Author: linda erlam

Over the last few months, I’ve written several times about making our homes—and our lives—easier to manage as we get older. But I’ve been thinking that there is a danger in all this sensible advice. If we aren’t careful, making life easier can become entirely about subtraction. Do less. Own less. Maintain less. Take on less. Give things up. Perhaps we also need to think about what we are going to add. One of those things could be learning,  the world doesn’t stop changing just because we have reached our seventies. In fact, continuing to learn may become more important because so much of maintaining our independence depends upon being able to adapt. Think about how many things that were once simple now require a little new knowledge. Banking has changed. Cars have changed. Telephones have certainly changed. We don’t necessarily have to like any of it. But every time READ MORE

Every year I do a column in the early summer about what to wear to beat the heat a bit. I’ve got to say it, right at the start: T-shirts, polyester knit tank-tops, and jersey dresses are SWEATERS, and don’t belong anywhere near summer wardrobes in places like Salmon Arm. They are knits. Just don’t wear them. This doesn’t change. 

But other things change, and I swear I will not let myself develop tunnel vision and refuse to accept new things, so, as it’s time for a new look at this whole subject, I did some sleuthing, and while the ‘trinity’ is still the holy grail, there are some changes in the last five years or so worth knowing about. 1. Fabric structure is often more important than fibre. For years the advice was simply: Cotton Linen Silk Today, textile engineers say the weave, yarn shape, colour, finish and air READ MORE

Interior design and decoration doesn’t have many rules. Lots of guidelines, but few rules. Most of the rules I remember actually make sense and aren’t really that difficult to understand. My favourite one: ‘Your eyes go to the area of greatest contrast first’. That’s why ‘pops of colour’ can be so overwhelming. Sometimes it’s what you want, sometimes it’s not. Another one: ‘If you have an architectural detail in a room that you don’t like, you have three choices: 1. Change it, 2. Camouflage it, or 3. Ignore it.’ That’s it. And this one, which is one of the most abused guidelines there are: ‘In a situation where you have an element placed above a piece of furniture, it must never be wider than that furniture.’ That’s why things look out of balance when the big TV is hung over the fireplace and why the mirror over the hall console READ MORE

When I started writing this column in 2008, Tuscan was the interior design trend of the day. That was brown, chunky, olive green, burnt orange, the  kitchen with brick walls, rustic wood beams, and faux-finished walls. We all remember that. The trends came and went. I’ve seen Gray Everything, Black and White, Farmhouse, and now the current trend of  Modern Organic Farmhouse Cottage, come and go.  This current trend features a shift away from black and white, a return to earthy colors, an emphasis on texture, and a focus on well-crafted, artisanal pieces. Back to where we were, with some modifications certainly, in 2008. So, really, who cares? Right?   Unless you are building a new home, or renovating one, or changing the curtains because they are too old to launder anymore, these design trends don’t mean anything to you. But, they DO impact your life, sometimes in ways you READ MORE