The outside of this store has an old-timey neighborhood feel, and inside it reaffirms what shopping used to be and what it can be if you come here. It’s a hardware store (some plumbing, gardening too) with old-timey personalized service. Imagine that! No more wandering aisles wondering what you need.

They sell Benjamin Moore paint – with a difference. There’s always an experienced eye to help you select your colours.  In order to complete the decor of your room, you can go through wallpaper books and order blinds and shutters- with a guiding hand if you need it. My favorite Richelieu hardware is here and of course all the supplies you need to do the project. There are two locations to serve you.

Locations: 441 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield H9W 5Y1
Tel: 514-695-3389
Hours: Tues-Sat 9-4
3460 boul. des Sources, D.D.O. H9B 1Z9
Tel: 514-421-1454
Hours: Mon-Fri 8-5, Sat 9-4
www.hubhardware.ca

Q: Where do you find glass drawer knobs? Can’t find reasonably priced nice quality ones, any ideas?

A: Circa 1850 is on my web site under Household (Wood Care and Paint). 2122 St-Patrick St. Point St-Charles QC H3K 1B2 corner: Island. Tel: 514-932-0941 http://www.smartshoppingmontreal.com/store.php?s=138  There’s modern and reproduction hardware here. It is a store which sells to people who refinish furniture. They may have what you are looking for or they can tell you who may have it.

Union Lighting and Home on Decarie might have them. Richelieu in VSL has the most selection and really is for contractors. You need to have an account to buy there.

I’m assuming you’ve already looked at Home Depot, Reno Depot and Rona.

It is hugely confusing to try to pick a paint color from the enormous selection that you are usually given at paint shops. Even if you take the teeny strip home, for most people it is hard to visualize what it would look like on a whole wall. How many of you had to repaint a wall or a room because you just could not live with the paint color when it dried?

Benjamin Moore has a solution. You can buy large squares (18″ x 18″) of the color from their designer collection series (CC) for only $4.99. Put it up  and move it around to different walls in the room to see how the color will look in the morning or afternoon light.

If those colors are not what you were considering, then you can buy little (236 ml) tester pots in any of the colors for the same $4.99. Paint it on, let it dry and see if you like it. Easy.

In their new line of paint with the low VOC rating, you can ask for any of the colors to be made up in a larger sample size (500 ml.) for $8.99. This size is perfect for touch up years after you’ve done a room.

Tester colors are always provided in the egghell finish.

New this year are tester pots for Arborcoat deck and siding stains which are also a low VOC line.

For those of you who loved oil-based paint (which have been discontinued),  you can buy the new Advance line waterbased alkyde interior paint which comes in a pearl and high gloss finish . Like oil-based paints used to be, it is very very scrubbable and more durable for those areas that need this.

You can get these testers at the two helpful paint stores below, The Hub in the West Island and City Paints downtown:

You can pick up these tester swatches at  the Hub, a paint and hardware store that has an old-timey neighborhood feel outside and inside it reaffirms what shopping should be. Sure it’s a hardware store (some plumbing, gardening too) with personalized service but the raison d’etre these days is the bubbly decorating consultant who offers you a cappuccino and steers you through any decorating dilemmas (can even come to your house if needed). There’s Benjamin Moore paint, tons of wallpaper books, fabrics for curtains, blinds & shutters, Richelieu hardware, supplies to do the project, or even her little black book of experts to do it all for you.

Locations: 441 boul. Beaconsfield, Beaconsfield (514-695-3389); 3460 boul. des Sources (514-421-1454).
Hours: Mon-Wed 8:30-6, Thurs 8-8, Fri & Sat 8-5, Sun 12-5
www. hubhardware.ca

City Paints is is Montreal’s oldest paint store, open since 1898. Name brands sold here are Benjamin Moore and Mythic, along with stains and varnishes and tons of brushes. They don’t carry the squares from the designer collection but the do have ones for the Mythic line. Tester pots are here though.

Yes, they’ve got the color matching computer, and low VOC, no VOC and the only VOC paint without toxins (Mythic), but it is the service, the good old-fashioned kind, that has kept people coming back for generations from all over the city. If it’s good enough for the Mulroneys, it’s good enough for you.

Location:200 rue Rachel est
corner: Hotel de Ville
Tel: 514-288-8009
Hours: (Mar-Oct) Mon-Wed 7:30-5, Thurs & Fri 730-8,  Sat 9-4, Sun 11-4;  (Nov-Feb) Mon-Fri 7:30-5, Sat 9-4
www.citypaints.ca
:

Q1: Today you want to let us know that although there might be oil spewing in the Gulf of Mexico, there will be no more oil spills possible in Montreal.

