apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Lynda Reeve's tips?
1. Have every room beige.
2. Have everything brand new from the store. No patina.
3. Have at least 6,000 square feet.
4. Have a contractor to gut whatever was there before.
5. Did we mention have everything beige?

Honestly, every spread in her magazine looks like it comes from the same house. They think taupe counts as a color.

Do it with the Contractor before he guts everything ^

my tip play flight of the conchords 'business time' on the stereo.

laughter is sexy.

Lisa Hunter--

Your evaluation of Canadian House & Home couldn't be further from the truth.

is this an ad? why would lynda reeve's mug be here?

I actually enjoy AT for its break FROM her and her banal design aesthetic (which is so broadly dissemminated across canada).

wear your business socks... conditions are perfect!

this is just silly...

You're right, Patrick. They also publish interiors in black-and-white or gray with Ghost chairs.

Maybe their interiors are just too sophisticated and subtle for you!

Not every interior has to hit you over the head for it to be successful.

I detest Lynda Reeves and her over-use of the word sexy.....

Look at the covers of the back issues. 90 percent of them are the exact same palette and style. That's why I no longer subscribe -- who needs six different takes on a Toronto McMansion 12 times a year?

Yes, monotone Toronto McMansions are way too sophisticated for me.

Iron your towels? Who is this woman? Oh, Canada!

This assumes most men aren't very green. I.E. "Throw away all worn things that only you appreciate..." I hang out with a better class of men.

I'm not a fan of Lynda Reeves--I find her style stiff and stand-offish.

Heee...love this. I did the "Linda Reeves" "sexy tips" double-take and decided to read it for the comic value. Tips and comments did not disappoint. I'm on team Lisa - go Lisa! And yeah, red.door.read, foodefafa, Bret and Jemaine have all the tips you need...it's business time :)

I think it was kind of foul. It read like a list of "the reason you're still single is..." Are men buying all the best sheets and towels and women are having none of that? That's a completely bizarre thought (in my personal experience).

Heh.

I'm pretty sure if I worry enough about what I happen to look and smell like on Valentine's Day, he'll be willing to ignore the fact that the sheets aren't ironed and there aren't any fresh flowers in my bathroom.

I can't stand Lynda Reeves. She always comes across as pretentious and snobby.

The dude is adorable.

I'm not a fan of Linda Reeves or her beige/cream/decorator white upper-middle-class Toronto subdivision style and I can't say that I've ever been inspired by either her show or her magazine, but good on her as a person for what she has accomplished.

Okay, I can't help myself.

Never mind the utter inanity of the article, who the EFF irons their sheets and towels?

Wait? People iron their towels?

H&H will occasionally have an adorable home featured, but the vast majority of the magazine is deja vu.

I do buy and save their annual "Trends" issue as it's such a joke to go back through them years later!!

Late to the party as usual. I've never heard of this woman before but...wow. Single ladies, forget about creating a home that represents your own style and makes you comfortable and happy; that's obviously the quickest way to spinsterhood! Shell out for that decorator who will make your home a man magnet. Because we all know that single woman only want one thing. Good grief.

I'll never forget one particular episode where Linda Reeves declares in her best upper middle class accent, "This muuuust be the feature". Well duh it was a huge, expensive piece of furniture against a beige wall. Every time I hear someone mention the 'feature', I hear her voice.

I've seen pictures of her work - who cares what she thinks since all her rooms look bad anyways.

My bedside table has a lamp, a framed photo of the only picture I have of my biological dad, whatever book I'm reading on, and a small glass of water. I don't feel it's that cluttered - I like having everything that is there there.

I am still laughing at pink lightbulbs in the bedroom! Hahaha. That sounds so corny.

I remember Lynda Reeves from CTV in the 90s (I was in my 10s!) and I haaaaaaaaaaated her, and wondered what on earth she was doing on TV. She's so stiff!

My boyfriend, from another provicem felt exactly the same way. I guess you could say our relationship is based on a shared hatred for her designs and her personality.

I didn't realize she was such a fan of using the word Sexy alot... That brings me back to a documentary about William Gibson where he used the term ALL THE TIME to describe cyber punk. I guess even nerds become cool eventually. When will it be your turn, Lynda?

If you wanna see "SEXY" look at Lynda's hands.

She's a man baby!

Have you seen the TV show where the editors all sit around in the same color outfits and talk about what's "in" or "out"? It's like a bunch of junior high school Mean Girls with a swatch book.

(Except for one of the editors who actually seems kind of cool.)

This makes me want to barf.

This is so offensive I want to bitch slap her. Men don't appreciate your old things, so get rid of them? WTF? I could care less what a man thinks of my home.

Patrick, you disappoint me.

I think you just haven't been as exposed to her through tv shows and the many years of her magazine as we Canadians have... really, Lisa has hit the nail on the head...

(just HATE the version of her tv show where they renovate rooms of her own house --- ugh.)

The worst part is how influential the magazine is in Canada (or, how plugged-in they are into the typical Upper Middle Class Canadian "look").

It's still my favorite magazine, sorry to disappoint.

Know nothing about Ms Reeves, but "sexiness" (by someone else's definition) is not a goal of decorating for me.

Do they make pink CFLs?

Also, who are these men? The guys I have known in my life seem to perpetually live as though in dorm rooms (no offense to the gentlemen here, exceptions to that type.)

Oh -- ironing towels (terrycloth, anyhow) seems like it would compress the fibers and make them less absorbant. I must confess to ironing my top sheet, though. (I despise it, but the stupid thing was a Home Goods luxury buy of a "high thread count cotton" and it comes out of the dryer unbelievably wrinkled which is uncomfortable to sleep with. I live in hope that when it's more broken in that need will stop.)

