Style & Decor Blog

Gotta love this showstopping ceramic tile. Sleek, sexy and… Hygienic? Savoia – downtown Toronto’s stunning tile showroom – announces the Canadian debut of Active Antibacterial Tiles. Through a process called photocatalysis (say that five times fast), the tiles actually clean the air of polluting organic substances when hit by sunlight. Crazy cool!

Avoria Segesto ceramic tile from the Active Antibacterial Collection

If you’ve yet to browse Savoia, now’s the perfect time, as Style Sleuth readers have been invited to the showroom’s upcoming open house where you’ll have the chance to have the kitchen or bathroom of your dreams tiled FOR FREE! That’s $7,500 worth of tile, btw. If you win, you have to promise to invite me over to see the finished product! Here are the deets on the open house event…

Saturday February 6th and Sunday February 7th, 9:00AM to 6:00PM; 145 King St. E. (just west of Jarvis), Toronto

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I think we’ve all harboured one of these deep, dark secrets at some point in our lives.

Maybe they’re relics of student-living days, or inherited from a well-meaning great aunt, but all too often, these hideous hand-me-downs end up down in an unfinished basement or at the back of the garage in the hopes that they’ll disintegrate quietly of their own accord.

If you’ve still got one of these repugnant relics hanging around, Urban Barn is giving you the chance to turn your furniture faux-pas into cold hard cash.

Until September 20, you can submit your shameful sofas, tables, beds and armchairs in Urban Barn’s Ugly Furniture Contest for a chance to win a whopping $5,000 shopping spree (and the rather dubious distinction of “Canada’s Ugliest Furniture Owner”).

Good luck! Can’t wait to see the winning entry!!!

Benjamin Moore’s Black Satin 2131-10 

Does your home have what it takes to be Canada’s Next Top Makeover?

(Alright, that’s not the real name of the competition. I’ve just been seeing waaaay too much of Tyra lately.)

Benjamin Moore wants you to flex your decorating muscle and flaunt your most inspiring makeover project for a chance to win big in its new Share Your Style competition.

“We’re searching for homeowners whose unsung decorating achievements are inspiration for others and worthy of recognition,” says Helen Mullet, Benjamin Moore Brand Marketing Manager. “The Share Your Style competition is a decorating beauty pageant of a different colour. It’s being conducted online where contestants will post their before and after room photos and voters can cast their ballots for their favourites, decided the top 10 finalists. Then, a distinguished panel of designers will determine the nation’s best and the top winner from among those 10 contenders.”

What are judges looking for? Criteria will include colour choices, materials and textures, scale, composition and overal drab-to-fab impact.

The big payoff — the “handsome reward” (for all of you who are old enough to remember MTV’s Road Rules from the ’90s!) — is a tour of the winning room on CityLine (YAY!) with Benjamin Moore colour expert Sharon Grech; PLUS a $5,000 gift certificate for Benjamin Moore Painting and Decorating Services, PLUS an LG TrueSteam washer and dryer! That’s absolutely HUGE! So exciting.

What’s more, everyone who votes for the top 10 is entered in a sweepstakes drawing, and one lucky entry will be randomly drawn to win a $2,500 Benjamin Moore makeover prize.

For more information, including details on how to enter, visit Benjamin Moore’s Share Your Style competition website here! Good luck!

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Have you been to Toronto’s Crate and Barrel yet? If not, here’s a little added incentive.

They’re picking one lucky winner a month, now through December 31, 2009, to win a $500 in-store shopping spree! Just sign up at the store kiosk, and you’ll automatically be entered into the month draw. Sign up every month for a new chance to win. 

While you’re waiting for April’s draw, here are some of the droolworthy pieces to add to your wish list… Now this is a home office I wouldn’t mind lugging my laptop home to! (How much do you love those prints?!)

Spotlight desk, $599

Think office chair (without arms), $699

Boka lamp, $190

Classical symmetry prints, $90 each (set of six, $500)

Available at: Crate and Barrel, 888-657-4108

Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day” like a bouquet of fresh flowers, and thanks to the folks at Canada Blooms and Pick Ontario, you have a chance at winning a spring-fresh arrangement just like the one depicted above through this very blog!

The perfect pairing, this give-away includes a lovely hand-tied bouquet of Ontario-grown flowers as well as four tickets to Canada Blooms, Canada’s largest flower and garden festival, with an approximate value of $125! Canada Blooms, hosted at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from March 18 to 22, celebrates the best of Canadian gardens, exploring the tradition of gardening and horticultural excellence from across the country. 

How to win?

Simply answer me this: “What’s your favourite cut flower?”

What florals work best in your interior spaces? How do you arrange them for maximum impact? What vessels work best with that particular type of flower?

Post your response as a comment on this blog, and I’ll choose a winning response on Tuesday, February 10, 2009. Canada Blooms will ship the tickets and arrangement to the lucky winner just in time for Cupid’s arrow to strike.

*Contest closes February 9, 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.*