Where to purchase gluten-free baking and gluten-free food products, plus how to preserve flavour and nutrients when eating gluten-free.
Celebrate May's long weekend by paying tribute to Queen Victoria and her legacies.
Space is a resource coveted by everyone from the square footage-starved inner-city dweller to the seemingly space-spoiled suburbanite. Sooner or later, we are all faced with the problem of wedging our worldly possessions within the walls of our apartments, condos or houses.
Whether it’s creating an illusion of expansiveness or simply bringing efficiency to an underutilized nook or cranny, our panel of design experts will help you make the most of whatever small space has you squeezed into a tight corner.
A lot of people living in smaller places use their sofa as a place to eat or work on their computer. We have coffee tables with tops that come up to create a tray — it’s functional and it looks cool.
If you have nice things to store, like lifestyle magazines or books, turn them into decor instead of placing them in storage units. Style your books by mixing them up. Put some flat and some standing, or zigzag the different colours of the covers to make them decorative. Little things like that can make a huge difference.
“Light colours make a space look bigger, but it can be boring. If you choose really luscious dark colours for a small space, it does the opposite of what you think it would do. Use a monochromatic colour scheme and create layers of colour. When you use the same colour for drapes and walls, they blend together while at the same time creating layers of depth. When you walk into a room with a really rich red or eggplant, it masks the size of the space. It can create shadows, depth and interest that a light, bright colour would not do. Playing with the reflective qualities of the type of paint, like a high lacquer as opposed to an eggshell or a flat finish, creates depth and interest, as well.”
“Spaces are becoming more multifunctional. It’s all about doing fewer bigger pieces rather than many smaller pieces. Don’t put in several small pieces of furniture when you could do a nice big couch and a couple of chairs. Bigger, streamlined pieces make the space seem larger and they maximize space. Buy pieces that have more than one function to give you flexibility. Keep everything airy and light. Furniture with legs is good because it looks like it is floating, which creates a more open look. Some negative space is good, visually. You don’t have to fill a corner with a picture or a vase; sometimes it is OK to just leave it alone.”
“We’ll often use mirrors on furniture or on feature walls in order to make the space look bigger. Clear-glass cocktail or dining tables so that the space is kept airy, rather than bulking it up with solid wood, for example. We install Italian-built shelving and wardrobe units that are customized to people’s kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms to provide extra storage. This way, you’re utilizing the full eight feet, versus only four to six feet of the wall. There are mechanisms that allow shelves or rods to pull down so that the top two feet are accessible on a daily basis, making it useful for more than just seasonal storage.”
“It’s really important to go large on storage and low on clutter. To do this, sometimes you have to spend the money to do built-ins where you can. If you have a nook or a space under the stairs, get a carpenter in there to do something custom, such as built-in cabinetry from the floor to the ceiling. Keep your accessories large in scale, instead of small things. Get furniture that’s multipurpose, such as a coffee table with upholstered cubes that can be underneath or pulled out for extra guests.”
“There’s a lot of space that people don’t use in a typical closet. You don’t need a rod five feet off the ground to hang jackets. To double the space, install a lower rod for jackets, or a lower shelf for shoes at the three-and-a-half or four-foot level. This leaves room for more storage above. People usually have an oversupply of things, and often that’s why they’re running out of space. You don’t need stockpiles of canned fruit or dry goods for everyday. If you can, put your main pantry in the basement. That opens up room for pots and pans or whatever you need more space for in the kitchen. Don’t leave things you use once a year in prime real estate. Put things that you use less often at the very top, and then work your way down; that way, the stuff that you use every day is easily accessible.”
Heritage Park Historical Village
May 19 (All day) - May 21 (All day)
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