Country Decor Blog

One of the single most important investment pieces to buy for your home is a couch. Years ago, I wrote a story for The Globe and Mail that lamented the fact that I grew up with an architect (my father) who didn’t believe in comfortable couches. As a result, our home was furnished with elegant (but they may as well have been made out of wood) couches by famous architects/furniture designers such as Mies van der Rohe. My obsession with the perfect couch has continued to this day, with a slew of couches in various styles coming in and going out of my life yearly. That is, until I met the brilliant furniture makers at Whittington Furniture Mfg in Mississauga.
A few years ago, I brought them a vintage couch that was the perfect scale for my back room. It was small and had a gently tilted back, just right for mid-afternoon snoozes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t keen on the rolled arms or the tired aqua velvet upholstery. Enter the talented furniture makers at Whittington’s. In one day, they re-formed the couch and created slim, tailored arms, giving the couch a perfect tuxedo shape. I upholstered it in a decadent linen by Robert Allen, and the couch took pride of place in my back room. Even my dad couldn’t complain! (In fact, I even caught him sleeping on it one day, something he never would have done on the Corbusier loveseat).
All was well in world of couches until the day my dog walker left my dog Janou with a large bone. Janou, as neurotic as ever, promptly buried the bone in the couch and destroying any integrity (or beauty) the couch had.
So back to Whittington’s we go. Here’s a shot of the sad couch - look how shabby it is compared to the others. But not to worry, in the hands of the Whittington’s talented team, I know it will be reborn - again. But this time they’re making a washable slipcover!
(BTW, the trick of flipping your sofa cushion over to reveal a new, unmarked side, only works

A quick update for all of you who have written and asked what the fantastic team from Canadian Home & Country magazine are up to these days. I’m happy to say that everyone from the magazine have moved on to other creative ventures at Transcontinental Media, the parent company that published the print edition of CH&C.
Executive Editor Suzanne Moutis continues to bring her inspired vision and talent to Canadian Gardening magazine.
Art Director Jose Woertman has also joined me at Canadian Gardening and has brought her trademark refined and elegant look (which a touch of whimsy) to Canadian Gardening’s design
Design Editor Ann Marie Favot has moved over to our sister publication Style at Home where she continues to create fantastic style with her immaculate taste.
Assistant Editor Karina Leimanis is now writing up a storm on all things botanical at Canadian Gardening.
Assistant Art Director Florence Kwok (Florence is such an appropriate name for someone who works on a gardening magazine, don’t you think?) is bringing her creative talents to Canadian Gardening magazine as well.
I absolutely encourage all you Home & Country readers to check out the new Canadian Gardening - you will find the same energy, accessible information and style that you found at Canadian Home & Country!
best, Erin
** you may wonder where this post is coming from - we had a “goodbye” lunch for Canadian Home & Country yesterday with Vice President Jacqueline Howe and Publisher Deborah Trepanier and were reminiscing about the 8 years at CH&C. Needless to say, I got a bit nostalgic, and waxed on a bit about memorable CH&C moments. Stay tuned to this blog for my top ten CH&C memories (one of them even includes a brush with the law!) best, Errin

Imagine my surprise when I came into the Home & Country offices today (also our offices for Canadian Gardening magazine where I am also the Editor) to find that the only person to dress in green today in honour of St. Patrick’s day was Karina Leimanis, our assistant editor. I’m sure you’ll recognize that the name Karina is not particularly celtic (she’s Latvian in fact) but her green eyes and terrific green dot Banana Republic fact made her an honourary Irishwoman for the day. After a fantastic media cocktail party hosted by Tourism Ireland at the Four Seasons, Toronto (note my GREEN tote bag full of press kits), I am heading off to the opening night for Canada Blooms, where all things green will be present. After a dark winter, nothing will be more appealing than the scent of fresh flowers. Incidentally, the Gala is sponsored by Tourism Ireland as well, so I’m looking forward to a rollicking evening of music (and hopefully green beer!)  As a side note, for all of you naysayers out there who don’t believe one should dress up for St. Patrick’s Day, I say “get some Irish into your life.”

So here I am, wearing green with Karina outside my office!

