Toronto Renovation Stories & Expert Advice
Wallcoverings and more...
Wallpaper is "in" again. Ten years from now we will likely all be cursing it as we scrape the remnants of it off our walls mumbling "what were we thinking?" but in the meantime, it does add a dimension to your walls that paint can't.
When I was at the Interior Design Show in February, I found
The Wallpaper Company. They have a great website where you can look at wallpaper in a room. Of course it's not quite the same as seeing it on your own walls, but it is a handy tool if you can't imagine the impact of the paper you've chosen. I had a lot of fun playing around with wallpaper samples I would never dream of putting on my walls -- and was surprised to see how good they looked. Wallpaper from The Wallpaper Company is available through select
Home Depot stores in the Toronto region. Go to the Wallpaper Company website click on "store locator" to find the one nearest you.
A cute and colourful label is the new
"Schoolyard Studio" line of hand printed wallpapers. They are designed and hand screen printed in Toronto by the team of textile designers Hilary Denis and Katy Chan. The website isn't quite ready yet, but you can get an idea of the fun prints they use for the paper. Right now the wallpaper is "hand print-screened" and made in small batches with low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) print medium. Rolls are 10 meters in length, 52cm width, and range between $14.50-$18 per meter. In the fall the company will have a range of digitally printed wallpaper available.
Another interesting company I found was
Wall Huggers. The product is an "upholstered wall panel" that comes in pre-measured sizes of 20"x 20", 20"x30", 20"x40" and 40"x30" -- custom orders are available upon request. The natural use for these panels is as a headboard, but there are other applications such as the seatbacking for a banquette or hall bench.
The
Designer Glass Company has been making specialized glass surfaces since the 1950s. Using a special technique that bonds the colour to the glass, it can be used in a variety of ways. The most common uses for the product are shower walls in the bathroom and backsplashes in the kitchen. Not only are there different colour and finish options (smooth and glossy versus sandblasted), a picture can be painted on the glass as well. For a look at some of their
work, visit
the website.
Labels: home decor, wallcoverings
Posted by Cathy
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Home maintenance, local workshops
This is the time of year when workshops on every sort of home-maintenance related subject abound around the city. Whether you're interested in installing solar panels on your roof, or planting an edible garden, communities and stores in and around the city host several different kinds of workshops.
Here are just a few we've found while surfing the 'net.
The Toronto Botanical Garden, located beside Edwards Gardens, offers a variety of courses from creating your own edible garden to building with earth.
Gardengreen.ca offers plenty of one-day events throughout the year, catering to Ward 21 in Toronto. In May they are holding a workshop on "Low Water Gardening."
The Kortright Center offers Green Energy and Green Home workshops throughout the year. You can learn how to install your own solar panels, as well as what are the cleanest and greenest building materials on the market.
The Big Box stores also have some home maintenance workshops.
The Home Depot has a list of
upcoming workshops, covering subjects from "Enhancing your backyard space" to "You can install Vinyl Replacement windows" ....no, really, you can.
Rona offers a list of
Do it Yourself workshops, not surprisingly, the first few focus on outdoor projects from deck and fence building to roof vent and eavestrough installation.
The newest Big Box Store on the Block is
Lowes. The company has project guides and material calculators on the
website.
If you want variety in your
workshops,
Lee Valley Tools is the place to go. While it offers basic courses on tree pruning, because it sells woodworking tools, they also offer couses such as "Relief Carving: Carving an Arabian Horse Head in Relief." The latter is offered on May 17th at the Toronto East store, there are still spaces available.
Labels: Home maintenance, workshops
Posted by Cathy
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Federal and Provincial Renewable Energy Grants and Rebates
With gas at $1.20/litre, I have become very conscious of how much I drive, and in this incredibly great weather, it's been easy to leave the car at home to do some of my errands. The price of gas and diesel have increased so rapidly in the last few months that it can be difficult for us to adapt to them. Rising prices affect the cost of the food as well as heating and cooling our homes. If gas prices continue to rise -- and they're supposed to -- certain kinds of renewable energy sources will become more cost effective than they are now.
The federal and provincial government offer
grants and
rebates of varying degrees for your alternative energy equipment. At the municipal level, the city is supporting a Solar Thermal Project in South Riverdale scheduled for next month called the
Toronto Solar Neighbourhood Initiative.
If you're looking for a supplier and installer of solar panels, wind turbines or geo-thermal equipment,
the Green Living Show runs from April 25-27th at Exhibition Place.
