{ Archive for the ‘Organizing’ Category }

style at home makeover contest 2009

makeover contest style at home makeover contest 2009
I love my condo. I really do. When I first moved in, I spent so much time choosing the paint colours, furniture and accessories. The result is a warm and cozy space that I just love to spend time in. But … as the editor of a design and decorating website, I`m continually surrounded by new and exciting ideas. My mind is always whirling with just one more change I could make to my home, a tweak here, a new item there … it`s a hazard of the job, I suppose! Pictured above are rooms that totally capture my imagination. It`s a hot and sticky August here in Toronto and these interiors are light and bright and if I could, I`d makeover my home to look like these! (Photography by Gap Interiors.)

Do you have a room in your home that`s in desperate need of a makeover? If you said yes, then I encourage you to enter the Style at Home Makeover Contest, brought to you by the Fall Home Show. Simply upload a photo of a room in your home that`s in desperate need of an overhaul and tell us why you need a makeover. You could win one of two $2,000 gift cards from Home Depot to help you turn your design dreams into reality. Visit the Style at Home Makeover Contest for full contest details and for your chance to win. Good luck!

computer shelf for your charging gadgets

5e190d2e327a9d5b backpack 2 computer shelf for your charging gadgets
Cluttered desktop = icky (although my work desk is not exactly in tip top shape at the moment). Wires and cables create a disaster area on your desk, especially when you’re charging your phone, syncing your iPod and using an external hard drive all at once (want to win one a hard drive from Western Digital? Click here!).

Check out this super neat charging shelf that takes all of your wire woes away. Named the BackPack, you simply secure the little shelf to the back of your iMac then place plugged in accessories on top. You can wrap your wires up and place them on the shelf as well, so there’s no danglers hanging down. This is such a cool idea, and is pretty sleek so you can even attach two or three. So simple — why didn’t we think of this before?


BackPack $35, available at the Apple Store.

win a western digital 500 GB hard drive!

wdfmypassport elite mlc win a western digital 500 GB hard drive!A few months ago, I got a My Passport Essential hard drive from Western Digital, and now I’m paying it forward. One lucky reader will win the Essential’s super cool older brother, the My Passport Elite 500 GB hard drive. I just recently blogged about this sexy device that backs up your precious photos and music, so I’m pretty excited to be able to give one away. Besides the fact that it packs a crazy amount of data (500 GB… that’s about 100,000 photos or 125,000 songs), the My Passport Elite is pretty darn petite — it’s half an inch thick and less than 5 inches long.

To enter, just leave a comment below letting me know how this cream of the crop hard drive will make your tech world easier. Be original, because the best comment will win. Good luck to all!

*Prize value: $150 US. Contest closes August 31st, 2009. Open to all residents of Canada, except those in Quebec. Not open to any Transcontinental Media employees, their families, or any other persons with whom they reside.*

***This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Megan Sauer who created an incredible rendition of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ theme song, replacing the words with why she should win the My Passport Elite.***

west elm docking station

p a701 pip we09c245i f09 090610222019 pip large 535x535 west elm docking station
Tech Style has blogged before about the ultra hot (yet large) docking station from West Elm, and now the home decor chain has made me even happier. I’m not one for bulk when it comes to my tech, so when West Elm introduced their mini docking station, I was over the moon. Itsy-bitsy and laquered in white or espresso, this tiny tech charger sits pretty on a desktop or hallway console.

$34 US, West Elm.

Follow me on Twitter! twitter.com/tech_style

western digital my passport elite

wdfmypassport elite mlz western digital my passport elite

‘Cause we are living in a digital world, and I am a dig-i-tal girl…

Although I’m a sucker for pretty paper and journals, I much prefer the ease and convenience of digital organizing. I use my iPhone’s iCal for keeping track of appointments and meetings, and I prefer to type up charts and such on a computer rather than write it out the old school way.

Which is why I love Western Digital and their supersleek external hard drives. I have a white My Passport Essential that’s featured in Style at Home‘s Tech Style column in the September 2009 issue, but I’ve since spotted the bronze My Passport Elite and just finished wiping the drool off my desk. I mean, how gorge is this?

Besides the fact that it’s a fabulous colour and has a sexy design, this hard drive packs a lot of punch. This 500 GB beauty holds a heck of a lot of data (100,000 digital photos or 190 hours of video) and is small enough to slide into your purse. Really, what’s not to love?

$150 US (also available in other colours and data storage sizes), Western Digital.

For more digital organizing gadgets, check out the Tech Style column in the September 2009 issue of Style at Home (on newsstands August 3rd).

brother p-touch pc labeller

ptouch 535x410 brother p touch pc labeller
In the words of Buddy the Elf in Will Ferrel’s hit holiday film: “I’m in love, I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it!” Although Buddy’s love was a sarcastic department store elf played by Zooey Deschanel, my newest love comes in the form of a labeler. Brother’s new P-Touch 1230PC to be exact!

