HomeStars – News and Updates

Too beautiful at the White Rock Home Show

It’s too nice outside – we need some rain! I thought I was in Vancouver . We are having a great show this weekend and homeowners are showing up to chat to contractors and home improvement services despite the gorgeous weather outside.

Shannon Wong and I have walked around to visit the various exhibitors to learn about their business. Back this show is Bruce Hunter and his daughter Lara Hunter from Hunter Landscape Design. I met them at the Langley show a few weeks ago. They are a talented father and daughter team that offer landscape design services as well as a full nursery called Selections Nursery & Design Centre located on 176th Street in Surrey.

Lara Hunter from Hunter Landscape Design

Rita Hunter from Selections Nursery & Design Centre

Greg Hazelwood from Energy Miser Solutions also has participated in several shows in the lower mainland. Energy Miser provides top quality windows, doors, vinyl siding, insulation and furnaces – with a focus on saving us money on our energy consumption. He has a cute bulldog as their brand mascot.

Greg Hazelwood with EnergyMiserSolutions.ca

Brent Klemke from Benchmark Painting – a top rated painter by many homeowners in Vancouver  - has the most active booth. Brent holds instructional seminars throughout the show with various designers discussing how small changes like paint and decor can really enhance the look and enjoyment of your home. See my photos of their seminar from the Langley show.  They are also offering a great special -3 rooms for $299. That’s a great deal!

Brent, Benchmark Painting

True Green Geothermal was our neighbour mentioned geo-thermal installations is on the rise in existing homes that have decided to invest in green energy. More than 50% of their installations are now with homeowners renovating, vs new builds and they tell me they can install these with minimal disruption to your landscaping (my concern as we recently build a deck and stone patio).

Stewart Schmidt at True Green Geothermal

It was great to see Lynn and Jennifer (a super nice mom and daughter team) from Budget Blinds again as well  - having met them at the Langley Home Show. Their booth was also crowded throughout the weekend. They offer shutters, wood blinds , and draperies, servicing Surrey, Langley, White Rock and Abbotsford. So far they have two happy reviewers in Vancouver.

Jennifer Morgan: Budget Blinds

Walking by our booth were a couple of Bathroom renovation experts just moving into White Rock. With a name like Calvin Klein I was all ears. Calvin and his wife Kathy Klein have been in the design and renovation business for over 15 years and have decided to move from Victoria to White Rock. Their company  is called “Bathrooms by Home Services”. I checked out their web site and they have some really nice work.  They are choosy on who they take on – having built a loyal following of happy customers.

Kathy & Calvin Klein from Home-Services.ca

Posted by NancyP

It’s packed at the Hamilton Ideal Home Show this weekend!

The Ideal Home & Garden show had a fantastic first day  the aisles were buzzing with homeowners across the Hamilton area – they came from Oakville, Stoney Creek, Dundas, Flamborough, Ancaster, Brantford, Burlington and even people some from London and Stratford and Grimsby.

It’s now Saturday morning and the aisles are already full at the huge Careport Centre. I went around the aisles last night and met some really friendly exhibitors that have some great ideas to help us homeowners with various projects we have this year.

Mag Ruffman will be up on stage interviewing 4 top rated contractors (and exhibitors) today to share their tips and ideas:

Beverley Hills Home Improvement – Ben

CoreTemp Heating & Air Conditioning – Richard

Stonecote – Jerret

Lighting Innovation & Design – Brendan

Come check us out at 2pm on the main stage! Don’t forget to print your 50% off ticket coupon before  you arrive.

Posted by NancyP

Thank you to Oborne Contracting, Roomy Interiors and CanWood Flooring

We just packed up from a fantastic 10 days at the National Home Show. This year we had a custom booth designed by 3 top rated companies on our site. A big thank you to John Oborne and his team at Oborne Contracting (particularly Colin who spent a couple of days in my garage building very sleek moveable 20 foot wide wall panels -see photos below). There’s no doubt this team earned the Best of 2008 and 2009 award from their happy clients. They are all wonderful professionals.

John recommended Ali at CanWood flooring, and while a new company on HomeStars John assured me they were a top flooring company he knew would do a great job. Ali installed an oak coloured laminate floor that looked (almost) as good as the real deal. Perfectly finished and it withstood a couple thousand homeowners walking through our booth over the 10 day show. Thank you Ali!