Patrick,
At least we agree on AT.

And to the powers that be:
This is why we so desperately need an AT Canada. Please help.

I side with Patrick (the other one) re: H&H. I love it. Delve in, and remove the layers and you shall see...

I have to agree with those here who enjoy Canadian House & Home. Excellent magazine.
Suzanne Dimma is new editor, so we shall only wait and see how this mag evolves. Her design palette, according to (RIP) Wish magazine and Style Dept show, is fresh, eclectic, trendy, youthful, stylish and much down-to-earth than the taste of Lynda Reeves/Cobi Ladner. She is an incredible designer and I feel she will do a superb job.
I do enjoy Lynda's tv program, especially the home tours. However, she does come across as a scary b*itch at times as she redecorates her home with her on-hand designers, Gordon and Cameron! She is an OCD perfectionist!!!
Poor fellows! (-;

Oh and read the rest of the article before blasting Ms Reeves...
I consider her writing a wee bit of a satire considering the last line: "Think like a man"
Perfect time of year, n'est-il pas?!

http://www.househunting.ca/decorating/story.html?id=ea34b021-1f51-4bba-8f08-790153bbad20

Oh and here are more articles by Lynda:
http://www.vancouversun.com/search/search.html?q=lynda reeves

ilovebc - Glad to hear there's a new editor. Is she from BC? It would be great to break the Toronto stranglehold.

Wow, this is like "The Rules" for home decorating. I guess eliminating all personality and any worn, comfortable items from your home is the equivalent of always wearing tight, bright v-neck sweaters or whatever it is we're supposed to do to "catch" a man. Because, you know, every person who wants to decorate a sexy bedroom is a woman trying to get a man... any *man* who wanted a sexy bedroom would just *hire* someone, duh. The list is more than a little sickening despite occasional (obvious) good ideas (less clutter = sexy, for example)... I'm honestly surprised AT posted it with zero comment on the sexism screaming from every line. Ugh.

I feel if you fill you home with things that you like/love, then it shouldn't matter if they are a little worn (unless it's falling apart and by then you have no reason why you didn't replace it). I admit I am not a guy, but feeling a home full of sterile things that are new and supposedly perfect would take the love out of the place.

And pink lightbulbs - omg - I think this Reeves lady is TRYING to get fired.

OMG! If only I'd found Linda's article sooner! I finally found The One, and I thought we'd spend our lives together, until that old oven mitt drove him away! If only I'd known!

It's not your apartment. Maybe he's just not that into you.

(That was a general comment on the article, not about the comment above mine.)

Wasn't Suzanne Dimma at Canadian House & Home as a style editor or something before she went to Wish?

I think she was at Style at Home? Or maybe that was that Samantha girl from Pure Design.

Suzanne Dimma was an editor at H&H for many years before being editor at WISH. WISH was sort of a Canadian Domino -- younger, hipper, focused on shopping. She's not actually *that* much younger than Cobi Ladner -- it is not a generational change age-wise, but Cobi was more traditional (and very, very NICE). I haven't bothered to check, but I suspect that WISH and H&H were part of the same magazine stable. In any case, Suzanne Dimma is coming home. (and no, she is not from the west -- she's been part of the Toronto scene for decades)

Lynda Reeves is the publisher of H&H, and so is the one doing the hiring and firing. She wrote the editorial in the gap issue (November? December?) between Cobi Ladner and Suzanne Dimma. It was shocking in that she never thanked Cobi Ladner for serving as editor for the better part of 2 decades (15 or 16 years if I am not mistaken); it was totally ungracious, seemed to hint of bad blood, and reflected poorly on Ms. Reeves.

What irritates me (and my husband), is that Lynda Reeves puts on airs about her design and trend knowledge, which if you have any kind of a design background and/or keep up with European publications, seems rather shallow. It really comes across in the tv shows.

Lynda Reeves putting on airs about her design and trend knowledge is comical. She has no formal education in design.
She was a high-school guidance counselor before her husband bought H&H and handed it over to her.

mschatelaine,
Thanks for all the info. I'll give the magazine another look with the new editor.

I'd love to see homes that aren't all new construction. Many Canadians live modern lives in buildings that are 100, 200 or 300 years old; you never see that in H&H unless the historical house has been gutted to the studs.

World of Interiors costs more than $20 here, because the tax on foreign publications subsidizes Canadian magazines like H&H. So it would be great to see H&H take a broader view.

If you follow the link to the article and read the comments- you'll see they're dead on.

There are so many thing wrong with Lynda Reeve's article. I wouldn't know where to start!

I think the basic feel here is most don't like Reeves - LOL - and it's easy to see why.

The show is beyond terrible, but the magazine isn't half bad. I too am sort of looking to see where Suzanne Dimma brings things, and so long as she doesn't put the magazines focus way up in the $$$$$$ market, it will always be a delight in my mailbox.
And well, being the only magazine I've subscribed to in the last 6 years that hasn't closed yet, I hope it sticks around a while.

I think you are all missing one very key feature to that room. The totally hot boy on the couch! He could keep his shoes on in my house!

I read the mag, and I do like it (they have featured my cousin a few times so I have to support!!), but I agree that everything kinda looks the same and I am DONE with the neutral or B&W Urban Chique look. Lets spice up our lives a little!!

OK, I just checked out the new H&H on everyone's say so here.

What is the current issue of H&H featuring among the "hot new trends" for 2009: Keep Calm and Carry On posters and suzani-print fabric.