Labels: alternative energy, grants and rebates, Toronto
Posted by Cathy
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Spring Cleaning the great outdoors in the GTA
Sun glorious sun! I don't know about you, but I have no problem saying 'adios' to winter this year! We can finally get outside again and do the things we love...and the things we don't love quite so much but need to do anyway. Like cleaning up around the house and our community. The snow is
almost gone from our street....I'm not kidding: we have one snow bank remaining, as black and crusty and disgusting as it looks, it's still there. I'm sure underneath we'll find many treasures like old juice boxes, tin cans and other residue from the blue box that didn't quite make it into the truck. This time of year, before the grass and after the snow, is, I have to admit, not the most attractive around Toronto.
So, having said that, it's time to get rid of that debris and make our neighbourhoods clean again.
Friday April 18th and
Saturday April 19th are two days in
Toronto and surrounding communities you can mark on your calendar for doing some outdoor work. So far the
forecast is sunny and warm for Friday and so-so for Saturday. Toronto is encouraging everyone to participate in the
"20 minute make over" on Friday and
"Community Clean up" on Saturday to help get our city back in shape. The city will provide anyone participating with a garbage bag and a glove for clean up, available at participating
Pizza Pizza locations and
community centers until supplies last. You can sign up as a group or an individual and take an outdoor break at 2pm on Friday for 20 minutes to help clean up. You could also do it without signing up, after all every little bit helps.
Labels: 20 minute make over, community clean up, Toronto
Posted by Cathy
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Useful websites for Spring Cleaning
I used to be a packrat, but not for the usual reasons. I don't have a particular sentimental attachment to most items…. Okay, so I still have a few sweaters hanging around from the '80s, but hey, I knit them myself! No, the reason I still hang on to things is because I'm "landfill averse," or "LFA" as I like to say. I really hate throwing things out, especially if they still have life left in them. I used to let things pile up until we couldn’t move in the storage area or the garage because I didn't know where they should go. Things like a broken ironing board, a broken vacuum cleaner, a 12 foot long metal pole that used to be a bird feeder, an old working but too- musty-to-use freezer, etc. In effect we had our very own landfill - only cleaner.
Last week Rick Scully guest blogged on garage organization. Part of the process he discussed was getting rid of things you no longer use. It took moving houses for me to finally make the effort to find ways of getting rid of things I no longer needed, but I did it. Below I’ve listed some links to great websites that will help you avoid landfill and clean out that garage at the same time. Oh, and all those metal items I mentioned above went to a scrap metal dealer I found on
Craigslist. He even took the old freezer off my hands!
http://www.toronto.ca/reuseit/nonprofit.htmThis site has a list of places that will take your furniture, books, computers, clothing, small housewares. Some organizations will even pick up.
Another great resource is
freecycle.org. You have to have a Yahoo! Account, but if you want to get rid of things – no selling allowed, it’s all about reusing and recycling, post a request here – it’s great. Chances are good you’ll get a response, no matter what you’re trying to get rid of.
Finally,
craigslist.org is one of my personal favourites. Here you can both give away items and sell items you no longer need. The beauty of this site is that the listing are free, you can add photos and the purchaser will usually come and pick up whatever you’re selling. There’s even a category to advertise a garage sale.
Labels: spring cleaning websites, Toronto
Posted by Cathy
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homemade all-purpose cleaners
I know a couple who decided to get rid of all those harsh chemical cleansers we’ve grown up with because they were just about to have their first child. They switched to the microfiber cloths that are available for almost every surface. The cloths are safe, relatively effective, and best of all, avoid putting more harsh chemicals into our water system. Only, here’s the problem: After using the microfiber cloth system for a month or so, one of the things the couple realized that they missed, was the
smell of clean. When they walked into their house, there was no difference in smell and yet they’d worked hard cleaning the place. They needed something to show for it. Most of us would agree that a fresh scent in the air in a newly cleaned house is part of the pay off for cleaning it, regardless of whether we do it ourselves or pay someone else to do it.
My friend and counterpart in Boston, Melanie Zoltan, has her own recipe for a non-chemical all-purpose cleaner because she and one of her kids have a sensitivity to chemicals. Her homemade all purpose cleaner solves two problems: the first is that it cleans without chemicals, and the second is that if you use lavender oil, it leaves a really nice fresh scent behind.
Melanie’s Homemade All Purpose Cleaner:
12 oz. COLD water (warm water will make the soap foam too much)
2-3 oz. white vinegar
10-12 drops of Tea Tree oil or Lavender oil
1 tbsp. Murphy's Oil Soap
Combine in a spray bottle, shake, and use! Lavender smells MUCH better than tea tree oil, but tea tree oil has antibacterial AND antifungal properties, so if mould-fighting is a concern, tea tree oil is better.
