Before we get into the daily grind, many of us start our days with the familiar routine of getting our morning cup of coffee. As one of the most popular beverages in the world, coffee has a big influence on culture and even our habits. Elevate your caffeine routine with the perfect at-home coffee bar, thanks to this comprehensive guide.

Start With the Basics

While the possibilities are endless when it comes to setting up the perfect at-home coffee bar, the true necessities are simple. All you need are coffee beans and water. Instead of reaching for bottled water, consider installing a reverse osmosis (RO) water filtration system, an environmentally-friendly solution to delicious drinking water at your fingertips. Enercare’s RO systems remove up to 99.99 per cent of salts, chemicals and other contaminants and are often used at commercial coffee chains to improve the quality of their brews. Beyond elevating your morning coffee into a barista-level experience, reverse osmosis systems also provide cleaner and better tasting water that will inspire you to cook at home more often. Enercare’s tankless RO system can easily be installed directly under any sink and produces one third less water waste than conventional tank systems. So, start your day the right way with perfectly purified water, that’s easy on Mother Nature, too.

Location, Location, Location

If you want to create an at-home coffee setup that calls to you more than your local coffee shop, you’ll need to find the perfect location. This could look like utilizing an unused corner of your living room, clearing space on a spare counter in your kitchen or adding a bar cart to your dining room. When trying to determine the best location for your at-home coffee bar, consider what your current routine looks like. How do you make your coffee? What type of machine do you use? Do you tend to sit and slowly sip your coffee or do you drink it quickly while making breakfast? The type of equipment you use — whether that be a French press, pour-over carafe, or espresso machine — will determine how much space you’ll need to allocate to your perfect coffee bar. Take into consideration the proximity to drinking water, outlets you’ll need and where you store your cream or alternative milks.

Smart Storage

Wherever you decide to set up your at-home coffee bar, storage is a must. Make everything you’ll need as accessible as possible. Before that caffeine kick, we want to avoid the extra steps required to get your mug from one side of the kitchen and your spoons from the other. Set up a space that has everything you’ll need for a barista-level creation at your fingertips — mugs, coffee beans, sweeteners, spices, spoons, milks and whatever else you’ll need to enjoy your java. If you’ve chosen a location for your coffee bar that’s further away from your kitchen, consider a portable mini-fridge (available on Amazon for under $70) to store your favourite milks. Utilize closed cabinets, open wall shelving and matching canisters to keep everything organized so your tired morning self can navigate the flow easily.

Related: 10 Coffee-Making Stations That’ll Make Your Morning Cup Feel Like a Cafe Experience

 

Cup of Solace

Create a moment of calm amidst your busy day with a coffee bar that’s both practical and aesthetically-pleasing. Making use of vertical space with open shelving provides an opportunity to store items you use regularly while prepping your java, while being mindful of valuable counter space. Store less frequently used items, such as your treasured mugs and tea cups, coffee table books and plants, on the higher shelves while dedicating the lower shelves to items used daily. Use air-tight glass canisters to neatly store and display java-related ingredients like coffee beans, pods and sugar. If you tend to like your coffee on the sweeter side, try displaying syrups in labelled glass dispensers. Ensure you’re always ready to host guests by having coffee-companion snacks readily available, too.

 

Related: How to Install Open Shelving in the Kitchen and Make It Look Good

Positively Not a Morning Person

Wake up your at-home coffee bar with personality, colour and light. Utilize mood lighting to help ease yourself into early mornings and energize you on cloudy afternoons. Battery-powered under cabinet lighting or wall sconces are the perfect option to add a touch of warmth without too much lift. A portable speaker is another practical addition to any coffee bar that will allow you to cue up coffee house music or a favourite podcast while brewing your first cup of the day.

PRO TIP: Store supplements and vitamins at your coffee bar so you never forget to take them.

At-Home Coffee Bar Checklist

Organize your coffee corner chronologically, starting with the items used first in your coffee-making routine and working your way to the final touches used at the end (think: spices). Depending on how you espresso, you’ll need to modify this at-home coffee bar essentials checklist:

• Filtered Drinking Water (Check out Enercare’s reverse osmosis (RO) water filtration system)
• Equipment (espresso machine, French press, etc.)
• Coffee Beans
• Coffee Grinder
• Scale
• Knock Box
• Electric Kettle
• Milk Frother
• Milks or Creamers
• Portable Mini Fridge
• Coffee Mugs
• Glassware
• Air-Tight Canisters
• Sugar Bowl
• Syrup Dispensers
• Spices or Flavours
• Measuring Scoops
• Bar Mat or Tray
• Coffee Spoons or Stirrers
• Spoon Rest
• Reusable Straws
• Napkins or Dish Towels
• Self-Serve Snacks
• Speaker
• Coffee Table Books
• Plants and Personalized Decor

Washing, soaking, drying, folding, ironing — it can be monotonous. With the average household doing  over four loads of laundry per week (300 loads every year), a lot of time is spent within the four walls of your laundry room. And for those with small laundry rooms, the drudgery can pile up as much as the loads. Here’s how you can make laundry day a lot more enjoyable — or at the very least, more efficient.