Labeling can be addictive (you know you go adhesive-happy when the label gun comes out to play), and you really have to be careful with the 1230PC, because it’s just too easy. All you do is plug into your PC (sorry, Mac users — you have to get Windows XP or Vista to get this running) and the software installed on the device pops up for you to start labeling away on a wide selection of tapes. Similar to a Word format, you have a huge array of fonts and sizes to choose from, and you can even add in images and logos. It’s super quiet when it prints, and as always, I love a sleek design.

$70, available at brother.ca.

Follow me on Twitter! twitter.com/tech_style

tomtom white pearl gps

new gps show s tomtom s pearly whites 2 tomtom white pearl gpsAlthough our laptops, mp3 players and cell phones have been created with super sleek design at the forefront for the past few years, gadgets like GPS devices have been quite standard looking — black, square, and matte. TomTom has taken the first leap towards making design a key factor in their GPS production, with the introduction of the White Pearl.

Although the technical features of the White Pearl aren’t much different from TomTom’s original GPS’s (they’re awesome to begin with!), the appearance itself is enough to make me want one. With a pearlescent casing and a swirl print that subtly carries on to the corners of the screen, this GPS leads all others in the right design direction.


Currently available in the UK. Check back at Tech Style and the TomTom website for North American release dates.

sleek cable organizer

yoyo1 sleek cable organizerFrom previous blog posts, you may have realized that sleek and sexy electronics are my forté. Little appeals to me more than a well-designed piece of technology, which is why long, ugly, annoying cords make me scowl in disdain. The simplistic style of an iMac can be marred by the endless amount of devices hooked up to its back by extensive cords (I hook up a plethora of items − digital camera, iPhone, iPod, external hard drive, etc.). That’s where Bluelounge’s Cableyoyo changed my tech world forever.
yoyo2 sleek cable organizer

This handy little organizer wraps the wires of your handheld devices around its little axle, ensuring your home and workspace are free of cord-clutter. An adhesive spindle means you can attach the yoyo to almost any surface and can be stacked on top of each other (this is ideal for my iMac cable commotion). Plus, you can file this one under ‘Lauren’s Tech-tastic Products For A Recession’, because the Cableyoyo is only $5 US or $14.50 US for a 3-pack.
Available at: Bluelounge.com

Follow me on Twitter! twitter.com/Tech_Style

magnique: magnifique!

picture 121 magnique: magnifique!Spring is in the air and with the arrival of this much-anticipated season comes, for many, a renewed commitment to getting organized at home. In some ways, it`s like the new year; a fresh start, a new beginning. And these days, getting organized has never been easier or more stylish. There are all kinds of tools on the market to help make home organization easier than ever before. But getting organized doesn`t have to mean huge at-home overhauls involving new built-in closets or large-scale pieces of furniture. Sometimes the key is to start with the little things, like bills, paperwork, odds and ends. I recently discovered these magnetic boards from Magnique, a fabulous Canadian company. All of the Magnique boards and gorgeous glass magnets are handmade in Toronto. These customizable boards come in a variety of colours of leather and suede and can be used all over the house to organize paper, create vision boards, keep track of grocery lists and to-dos or even display photos. I love the colourful magnets, handmade in Canada with glass imported from Italy. You may want to buy some extras for your fridge.

Visit magnique.com for more information.

sumo women’s laptop purse

picture 24 sumo womens laptop purseI`ll be the first to admit that I don`t need another bag. Like any good girly-girl, I`ve got too many bags and too many pairs of shoes. My mother tells me that my obsession with shoes began at a very young age so it was only natural that when I got my first job as a teenager, it was at a shoe store at the mall up the street from our house. But the obsession, I think, isn`t so much about quantity as it is about quality. And by quality, I don`t mean outrageously expensive, hand-crafted, imported Italian leather. I`m talking more about utility. For years, my favourite boots were a pair of synthetic platforms that cost about $40. But they were so versatile, they were the perfect pair. And so it is with my new favourite bag. The SUMO women’s laptop purse is so stylish and utilitarian, it was love at first sight. And then, as I began to use it, I really fell hard. It`s sleek, which I love; it doesn`t look like a laptop bag at all. And inside, there`s a cozy, corduroy-lined pouch for my computer. It fits sveltely inside, with plenty of room to spare for all the other odds and ends I lug around town. This bag is big on the details (did I mention the corduroy-lined pouch that I love?) — it`s got a printed interior and the fuchsia stitching on the exterior is the perfect finishing touch. The bag itself is nylon but the straps are a soft, pliable leather. Exterior pockets provide easy access to your phone or iPod. It`s stylish for toting about town and super-functional for traveling with.

Available at: mobileedge.com
Price: $129.99

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