Ever since I was a child, dressing up in green on St. Patrick’s day was one of my favourite activities. My late mother would even dye our glass of milk green, and cut our sandwiches into a shamrock shape. Maybe it’s my love for my late paternal grandfather, who was born outside of Belfast. Something about wearing green makes me feel more connected to him (although ironically it was his least favourite colour), or maybe it’s just because I love green in March! If green is inspiring you as well, you can enter a contest to join me in Ireland this July. Click on this link to enter: www.canadiangardening.com/ireland.php

I know this is a blog about living simply and living well, but executive editor Suzanne Moutis had a huge laugh at my expense the other day when she saw this awesome photo of my new puppy, taken by photographer Virginia Macdonald. I pride myself on enjoying the “simple things.” A Catahoula Leopard dog puppy wearing a pink studded collar adorned with a faux diamond pave charm is NOT, says Suzanne, “simple.” I disagree. After all, simple to me means quality. The idea that you will spend a little more money on something that will last for longer is a simple concept, I think. Sure my dog isn’t really a girly-girl type, and yes, the bling collar charm may be a little over the top. But surely it’s a simple thing, to take care of a dog, and put an attractive collar on her. Suzanne and I may disagree on what “keeping it simple” means, but when it comes to decor and lifestyle, everyone’s idea of what constitutes will differ. I would love to know what your idea of simple means - please add a comment to let me know

It always seems that creating a colour palette is one of the most daunting decisions when decorating. There are lots of ideas out there on how to create a look for your home that you love, but the idea that always works for me is to focus on things that I love and use them for inspiration. In the case of the update of my living room decor, I started to look at what I loved in the room and what I was tired of. LOVE: my antique black satin glass, my floating dark walnut shelves, my high-backed settee. TIRED OF: the warm colours of the walls, the warm wheat fabric of the settee, the gloomy feeling of too much dark colour in the small space. So off I went to Robert Allen fabrics, where I started to go through their fabulous fabrics. I was looking for the “one statement” fabric that would work. I didn’t want a complete overhaul of my room - just an update. I found a fabulous fabric, Beacon Hill Luxury Velvet in Moss, that was just right. Still a neutral colour, but more greige then beige. I worked it in with a Beacon Hill class oatmeal linen fabric that I have always loved: Linen Weave in Linen and then found a great pattern in Beacon Hill’s new upholstery fabric: Bouncing Ball in Pewter. The tones are all soft and would be considered a warm grey. But not too warm! It’s interesting, because often people will start with a paint colour and then find fabrics that work with them. I always do it in reverse. I want the fabrics and textures in a room to be the focal point, the paint should just work as a backdrop. The accent colour that I used is a bold French blue linen. I love it! I have my stack of fabrics sitting on my desk while the pieces have gone out for reupholstery. I can’t wait to update you with photos of the pieces when they’re ready!

Today is the 6th day of puppy ownership, and I had to share this image of my two dogs, Tallulah (a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog) and Janou (a Weimaraner/Catahoula cross). I had to pull over in my car to snap this shot… My poor beleaguered Janou is now having to put up with the young minx Tallulah.

So why am I writing about this in a decor column? In a very odd way, my home decor is totally inspired by my surroundings and experiences…

When I moved into 19th century rowhouse five years ago, my living room decor - from paint colours to upholstery - were inspired by Janou’s mottled coat of taupe, beige and chocolate brown. Who would guess that I have now started on redecorating my living room and by some strange coincidence, the new colours are actually completely complementary to Tallulah’s coat of grey, charcoal grey, black and blue (her striking blue eye!). The makeover will be unveiled next spring in Style at Home magazine, but I just think it’s so odd that I was somehow channeling the look of this new puppy. Channeling you say? When I decided on the colour scheme for my living room, it was two months before Tallulah was even born. Does this make me a psychic dog owning decorator? Inquiring minds want to know…

On another note, thanks to everyone for their kind and thoughtful comments about Canadian Home & Country magazine. It is ever so much appreciated

This note has been a week and a half coming - apologies to those of you who have been waiting to hear from me about the closure of the print edition of Canadian Home & Country magazine.. I have been thinking about what to say in this blog about the loss of a print publication that has become so much a part of me. I have been at Canadian Home & Country since its inception in 2000, when I was hired by Avid Media to relaunch a small traditional home magazine called Century Home. Within a year, we had rebranded it as Canadian Home & Country, and we took flight as the ONE decor magazine that celebrates casual living and decorating with your own personality. Unfortunately, with the downturn in the economy, we’ve had to shutter the print version of CH&C, but I am happy to say that we will continue working on canadianhomeandcountry.com with as much joy and enthusiasm as we can! But there is some good news in the midst of all this sad news: First, I have been helming the editorship of Canadian Gardening magazine and am delighted to work on an influential, informative and FUN gardening magazine. I hope to bring the same life and creativity to it that I brought (at least I think I did!) to Canadian Home & Country. Please check us out online at canadiangardening.com As well, make sure to check out the forums on CG’s terrific site. But EVEN more importantly, I got a new puppy. I spent a few days down on Amelia Island in North East Florida (I will write more about it over the next few days) and drove across the top of Florida to Youngstown, Florida where I picked up Tallulah, my 9 week-old Catahoula leopard dog puppy from a fantastic breeder named Panhead Kennel. She flew back with me to Toronto in a little carrying case tucked under my seat. She is sitting on my lap right now as I am typing this… All I have to say is this: the best way to get over your grief (in my case, the loss of the print version of CH&C) is to buy a puppy! I promise, it works!