Spick-and-Span Spin Cycles

For those looking to keep their time in the laundry room to a minimum, rewashing loads can be a nightmare. If your clothes are coming out of the wash dirty, it may be time to install a water softener. Minerals like calcium and magnesium contribute to water hardness, which can make cleaning your clothes (and anything else in your home) more difficult. The built-up residue caused by hard water not only makes clean laundry feel rough, it also shortens the lifespan of your appliances and plumbing. Installing a water-softening system is an easy upgrade that’ll benefit your daily life and can save you thousands in the long run. Plus, Enercare’s rental option offers free installation and repair coverage for the lifetime of the water softener, which means you’ll enjoy more efficient cleaning and spend less time worrying about maintenance. So keep your clothes brighter, cleaner and softer for years to come by washing them the most efficient way — in water that’s been treated by a water softener.

Space-Saver for Small Laundry Rooms

 If space allows, unstack your washing machine and dryer to allow for working counter space and functional shelving. This reconfiguration will give you a place to fold and sort your laundry plus provide you easy access to items you need frequently like laundry soap, fabric softener and wool drying balls. Installing cupboards above your washer and dryer can also provide a safe space to store household cleaners you’d like to keep out of reach from children and pets.

If you’re in the process of remodeling, consider keeping your laundry room central to the areas of your home where you produce the most dirty laundry. For many, this could be off the kitchen or near the bedrooms. You’d be surprised how much time centralizing your laundry room can save.

Related: Scott McGillivray Reveals 8 Tips for Designing the Perfect Laundry Room

Better Drying Solutions

While it can be tempting to chuck an entire load of laundry in the dryer, it’s not very energy-efficient and may take more time to dry items. There’s also nothing worse than discovering a fresh load is completely wrinkled from sitting too long — or worse, still damp and smelly from sitting in the barrel for longer than you’d like to admit.

Air drying clothing will make your laundry habits more efficient — and having multiple air drying methods is best for efficiency. While a laundry horse can be great for bigger loads, you may find having a permanent clothing rod helpful for drying smaller loads or storing items waiting to be pressed. If you’re in the process of revamping your small laundry room, you might want to consider invisible drying drawers or a retractable drying line. For items that require machine drying, try swapping your scented dryer sheets with wool drying balls for an eco-friendly alternative.

Related: 18 Laundry Room Ideas That Are Beyond Stylish (and Super Functional)

Functional Finesse

Superfluous shelf styling has no place in a small laundry room. To keep your clothing workstation functioning efficiently, try decanting your laundry essentials. Not only do matching jars and baskets do something good for the soul, they can also be huge space savers. While it’s important to note that some cleaning products shouldn’t be decanted, storing items like laundry detergent, fabric softener, dryer balls and clothing pins in matching containers will do wonders for decluttering while keeping items in plain sight. Plus, decanting your products provides a great opportunity to visit your local refillery shop the next time you run out of essentials.

Related: The Easy Laundry Room Organization Hack You’ll Use From Now On

Take a Load Off

The best way to make your laundry day more efficient is by not having one. Many of us don’t have a regular ‘laundry day’ nowadays, and that’s truly the best policy. Rather than let laundry pile up for even a single day, it’s best to squeeze in a load when you can to keep cycles moving efficiently. Large piles of laundry can make your small laundry room feel even smaller. Plus, you shouldn’t let sweaty gym clothes sit for too long in a laundry basket anyways. This can cause bacteria and smells that are far more difficult to get rid of than if you had just started a load sooner.

You don’t need a large laundry room to take the drudgery out of washing your clothing. Leveling up your laundry game with small upgrades like a water softener from Enercare and more efficient drying solutions will save you time, money and space. Now that’s something we can all get on board with!

The sound of a rainfall shower, the serene smell of eucalyptus, the warmth of a heated towel — wellness-focused bathrooms that inspire an escape are on the rise. For those looking to turn their own loo into a spa-like sanctuary, it’s a lot easier than you think. By implementing just a few key design elements, you can create a mini luxury spa within the comforts of your own home. 

Water Essentials

Nothing is more luxurious than a bubble bath that’s perfectly warm or basking in an extended hot shower when you need a little ‘me’ time. But if your household is constantly running out of hot water, it might be time to call in the experts at Enercare and switch to a tankless hot water heater. Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to water heaters and a tankless one will ensure your family enjoys continuous hot water supply which is key when creating a spa-like bathroom. Plus, tankless hot water heaters can be 95 percent more efficient at heating water and help reduce energy consumption as they don’t require constant, 24/7 heating. And by choosing an Enercare rental option, you can focus on relaxing at home while their experts take care of any repairs over the life of the equipment.

Small Bathroom Luxury

If you’re considering a bathroom renovation in 2024, don’t sleep on wet rooms. Popular in Europe for some time, wet rooms are becoming more common in North America and a selling feature for homebuyers. So, what exactly are they? Designed to be completely waterproof, the drainage design of wet rooms remove the need for an enclosed shower, creating a zero-entry oasis for your shower-bathtub combination. Not only do wet rooms provide a level of accessibility greatly appreciated for resale, they also allow for the beautiful element of steam to be a part of your bathing experience. Plus, the less segmented design of wet rooms can help maximize space for those seeking small bathroom solutions.

