Winter is upon us. It's that time of year for cocooning at home with a movie and a family size bowl of popcorn. It's also a perfect opportunity to inject a little colour and style into your space with comfy blankets and throws. Is your family room in the cool basement? Don't worry, I've test driven four of my favorite blankets of the season in frigid conditioning to help you make the perfect choice.

With winter's approach growing ever more imminent, CREB®'s garden guru has compiled a list of tips and tricks aimed at helping Calgary green thumbs cope with the cold and snow.

Trends come and go. Feature walls, blackboard paint and wall to wall surface treatments have been popular for so long now that you might want to consider something a bit more individual. Why not try a wallpaper mural to brighten your space?

We all want to do our part for a healthier earth. Recycling, considering energy efficiency and cutting back on wasteful practices comes naturally to Calgarians. Have you ever considered decorating greener? For most of us building a LEED certified, solar powered home filled with eco specific products will never be in the budget. Luckily there are decorating options that will enable you as a homeowner to make wise environmental and ethical choices. Those quick thrill decorating shows and design magazines are fun to look at but for most of us, decorating a home is a much longer process. Read further for tips on planning and decorating your home with thought to budget, quality and longevity.

Buying large-scale art can be expensive. Since I know most of my clients invest in family portraits, I try to convince them to display them prominently. The trick is to get family portraits done in such a way that kids won't cringe with embarrassment, especially as they grow older. I have seen some really fun family portrait sessions online lately. One of my favorites was the family dressed as zombies in their mid-renovation home. They were able to make a real mess and not worry about it.

Under layers of sunscreen, a hat and long sleeve sun protective clothing I am on holidays, kayaking in 30-plus heat. I know how to protect myself from the heat of the sun but back home; the plants in patio pots can't be left to their own resources. Luckily there are a few things gardeners can do to help plant pots thrive through weather extremes this summer.

When I saw the tomatoes flopping over in the greenhouse, I went to grab a roll of string to hold them back. On my way to find the string, I saw the wilting mint and decided I should plant it in the ground, so I went to get my favourite transplant spade. My husband admitted to leaving the spade out front in the new pumpkin patch. When I got the spade, I spotted a nest of emerging baby spiders on a hosta leaf so went indoors to get my camera. In case you're at a loss — there is definitely a lot of dabbling in garden this week.