Dudley and Arthur

Meet Dudley and Arthur, my two granddogs. They live with my daughter Kate and her husband Andrew in a small house in Toronto. I have just returned from a very lovely visit with them.

Dudley is the newest addition to the family and, at one year old, he still exhibits puppy behaviour. If you take a good look at the pic below, you will see chewed edges on the carpet where they are romping. Their house has literally gone to the dogs; but it’s a happy departure.

The house is organized around their needs. Towels for mopping dirty paws and drooly jowls hang near the front door; leashes, dog food and dishes are in theDudley gets a belly rub. mud room at the back. A child's protective gate prevented damp noses in my face in the wee hours of the morning when I slept on their living room sofa. Because their house has been under renovation since they moved in, Kate is philosophical about mud and fur balls that come with "the boys".

Her relaxed approach to living with them reminds me again of Mary Randolph Carter’s book, A Perfectly Kept House is a Sign of a Misspent Life, which I reviewed a few blogs back. There are many pictures of fine rooms with animals splayed comfortably across favourite furniture and she talks about accommodating them.

Designer, Kimberley Seldon helps you to choose suitable upholstery and floor coverings. Kate (an architect) has posted some ideas about designing a new house with dogs in mind.

Animal House Style: Designing a Home to Share with Your Pets offers serious advice about living stylishly with four-legged family. Design for pet comfort and safety is considered, as well as the touchy topic of animal house smell.

Showdog Magazine provides light-hearted tips for decorating with dogs. For example, did you know that paw prints and nose smudges break up the glare and soften the light in the room? Or, stacked dog crates will pull the eye up and provide an illusion of height, while pet hair adds velvety texture to fabrics.

When all else fails, adjusting your attitude helps.

Jane, Central Library

useless lamp to useful table

I've always been curious, endowed with an active imagination. I remember, as a kid walking home from school, coming across a section of pipe with a switch on it, perhaps from a vacuum cleaner. It became, in my mind, something more interesting: a SPACE WEAPON.

The bad habit persists. I still sift through flotsam and jetsam relegated to the black bin; but now I call it repurposing.

As well as working for the Library, I belong to the militia, spending time in Mewata Armoury.

I was there one weekday when the old light fixtures were being replaced. Aha, I thought, something useful, in British racing green!

I really wasn't sure of a use, but their shape intrigued me. I asked for one and tucked the new treasure safely in my hatchback (very useful for a scavenger). Soon, the fixture liner became a lampshade, but the outer shell stayed longer in storage. Eventually, something inspired me to cobble together a table from the outer shell.

I cut a circle of mdf for the bottom and added plastic feet. The glass top was connected to the base using 3/4" pipe, chrome tubing, two pipe flanges and a wooden collar. Some of these parts were discards previously scavenged.

If you are like me, you prefer to find new possibilities for cast offs rather than add to your garbage footprint.

At the Library, there are many books to inspire you to unique green endeavours.

Decorating junkmarket style : [repurposed junk to suit any decor], Salvage style for the garden, and Making rustic originals are just three examples in the collection. And, speaking of unique tables, check out 500 tables : inspiring interpretations of function and style.

Dave, Central Library

The new book on Japanese printmaker Hiroshige brought back happy memories of Giverny from my trip to France in 2007.

Monet had a personal collection of 231 Japanese prints by Hiroshige, Utamaro and Hokusai. Simply framed in black with grey mats, the prints still hang in his famous dining room. Walls were painted in tones of chrome yellow and gilt which also provided a stunning background for a collection of blue and white china.

Monet was not just a brilliant painter; he was a master decorator too. He brought a painter’s palette to both his home and garden.

There is one precious and well-used copy of Monet’s House (1997) by Heide Michels left in the collection. In her book, she tells the story of his unconventional family life centred on a love of good food, wine and company.

The Japanese art dealer, Tadamasa Hayashi, who was a frequent guest at Giverny, organized the first exhibition of Impressionist paintings in Japan in 1893. The printmakers often depicted the same scene with varying light conditions; Monet adopted the practice with his series of paintings of haystacks and poplars.

To make an armchair visit to the gardens, check out The Magic of Monet’s Garden by Derek Fell.

To recreate his recipes and brush up your French, have a look at Les Carnets de Cuisine de Monet. Unfortunately, the English language version (Monet's Table) is no longer in the collection. But we could help you track it down and bag it from The Alberta Library (TAL) database.

I have long admired Japanese wood block prints and was delighted to see the new book Hiroshige by Matthi Forrer. Hiroshige was a master of the art form and best known for his poetic and atmospheric landscape images.

The Japanese printmakers were very much commercial artists. They promoted famous views of the city, fashionable people and cultural icons such as the images of Kabuki theatre actors by printmaker Shakuru.

Hiroshige was incredibly inventive at breathing new life into familiar images of famous locations in Edo. As Forrer tells it, this was all the more remarkable because the images were expected to contain obligatory features like snow, moonlight, evening light and cherry blossoms.

Adding human figures to the scene created a buzz about what the people might be doing there and whom it might be.

Forrer is Curator of the Japanese Department at the National Museum of Ethnology in the Netherlands. He is also author of Hokusai: Prints and Drawings (2009).

Japanese prints became very fashionable in the West and influenced artists like Monet who hung them in his famous dining room at Giverny.

And that is where my next blog goes.

