my 2 cents on design - Sharing Ideas & Telling Stories of a designed lifestyle

What Italian cities and design awards in L.A. have in common

Dear F.T., It’s been a while since I’ve been to Italy. My feet are missing the round cobblestones soaked in the smell of morning espresso that is infusing the already perfumed Mediterranean air. There is nothing like a deep breath of air in that sea-surrounded country. You can almost see the molecules, swirling happily around…

How to make most out of your morning ritual when you share the bathroom with your partner, part 1

Let’s face it, we all want a bathroom of our own. From small grooming rituals to the pleasure of enjoying water on our skin, to the five minutes of peace and quiet away from a busy household, bathrooms can give it to you all. This expected convenience of modern living offers easy body hygiene maintenance…

Three tips for chores made easy when it comes to rug maintenance

I love rugs. They are nice on your feet and make barefoot walking a great sensorial experience. They enhance your tactile connection to your home in a direct and natural way. Aesthetically, any room can go from elegant to fun by swapping a rug and not changing anything else in it. This is particularly useful…

What we had in the hut and lost when we moved to the palace

When we all lived in the hut all things were, apparently, simpler. Rooms were multi-functional, less to clean, less to maintain. There was no need to show off since everyone had a hut and nobody was either on the streets, nor in a palace. Leaders that presumably had bigger huts were not questioned, nor envied…

Backyard detox through design – on a budget or not so much…

Get your detox before the winter with a bit of design therapy. With so little of the summer left, it is high time you do two things: try and enjoy your backyard more if you did not and, plan for its improvement for next year. Renovations are still surging as many Torontonians have opted to…

The cult of wine – introduction to a fulfilling lifepath and what could come with it

My letter to the wine traveler in you.. Dear fellow wine lover, searcher of all things exquisite in life, Wine travel can teach you a lot about how to live well while welcoming you into a cult-like no other. It sets you up for experiences that move imagination and fuel creativity in a way that…

The Canadian cottage reinvented, Drake Devonshire, Prince Edward County, PEC

A staple activity of the Canadian lifestyle, the escape to the cottage sets the weekend entertainment tone of many Toronto families. ‘Modest’ and ‘cozy’ are the typical characteristics associated with the architecture, the interior, and the immediately surrounding landscape. Here family and friends gather to spend quality time together, share meals, stories, and oftentimes, a dip…

How to choose what you want to focus on in your interior design career

How you look at things in general and how you frame the expression of your thoughts reveals information about them that you would not generate nor learn otherwise. All things being equal, there are many similarities and many differences between the various areas of interior design. Simply put, the commonalities have to do with…

Endogenous pharmacotherapy – stimulate your brain at least through rearranging your home

Without a doubt, the biggest power humans hold is their minds. What is mind, really? Some mistakenly call it a brain, some call it intellect, and granted, there are overlaps here that are hard to ignore, there are distinct characteristics that define the ‘mind’ that are only pertinent to it. Mind is both a set-up,…

The unbearable joy of loving yourself [before you’re almost dead] and designing the life you actually want

When you closely look at how western democracy, for the purpose of the progress of the species, demised human life into demographically usable bits, you realize that modern living is a polarized and systematically caged terrestrial garden of Eden. You can see the garden with its bliss from everywhere you are yet through your choices,…

Design Of Creatively Harmonious Intelligent Answers

“Sometime in the summer of 1986, after a lot of debating and obsessing over how I would like to spend my life, I made the decision to become an architect. It was a decision like any other and at the time, not bigger nor smaller, whose long-term implications I was not looking to grasp. I…

Games night at home and how to let the kids win graciously

Letter to the parent who wants to set a perfect games night time: any Friday night of your choosing place: once upon a home, in a house full of laughter and joy Dear parent, This one will be an easy one. The kind that you need a stiff drink for and a lot…