Related: The Best Cheap Storage Ideas for Your Small Bathroom

Room To Relax

The bathroom should be a place to decompress from the outside world and simply be ourselves. Given the wrong lighting, we risk losing the spa-like energy we’ve worked so hard to cultivate. When redesigning your bathroom, do not let lighting become an afterthought. Back-lit mirrors, under-vanity lighting, sconces and pendant lights can do wonders to help you create an atmosphere suitable for everything from getting ready in the morning to calm nights in the bath. Your future eyes will thank you.

A Promising Palette

Though subjective, a basic white-on-white colour palette doesn’t exactly translate to ‘relaxing at-home spa.’ Instead, we’re opting for soothing bathroom colours — ‘colours’ being the keyword. We’re parting ways (at least for now) with classic white subway tile and instead opting for soft blues, greens and natural tones. We’re also choosing warm wood features that resemble a Nordic spa. Smaller bathrooms provide the opportunity to be bold, so be open to a plethora of colours and textures.

Related: Property Brothers Bathrooms That Were Transformed From Outdated to Outstanding

That Spa Feeling

Replicating that post-spa glow at home might seem next to impossible, but it’s a lot easier to accomplish when you have a water softener installed. Water softeners ensure your water cleans better by reducing scaley build-up, which means you won’t have to worry about clogged pores or hair and skin being stripped of its natural moisture. Plus, water softeners prolong the life of your bathroom by keeping plumbing free of debris and other junk so you’ll save money, too (and avoid harsh chemical cleaners). So, if cleaner water is what you’re after, be sure to check out Enercare’s water softener systems, which cover installation and repairs by the experts.

Invigorate Your Senses

Creating a spa-like feeling in your bathroom requires activating all five senses. Several studies have proven that smell can have a powerful impact on our mood and more specifically, that the smell of lavender can have a relaxing effect and reduce symptoms of stress. Introduce aromatherapy into your bathroom design by adding a diffuser with your favourite essential oils or place fresh eucalyptus in the shower. Opting for aloe, lavender or bamboo plants can help purify the air and create more of an ambience, too.

Less Is More

The last thing your bathroom spa needs is clutter. Keep any bathroom decor completely functional and to the point. Instead of knick-knacks with no purpose, keep plush towels on display (follow this step-by-step guide to roll your towels like a spa) and have spa-like amenities at your fingertips. A glimpse of Epsom salts or bubble bath may inspire you to indulge more frequently in some well-deserved escapism.

Need more spa bathroom decor ideas? Take inspiration from these Luxe Canadian spas. 

Spacious Quarters

Add a little more luxe to your daily routine by giving yourself the gift of your own space. If room dimensions allow for it, double vanities are a no-brainer when it comes to bathroom design and provide ample room for the things you love. Create a functional yet inviting area by utilizing cabinets that can be home to everything from your hair dryer to your skin-care regime.

Spa Bath Decor

The solitude found in a bathroom is something that can only be appreciated with years of wisdom. Instead of creating a task-oriented room, try to add areas that encourage stillness. A stool at the vanity or wood bench in the wet room can offer a place to rest and unwind, while a bathtub tray can promote self-care by keeping essentials nearby.

Big (Spa Bathroom) Ideas

With more individuals working and exercising at home, many are investing in their private spaces. There is no limitation to how elaborate your at-home spa can be — steam showers, infrared saunas and even cold plunge pools are being incorporated into bathrooms to help revitalize one’s self without leaving home. When designing your luxurious spa-like bathroom, you’ll want to consider how the latest technology can enhance your design. Heated floors, towel warmers, defogging mirrors, smart toilets and skincare refrigerators can all help you escape the business of life and transform your bathroom into a luxury spa retreat.

Related: Who Needs the Spa? 15 Bathroom Ideas That’ll Leave You in a State of Total Bliss

Pause. Take a deep breath. Now exhale. Notice anything? We are often more cognizant of air pollution encountered while walking through a city than we are of the pollution in our homes, despite it being where we spend the most time. Did you know that everything from our home’s ventilation system to our cleaning products and furniture can impact the quality of the air in our homes? Here are five tips to ensure your family is breathing in the cleanest air possible while at home.

Air Flow and Filtration

The number one way to ensure your family is breathing in clean, quality air is by reevaluating your home’s heating, cooling and ventilation systems. This includes furnaces, air conditioners and air treatment products that help improve the air quality in your home. With the guidance of their qualified HVAC experts, Enercare will factor in all aspects of your home before making a recommendation, keeping your household’s health as the top priority.

A high-efficiency heat pump is an excellent option that helps balance humidity levels and provides both heating and cooling for overall better home comfort, plus you’ll be making the environmentally-responsible choice that reduces carbon emissions. To ensure adequate fresh air is delivered to every room of your home, consider installing a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) or energy recovery ventilator (ERV). Enercare also offers HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters, which remove more than 99.9 per cent of particles that are 0.3 microns in size thus removing airborne particles such as dust, pollen, mold and bacteria and helping ensure you are breathing in indoor air that’s free of impurities and irritants. If you’re unsure whether your current system is working to promote the healthiest environment in your home, consider calling the experts at Enercare for a free home comfort assessment.