Alexander Calder was an American artist best known for his brightly coloured sculptures called mobiles by fellow artist Marcel Duchamp.

Calder used an ingenious system of weights and counterbalances to create graceful, airy sculptures that move easily with air currents. If you have a mobile with a modern aesthetic for your child’s room, chances are it owes a debt to Calder’s inventions.

Follow the link to see Calder’s 76-foot long sculpture in the National Gallery’s East Building in Washington. This graceful, airy piece actually weighs 920 pounds and was restored and repaired in 2005.

The May 2011 issue of The World of Interiors profiles the Calder Foundation which is dedicated to promoting his legacy and art. The foundation occupies a minimalist loft in the Chelsea district of New York surrounded by Calder sculpture.

For more information about Calder, take a look at Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: form, balance and joy which was published in conjunction with a travelling exhibit that began in 2010 and is still on the road.

I encountered Calder again in a delightful book by Mary Randolf Carter called A Perfectly Kept House is a Sign of a Misspent Life (2010).

It turns out this artist of all that is light, airy and balanced worked amidst an astounding chaos of clutter in his Connecticut studio which is revealed in a two-page spread. And, his work style followed him home. She shows the Calder kitchen, full of the colour and life of its inhabitants – a far cry from the pristine space where the Calder foundation works today.

Carter makes the case that clutter is the stuff of life and should be embraced. Tame it, organize it, maybe; but don't waste your time trying to eliminate it.

I think this is a message that a lot of people will enjoy.

Sometimes you browse a shelter magazine and wonder why they publish it and who’s buying. The rooms might be pretty, but express no more personality than a furniture showroom. There are no clever projects to inspire better ways to live and decorate. The content about design and the arts is thin to the point of anorexic.

One predictably good magazine is The World of Interiors, a British publication that we have at the Central Library. We keep the latest four issues for use in the library, but other back issues can be borrowed.

At a recent staff meeting, I brought the May 2011 issue to talk about how many blogs one good magazine could inspire. There are articles in this issue about Alexander Calder’s legacy, Louis Armstrong’s kitchen and Eileen Gray’s Paris apartment.

The cover story is “Bathtime for Bertie: Where the real ‘King’s Speech’ royal relaxed”. In 1938, the French created fabulous gilded bathrooms for the suite that welcomed GeorgeVI and his wife Elizabeth on a royal visit. These bathrooms are only open to public viewing once a year on Heritage Day.

And, of course, we have books about bathroom renos, books about the Royals as well as The King’s Speech on DVD (and Blu-ray).

Check out Bathrooms: the smart approach to design from Creative Homeowner for sumptuous baths and information on the latest materials, fixtures and technology. Heated floors, ventilation systems, efficient toilets and natural lighting are just some of the topics covered.

And expect me to revisit the stories from this magazine.

Next blog: Alexander Calder's messy studio

Yesterday morning’s front-page newspaper story was news about Steve Jobs’ death. Not news really; the information had been on the internet the day before.

Jobs’ creativity and larger-than-life personality are legendary; he was instrumental in developing the technology that produced a seismic shift in the way we work, play, live at home and relate to each other.

David Sarno and Christopher Goffard for the Los Angeles Times reported that he sat in on classes that interested him after dropping out of Reed College in Oregon. A Calligraphy course “inspired him to offer Macintosh users multiple fonts, a feature that would become a fixture of personal computing”.

The little details of a life add to the fascination and charm of the person.

Our latest book on the topic has a fitting title when you think not just about the magic of calligraphy, but the magic of creativity and the things that inspire it.

Steve Jobs was all about creativity and connectedness. That this blog is here at all and every link in it are tributes to him.

Most of us want the one thing we can never have: forever. Some people are so large they almost achieve it.

Now that it’s October, I’m here to tell you that September was National Sewing Month. A flyer from Fabricland announced it in early September and online I found a National Sewing Month organization. Every now and again throughout September, I thought about it, but the blog wandered off in other directions.

According to the website, National Sewing Month began in 1982 with a proclamation from President Ronald Reagan “In recognition of the importance of home sewing to our Nation”. I found nothing specifically Canadian; but if our government famously stays out of the bedroom, it probably has no interest in the sewing room either.

Sewing is a traditional domestic skill that helps you to furnish your home in original ways with both new and vintage textiles. Many projects in Design Sponge at Home, reviewed last blog, rely on sewing skills and inspire you to acquire them.

While it’s lovely to have a month to celebrate the skill, there are still eleven others to practice it. Here are a few new books to get you stitching.

All-Time Favorite Scrap Quilts from That Patchwork Place shows 18 quilts with step-by-step instructions. The Big Book of Patchwork: 50 Fabulous Quilts from Judy Hopkins – has 32 more. Both books offer traditional quilt patterns to create a comfy country style.

Sewn by Hand: Two Dozen Projects Stitched with Needle & Thread offers charming projects that can be made without a machine. The button-down apron uses recycled shirts. Owie Puffs are sewn from scrap fabric and filled with rice to make thermal packs to apply to little hurts. Handsome linen cushion covers are decorated with appliqué.

Sew step by step: more than 200 essential Techniques for Beginners offers a thorough course with well-illustrated instructions.

Sew Decorative: Quick and Easy Home Accents from SEWNEWS will have you whipping up custom accessories like cushion covers, table mats and patchwork pot holders.

Sew much for the good news.