Looking for a cleaning service? Check out
Homestars to find one. Many of them let you provide your cleaning supplies, it costs less that way too, and some even use "green" cleaning supplies.
Labels: house cleaning
Posted by Cathy
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Garage organization 101
Today we have a "Guest Blogger," Rick Scully from NuvoGarage. In the spirit of spring cleaning, Rick is going to talk to us about a topic near and dear to my heart: garage organization. Take it away Rick!
"
My garage is a mess. I’d like to tidy it up but I just don’t know where or how to get started"
Rick Scully, President,
NuvoGarage Inc.
- Ah …this is a problem that faces many home owners as they begin to think about the annual spring cleanup. It’s a perfect time then, for a brief discussion about how to take control of your garage space and make it a safe, practical, tidy and clean environment in which to store and organize the many things required to maintain your home and garden.
The most difficult task is one that actually requires no “physical” effort. It’s a “mental” exercise, because you need to decide what you longer need or use. Be ruthless here and avoid the trap that “I may use or need this someday”. Try following these rules:
If it can’t be used, or has no value, toss it.
If you no longer need it, or plan to use it, give it away or sell it.
If you need it and use it, keep it.
- Try and get everything off of the floor and on to the walls or ceiling;
- Organize by season, purpose and occasion;
- Think about how frequently, or when, you use things.
Next year at this time, or perhaps even sooner at the next typical time to clean up (Thanksgiving), think of how much time you’ll be able to dedicate to doing something else. Your garage will have been organized and you’ll have less clutter as you’ll find that once your things have a place, you’ll return them to their space after you use them. Hmmm…more time and less clutter. And, you’ll feel better about your garage, maybe even “garage proud”.
NuvoGarage Inc. is a privately owned full service firm based in Ontario that specializes in interior garage design and organization. We take care of all of the required work from removal of junk, hazardous chemicals and reusable items, to custom design and transformation of your garage.
http://www.nuvogarage.com/.
Labels: garage organization, Toronto
Posted by Cathy
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What to do with a flooded basement.
If your basement floods:
Sometimes a flooded basement is unavoidable. Below are some points from the city of Toronto's document on what to do in case your basement floods.
- Call the city to make sure it’s not a city tree root issue or a blocked sewer line as this will become its responsibility (416) 338-8888.
- Call your insurance company immediately and find out what coverage you have.
- Electricity and water don’t mix! Disconnect any appliances or other electronic devices that might come in contact with the water, you may need to disconnect the power to the basement first. Be careful you’re not standing in water or on damp ground when disconnecting.
- Be careful when you clean! Where the proper clothing – rubber boots, a mask, rubber gloves, there could be waterborne bacteria and mould, especially if the sewer has backed up. Wash all affected walls and floors with a mixture of chlorine bleach and water (1 part chlorine, 10 parts water). Wash and disinfect all furniture and carpets, or have them professionally cleaned and deodorised.
- Use homestars to help you find the professionals to clean your basement for you.
Labels: basement flooding, Toronto
Posted by Cathy
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Basement flooding and the city's responsibility.
It’s "April showers" time! Just what we need after a record breaking snow filled winter... more water! Sure we’ll get those flowers in May, but we may also be stuck with the not so pleasant flooded basement before that happens. The city provides information on how to avoid flooding in your basement to the best degree possible. The basic points are:
- Grade your land so that water flows away from your house.
- Disconnect your downspout from city sewers and make sure the downspout drains at least six feet from your foundation -- and preferably into lawn or soil.
- Clear snow away from the edge of your house. When the ground is frozen, water will find its way into any cracks in a home's foundation.
- Clear eavestroughs and downspouts of debris.
- If your house has a sump pump, make sure it’s working.
- Have a backwater valve installed on the main drain to prevent sewage back up into your house.
The city also suggests checking your foundation for holes and cracks and making sure your weeping tiles are still working, however, let me just say that having lived in a house with chronic flooding, these steps are next to impossible without excavating. Basically you won’t know until flooding occurs.
If your basement does flood, the city is only responsible for fixing it if the problem is a blocked sewer arising from a city tree on your property. The city will pay a "life-time maximum of $2000 per house." Call the city if you’re unsure of what to do. (416) 338-8888.
For more information on the city’s tree root program, click on the link below.
http://www.toronto.ca/faq/trees.htm#q5
Need a basement waterproofer? Check out homestars.
Labels: basement flooding, Toronto
Posted by Cathy
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work, visit the website.