Non-Toxic Furniture

If you get a whiff of that familiar “new car smell” in your home, it signals more than just an unpleasant odour — it indicates the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in your home’s air.  Concentrations of many VOCs are up to ten times higher indoors than outdoors, with common sources being paints, cleaning products, wood preservatives and most notably, furniture. When we have new items in our home, from carpets to sofas, there is a period of off-gassing – when you can smell the chemicals embedded within the materials being released as a vapor into the air. During this period, proper ventilation is very important. When shopping for new furniture, look for major third-party certifications such as OEKO-TEX, Greenguard, and GOTS. You can find Greenguard Certified furniture, which has undergone testing for over 10,000 VOCs, at Canadian retailers such as Crate & Barrel, West Elm and Pottery Barn. Avoiding materials such as vinyl (often used in faux-leather furnishings) and opting for pre-owned furniture are other effective ways to minimize your exposure to VOCs.

 

Cleaning Tools and Schedule

Have you been coughing or sneezing at home lately? There’s a good chance the upholstery in your home is impacting your air quality. Upholstery and fabric often become culprits for collecting dust and dander, providing the perfect breeding ground for dust mites. It’s best to do a quick search of these tiny microscopic bugs that live on mattresses and bedding for up to 90 days. Everything from carpets and drapes to bedding and upholstered furniture needs to be cleaned regularly to prevent this biological pollution from drifting through the air undetected. Along with washing bedding weekly, you should regularly clean all fabrics with warm to hot water, especially if you have pets. We recommend investing in an upholstery cleaner — you’d be amazed at the colour of the water after cleaning just a small, seemingly clean, area of your sofa.

Related: We Tried the Bissell Little Green and Here’s Our Honest Opinion

Potted Plants

Although the findings of NASA’s Clean-Air Study are often misinterpreted, incorporating more potted plants throughout your home is still beneficial for air quality and can help purify the air. Indoor plants help reduce carbon dioxide levels and increase humidity, which is beneficial when it comes to air quality. Plus, in addition to supporting your respiratory immune system, maintaining humidity levels between 30-60 per cent helps prevent the spread of airborne microbes and pollutants. Popular choices for their ease of care and purifying properties include the Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) and Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum). However, if you have furry friends at home, you’ll want to consider non-toxic options like the Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata). It is important to note that indoor plants should be incorporated in addition to, not as a substitute for, proper air ventilation systems.

Related: 20 Plants That Will Improve the Air Quality in Your Home

Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

Maintaining a clean home is an effective way to ensure healthy indoor air quality — unless you’re using the wrong products. Unfortunately, many of the chemically-formulated cleaning products found on shelves today actually increase air pollutants in your home. If you’re using multiple cleaning products in an area of your home at once, your risk of being exposed to harmful byproducts increases as certain chemicals may react with others. To avoid VOCs, greenhouse gases and other toxic air contaminants, opt for natural cleaning products instead. With more eco-friendly cleaning products on the market than ever before, making the switch is seamless. Remember, “clean” doesn’t need to have a scent.

Related: 10 Things You Need to Improve Your Home’s Air Quality

When I told some of my mom friends that I would be trying out the Bissell Little Green for an upcoming article, they immediately said two words: Life changing. And after doing the dirty work myself, I can completely understand why — with a few caveats. While I may not be in my mom era yet, furbabies can give toddlers a run for their money when it comes to making your home look lived in. So, I unboxed the portable upholstery cleaner and put it to the test on my pup’s favourite napping spot, aka, my not-so-white couch.  

Bissell Little Green Pros

Listen, there’s a reason for the Bissell Little Green‘s over 65,000 ratings averaging at 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon.ca. For being so compact, the Little Green is powerful — a lot more powerful than I expected for a machine retailing at approximately $120. 

I appreciated that the setup was simple enough to not have to dive too far into the instruction handbook and only took a couple of minutes. I used the trial Spot & Stain formula that came with the machine and filled the rest of the 48 ounces clean water tank with warm water. The rest of the setup was as simple as plugging it in. 

Before starting with the Little Green, I vacuumed the area that I would be cleaning and highly recommend you do the same. Though the suction is powerful, this machine is not intended to be vacuum. I’m embarrassed to say, some of the stains in our couch were very set-in — like months set-in. So, I sprayed any of the areas that looked particularly tough with the formula first and let them sit for a few minutes before going back in with the three inch Tough Stain Tool. I thought it would be best to work in a pattern from one side of the sofa to the other so I didn’t forget which areas I had already cleaned. Well, let’s just say it was very obvious which areas had been cleaned — no pattern necessary. I watched the clean solution turn into muddy water as it was sucked back up into the clear brush head. With the exception of a spot of red wine from who knows when, the Little Green transformed my sofa back to its former glory. I truly was not prepared for how equally disgusting and satisfying dumping the dirty tank of water would be. 

