Hooked on design TV

Don't tell my kids, but I've been watching a lot of TV lately. Usually, I try to limit my kids' TV-watching time to no more than two times a week. I figure I should be setting an example, but it sure is hard now that I've finally discovered Canadian House and Home's online TV.

Check out the hallway lined with photos, in the picture above. Totally captivating. I'm thinking of doing something similar with some of our family photos. It is just one of the many ideas I gleaned while watching too many episodes of House and Home's online TV, which has about a year's worth of episodes available to watch here.

The photo hallway is on a video tour of stylist Trish Johnston's home. The stylist reveals some of her decorating strategies while leading viewers on a tour of her small, but elegant condo that features her thrift store finds along with IKEA items and more high-end splurges. You can watch the six-minute video tour of her home here.

I adore house tours of any kind, but am always especially pleased when these include a kid's room because I'm always looking for ideas for my kids' rooms. In this case, Trish Johnston showed us how she made terrific use of a small room to allow enough space for a table-and-chairs set for the two boys sharing the room.

I had fun clicking through the various episodes and watching several home tours, each with a distinct style of decorating.

And I enjoyed listening to each designer's insight into the decorating choices they made. Other people's creative process is always fascinating to me, be they interior decorators or in any other field. In this case, their ideas helped me see my home in a new light.

You can also count me as a new fan of House and Home's style editor and "budget genius" Michael Penney, who shows viewers how to elevate everyday items into elegant pieces.

Even DIY newbies can easily take on the mostly simple, yet dramatic make-overs of thrift store finds, basic IKEA pieces and other items.

You can tune to H & H's online TV here. Hopefully, you won't get hooked like me and end up watching until the wee hours of the night.