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In my last blog I touched on my top 10 “must-haves” for home décor from BestBuy.ca. This week, I’d love to dig a little deeper into one of my favourite locations to design and create: the outdoor living space

Continuing our look at the ‘connected home’ let’s take a look at the idea of keeping your home ‘lived in’ while you’re travelling. This is especially handy this time of year while the weather warms up and many of us start making plans to travel and get out a lot more. Whether you’ve got a road trip or a vacation coming up, home security can be a concern while you’re away. With all the smart home technology you can employ nowadays it’s easy to give your home the appearance of remaining occupied as usual even though you’re out and about. If your home will be unoccupied for an extended period of time this can be particularly useful.

Summa summa summertime, it has finally arrived! This doesn’t apply to my West Coast friends, but in the East, it was a long, cold winter. The only cool thing I want to keep for the new season is a chilled, flavourful (and sometimes alcoholic) beverage, preferably sipped on a patio. Here are the drinks I’ll be serving this summer.

Hey PlayStation gamers! Did you know that Sony’s premium subscription service, PlayStation Plus, provides a wealth of benefits ranging from online multiplayer on PlayStation 4, to exclusive member discounts, access to game betas, demos, and more? That’s on top of the best benefit of them all—Instant Game Collection—offering six different video games for you to download free each and every month!

While we can debate the complexities, intricacies, and philosophies of the game of golf, one thing there’s no need to fight about is that every golfer appreciates new gear, and the latest tools. With Mother’s Day and Father’s Day approaching, this is a great time to check out some golf gift ideas, from GPS technology, to wearables, to great low tech gear.

I’ve done a fair bit of traveling already this year, and couldn’t help but notice Best Buy Kiosks in quite a few airports that I ended up in. I never imagined buying electronics out of a vending machine, but actually it is a brilliant idea. Having done hundreds of business trips over the years, I inevitably had occasions where I forgot my headphones or an important cable. I hate arriving at the airport too early so I usually don’t have much time to spare. A kiosk is a perfect solution because it is a quick and secure way to quickly pick up important necessities.

So, you’ve made the big decision—you’re moving! As anyone who has moved before can attest to, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to physically transporting your belongings, such as how to best pack up your kitchen, or move your TV and home theatre. Perhaps the most significant consideration when moving however, is what do with your large, very expensive major appliances. If you’re moving and have been thinking about this, read on as I have some helpful tips!    

So, you’ve just picked up that new TV you’ve been coveting. You’re beyond thrilled; and seeing as though you’ve spent the last several months pinning décor examples on Pinterest, you know exactly where it should be mounted. But before you jump headfirst into securing your new toy on the wall, there are a few things to keep in mind when selecting a TV mount. Here’s the skinny on the three key considerations you need to keep in mind.

TV resolution keeps getting better. We have gone from standard definition to high definition to now 4K. There are even 8K resolution “Full Ultra High Definition” TVs, although you would be hard pressed to buy one. Where will it all end and do I really need the higher resolution of 4K? Sure more resolution is always better than less resolution, but there are several circumstances where it doesn’t make sense paying more for all those extra pixels. It is good to know the finer points of resolution, no pun intended, so you don’t pay more for not much gain.

Refresh rates are marketed quite a bit with new HDTVs and 4K UHD TVs, using various branded jargon like “Motionflow 240” or “960 Motion Enhancement.” Higher numbers are bandied about making it difficult to understand or to make fair comparisons between TVs since there are no industry-standard definitions for these motion enhancement features. I will help you sort through this marketing muddle and let you know what you need to focus on regarding refresh rates.