LoveMyPlace.com - Renovation, Design, Real Estate

A clever idea that looks great and makes sense. Removable peel and stick chalkboard panels! Perfect for use in kids’ rooms, workrooms, and the kitchen - anywhere you want a surface on which to make quick reminder notes and lists, or give children their very own small place to scribble and play. Available in black, purple or green. The same company that makes these also sells wall tattoos in the shape of flowers, butterflies and trees. For more information, go to http://www.wallies.com/ 

(more…)

Time management - the notion itself is somewhat ludicrous. None of us can actually manage time. In fact, time more often than it not manages us. But author Stephen Rechtschaffen has proposed a new way of looking at time in his book Time Shifting. Instead of emphasizing how we can squeeze more into our already full lives, he suggests we stop doing in order to live more fully.

(more…)

Label it!

Most households receive a large quantity of address labels from charitable organizations. In the age of email what can we do with all those labels! Here are a few time-saving tips for making good use of them. When filling out forms, use them instead of hand-writing your contact information. When lending a book, place a label on the inside of the dust jacket or inside front cover. When bringing food to a pot luck dinner, put a label on the bottom of your Tupperware container. Carry some in your wallet- affix one to the order form for having film developed. The possibilities are endless!

Remember that to-do list you made in January? The one that’s turning yellow on the fridge door? Well, time is running out to get to those tasks before the calendar changes for the last time this year. If you need some motivation, imagine yourself making a spanking new list of chores for 2008 on a pristine piece of paper.  If that doesn’t work, try treating yourself to a cool new tool as an incentive. Here are a few that might help you get to the bottom of your chore list. (more…)

When LMP Design Editor William MacDonald was preparing his talk on trends for the 2007 Creativfestival, held recently at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto, we took notes. That’s because we know that if trendmeister William says a colour, look or theme is about to appear on the scene, it’s on the way. Here’s the short list of what William says will be hot in 2008. Look for more news from him on LMP.com in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can catch him on Slice TV’s Three Takes, and his luscious work in the pages of the November issue of Canadian House and Home.

William MacDonald’s Top Trends for 2008

Desert tones
Chindia (influence of China/India)
Veggie Dye colours
The French Riviera
World textiles
Jewel tones
Equestrian Themes
Big Art

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. Those words were written at least 100 years ago by American writer Henry James, a decided Anglophile and an avid tea drinker who loved the convention of an English High Tea. (more…)

On Saturday, Nov. 3rd and Sunday, Nov. 4th, consumers can bring in a string of incandescent Christmas lights to any Home Depot store in Ontario and get a discount on new LED lights, which use 80 to 90 per cent less energy than traditional light sets. There are lots of stores launching similar programs, so ask your local hardware dealer if he/she has anything similar in the works. 

It’s 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday and you’re regretting the last-minute dinner invitation you made to your boss/mother-in-law/neighbour, having just remembered that your housecleaner has the week off. So you a) phone your would-be guest and say that a sudden onset migraine is forcing you to cancel, b) exhaust yourself with a frantic attempt to tidy up or c) disguise the disarray by dimming the lights and bringing out some beautiful candles and your favourite holder. (more…)

Induction cooktops were big news at the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show held in Las Vegas last May. That’s because they offer they offer “the best of both worlds,” according to Mathieu Sabbagh, marketing director for Bosch.

“It has the convenience and clean lines of an electric cooktop with the responsiveness of gas. It’s also very safe,” says Sabbagh.

An induction cooktop is basically a large electromagnet panel that quickly transfers or “induces” heat onto any magnetic surface, such as a cast-iron skillet, placed on it. Since the heat transfer is between the electromagnetic field beneath the cooktop and the magnetic surface with which it makes contact, only the pan heats up. So there’s no wasted heat and no part of the exposed element that can burn fingers, or send unused heat into the air. (more…)

The fall colours are gorgeous this year — burnished reds and glimmering golds, with vivid splashes of deep purple and hot orange. I hear the leaves are turning pretty colours now too, but I’m too busy picking paint colours for the bedroom to go out and look. (more…)