Friday night lights

Rejuvenation is a total go-to company for me when it comes to lighting. I used a fab Deco number - the Atlantic fixture - on a glam little bathroom reno, and recently plunked for their Glide in a living room I'm working on. Oh, and not forgetting the rather Goth Sunset fixture that'll be showing up in one of my Style Scout features in this weekend's National Post (perfect for Halloween).

Astron is one of their more recent fixtures, and the snap below shows a pretty little line of them over a perfectly set dining table. Love Astron's mid-century look, and the mixed up vintage teak dining chairs peppered around the table are just magic. Look for this shot, as well as much more great gear, in the latest Rejuvenation catalogue, plus you can hook up with them on Facebook here.

AWOL in TO

Yep, the last couple of weeks have been, shall we say, major (to quote Ms. Victoria Beckham). Basically we rocked out and got just about everything finished on the house. Seriously. Everything. I am exhausted, as is my other half, and oh, since we weren't quite busy enough we brought home an impossibly cute Whippet puppy on Sunday.

So, what with the arrival of Spot the Whippet, painting, painting and more painting, furniture deliveries out the wazoo, wallpaper going up and hanging artwork, not forgeting the nailbiting time I had watching Dan and Craig of Mieda Design gingerly maneuver a 10ft long upholstered headboard up the stairs - well - no time to regularly post. Anyhoo, I'm back at it and sharing a taste one of my current fave lighting collections. It's called Havana, is designed by the always witty Jonathan Adler for Robert Abbey, and is available from quite a few spots across the country. Apart from lusting over that 3-Light floor lamp (I so have the perfect spot for it), there's another piece I totally fancy; the desk lamp. Take a boo here to see it, and the rest of an online gallery for the Style Scout feature I do for the National Post's Post Homes section.

  

  

Check, check, check it out

This morning is a busy one, calling a v. nice woman in Vienna on the hunt for a missing shot needed for Trendwatch for Canadian House & Home and rustling up contenders for the next Style Scout for the National Post newspaper's Posted Homes section. I was happily interrupted though, by a couple of mags thumping into the mailbox (thanks Postie!). It was the always anticipated arrival of June's House & Home and Bon Appetit.

Good news, since I was asked to hold off on telling you all about the posh and polished re-done House & Home website until the June issue reached subscribers. Okay, now I can let you in on the fact that it's v. cool, and jam-packed with tons of info (way more than before), videos, image galleries and Canadian resources. I do have a fave section though, and that's their brand new editor's blog. Click here to check it out. I'm loving, as usual, Stacey Smither's finds and will be avidly following Meg Crossley's basement reno adventures with The Sicilians (her trusty contractors). Have a poke around the site while you're there, you won't be disappointed, and check out the snaps below of the start of Meg's reno. That last image is Meg's current inspiration, an interior by Kay Douglass. [Image 3: Simon Upton]

  

It takes a sledgehammer

First thing this morning a skip showed up at the new place for the beginning of de-construction. Graham Kaye (our intrepid real estate guy) showed up to help - so much nicer than a bottle of plonk - and he and David went at the back deck with hammer and tong, well, actually sledgehammer and chainsaw. Then the gas powered weed whacker was put to work, with David at the helm, to clear cut the urban jungle of a yard. Honestly, I couldn't be there for the bulk of the work (deadlines) and showed up to lug the remains into the now full skip. I'll post pics tomorrow.

I was re-visiting a bunch of favourite online resources to come up with cool products to feature in the National Post for an upcoming Post Homes Magazine and re-discovered Christpher Jagmin. I like his gear, I've featured his dishware in Flare before, but the graphically etched glasses below are a snappy new addition to his line.

House work

Buying and selling a house takes alot of time. Add in my crazy schedule, that this week included a NY press trip for Samsung, and then deadlines for Flare for October, Canadian House & Home for November, and the National Post for next weekend as well as August, and well, it's a wonder I know what day it is. So, thanks mostly to David's tenacity, we now have the keys to the new place (yay!) and have already popped a cork in celebration with friends. Now the work can begin...

After flying in yesterday from NY I managed to make it to the Holt Renfrew Holday /08 preview. There was, as usual, lots of fabulous things that ranged from blow-the-budget glam (like an Alexander McQueen gold skull and leather tassel keychain) to the affordable (organic spreads from Brit brand Daylesford Organic), and lots of fashionable must-haves in between. And then there was something I was extra happy to find - MOR Cosmetics. Now, before you get in a kerfuffle, no, this isn't turning into a beaty blog. Nope, the MOR line is, hands down, the most beautifully packaged collection I've seen in ages - the creators, an Australian couple, obviously have an eye for intense pattern, inspiring colourways and odd historical references. Love it.