Bissell Little Green Cons 

For all that this cleaning gadget has right, there are a couple places where the Bissell Little Green just misses the mark. I’m not sure if it was user error, but when I was inserting the full clean water tank, it was leaking quite a bit. My next grievance may not be applicable to all, but I found the length of both the cord and the hose to be really restricting with the size of my sofa. I ended up adding an extension cord to give me a little bit more flexibility, but the shorter hose meant having to rest the body of the machine on the sofa instead of the floor. The included three inch Tough Stain Tool works wonderfully; however, it doesn’t come apart for cleaning itself (a design flaw I believe Bissell is well aware of considering they released an updated version that does). If you opt for the model I tried though, vacuuming your surfaces before will help reduce the amount of debris that could get trapped in the attachment. 

Is the Bissell Little Green worth the hype?

As a proud contributor and consumer of #CleanTok (its 107.3 billion views leads me to believe some of you are too), I am happy to report that the viral clips of dirt lifting seamlessly from seemingly the direst fabrics imaginable are not AI generated. The Bissell Little Green is (nearly) perfect for what it is. For smaller, quick and dirty jobs, this is the portable answer you’ve been searching for. If you’re looking to tackle larger deep cleans like my large white sectional or an entire carpet, I would opt for one of Bissell’s more robust spot cleaners or carpet cleaners or be ready to spend a lot of time going back and forth to the sink to dump the dirty tank.

No matter its size, your kitchen tends to be the heart of the home. As such, kitchens tend to have more organizational concerns than anywhere else in the home. However, cooking, eating and entertaining can all be made smoother by following these clever tips and tricks to organize kitchen cupboards. You’ll optimize all of your kitchen storage space and in the process, life will get just a little bit easier.

Step #1: Empty Your Cabinets  

“It has to get worse before it gets better” has never rung more true than when you see all the contents of your kitchen sitting on the counters. The first step to a better functioning kitchen is to create a blank slate. By removing everything from your cupboards and drawers, you’ll be better able to reimagine the space. For most of us, the last time we decided where items were placed in our kitchen was when we moved in. Now that you’ve lived in the space for a while, it’s likely you are better equipped to know where items should be stored to suit how you live. Tackling all of your cupboards at once can be overwhelming but it’s extremely beneficial, too. Take this rare opportunity to vacuum and wipe them down while they’re empty.

Step #2: Categorize the Items 

It’s now time to group like-items together — place all of your pot lids together, your utensils, your canned goods and so on. As you move through this process, take inventory of what you have and discard or donate what is no longer needed. Check expiry dates of perishables and discard any items that are no longer good. Set the items that are closest to their expiry dates to one side — these items will be the last ones you place in your cupboards so they’re easily accessible. 

PRO TIP: Declutter your kitchen cupboards bi-annually. While you may not need to empty them entirely, evaluate each cupboard individually to purge the items no longer needed (if a Tupperware lid has been missing for months, it’s time to let go of its container). 

Step #3: Visualize the Space

When it comes to kitchen storage efficiency, it’s not about how much space you have, but how you manage it. Walking through your kitchen, determine the most logical cupboard for each of the categories you’ve created. The organizational system for your kitchen cupboards will be unique to your kitchen layout and how you live in it. Consider storing pots and pans near the stove, glassware and plates near the dishwasher, mugs near the coffeemaker and so on. Keep the most frequently used items at eye level and the heaviest items below waist level. 

PRO TIP: Use sticky notes to assign each cupboard to a category first — if you change your mind, sticky notes are a lot easier to swap than the cupboard’s contents. 

Step #4: Invest in Storage Tools 

You don’t need to spend a fortune on organizational systems. Now that all of your items are assigned to a specific kitchen cupboard, determine your strategy for storing them. If you have to remove multiple items just to get to the one that you need, reevaluate things. For example, if you need to remove your salad plates just to get to your dinner plates, you may want to consider a dish rack similar to this Yamazaki Home Plate Holder. And if you need to remove all of your canned goods just to find the tomato sauce, investing in something like this 3-Tier Storage Shelf may be a good option. Most kitchens have an awkward cabinet or two — optimize this storage space with baskets or lazy Susan turntables.

PRO TIP: If an item is smaller than your palm, it should be stored in a clear bin or divider with similar items. 

Step #5: Put Items Away 

With your organizational tools now in place, it’s time to put items away in their assigned cupboards. Over the next few weeks, you may notice inefficiencies in your organizational strategy and need to make adjustments. Be on the lookout for cupboards that tend to get messy; it’s likely that is due to poor placement of items. Re-adjust them as many times as necessary — you’ll know you got it right when your kitchen cupboards start to look organized all of the time and are easy to maintain.

For more cleaning tips, check out all of our cleaning and organization content here.

It’s no secret that a lot of us took up new hobbies during the pandemic that led to some spontaneous Amazon purchases, but for Garbo Zhu, adding a bag of air-dry clay into her cart altered the trajectory of her entire career and well, life.  

When she made her first clay piece, an earring dish for her mom for Mother’s Day, Garbo was a complete beginner. But now, just a couple years later, she has hundreds of pieces to her name, has garnered millions of views online and has watched her Grumpy Kid Studio creations sell out countless times. Here’s what Garbo learned about pottery making along the way.

Don’t Overcomplicate

As a new grad just starting her career in Building Information Modeling (BIM) during the height of the pandemic, Garbo was searching for a creative outlet to offset her many hours behind a screen. Prior to creating with air-dry clay, the Montreal-based designer had no formal experience with the medium. She had a taste of clay in high school, but for the most part, she was figuring it out as she went.