And last but not least, Joanna Kakkavas, the owner of Roomy Home Interiors furnished our booth with a chic look that made me think back to when I was 25, single with no kids (just last year . She brought in a cool console with unique white and black wood on the side (I’ll let the photo paint the picture), a very comfy black couch that also could hide any party mishaps, and a gorgeous glass expandable dining room table with red chairs that were really comfortable, light with an classy Euro (not Ikea) look and feel. We had a ton of fun enjoying hanging out in the booth with our Perrier, Green & Black Chocolate and Starbucks coffee cards. And so did the 3,000 plus people we met who came by to write a review or hang out.

Thank you for creating a GREAT Home Show room everyone!

This Friday March 4 to Sunday March 6 we will be at the new Hamilton Ideal Home & Garden Show. Please come by  - FREE parking and another fantastic list of top rated companies. Write a review and get a 50% discount coupon to bring to the Ideal Home & Garden Show ticket booth.

Posted by NancyP

February Podcasts from ten top designers at FOCALPOINT e-News

Check out the latest monthly podcasts from FOCALPOINT e-NEWS! for February. As discussed in our January post, FOCALPOINT is an online lifestyle magazine and web site created by Jeffrey Stolberg with a line up of monthly podcasts from 10 of Canada’s top show hosts, authors and lifestyle experts. Have a listen to Debbie Travis, Sharon Grech, Bryan Baeumler and more….

Posted by NancyP

Soy. It’s not just for tofu anymore — how about insulation, furniture and urinals?

I’ve seen a lot of ingenious uses of materials curing my research into green building materials. Leftover wheat straw is turned into kitchen cupboards, recycled tires into roofing shingles, bamboo into flooring and towels, but now soy, a crop that’s grown in our own backyard, is being turned into, well, just about everything. From countertops to urinals, soy is not only the food of the future, now it’s the building material of the future too.

Over two million tonnes of soy are grown and processed in Ontario every year. Because soy is grown, processed and used locally it cuts down on travel miles and CO2 production. Further, because soy is a nitrogen fixing annual crop it restores nitrogen to the soil meaning that no fertilizer is necessary. Soy employs farmers, manufacturers, craftsmen and scientists right here in Ontario — it’s the new miracle cure for the economy and the environment! Hmm, I might be getting a wee bit carried away…

My point is that soy is a very flexible crop and while 80% of the soy bean is turned to protein rich pellets for animal and human consumption, the remaining 20% is oil which can be used instead of petroleum products to make countertops, foam for mattresses and cushions and insulation and soap. Don’t believe me? The soy house at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair showcases all these different products.

The soy house in and of itself is a low-impact house as it is. A prefab house built in a factory by Quality Homes means that waste is minimal, weather is not an issue and there are no time delays in construction. Whereas houses built on-site usually produce two or more giant bins of waste, a prefab home can continue to use leftover materials on the next house built in the factory. After the Royal Winter Fair ends, the house will be uprooted and replanted in Acton, Ontario as a Habitat for Humanity Halton home.

Living Room of The Soy House

A few of the highlights of this home:

Insulation: PolarFoam is manufactured by Polyurethane Foam Systems Inc., and was installed by CallRich Eco Services. The insulation is a mixture of soy and recycled plastic. It is mould and mildew resistant, provides its own vapour barrier and has the highest “R value” on the market (the R value is the measurement of thermal resistance per inch– i.e., how much heat a material can keep in or out of a room). The insulation is also shrinkage resistant so it doesn’t lose its initial R value over time. The product is formaldehyde free and doesn’t off gas harmful chemicals.

Kitchen: All the kitchen cabinets doors were made from soy as well as the kitchen countertop. The soy oil is turned into an eco-resin which is durable and can be mixed with other products to form hard/rigid objects. Cabinet facing and boxes as well as countertops were made by Bamco Custom Woodworking.

Livingroom: The upholstered furniture is made by a local Ontario company, Brentwood Classics. The foam in all the furniture is “Bioplush” foam, made from — you guessed it — soy beans.

The Soy House Bathroom

Bathroom: Not only is the shower curtain made from soy, but the waterless urinal is made from 30% Envirez, a soy-based resin. (Provided by Watermatrix)

Bedroom: Foamite provided the natural foam mattress made from soybean oil.

Other green features of the home: In addition to the above products being made from soy, all paints were provided by Sherwin Williams from the Harmony line of zero-VOC paints.

The roof shingles were provided by EuroShield, and are made from recycled rubber tires (with a 50 year life span).

You can visit the house at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair on now until November 15th, 2009. If you go don’t forget to check out the giant pumpkins located outside the horse arena!

