This is purely our opinion, but March has to be the least attractive month of the year. That is, unless gray is your favorite color. Unless doing your taxes is your idea of a good time. Unless you never tire of organizing your closets. Years of trial and error have led us to the antidote for the idleness of March: little indulgences. Nothing that breaks the bank, but (relatively) small things that you can do to perk up your home and life indoors as you hunker down for one last month and await the arrival of spring.
–Karen Klages, kklages@tribune.com
Pot of gold
Sure, it’s a teapot. But it reminded us of a warm summer breeze. This Emperor’s Garden (porcelain) Teapot with strainer from Sieger/Furstenberg of Germany comes in two sizes — a small teapot-for-two holding about 2 1/2 cups and a 5-cup size.
Cost: $286 for small pot, $368 for large. Warmer is $225
www.etabletop.com.
Sip-ideedoodah
How to stir your senses and warm your bones: mint tea, served in pretty little glasses, which is the way it’s done in north Africa where mint tea-drinking is a daily ritual. Add a sprinkling of pine nuts to the hot tea in each glass for an extra little treat. Glasses measure 3 1/2 inches tall and hold 4 ounces.
Cost: $19.50 for a set of four
www.surlatable.com, 800-243-0852 (catalog and Internet only)
Vacation in a bottle
Anything olive-scented and we’re transported to Tuscany. We like the creamy feel and clean scent of this Olive Leaf Creamy Hand Wash from Method. It has vitamin E and jojoba oil to soften the skin and, like all Method products, was not tested on animals and comes in a recyclable plastic bottle. It’s a simple, affordable pleasure for your kitchen or bath.
Cost: $4.99 for a 10-ounce bottle
At select Target stores; call 800-800-8800 or visit www.target.com for locations
Paperwork
In the scheme of redecorating, wallpaper is one of those little things that gives a big payback in terms of drama. This “Frames” paper from British-based artists Chris Taylor and Craig Wood for the British wallcoverings company Graham & Brown is particularly wow-inducing. You fill in the frames with family photos, the kids’ artwork, postcards, etc.
Cost: $40 for a double roll (each roll measures 20 1/2 inches wide, 11 yards long and covers 56 square feet. Free match.)
www.grahambrown.com, 800-554-0887
Pasta perfect
We like the idea of shaking up a dinner party with an interesting first course of something comforting but surprising, like a filled pasta — with a catchy fill. Something woodsy like portobello mushroom ravioli or unexpectedly sweet like roasted red pepper gnocchi or bold and daring like gorgonzola ravioli. Conte di Savoia (that culinary institution/grocery store in Little Italy) stocks freezers-full of the stuff, made special for the store.
Cost: $3.69 to $8.50 for a 16-ounce bag
Conte di Savoia, 1438 W. Taylor St., 312-666-3471
