Tara Nolan » Lifestyle & Décor

Toronto Star & Metro holiday gift guides and decorating

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 16:09:13 +0000

I’ve written a few articles about holiday decorating and a gift guide that are being rolled out from the end of November into December in the Toronto Star and Metro newspapers across Canada, and online. I love the holidays, so it was fun delving in to all the lookbooks and holiday lineups that retailers put together every year, crowd-sourcing gift recommendations, as well as interviewing a variety of sources for trends and tips. Here’s what’s been posted so far. Stay tuned for more!

* Look to your backyard for holiday decor
Appeared on: Metro website, Nov. 24

* Décor trends nod to turn of the century
Appeared in Metro newspapers across Canada, Nov. 25, the Toronto Star, Nov. 26, the Toronto Star website, Nov. 28

* Layer your lighting for a festive hue
Appeared in Metro newspapers across Canada, Nov. 25, the Toronto Star, Nov. 26, the Toronto Star website, Nov. 28

Toronto Star: Fall décor and gardening articles

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 16:57:54 +0000

This fall, I’ve written several décor pieces for various special sections in the Toronto Star. The first two appeared September 3 in a section called Your New Home.

For my first article, I interviewed paint legend Annie Sloan Q&A style. For the second piece, I featured a beach-inspired bathroom renovation created by Rebecca Hay of Rebecca Hay Designs, whose work has appeared on HGTV’s Income Property, among others. I’ll post a link to the PDFs as soon as I get them.

My next articles appeared in a Restyle Your Home section that was published Thursday, October 13. My articles for that section included:

* A Q&A with Michelle Slatalla, editor of Gardenista.com and author of the new book by the same name. I met Slatalla who was the keynote speaker at an influencer summit I attended earlier this year at P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm.

* A product roundup, featuring décor items that will keep you cosy in the fall, both indoors and out.

* An article about extending your growing season with a cold frame. It featured a photo of the cold frame I designed using an old window for my book Raised Bed Revolution.

Spring Canadian Cycling articles

admin — Mon, 02 May 2016 03:20:29 +0000

I wrote two big features for two of Canadian Cycling magazine’s spring issues.

The first article, written for the February/March issue, is called “I Know Just The Place.” It was is a roundup of international places to plan mountain biking or road cycling trips. Destinations include Scotland, Croatia, Hong Kong, Colombia, Italy, Norway, Morocco and Australia.

This piece was divided into two articles for the website: 4 top global destinations for mountain biking and 4 top global destinations for road riding.

The second piece, written for the April/May issue, is a guide to the season’s variety of bike races—gran fondos, gravel grinds, charity rides and mountain biking events—held across Canada in 2016.

I also wrote a web exclusive about where to cycle and mountain bike in North Carolina.

Toronto Star + Metro: Hot new plants for 2016, raised beds + DIY staging

admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 16:15:46 +0000

I wrote a couple of pieces for the Restyle Your Home section that appeared in the Toronto Star Thursday, April 21. One was about the benefits of raised beds for small spaces and the other was a roundup of new plants that would be new to garden centres for 2016. These articles also appeared in Metro newspapers across Canada on May 5.

Earlier in April, for Buying and Selling Your Home section, I pitched a product story that would help readers to find items to stage their home.

Metro Special Report: Home Renovations
Thursday, May 5, 2016

* These plants have personality: This year’s garden picks are breeds of their own
* Have a small outdoor space? Consider a raised bed

Toronto Star: Restyle Your Home
Thursday, April 21, 2016

* Plants with purpose and personality
* Have a small outdoor space? Consider a raised bed

Toronto Star: Buying and selling a home
Thursday, April 7, 2016

* Do-It-Yourself-Staging

New articles in Canadian Cycling magazine

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 21:44:58 +0000

I’ve written a few articles lately for Canadian Cycling magazine. Two of them appear in the spring issues and another was written for the website.

For February/March 2016, I wrote a piece called “I Know Just the Place,” which featured information about two-wheeled holidays in Scotland, Croatia, Hong Kong, Colombia, Italy, Norway, Morocco and Australia. Some were places with epic road rides and others were all about the mountain biking.

In March, I interviewed a coach and a few cyclists and mountain bikers, including some of my fellow Wild Bettys about where to cycle and mountain bike in North Carolina. This one was a web exclusive article.

For the April/May 2016 issue, I wrote a “Guide to the Season’s Big Rides“—a roundup of gran fondos, gravel and mountain bike races, as well as charity races that will be happening across the country in 2016.

I also have a few more in the works that will appear between now and the winter issue.

Gift guides for the Toronto Star

admin — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 14:45:29 +0000

For the 2014 holiday season, I wrote three gift guides for the Toronto Star. The first featured gifts made by Canadian artisans. It ended up in the paper in a special gift guide section.

Here is a link to the online version (they made it into a slideshow): Keep it Canadian this holiday season

I also wrote a piece about subscription gift boxes. This one was bumped from the paper and I was a little disappointed because they didn’t run the full article, which featured interviews and context. They simply featured my list of subscription boxes: A sampling of Canadian-based subscription boxes

The last gift guide I wrote about featured Canadiana-themed items. This was a fun one to research and I really like how it turned out. It’s not online, but here is the layout:

Toronto Star: Where T.O. Shops special section

admin — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 17:24:51 +0000

September 27, I wrote two articles that were featured on the front page of a special section called Where T.O. Shops. In the first piece, I interviewed landscape designer Michael Dimitriadis about how to extend the season outdoors by creating a cosy patio. For the second piece, I sourced home office items.

I’ve included screenshots of the two articles below:

Toronto Star: Restyle Your Home paint package

admin — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 16:45:05 +0000

I wrote all the articles for a recent content package about painting your home that appeared on the Toronto Star’s website. I interviewed various interior designers and decorators for their tips that appeared in the following articles:

* Our experts reveal secrets to colour success
* How to use colour to define spaces in open concept living
* Choosing the right interior paint for your space
* Kitchen drama: Colour adds freshness and a touch of fun
* The psychology of colour: How palette affects your mood
* Dream in colour: How to choose a paint palette
* A primer on ceiling paint
* Photo gallery: Your paint job checklist

Published: August 2014

Canadian Cycling profile: Return to Race Across America

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 16:36:51 +0000

This is my first article in Canadian Cycling magazine. For the June/July 2014 issue, I wrote a profile about ultra cyclist Peter Oyler and his third Race Across America. I’ve known Peter for a few years (my husband used to work with him at a triathlon store in Toronto) and I greatly admire his dedication to his sport and his extreme athleticism.

I was also featured in the Contributors’ section.

Here is a link to a PDF of the article.

2014 paint colour trends for styleathome.com

admin — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 14:41:10 +0000

Writing about paint colour trends seems to have become an annual tradition. I love discovering what’s new because it inspires me to want to refresh my own home.

Here is what’s new: 2014 paint colour trends

Published: January 2014