Win a KitchenAid refrigerator!

I know, I know … it’s been ages since I’ve posted. I’ve been swamped but I do intend to come back in full force in the coming weeks. We’ll get back to checking out great new products and cool things for house and home. But in the meantime, I was sure that you’d all want to know about the opportunity to win a KitchenAid refrigerator (retail value: $3,599).

Click here to enter.

Good luck and I’ll be back soon!

flora and flight stationery

More stationery I love. Shocking, I know. These adorable designs have a bit of a French country charm to them and portray pretty botanical images that make me think of spring, even though winter is showing no signs of releasing its stranglehold. That’s not very optimistic, is it? Anyways, the Flora and Flight collection features pocket pads, note cards and gift enclosures that are not only impossibly sweet but so handy to have at home for emergencies … OK, not EMERGENCIES, exactly. They’re no good for putting out fires in the kitchen or anything. But you know … emergencies like forgotten birthdays and last-minute dinner parties (you know you never like to show up empty-handed).

All available for purchase online at randomhouse.ca.

Flora & Flight Pocket Pads, $11.95

Flora & Flight Note Cards, $15

Flora & Flight Gift Enclosures, $15.95

office accessories

Everything’s better in crystal, don’t you think? If you thought Swarovski was all about cute but utterly pointless crystal dust-collectors … I mean figurines, collectibles, whatever you want to call them … think again! The crystal retailer offers up a killer collection of all kinds of blinged-out treats, from jewelry and accessories to home decor goodies like picture frames and stemware. But my faves are these office accessories that are totally extravagant but so pretty to look at. Talk about taking something ordinary and making it special! The Amazone Headphones (pictured left) are made of polished stainless steel with fully faceted drop-cut crystals on the ear buds. The Lock Out USB Key (pictured right) is a memory stick, masquerading as a lock. This 1GB memory stick is also made with polished stainless steel and Silver Shade crystals. You’re going to want to take good care of these!

Prices:
Amazone Headphones: $175
Lock Out USB Key: $210
Available at Swarovski stores across Canada; for more, visit swarovski.com

PLUS: Check out 10 home office must-haves on styleathome.com.

enter to win!

I love the sleek design of this fab Hamilton Beach Liquid Blu blender. Not only will it whip up amazing treats (smoothies are my favourite!), it’ll look stunning perched on your kitchen counter.

Click here for your chance to win one of two of these great blenders!

hermes teacups

Bold, brilliant, beautiful. These Hermes teacups and saucers are gorgeous, featuring painted scroll patterns inspired by the intricate ironwork found on Spanish balconies …. who would have thought? I just love the boldness of the red on the delicate porcelain of these cups and saucers.

Available at: bluefly.com
Price: $198 for set of 2 teacups and saucers (left), $252 for set of 2 teacups and saucers (right)

Afternoon tea, anyone? Start a new tradition with our guide to teatime etiquette.

message on a candle

How pretty? This set of 12 candles from redenvelope.com is absolutely delightful. Burn one candle every month for a year and focus on the candle’s message for the month. Each candle features a “wish” written down the side, wishes like Love, Joy, Adventure, Balance and Comfort. What a lovely idea. The candles are lightly scented with a floral aroma and each one burns for about 36 hours.

Available at: redenvelope.com
Price: $75 for set of 12

Plus, check out styleathome.com’s slideshow of 14 tested candles and fragrances for your home.

fab file folders

If these colourful and stylish file folders don’t motivate you to organize the heaps of junk on your desk into neat, orderly piles, perfectly protected in pretty file folders, there’s just no help for you. Sorry.

Available at: crane.com
Price: $11.95 for package of 6 (left), $12.95 for package of 12 (right)

Are you a piler or a filer? Take the quiz to find out!

jeweled pencils

A few weeks ago, I bemoaned the fact that rarely do we handwrite personal letters or cards and send them out via postal service. And if pretty paper (like the kind I blogged about here) isn’t enough to inspire you to put your computer away and communicate the old-fashioned way, maybe these jeweled pencils will do the trick. This simply but stylishly packaged slide box of five pencils is the perfect gift for yourself … or … fine, for someone else. With a Swarovski lead crystal at the head, these jeweled pencils are more than just writing tools. In the middle of the day, they might just come in handy as chopsticks to hold your hair up. They are jeweled, after all.

Available at: violet.com
Price: $15 for a box set of five

Check out some of my favourite stationery.

macbook air

I love it. I want it. It’s as simple as that. I can’t help it – I’m a gadget girl and this latest chef d’oeuvre from the masterminds at Apple really makes my heart race. The sleek and innovative design of the MacBook Air just reinforces why they say, “Once you go Mac, you never go back.” Who says? I don’t know. People say. I’ve heard them.