Posted by CathyR

A visit to MADE Design — Retailer of Canadian Artisan Furniture and Decor

MADE

Julie Nicholson and Shaun Moore have been in the design business for years. Shaun studied furniture making at Sheridan, while Julie trained as a print maker and both have extensive retail experience. Being in the trade for years and knowing the “underground” furniture and design movement was alive and well in Toronto, the pair decided to start a business showcasing all the wonderful and unique Canadian design out there. Contrary to popular belief regarding Canadian design, there are few, if any, stereotypical Canadian items involving, beavers, moose, maple syrup or hockey sticks. The only thing I came across (that I absolutely loved) were a pair of ceramic bookends entitled Arctic Bookends, by Katherine Morley, that looked as if they came right out of a Lawren Harris painting (they were, in fact, modelled after Lawren Harris’ work).

Arctic Bookends

MADE is both a retail and a made-to-order custom design shop. Because the designers they work with have small shops, practically any piece you see in the store can be customized: Love a table for your dining room but need it two inches shorter? No problem. Entranced by a chandelier but want it twice the size? They’ll contact the designer. Because they act as a go-between for designer and customer, new products get developed with customers’ help. A customer once admired a vase made by ceramic artist, Jennifer Graham, and asked if it could be made into a pendant lamp. MADE now carries a line of pendant lamps by Jennifer Graham.

Cylinder Lights by Jennifer Graham

BareSofa modular furniture by the Brothers Dressler

MADE is in the unique situation of supporting local, Canadian artisans while providing high quality items at prices and quality comparable to any of the mid to high-end design stores in the city. Shaun and Julie are discerning in whose lines they carry. They have to be. From the practical side of things, whatever they carry must be sellable at reasonable retail prices. They work with the local artisans to make sure their items are priced accordingly.

Radiant Dark: Crossing the lines between gallery and retail store, each year MADE invites designers from across Canada to submit a design for their annual “Radiant Dark” exhibition. The exhibition takes place at the same time as the annual Interior Design Show, but not at the same location: it is neither at their store, nor held at the Interior Design Show, however, it is grouped in with a series of tours that are held within Toronto during design. In the two previous years, the themes have been “Darkness and Luxury” in 2008 and “Elegant Corruption” in 2009. 2010′s theme is “Assets and Values.” The point of the exhibition is to encourage designers to let their minds go and create new objects and furniture pieces. Julie and Shaun are particularly attracted to pieces that have a double meaning and/or a sense of humour.

Oh, and I might have spoken too soon about the “Canadiana” — “Shinny” is a lamp made by Barr Gilmore created from, well, hockey sticks.

MADE Design just celebrated its third birthday at the beginning of September. It’s definitely worth a visit.

867 Dundas Street West, Toronto. West of Bathurst, south side, between Euclid and Manning.

Hours: Tuesday through Friday 11-7, Saturday 11-6, Monday by appointment.

Phone: 416-607-6384

Posted by CathyR

HomeStars Helps Promote Restores to help Habitat for Humanity

Recently HomeStars partnered with Habitat for Humanity’s Toronto chapter. If you don’t know who this organization is, you should. They build housing for low income families, recruiting volunteers to assist. They recently finished a project called WomenBuild where a crew of all women builders worked to build a number of new homes.

One of the other projects they run is the Habitat University Class. In exchange for volunteering at one of their sites they will give you a one day course which includes

- A high level overview of how to build a house
- Tool identification and use
- Familiarization with lumber, drywall and other basic building materials
- Safe tool operation
- Plenty of hands on experience using the various tools and equipment

Additionally they offer further advanced courses with more detailed specifics. That’s just great knowledge for any homeowner, let alone a Habitat for Humanity Volunteer!

So we thought it was a great fit for HomeStars.

Habitat Toronto is funded in large part by 3 Habitat for Humanity Restores: one in Etobicoke, one in the east end, and one in what I call reno-town on Caledonia Road. If you’re looking for unique used home renovation supplies they are really worth looking into. I’ve found some great doors and windows there, including beautiful antiques and they even have entire kitchen cabinet sets. The inventory is always changing, so stop by often and take a peek at what they have.

If you’re doing your own renovation and you have things that are ‘gently used’, rather than use one of our many disposal services you can take them to the Restore for a full tax receipt on their value.

We’ve enhanced their listings on the site to make them more visible, and encourage everyone who has been there to write a review on the service you received while you were there!

We’re excited to be working with them. Keep an eye out for more collaborations with the organization, both in Toronto as well as their other chapters. We’ve got plans and ideas we’re working on and will let you know as they develop.

Posted by BrianS

Cottage Chic Decorating Tips from Sarah Richardson

Sarah Richardson has a new show about decorating her cottage, which she talked about this morning on the radio.  She was on air to promote her new mini-series: Sarah’s Cottage.

