Selecting the perfect cottage is a complex feast. It requires spending a reasonable amount of time thinking about where to buy, what you want to do while there, whether it is on water or next to trails, whether there is a quaint little village next to it, or are there grapes involved? Or maybe you’ve…
Category: get the VIBE
Explore the role that design and creativity have in shaping an impeccable life: enjoyable, imperfect, livable, likeable and full of surprises, positive mistakes and rewarding accomplishments.
Advice on how to curate a better lifestyle through design from the award-winning expert Adriana Mot – Toronto interior designer specializing in residential design with a focus on the impact of good design on the positive connection between people and the space around them.
The Eggs of Easter, Egypt and the cosmic myths
The beautiful tradition of colouring eggs is laden with meaning. Its history can be traced to the very beginning of creation. Spring is a flame that took the shape of myths, legends and religions across time. Believers hold it as the reaffirmation of faith. Non-believers cherish charismatic rebirth customs in many of its forms. In…
Keeping a little sparkle going in the relationship between you and your house
Like with any kind of relationship, when things are too familiar and uneventful, things get stale. The culprit? A phenomenon called hedonic adaptation. If you look at your kitchen for a long time and you’re there all the time, you will likely not notice its beauty, no matter how beautiful it is. Having mini-adjustments continuously…
Living with snow in Canada
At the start of winter, an ever-changing mass of gulpable snow covers buildings, trees and streets with blobs of different sizes, colours, and cleanliness levels. Everyone assumes that Canadians love snow just because we have it. I am Canadian. And a Romanian emigrant. I do like snow but not necessarily all aspects of it. Does…
Retrospective Best Of ‘Get the Vibe’
As the final month of the year fast approaches, we tend to take a look back on our personal lives and reflect on all the events that took place. Did we achieve that oh-so-precious work-life balance, learn to cook a new go-to dish or reach that health goal we set at the beginning of the…
Light clustering trend reaches new proportions and how to bank on it
One of my favourite design trends that have deeply penetrated the market is using pendants in clusters. While it’s always been a “thing,” lately, it’s really taken off to the point where more and more lights are already designed as clusters themselves. The beauty of pendants is that, unlike all their cousins that have to…
Hobbies, how to make room in your home for them and why should you, part 1
Hobbies are by their very nature private as they are all about individual pleasure, even if they are a sport that you may be performing alongside others. There is no solidarity or sense of duty associated with the idea of “hobby”; there is no romantic bonding that you can experience; in fact, there is no…
The tub or the shower, the waterfall or the pond, an eternal dilemma
Despite the final choice, which, inevitably and with very few exceptions, is the shower, every one of my clients that renovated bathrooms went through the mini or full-fledged agony of considering both. And that is not because of some flimsy let’s do our homework before we jump approach, not even because of real-estate considerations, which,…
How to live together with a teenager the 20/30/50 rule
One of the biggest myths is that teenagers are self-absorbed. The passion, loyalty to their group and friends, as well as assertiveness of their opinions, if appropriately interpreted, paint a completely different picture. Sociologically they have a strength that is seldom recognized: they are highly capable of meaningful contributions to help those around them. The…
A cottage is a home, with your body in mind
Having a cottage comes with endless drives in and out of the city, the established efficiency of end of weekend cleanup and, naturally, the inexorable pleasure of alternate living in different yet equally familiar environments. Heidegger’s Dasein concept offers excellent insight into why that is. Simply put: being in the world does not mean you’re…
Alfresco Cheese, the perfect presentation and dining just south of the 45th parallel
On average, in Ontario, the frost-free season starts somewhere around the 23rd of March and ends on the 31st of October. In its window of 161 days, the flurry of life outside most Canadian homes is in sync with the season, ripping the benefits of a warmer sun, flower beauty and much-needed positive energy. Part…
The mirror house – women and their homes
If I were a house, what kind of house would I be? What would I look like, and how would I feel? A deep berry door, like cherry cheesecake lipstick, would kiss my girlfriends hello And they would enter with laughter and untold stories Spilling out and exploding with joy. With every step My velvet…