One person’s trash in another person’s treasure, here's proof.

Your Furniture
Dump your sofa at the, well, dump. But, instead of throwing your perfectly fine furniture into a pile of garbage leave it free of charge at the Foothills Salvage Centre near Okotoks. While you are there snag furniture at rock bottom prices that is great for refinishing. Foothills Salvage Centre, 4 kilometres south of Okotoks on Highway 783, Okotoks, 403-603-8161, www.foothillssalvagecentre.com

Your Wardrobe
Admittedly Take Off Your Clothes does let you get rid of unwanted items only to have you replace them with more. Exchange your clothes for coupons to redeem for other pieces at the swap. The swap starts taking your give-aways in April or you can drop them off now at Eleven Eleven boutique in Kensington. The next event will take place June 3. www.theswapteam.org

Your Computer
The Electronic Recycling Association takes your computer, wipes it clean of all personal info and refurbishes it to donate to charities. You can drop your computer at any Zellers location. www.zellers.com

Your Appliances
If you have appliances that need to go, including fridges and televisions, you can take them to the ERA warehouse or call for pick-up. ERA, 1301 34 Ave. S.E., Calgary, 403-262-4488, www.era.ca —Jaelyn Molyneux

Sure we could mix our own environmentally friendly cleaning products, but why DIY when someone else does it so much better.

Small Planet cleaning products are made in Calgary and blend all the usual suspects including castile soap, baking soda and vinegar with distilled water and essential oils to create bottles of liquid cleaner so safe you could spray it on yourself should you accidentally point the nozzle in the wrong direction. Try the minty Squeaky Clean Scrub ($7.69) on mirrors and the lemony Germs-Be-Gone concentrate ($5.99) on just about everything else.

If cleanliness is next to Godliness, these products are heavenly. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Amaranth Whole Foods Market, 7 Arbour Lake Dr. N.W., Calgary, 403-547-6333, www.amaranthfoods.ca

The Nanton Coat Rack from Palette Industries might be the definition of jolie laid.

For its Nu(is)ances collection, the Calgary-based industrial design team challenged themselves to reinterpret public irritants into items you might want to put in your home. The coat rack is an ode to the transmission tower. Once thought of as a yucky steel lattice meant to hold up power lines, now it is a charming urban décor accessory on which to hang your trenchcoat and perhaps a jaunty hat.

Now that’s bringing the outdoors in. —Jaelyn Molyneux

$930 at www.paletteindustries.com

The warmer than usual winter has created early onset spring cleaning tendencies with visions of accordion folders and sticky tabs dancing through our heads.

Or partner in that dance is none other than Martha Stewart. The professional homemaker might be a bit of an overachiever but she knows how to keep her stuff in order. She’s passing on her tools of the trade with a new line of office products  available at Staples. Chalkboard labels are perfect for kitchen canisters, pantry pockets attach to the inside of cupboard doors to be filled with takeout menus and dry erase weekly planners stick to almost any surface and peel off easily.

This is one of those rare times when it is helpful to ask: "What would Martha do?" —Jaelyn Molyneux

www.staples.ca

It’s time to up our wine drinking game.

Serious wine drinkers decant their reds for at least an hour before sipping to let them breath. The less patient among us can speed the process along with the Vinturi Wine Aerator. The gadget developed in Napa changes the air pressure in wine as it is poured through. Within seconds, red wines come out on the other side of the aerator tasting smoother with a softer aftertaste.

You don’t have to be one of those drinkers who swirl and spit and recognize notes of leather and tobacco to recognize that the Vinturi helps wine taste its best. —Jaelyn Molyneux

$35 at Twisted Goods, Market Mall, 3625 Shaganappi Tr. N.W., Calgary, 403-247-6691, www.twistedgoods.ca

Wallpaper meet tile.

The two home décor treatments have joined together for Paper Forms.  The squares are made from recycled paper molded with three-dimensional patterns ($34 for 12 tiles). Roll, spray or brush them with paint and then use glue to stick them permanently to the wall or double-sided tape for a more temporary commitment. Cover an entire wall or a smaller section to create an art installation.

It’s a clever cover-up. —Jaelyn Molyneux

www.mioculture.com

For Valentine’s Day I’m going to make plans to get to know my own body.

It’s not as saucy as you think. Chinook Learning Services offers a Build Your Own Dressform  workshop as part of its Super Saturdays courses. The seven-hour project has you working in pairs to mould a dressform to your own body shape using wet tape and a drycleaner bag. This project will make it that much easier come next Valentine’s Day when I plan on sewing myself a flirty dress that is perfectly tailored to my curves.

Now that’s a personalized gift. —Jaelyn Molyneux

The next class is March 10 at Bowness High School, 4627 77 St. N.W., Calgary, 403-777-7550, www.chinooklearningservices.com

Sometimes the memories of a bakery visited are so sweet that our return engagement is already planned before the original calories are burned.

The cookies at Momofuku Milk Bar are that good. But there is no need to book a plane ticket to New York City in search of the cookie. Mix to make your own batch is available at Williams-Sonoma. Add butter and an egg to the dry ingredients to make blueberry and cream or corn cookies. To make the famous compost flavour you’ll also have to add your favourite potato chips. It’s not quite as simple as slice and bake cookies, but the extra effort comes with a gourmet payoff.

This cookie is crumbling in favour of home bakers. —Jaelyn Molyneux

$23.50 at Williams-Sonoma, Chinook Centre, 6455 Macleod Tr., Calgary, 403-410-9191, www.williams-sonoma.ca

Word on the street is that Scrabble is cool again. Not that it was ever uncool.

Now we can show off our love of the letter with Scrabble mugs by Wild & Wolf. The ceramic mug in simple cream has a black letter on the front and the complete letter distribution chart on the back. Treat it like a monogram and gift a mug to a friend or yourself. Or, if you have open shelving in your kitchen like I do, buy a collection and put your favourite word on display.

High score! —Jaelyn Molyneux

$14 at Steeling Home, 1010 17 Ave. S.W., Calgary, 403-245-0777, www.steelinghomestore.com

When the weather outside is frightful plan a pajama party in with girlfriends and games.

Wear
No one will be judging what you wear so throw on the comfiest clothes you have and keep your toes toasty with faux fur booties ($16) from Restoration Hardware. Southcentre Mall, 100 Anderson Rd. S.E., Calgary, 403-271-2122, www.restorationhardware.com

Drink
Keep it casual by serving beer, but instead of picking up a generic 12-pack, buy the Case of the Month ($65) at Zyn and sample the curated collection of a dozen domestic and imported brews. January’s case runs the gamut from the sweet Ommegang Witte to the spicy Birrificio New Morning. 1543 17 Ave. S.E., Calgary, 403-543-8900, www.zyn.ca

Eat
Make it a pizza party by preparing Jim Lahey’s no-knead pizza dough from his book My Bread ($27.27). The dough rises overnight in time to top and bake to each person’s tastes. At www.amazon.ca

Play
Card game Apples to Apples is an old favourite with easy instructions. It’s all about matching unconventional nouns with wacky adjectives. It doesn’t require any special skill set, but there is an element of judgment, which is when hilarity ensues. $34.99 at Revolution Games & Music, 100, 3400 14 St. N.W., Calgary, 403-282-5200, www.revolution-games.com —Jaelyn Molyneux