The most important advice I took away from that interview was the following:

1. Don’t send your old city furniture up to your cottage. Particularly if it’s been sitting around in your garage or attic gathering dust, it probably isn’t going to thrill you at your cottage either.

2. Since cottages are meant to be summer homes decorate with summer in mind: use bold prints and bright colours and natural fabrics.

3. Decorate in a style you wouldn’t use at home. Be adventurous; do something different than what you would do in your house.

4. Source your furniture at flea and antique markets. The Aberfoyle antique market was mentioned as a good market to attend.

(Another one I like is the Antique Show at Christie Conservation Area in Dundas, ON)

For a complete list of antique shows across Canada, click here.

Posted by CathyR

It’s almost outdoor furniture time!

I love browsing through the March and April issues of home magazines as the focus is usually on gardening and the backyard. It gets me thinking about spring, and shedding layers of coats and scarves, opening up windows and living more outside than in.

I am particularly attracted to the trend of extending your indoor living space outdoors with beautiful outdoor furniture. Restoration Hardware has gorgeous furniture, nice enough that I could see it indoors as well. Hauser has beautiful furniture too, and you always know that spring is arriving when The Sign of the Skier ditches the skis and snowboards in favour of the chaise lounges and umbrellas. For the budget conscious don’t forget to check Canadian Tire and Sears.

I came across two patio furniture companies at the National Home Show that sell high quality, durable outdoor furniture: Andrew Richard Designs  and Icon Home Design.

Andrew Richard Designs: If their furniture looks familiar then you’ve probably travelled to some pretty upscale hotels and resorts. ARD is a supplier of outdoor furniture to the Four Seasons Resorts, Fairmont Turnberry Resorts, Mayan Resorts, Sandals….the list goes on. The company also makes the Sarah Richardson line of outdoor furniture. 

Tranquility Lounge Chair

Harrison stainless steel and woven outdoor furniture

 There are a variety of styles and finishes available from Woven to Teak to Metal. Woven fabric is the company’s own called “Solartex,” an HDPE (high density polyethylene) vinyl that withstands sun, rain and extreme temperatures. Fabric used is weather-resistant outdoor fabric  by Sunbrella, and this year the company has introduced a “green” fabric option (“recyclable and earth-friendly”) using the  Marquesa fabric line manufactured by Phifer. Residential use furniture comes with a 5 year warranty.

ARD produces only a few teak collections and all teak is sourced from managed FSC certified forests or “from government controlled agencies that specifically farm teak for the purpose of distribution to the furniture trade.”

In time for Spring  2009 the company has launched five new lines:

Osaka’s low-dining and deepseating draws inspiration from the company’s eastern origins, while Tribecca and Madison evoke Manhatton’s sleek, urban sensibilities. These, along with the Lexington, mark a departurefrom traditional striaght lines and geometric edges….Meanwhile, The Harrison collection harkens back to the geometric lines of past designs.

Andrew Richard Designs has a newly opened showroom at 310 King Street East.  For information on their funiture, click here. For address details and reviews, click here.

 Icon Home Design: Icon Home Design is a Florida-based company that has recently established a showroom in Toronto. The company produces woven furniture and in addition to dining sets and outdoor sectionals, also offers some unique options such at the “Zen” and “Hampton” Daybeds, a “Hanging Egg” chair and the “Wave” chaise.  

Woven fabric is an HDPE (high density polyethylene) vinyl that is sun, fade, weather resistant and resistant to temperature extremes. The vinyl is wrapped around an aluminum core that is rust resistant. All fabric is made by Sunbrella and is moisture and fade resistant. Furniture comes with a one year warranty.

Zen Daybed

Hanging Egg

Wave Chaise

Icon Home Design is located at 577 King Street West in Toronto, ON. Phone: 647-588-8466.

Posted by CathyR

Style North: a great website for Toronto furniture shoppers

I met Chris Jones from Style North at the Fall Home Show. I love finding new and useful websites and this one is a pure delight – especially if you are on the hunt for furniture and you don’t have an unlimited budget (more common than not these days). Chris does all the legwork for you. He finds unique stores and bargains in the GTA, puts up great photos of some of the merchandise and lets you be the armchair shopper until you find what you’re looking for. Save gas and time and have fun searching his website.

Today for instance, Chris is covering the latest in the Pottery Barn/Williams Sonoma stores. “West Elm” recently opened in the Liberty Village area of Toronto. West Elm targets the smaller home and condo market with stylish contemporary furniture.

For some great pictures and more information about the store, head on over to http://stylenorth.ca/blog/

Then go shopping, and of course, come back to Homestars and write a review.

Posted by CathyR