When life gives you lemons, make lemonade online.

Following the folding of I.D. Magazine, two of its editors have launched Sight Unseen. The design blog ventures inside the homes and studios of creative types and highlights up-and-comers in the realms of art, fashion and industrial design. Rife with arresting images and well-written articles, its become our new Sunday morning read.

Unseeing is believing.

www.sightunseen.com

When it comes to Canadian pride, our cup runneth over right now.

And in lieu of winning one of Canada’s 26 Olympic medals co-designed by Aboriginal artist Corrine Hunt, we’re awarding ourselves Imm Living’s totem cups. Designed by Torontonian Rod Southcott, the set of four stackable porcelain cups pays homage to the artistry of our First Nations’ totem carvings.

Our cup of Tim Hortons coffee has never been so culturally cool.

$69.99 at Homewerx, 1053 Davie St., Vancouver, 604-682-2204, www.homewerx.ca

So you’ve already lost one of your red mittens and someone sat on your Quatchi.

Invest in a lasting piece of Canadiana with the new Our Heritage collection by Martha Sturdy, exclusively for The Hudson’s Bay Company.

Just landed on the floor, the beautiful bi-colour resin trays would look stunning at your next cocktail party. Serving smoked salmon, naturally.

$190 to $440 at The Hudson’s Bay Company, 674 Granville St., Vancouver, 604-681-6211,  www.hbc.ca

Mobiles aren’t just for dangling above cribs to entertain tots. When they’re delicately laser-cut and hand-folded from old roadmaps, they’re very much grown-up.

The hanging mobiles by Vancouver design duo Contexture, award-winning no less, tell a story too. “As the Crow Flies” (pictured) depicts a family of crows coming back to their communal rookery, as they do every night, and “Redfish” shows a school of salmon returning to the river where they were born.

It’s nature and nurture.

$49 at Vancouver Special, 3612 Main St., Vancouver, 604-568-3673, www.vanspecial.com

If when decorating your commons, you like to be liberal with your earnings, but conservative with your spending, plan a tour of Parliament.

Governed by three former Liberty staffers (each aptly titled Minister of Environment, Minister of Interior and Minister of Finance), the new boutique in Gastown is a light and airy space filled with fashionable furniture, like a plush velvet loveseat, and accessories that look posher than their price tags.

We snuck in just before they opened and gushed over all the glam gifts like custom-scented candles, cozy blankets and mod ornaments.

Now it’s up to you to pass the bills.

Parliament, 115 Water St., Vancouver, 604-689-0800, www.parliamentinteriors.com

Blame the forthcoming release of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland—we’re mad about mismatched tea sets.

Rather than rob our grandmother’s china cabinet, we’re building our collection at The Cross. The Yaletown décor store, now with a new online shop, has a cross-section of cute pots, platters, cups, creamers, saucers and sugar bowls. And all kinds that are simply white, so while our set is mixed, our shades match, making the Alice in us still whimsical, but very much grown-up.

Bottom’s up and down the rabbit hole.

The Cross, 1198 Homer St., Vancouver, 604-689-2900, www.thecrossdesign.com

Collecting decorative china is decidedly non-grandma when the plates are pop arty with a dash of Salvador Dali surrealism.

Fascinated by 19th century operatic singer Lina Cavalieri, Italian designer Piero Fornasetti created more than 500 black-and-white variations of her face and put them on plates ($176-$245). Like a modern Mona Lisa with a sense of humour, there’s even stunning Louis XIV style armchairs ($1,640) upholstered in her likeness.

We bet Cavalieri could teach today’s pop tarts a thing or two about being a diva.

At Gigi B., 1663 Duranleau St., Granville Island, Vancouver, 604-687-1565.

In the search for eco-consciousness, we suggest you mind your P’s and A’s.

At p+a furniture everything is environmentally minded. The side-project of local interior design firm Penner & Associates, the retail space showcases its in-house furniture line Centro, consisting of a daybed, dining table, stackable headboard and sideboard, and a slew of earth-friendly homewares. The carefully curated shop includes Saltspring natural soap line Kama, Dirt Candles and organic bedding by Amenity, just to name a few.

We’re mad for the Miss Rio Ottoman (pictured, $490) made of post-industrial foam, which had us seeing green in a whole new rainbow.

p+a furniture, 159 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, 604-255-2089, www.pafurniture.ca

If John Lennon were alive today, we think he’d want us to give Peace Silk a chance too.

The most eco-friendly silk available, it’s the key material in the colourful designs by new Vancouver-based home textiles company, Rajboori.

The collaboration between New York industrial designer Stephen Burks (the Missoni perfume bottle is one of his creations) and local-by-way-of-Calcutta entrepreneur Mitun Chakrabarti, Rajboori uses age-old craftsmanship to create modern bedding. Every bright geometric piece that goes into one of their cool coverlets (pictured, $600) is spun on family looms in India.

A blanket that’s sustainable and supports small artisan communities—we feel warm and fuzzy.

View styles and order at www.rajboori.com

Mary Quite Contrary knew precisely what to plant in her garden, but for those of us who can’t tell our silver bells from our cockle shells there’s Aloe Designs.

The local landscape designers have created Design in a Box. Their kit gets you a design consultation (not to mention a few cute extras like gardening gloves and a packet of seeds) which culminates in a blueprint for your outdoor space and all the nitty gritty details—from plant types to furniture recommendations—to do-it-yourself. Starting at $750 for a patio or small garden space, it also includes discounts from suppliers like Southlands Nursery and Inform Interiors.

Now you’ve got your pretty maids all in a row.

Aloe Designs, 1443 E. Pender St., Vancouver, 604-568-7324, www.aloedesigns.com