape plastic or fabric. And then there are those who swear at it. I am one of the latter.
In the garden of my new house, both plastic and fabric were used to cover weeds, and then topped with gravel and soil. Tough, deep-rooted salal, blackberry and salmonberry plants found their way through or around the edges of the material, which, instead of suppressing them, made it impossible to get at the roots to pull them out. Plastic also prevents water and air from getting through to deep tree roots. Get the whole story »
August 18, 2011
Here’s how to create instant impact in the garden by using the same ordinary element over and over again.
CHEAP & CHIC | It takes a certain kind of fearlessness to believe that you can make a cliché look fresh. The cliché I’m referring to here is the wide-rimmed dime-a-dozen terracotta pot found in every nursery and hardware store from there to China. You know the (inexpensive) kind I’m talking about, pictured here empty. If you’re like me, you cannot wait to replace yours with their more curvaceous Italian cousins, or some skinny Long Toms from England, or something stunning in Asian stoneware. Get the whole story »
