Weekday Decorating

You just can't go wrong with a splash of colour. 

Toronto design firm, UNION31 add interest to their high contrast, neutral rooms with simple, colourful wall art. 

Love the look? Recreate it at home by framing colourful sheets of good quality paper in neutral frames of the same size. Don't stress yourself over colour combinations, the beauty lies in the haphazard approach. For maximum effect, panel an entire wall with your paper-filled frames.

It's playful and sophisticated. Best of all, it's so easy to do, you could even do it on a weekday!

Images via Union 31, Residential Projects: One55 Cumberland and Rosedale Renovation.

Guest Posting: Golden Girl Finance

A little while back, I did a short piece for Golden Girl Finance, which also showed up in their weekly newsletter that they send out to their subscribers. You can check it out here.

I'm personally a really big fan of this site. Apparently, research shows that men are more knowledgable about finances than women because they read about finances a lot (in the paper, on websites etc) and self-educate themselves about it. Women, don't do that nearly as much which ultimately affects their financial decisions and their sense of independence; so, Golden Girl Finance was created to bridge that gap.

Way back when I took economics in grade 11, the textbook always referred to "the widget", an abstract unit of production, to explain dry economic concepts. To reach women from a female perspective, GGF does away with the widget and instead, uses examples of products that women can relate to, like cosmetics. Why would that make a difference? Well - at least for me - learning about how MAC cosmetics, a home based business, sold a part of their shares to Estee Lauder to expand their company further all of a sudden peaks my interest in finances. I never really thought about how MAC became so big. It really makes you realize that everyone starts from somewhere and with lots of hard work, the sky's the limit!

Image via Jonathan Sabine.

What makes a culture?

In Canada, I don't think I ever saw a kid in elementary school with a tin pencil case. Well actually, I don't even recall kids bringing pencil cases maybe till like grade 3 or grade 4 because pencils and all other stationary was already provided in class. 

When I was about 8 though and visited South Asia, I noticed that every kid took their own pencils and supplies ever since kindergarden! I noticed that they almost all had tin pencil cases which was quite different to me. I feel like in Canada, plastic or fabric pencil cases were the more common choice. Then, I found these adorable pencil tins from Liberty London and thought it was pretty cool that pencil tins also seemed popular in Britain, not just South Asia. I wonder if pencil tins were more of a British thing to begin with, and became incorporated into South Asian culture through Colonialism? Or maybe it was vice versa? 

I feel like a nation's preference to certain materials is part of what makes a culture. For example, hardwood flooring in homes is the optimum choice for many Canadians but in other parts of the world, wood is regarded as peasant-like and instead, marble or some other stone is preferred. I think it's kind of like the same thing with tin pencil cases. Like tin lunch boxes, they seem a bit retro to Canada. But, many things retro are making a comeback and with playful floral designs like these, maybe tin pencil cases will be next to make a comeback.  

Via Liberty London.

Trending: Tropical Prints

You know you've seen it everywhere. The tropical print. 

I'm the type of girl that normally would prefer a floral print, as in flower heads only (ok, maybe their stems too - depends on the design) over a print heavy on leaves.

Leaves and trees weren't exactly my cup of tea but now as I'm getting older I'm starting to see their individual beauty. Maybe my aversion to them had something to do with the fact that, for the most part, leaves just tend to be green and more or less of similar shape. Flowers on the other hand are fragrant and come in a variety of colours and shapes. They say variety is the spice of life but leaves with somewhat monotonous nature have a type of unity. And that unity is beauty. 

Photo: Leah Horowitz | Notebooks: Baba Souk | Wallpaper: Elle Decor via Behold a Honeybee |

Pillow: Black Rooster | Ipad Case: Ruche | Tropical Print Jacket: Tumblr (unknown) via Pinterest |
Leaf Pull: Michael Aram

Favourite Finds: Vintage Signs

Loving the light up vintage signs available at Black Rooster Decor! I imagine these working great as decor for parties/events or in spaces with rustic charm, like a summer cottage.

I used to think light up signs were so cheesy because for some reason I associated them with college dormitories...you know the type that are all dressed up in cheap posters (the average university student needs to learn how to decorate.) 

But, these ones from Black Rooster are reinterpreted in new forms like an anchor, the Chanel logo and the ever trendy ampersand. Small tweaks to classic designs is always a winning strategy. I mean some say that's why Steve Jobs was able to build Apple the way he did... He made small tweaks to an existing interface to make it more visually appealing and user friendly and BAAM! He watched his idea soar. 

Yep, some say he was a tweaker.... Tweaking is the way to go.