“It’s a really forgiving material,” says Garbo. “It’s pretty much like playdough for kids. So it’s quite simple to use.” After completing and gifting her Mother’s Day creation, Garbo was left with a lot of excess clay. With the leftovers, she began to experiment and create other functional pieces for her parent’s home, starting with a “clean” magnet to settle household dishwasher debates.

Enjoying the process so much, Garbo started to share her pieces on a dedicated Instagram account, just for fun. But when requests to buy her creations began to flood in, so did her ideas. It was time for Garbo to level-up her hobby. 

Related: Meet Shayne Fox Hardware, the Toronto Creative Turning Necessity Into Art

“Hand-building is the most accessible way to build. You just get your hands, minimum tools, a ball of clay and that’s it,” says Garbo about the ceramics technique her local pottery studio suggested. Her transition to hand-building was natural, being so similar to the air-dry method that introduced her to the medium. After a quick lesson, Garbo went back home to create her first food-safe, sellable pieces.

Following her initial chaotic Instagram product launch, Garbo realized she and her hands couldn’t keep up with the demand — especially given the cramping she was developing from her fingers to her forearms. Between her nine-to-five life on the computer all day and spending her evenings hand-pinching using the same muscles, it was time to consider more sustainable ceramic techniques. After a period learning slip casting, Garbo invested in a pottery wheel and began to teach herself in her parent’s backyard. 

Related: 10 Canadian Ceramic Artists That Need to Be on Your Radar

Seek Resources

With one quick delve into Grumpy Kid Studio’s TikTok, you’ll come to the conclusion that Garbo’s day-to-day still usually involves a rethrow on the wheel. Though she may share 20 perfectly centered pots with her nearly 650 thousand followers, she always includes the footage of her failed attempts. After a quick sigh, she resets and starts again—this, a learned practice. 

“The first month was so frustrating because it seems so easy when someone else is doing it on the internet,” says Garbo about initially learning wheel throwing via YouTube. “They’re so calm and they never get frustrated. But when you’re first trying it, your body doesn’t like to listen to your control.”

Looking back now, Garbo admits taking a formal wheel throwing class would have saved her a lot of time and frustration. But with consistent practice, she and her body eventually fell into a flow. “In ceramics you almost have to tell the clay, ‘Okay, this is what I want you to do and you’re going to listen to me.’ And that’s a conversation I have with clay in my head,” she says. “You slowly build up that relationship through practice.”

“Make as many pieces as possible,” Garbo recommends. “If I make a gigantic pot and it breaks, I’m not sad about it. I’m just like, ‘What did I do wrong?’ so I don’t make the same mistake again. I’ve made like hundreds and thousands of pots now, that one breaking is not a huge deal.”

Embrace the Process

“Just start with a mug,” Garbo suggests to pottery newbies. “It is one of the harder things to do. It is by approaching something hard that once you figure that out, you can do anything.” 

Mirroring her own experience, Garbo recommends focusing on one pottery technique at a time to determine which method best suits you and what you’re hoping to create. After that, it’s all about practice. “Let’s say I’ve been away for two weeks and I’m back on the wheel again,” Garbo says. “I’m a little bit rusty. I’m not sure about where to apply my pressure or I apply the wrong type of pressure. It’s just like going to the gym. If you’re supposed to lift this amount of weight and you take a break, you’re not as strong as before. Clay is the same.”

As a self-described stubborn person, Garbo prefers to work through these harder days at the wheel, but believes the process should be based on the creator’s personality — if you need to walk away and return later, follow that intuition. 

“I always learn something new about clay or learn something about myself. You have to keep on practicing. And if you’re having a really bad day, it shows on the clay too,” she says. “You just have to be patient with yourself and with clay. It gets better.”

Share as You Go

When she began sharing her mugs online, Garbo didn’t have her bright studio space, her four assistants or any professional training in the medium — the latter remains true today, despite her undeniable mastery. Instead, she’s brought her followers along for the entire journey — from modifying her parent’s Toronto living room into a makeshift studio, to securing her first true studio in Montreal. 

“Anyone that’s trying to start or scale up their handmade business, don’t be afraid to show you as a person outside of your work,” says Garbo, who accredits social media for where her business is today. “I’ve shown more now in the past couple of months of what it’s like to work with me in the studio so people know that it’s a real studio, people work here and we are real people.”

Through daily glimpses of her life and personality via TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, Garbo’s followers recognize the sharp contrast from her bubbly personality and the grumpy little faces that are signature to her ceramics. “I have liked to put faces on things since I was a kid,” says Garbo. “I love drawing faces on inanimate objects to bring them more characteristics and make them more fun. The pot itself is cute, but by having a grumpy face on it, you almost create this complex feeling.”

Garbo weaves herself and her heritage throughout her brand, most notably through her famously sold out BAO Mug (pictured above in the Waffle variation), a creation that took nearly two years to come to fruition. Garbo tapped into her architecture background and used a 3D printer to create a model of the initial complex shape. When visiting her grandparents in China last year, she took advantage of her proximity to the Porcelain Capital to commission a custom slip casting mold. Since then, her Bao Mug has been released in several variations: Barbie Cowboy, Waffle, Croissant, Aurora and due to high demand, likely many more to come. 

