Even though our back-to-school days are (long) behind us, we still love splurging on new office gear to put us back in work mode.

Staple away with this slick, modern Buro stapler from Lexon. Even the most paper-free office will appreciate this stylish desk topper. $35 online at Orling & Wu, www.orlingandwu.com

Recharge with this ProLine Universal Portable Power Bank, which works for all cell phones, and can charge an iPhone 4 three and a half times, or an iPad up to 70 per cent. This is far chicer than a lumpy power cable, and works on several of our devices. $39.99 online at Future Shop, www.futureshop.ca

Light up your workspace with these stylish Anglepoise table lamps. Great for brightening up a workspace late into the night, or (even better) lighting the pages of the great book you’d rather be curling up with. From $340 online at Provide, www.providehome.com

Keep track with this paper mouse pad from Knock Knock, which doubles as work week calendar and to-do list. Despite our handy digital calendars and reminders, there’s something very satisfying about putting pen to paper. 5 Days a Week Paper Mousepad, $12.99 online at Room in Order, www.roominorder.com

Store it all in these Ikea PS 2012 multicoloured storage boxes, that can be wall-mounted or stand on a flat surface. We’ll be stacking them to make pretty colour combinations and filling them with lovely office supplies, not only useful but a great procrastination activity. Organizing is work though, isn’t it? Set of 4, $49.99 at Ikea, 1-866-866-4532, www.ikea.ca

—Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Now old hat to residents of Canada's biggest city, there was a time when the CN Tower was a symbol of all that was new and modern.

Celebrate in style by serving drinks—or just decorating your bar—with vintage glassware from BYOB. We love the CN Tower whiskey bottles ($40), glasses with stir sticks ($15.95) and cocktail glasses ($15), the latter complete with recipe for the "Heavens Above" cocktail, a retro blend of amber rum, tia maria, crème de cacao and pineapple juice. Serve alongside your favourite Jello salad. —Kat Tancock

BYOB Cocktail Emporium, 972 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-858-2932, www.byobto.com

Like a well-chosen picture frame, the right placement can make even fried eggs look like art.

These ones from Toronto textile company Pehr Designs are simple, yet bold and come with napkins and runners to match. Patterns stick to simple zigzags, leaves and tiny criss crosses and we love the palette of primary colours, teal and plum on a solid white background. The line is all about effortless minimalism, so mix and match as you like.

See www.pehrdesigns.com for stockists.

Incense connotes exotic allure or hippie vibes, but not this one: a balsam-fir stick that smells purely of home and land.

Paine Products, of Maine, USA, claims to be the “original balsam company,” and no one is arguing. Their best-selling product is balsam-fir incense, which comes in short, thick sticks, 24 to a box. The formula hasn't changed since 1931, and with one deep, enchanted sniff, you'll see why it shouldn't. Each stick burns for a few hours, filling your space with—paradoxically enough—a super-clean smokiness.

You won't be able to smell the forest for the trees.
—Sarah Nicole Prickett

At the Drake General Store, 1144 Queen St. W., Toronto, 415-531-5042 ext. 101 and other locations; www.drakegeneralstore.myshopify.com

Sure you were blue boxing before it was hip to be green, but there's always room for eco-innovation.

Enter SHFT, a media platform (co-founded by Entourage star Adrian Grenier) that has plenty of funky and thought-provoking environmental and cultural crossovers, like an interesting shop with non-toxic dog bowls, chairs made from an upcycled chain link fence, and this ultra sleek cardboard desk, along with blogs featuring super cool finds from the international art world and provocative videos.

But if we stare at hottie Adrian Grenier too long, we might unwittingly contribute to global warming.

Read our interview with co-found Lauren Gropper, a sustainability and design expert, today on our Editors' Diary.

“Toronto is beige on beige on beige,” jokes interior designer, Christopher Caterer. “I’m not about beige, I’m about colour.”

Step into Caterer’s Rosedale boutique and find Cartier red leather armchairs, multi-hued cashmere throws and rugs fashioned from recycled silk ties.

A gorgeous set of 300 thread count linen napkins ($79) in coral or blue caught our eye, and the bamboo/cashmere blend loungewear ($125-$375) is hard to resist. For our bedroom, we’re harking after a Moroccan ottoman ($1,295) and stunning Venetian mirror ($5,800).

A girl can dream, as long as it’s in colour.

Artifacts, 1170 Yonge St., Toronto, 416-961-1058.

What we really treasure from our travels abroad are the unique finds we score at souks, bazaars and little-known street markets.

Here in Toronto, globetrotters Aristedes Pasparakis and Alexia von Beck are packing their finds into Holy Cow, their colourful Leslieville store.

We went cuckoo for the bird-shaped garden ornaments ($95-$165) and could not resist the Moroccan baboushkas ($50) in every hue. Snap up some soft Turkish towels (they make the perfect pareo, $59), a handmade paper star from India ($10–$16) and a copy of Pasparakis’ new cookbook, New Greek Cuisine, and you’ll feel like you shopped the globe.

Bon voyage!

Holy Cow, 1100 Queen St. E., Toronto, 416-778-6555.

People collect all sort things: seashells, shot glasses, bottle tops, matches, comics, coins and cards.

Melissa Levin collects a bit of everything.

Culled from years of riffling through markets, bric-a-brac shops and estate sales, her collection of vintage fabrics, board games, teapots, toys and biscuit tins is currently on sale at her temporary pop-up shop near Parkdale.

Brocade and jacquard curtains sourced from hotels in Germany would make wonderful fabric for cushions or clothes à la Maria von Trapp.

If this is the year of up-cycling Christmas presents, we suggest you peddle there, pronto.

Open until December 30, 1080 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-399-5557.