I mean, OK – do we really need our laptops to be so impossibly thin that we can interoffice them to colleagues in a manila envelope? Not so much. (Not to mention, if I had one, I wouldn’t let anyone else put their grubby hands on it, anyways!) But that’s the beauty of it. This isn’t about necessity. It’s about creativity. It’s about inspiration. It’s about creating something not because you have to but because you can.

I know, I know, it lacks features. It’s only got one USB port (gasp!), it lacks storage space (compared to its equally pretty but more powerful predecessors) and it carries a hefty price tag (considering the aforementioned). But I guess that’s what love is. Sometimes blind, often irrational, always from the heart, no matter how misguided. Look, I know I’ve been suckered …

This would look so good in my home office. Or in a manila envelope on my desk. Or in my pocket.

For more great ideas for your home office, visit styleathome.com.

P.S. Styleathome.com recently launched a free monthly newsletter, full of design and decorating information. Have you seen it? Sign up for it here.

pretty pottery

Worn and rustic-looking, these wheel thrown pottery bowls are just beautiful! I love the earthtone colours of this pottery. Use them for everyday food (rice seems right, but use them for everything from cereal to ice cream) or simply use them as pretty display pieces on the kitchen table.

Available at: etsy.com
Price: $15 each

seafood recipes

I sometimes think I could live on a steady diet of seafood. Mmm! Just looking at the pictures of these delish dishes revs my taste buds into high gear. You don’t have to visit expensive seafood restaurants to enjoy your favourite surf fare. Easy recipes abound at styleathome.com. Check them out here.

Want more great recipes?

Soup recipes

Pasta recipes

Chicken recipes

decorating with area rugs

I love beautiful wood floors in dark, rich tones. The older, the better. They can evoke a feeling of nostalgia and hold a history of homeowners past. But sometimes, even the most beautiful of floors need a rug to serve any number of purposes; delineating separate spaces, adding warmth underfoot or simply adding a burst of colour and personality to a conservative space. I love these contemporary patterns from Angela Adams. They’re bold but not brash and can add a touch of whimsy to a living room or bedroom. They’re 152×243 in size. Need help searching for the perfect rug? Check out styleathome.com’s area rug buying guide.

Available at: Home Depot
Price: Ranges from $349 to $599

For more great designs from Angela Adams, check out angelaadams.com.

Plus, check out more flooring options. For style, pricing and availability in Canada, your top eco-chic flooring choices are bamboo, linoleum, cork and reclaimed hardwood. Read the story.

how to fold bathroom towels

It’s not so much that there’s a right way and a wrong way to fold towels – it’s more a case of … well, folding your towels a certain way can give them a fluffy, spa-look. Want to learn how? Check out the latest video on styleathome.com – all about, yep, you guessed it, how to fold your bath towels.

Looking for more bathroom decorating and design ideas? Look no further. Check out these articles:

Bathroom renovations

5 bathroom no-nos

Quiz: How clean is your bathroom?

how to be a good houseguest

Houseguests often get a bad rap. It’s not easy being one. While visiting friends and family can be wonderful and oftentimes, these visits are long overdue … staying over one or two nights might just remind you why you don’t do it more often. It can just be plain difficult to adapt to someone else’s life at home. But if you are going to be a houseguest for a night or two, start things off right from the moment you step foot inside the house you’ll be calling home for a little while. Show up bearing gifts. Bribe your host or hostess with something that’s sure to delight. Pictured left to right: Happy Hour Carafe and Glasses ($32), Towering Espresso Set ($32) and Weighted Sphere Vase ($72), all from violet.com.

Find out how to welcome guests in style and how to create gorgeous guest rooms.

say it with pretty paper

I love sending out handwritten notes and cards. I love the whole process of it. I love carefully choosing a card or a piece of pretty paper. I love sharing a few personal words. I love signing off with a flourish, putting to paper the curves and curls of my name, perfected years ago as I sat doodling in one math class or another. But these days, we email. We text message. We Facebook and we MySpace, we instant message and we BlackBerry. We call from landlines, cordless phones and cells. But rarely do we ever take the time to put pen to paper it seems. And with such beautifully designed stationery, it’s really quite a shame. So think about it – pop a note in the mail. These cards pictured above are like a little piece of art that anyone would be thrilled to receive in the mail. Check out fabulousstationery.com for tons more designs.

Plus, take a look at these beautiful stationery options. You’re going to want to write a letter now. Do it.