“People are reacting so well, that’s our best selling model.” says Garbo. “Every time we launch it, it still gets sold out every single time, which is crazy.” So what’s next for Grumpy Kid Studio? From humanifying the bao bun to slip casting a baguette, if Garbo’s previous creations are any indication, the limit does not exist. 

They say when you start a home renovation, things tend to snowball; the scope expands, as does the timeline and budget. But for Shayne Fox, what started out as a simple kitchen renovation snowballed into something much greater: A business.

How Her Hardware Business Was Born

When Fox was searching for quality hardware for her kitchen renovation, she had no idea she’d find herself, nearly 10 years later, being the one to design, create and ship the wares she was looking for worldwide. “I was searching for hardware that was not generic, mass produced or made out of cheap materials,” says Fox. “It just hit me one day that if I was struggling to find interesting wares with presence and soul, then others might be in the same boat too.”

Shayne Fox Hardwares (SFH) was born. Having studied ceramics for years and with a background in glass blowing and blacksmithing, Fox set to work on creating in a new medium: Casting bronze. “I never imagined I would own and run and design all the items in a decorative hardware business,” says Fox. “But, once I saw the first castings, the prototypes for the GEO series, I knew I had just created something special.”

Related: Meet the Brothers Behind This Ethical Online Marketplace for Housewares

There’s Beauty in the Method

Using the same technique that was used for casting bronze dating back to 2500 B.C., SFH hand pours bronze into sand molds before finishing each piece by hand once cooled. This process means each and every piece is slightly unique, or as Fox puts it, “has soul.”

“I love the anthropological and alchemical aspects of bronze and can totally get lost learning about early beliefs associated with what it means to transform materials from one form, with heat and fire, to then create another material altogether,” says Fox. “It’s all fascinating and inspires me to experiment and play with bronze to see what I can make, and perhaps to even connect with the magic of the past on some level.”

The entire creation process, from casting to the final hand polishing and waxing, all happens within 30 kilometres of Fox’s Toronto-based home, which also doubles as the SFH office—for now. The popularity of SFH designs and increased demand for production means Fox and her team are on the hunt for a dedicated studio where they can host SFH events, a small showroom, client meetings and shipping logistics.

Related: The Best Gifts From Canadian Small Businesses Under $100

The Creative Influence Behind Each Piece

While all SFH pieces are made of silicon and manganese bronze, there is a design and finish to suit any space. Blackened bronze, bright bronze, warm bronze and nickel plate finishes bring new dimension to each knob, pull and handle. Fox also works with design firms to create custom pieces for clients in homes across Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

“I have always been drawn to things that are timeless and of substance,” Fox says about her initial draw to working with bronze. “I appreciate things that have patina, soul and presence, and can stand up in terms of their form, function, quality and beauty.”

Related: 10 Kitchen Renovation Trends for 2023

As an Emmy-nominated and award-winning set decorator and production designer in Toronto’s film industry, Fox has always been aesthetically inclined. “My career in film and TV has been invaluable in getting to know my own brain, my creative self, as well as to understand materials and how all the details matter and can culminate to create magic,” she says. “There is no better learning space than actually doing things, solving design problems and building things out of thin air. Nobody can teach you how to have good instincts… you basically have to live it yourself.”

The nature of production schedules has allowed Fox to continue her work in the film industry on hit shows like FX’s What We Do in the Shadows and Netflix’s Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, while simultaneously running her business. “I love designing sets for TV shows and films and the work environment is so team oriented and collaborative,” says Fox. “My hardware business is more of a solo driven enterprise and creative outlet.”

Versatility is an Art Form

Fox embraces the fluid nature of her workdays as she alternates from designing sets, to designing hardware, overseeing logistics, hand finishing pieces and creating content to market her products. “I have to say it’s been pretty satisfying to build something out of nothing,” she says. “To grow a teeny side hustle from my dining room table into a full blown business that has an international presence, has been pretty cool.”

When she’s not on the set of her latest film project, you’ll find Fox designing new ranges, growing her team and planning for global showrooms someday—the possibilities of SFH are as endless as the possibilities of bronze. “As long as it’s authentic and you truly love it,” she says, “chances are pretty high that others will too.”

Opening her cleaning supply closet, Brogan Ingram is on autopilot, choosing the products she’ll need for the day. She selects her favourite Scrub Daddy sponge, gloves, brushes and a dozen of her go-to P&G products, placing them carefully into a caddy — which she’ll leave for the homeowner when she’s done. She grabs her PPE gear, including a full white suit, shoe covers, full face respirator and double gloves, and says goodbye to her husband, two dogs and three boys before heading out the door. Brogan is going to her fourth free clean of the week in Halifax.

When Brogan, 30, posted her first video on TikTok during the height of the pandemic, she had no idea it would go viral — or that it would completely change the trajectory of her life. The short video featured the laminated schedule she keeps on her fridge door to help her stay on top of her cleaning. In a matter of days, she received dozens of requests for a downloadable version. And that was just the beginning.

