My Style

Mydeco is a UK based version of Lastminute , which is a website that helps people decorate their homes.  Mydeco hasn’t been launched yet, but you can enter your email address to get news about mydeco and enter a contest to win a £1000 room makeover.

As www.mydeco.com is based in the UK, I’m not sure if it will have a US version, as Lastminute does. With mydeco.com, Hoberman hopes to help users make the right decisions about their home decor, and get validation from others regarding their taste, in order to avoid room style disasters.

Lane Fox will act as director of mydecor.com and Hoberman is the company’s executive chairman.

mydeco will be along the lines of Curbly and HomeAndTell, both online communities providing resources, tools and feedback regarding home improvement and decorating.

1.  Floored.  Recessed toe kicks under shelves and benches, as well as choosing furniture that has ‘feet’ or legs,  gives the illusion of more space.

2. Peek-a-boo.  Glass-table tops open-back chairs take up little visual space.

3. Two for the price of one. Choose furniture that has more than one use - sofa beds, a dining table that doubles as a desk, platform beds with storage beneach, a chest or flat topped trunk as a coffee table.

4. Lighten up.  Choose paint and main furniture pieces in light neutrals.  Dark or striking colours will remove the sense of space.

5. The size is right.  Keep in mind the dimensions and scale of furniture.   low sofa without arms won’t hinder the flow of energy or the visual impact of your small space. 

6.  The highs and lows.  Keep the height of furnishings, shelving and artwork consistent. Two or three levels will be about right.

7. Floating away. Paint wall-mounted shelves the same colour as the walls.  You instantly increase your storage without decreasing your floor space.

8. Zen Mind.  A clutterless, minimal look is best for a small space.  Store and rotate your decorator items instead of having everything out at once.

Antique roses, also called Victorian Roses, are said to be strong survivors and the most fragrant of the roses. The word antique applies obviously to its history. An antique of any kind, however, will catch a collector’s eye. What better to put near a museum, which houses antiques, than a flowering plant also named antique? Antiques of all kinds have gained in popularity over the years. It makes sense that a flower with similar name, would gain as well.

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With a little imagination and creativity–and without hiring a professional–almost anyone can transform a small living space into a comfortable and stylish environment. Whether decorating a dorm room, an apartment, or a little cottage, what we strive for is a look and feel that expresses our individual personalities.

Part style guide, part idea sourcebook, this handy volume–designed to meet the needs of real people with real budgets–is packed with smart ideas, basic design principles, and enough inspiration to get you off the sofa to make it happen.

In her lively, informative text, design guru Marisa Bartolucci takes readers inside 33 small homes from cities across the U.S. to reveal how a strong sense of style–rather than design know-how or unlimited resources–is the most effective tool for transforming an ordinary cramped living space into a smart yet functional private sanctuary.

Mary Hughes’s  experience with a home renovation should serve as a warning considering a similar job.

She hired a contractor to raise a ceiling at her Norwich Street West residence. It was a job that would see the demolition and removal of a portion of the structure’s roof. In the course of the work,  the contractor  discovered some material affixed to the roof and within some walls of the home. It was tested and was found to contain a type of asbestos.

The contractor ceased work on the home but Hughes arranged for it to continue. A complaint regarding asbestos at the house was received by the Ministry of Labour. A ministry investigator attended at the home, discovered a garbage bin with construction debris at the site. The next day the investigator returned, discovered the bin had been moved elsewhere and inquired as to its whereabouts.

Hughes had directed a waste removal company to take away the bin after the inspector’s first visit but told the inspector she wasn’t aware of why the receptacle had been removed.

The inspector determined the cause for the  removal and discovered work had been done in the area where the asbestos was first noted.

This month, Hughes plead guilty to two charges laid under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. She was fined $4,000 for not removing asbestos prior to structural alterations being done and $1,500 for providing false information to the inspector.