A: That’s right. We have reached the end of the line for oil or alkyd paint for painting inside our homes. With so many people getting ready for moving, and getting their new abode ready to live in, I just want  to let you know that as of the end of this year, paint stores will not be getting any more deliveries of oil based paint for painting inside or outside their homes. If they love the durability and wearability of this paint, they better get it now. The stores will be given two years to sell off whatever they have left on their shelves.

Q2: Why is it being taken off the market?

A: The reason is for reduced emissions in the air. The solvents in oil based paints take perhaps 30 days to dissipate into the atmosphere.

Q3: What if we had oil based paint on our walls or our shingles, what do we do now when we want to re-paint? And what do we do about areas that need the scrub-a-bility of oil paint?

A: You can go from oil to latex by sanding the walls, or using TSP (trisodium phosphate) cleaner and then using a primer in order for it to adhere properly. Paint companies, like Benjamin Moore has come up with en entirely new generation of paint. Theirs is called Aura which is tougher than conventional latex. It has a new molecular structure and is the biggest chemical change in paint since the  1950’s. You can scrub it to death.  Aura seals in an hour or two. No toxins being released as it seals so rapidly.

Q4: Where can we go to get this paint?

The outside of the Hub has an old-timey neighborhood feel and inside it reaffirms what shopping should be. Sure it’s a hardware store (some plumbing, gardening too) with personalized service but the raison d’etre these days is the bubbly decorating consultant who offers you a cappuccino and steers you through any decorating dilemmas (can even come to your house if needed). There’s Benjamin Moore paint, tons of wallpaper books, fabrics for curtains, blinds & shutters, Richelieu hardware, supplies to do the project, or even her little black book of experts to do it all for you.

Locations: 441 boul. Beaconsfield, Beaconsfield (514-695-3389); 3460 boul. des Sources (514-421-1454).
Hours: Mon-Wed 8:30-6, Thurs 8-8, Fri & Sat 8-5, Sun 12-5.
www. hubhardware.ca

City Paint is Montreal’s oldest paint store, open since 1898. Name brands sold here are Benjamin Moore and Mythic, along with stains and varnishes and tons of brushes. Yes, they’ve got the color matching computer, and low VOC, no VOC and the only VOC paint without toxins, but it is the service, the good old-fashioned kind, that has kept people coming back for generations from all over the city. If it’s good enough for the Mulroneys, it’s good enough for you.

Location: 200 rue Rachel est at Hotel de Ville
Phone: 514-288-8009
Hours: (Mar-Oct) Mon-Wed 7:30-5, Thurs & Fri 730-8,  Sat 9-4, Sun 11-4;  Nov-Feb) Mon-Fri 7:30-5, Sat 9-4
www.citypaints.ca

Q5: Is there any place we can go for the best price for paint?

Les Industries Gotham is a family business which has been manufacturing paint under many brands for the past 43 years. You can buy factory direct with friendly service and get an excellent product which yields a better result than some name brands at twice the price. Interior latex acrylic is only $27 for 3.78 litres, or you can buy it by the contractor’s pail of 18.9 litres for $95. They have ceiling paint, exterior latex, gray cement floor paint, industrial and more. They can also match your color with their computerized color matching system.

Location: 231 Rene A. Robert, Ste. Therese
Phone:  450- 435-1227
Hours: Mon-Fri 8-5:30, Sat 9-4

Both Rona  and Reno Depot are having a 25% off sale on Sico Paint up until June 29th If you like Sherwin-Williams paint, I’ve come across one store in Pierrefonds (4798 boul. St-Jean Tel: 514-696-2000) which is offering 40% off until July 4th.

Q6: Any other comments?

– Stores will still be able to sell alkyd paint for industrial use – for outdoors,  metal, floors, rust.
– They are also coming out with hybrid paints that use oil resins in them but can be mixed with water.
– There are also O VOC paint to be used in baby’s rooms, or to be able to paint while pregnant or for people with immune deficiencies.

Le Spa 2010 book is similar to the Entertainment book.  You pay $29.99 for the book and there are discount coupons on its 154 pages. They range from buy one get one deals, a percentage off  or  free gift with purchase offers for facials, massages, makeovers, pedicures, Nordic baths, peels and eyelash extensions.

You just about get your money back with the $25 wild card which is a gift coupon you can use at participating spas in the book.

The spas are located all over the general Montreal area including the West Island, downtown, Laurentians, Laval, Richelieu Valley and Bas St-Laurent.

450-424-8716 or 877-537-7201
www.lespabook.com