The Relationship Between a Clean Home and Mental Health

“I always knew there was a need for this knowledge out there,” she says. “But I didn’t know how great of a need there was.”

Fast forward to today, and Brogan’s videos on how cleaning can impact mental health continues to strike a chord.

Twenty-six videos and three months after posting her first video, Brogan’s TikTok account, Not The Worst Cleaner, gained 155,000 followers. Today, Brogan’s TikTok videos have garnered over 86 million likes.

Paired with her education in psychology, Brogan shares more than cleaning tips and tricks with her 5.6 million TikTok followers. The first time she shared a video on the correlation between one’s mental health and environment, the overwhelming number of responses left Brogan in tears.

“I would get hundreds of emails a week from people begging me for my help, claiming they were living in unlivable situations,” she says. “The photos they would send absolutely broke my heart.”

As her platform quickly grew, Brogan began utilizing her following for good. She started to raise money to hire local cleaners for individuals who need help the most.

Free Cleanings for Her Community

“Unfortunately, I quickly realized just how hard it was to even find a company that would agree to go in and do these cleanings,” says Brogan. “They are typically toxic, hoarding situations, so your average cleaner could not handle these jobs.”

Since it was too severe for other professional cleaners in her area, she offered free weekend cleaning herself. During her first volunteer cleaning, Brogan and a friend helped a single mother with three children under seven. Together the two spent nine hours cleaning the house to make it a safe and healthy home.

Thirty large garbage bags were removed during the cleaning process.

Once the two were finished, Brogan was given permission by the homeowner to share the amazing before-and-after cleaning transformation on TikTok. Her video quickly went viral. Over 4.4 million viewers were impressed by her act of kindness. However, since Brogan could only offer her volunteer services on weekends, she wanted to find additional ways to help those struggling to maintain clean and safe homes. Using personal and cleaning brand donations, she assembled cleaning baskets to help people get started.

Brogan Ingram Is Not the Worst Cleaner

As Brogan’s account name suggests, she doesn’t consider herself the worst cleaner. She also doesn’t consider herself the best. Cleaning wasn’t something Brogan particularly enjoyed or even something that came quickly for her.

“As someone with ADHD, [cleaning] is something I used to find extremely difficult,” she says. “In the last decade, I have learned to fall in love with it and have shifted my mindset from resentment towards cleaning to seeing it as a form of self-care.”

Brogan hopes her content can help her 5.3 million followers to do the same by offering free resources and daily motivation via her growing social media channels.

“The best thing you can do is shift your mindset from having to do it all and clean everything at once,” she suggests. “Thinking that you have to do hours and hours of cleaning in one shot can be extremely overwhelming … Go into it with no expectations, don’t overthink it, start in one corner and start small.”

Related: 20 Fast and Easy House Cleaning Hacks Everyone Should Know

Helping the Local Community

For most homeowners requesting Brogan’s help, cleaning is more than overwhelming — it is immobilizing. It’s not uncommon for Brogan to receive phone calls from social workers asking for her help.

“I do triage cases. Worst-case scenarios come first,” says Brogan about managing thousands of free cleaning requests. “I deal with many single mothers with children living in these situations, elderly folk at fall risks, people facing eviction and severe physical illnesses.”

In support of Brogan offering more free cleans in the last seven months, Brogan’s husband went on a leave of absence to help with their kids. This helped Brogan work through the waiting list of more than 200 cleaning requests in Nova Scotia alone.

“The number of houses I can do in a week varies depending on the severity of cases,” she says. “If it is an extreme case, it will typically take me three to four days to complete. Other times I’m able to finish in one to two days.”

With thousands of requests from across the globe, Brogan doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon. She even plans to travel for cases in the upcoming months.

Brogan Ingram on the Power of a Healthy, Clean Home

Since her first free clean almost a year ago, Brogan has developed her mental and physical endurance. Given many cases of toxic, hoarding environments, she struggled with her mental health during the first few weeks. But now, she finds them therapeutic.

“Being able completely to transform these spaces is enough satisfaction on its own, but seeing the look on these folks’ faces when they come home to a clean space is a type of happiness I don’t think many people get to experience,” says Brogan.

And despite what you may think, she still enjoys coming home from cleaning these extreme cases to take care of her own cleaning to-do list. Though Brogan often compares cleaning and life with her boys’ ages two, four and seven, to running a marathon, she is determined to continue showing her kids the power of helping others.

“My oldest is very interested and has so many questions. Whenever I leave for a free cleaning, he always asks me if he can come with me,” she says. “Knowing I have their eyes on me, I do everything I can to teach them how to be kind, empathetic, caring human beings.”

How to Lend Your Support

“It’s a special kind of experience. It only takes a few days of my time to help change someone’s life,” says Brogan. “The more I can spread knowledge and raise awareness towards the correlation between mental health and cleaning, the better.”

If you want to show your support for Brogan and her efforts to assist fellow Canadians, you can follow her on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

Additionally, if you or someone you know is experiencing mental health challenges, helpful resources are available at cmha.ca and anxietycanada.com.

You can also call Wellness Together Canada toll-free at 1-866-585-0445.

Photos courtesy of Brogan Ingram and Pexels.