Room by Rose Uniacke. All that’s missing is a mug of tea and a bit of untidiness.
A November box is a collection of treats meant to be opened on a chilly November day, to help ease you into dark winter. For the next several months, it’s imperative that your home is your nest, not a prison cell, so plan accordingly.
This Ikea Stockholm 2025 tea light holder is only $13 CAD.
Let’s start with these reassuringly heavy, thick glass tea light holders from IKEA’s new Stockholm 2025 collection. Only $13 each, they deliver soothing, flickering light to warm your battered spirit when it starts getting dark at 4:30 p.m. Scented candle prices have lately gone through the roof (even Nest, which i’ve always considered middle market, now has a $118 Christmas candle) so a $13 votive holder that you can buy in multiples and still afford groceries only makes sense.
This Uniqlo cashmere jumper is the perfect dark navy.
The influencer industrial complex has decided that Quiet Luxury is so over, but I still get excited about a new (or new to me) navy cashmere sweater. In Toronto, Courage My Love in Kensington Market has a great cache of vintage cashmere. I remember interviewing celebrity hair stylist Sally Hershberger (creator of Meg Ryan’s iconic shag) during the Toronto film festival and all she wanted to do was visit Courage to trawl the cashmere racks. If your town is lacking vintage cashmere, then a Uniqlo staple like this navy crewneck ($130 CAD) is a happy substitute.
For the most aesthetically tightly wound of us, there is the problem of the Kleenex box. No matter how much effort the Kleenex people expend to create a pleasing design, it’s still a cardboard box in your living room, which to me is like leaving a pizza box on the side table. Toronto artist Heather Shaw creates beautiful linen covers $38, that sit elegantly, unobtrusively in your room, waiting to perform their important service to your runny, winter nose.
Come November, whatever sun damage you got this summer is now glaringly evident. Clarins Multi Active Glow Serum, $80, Sephora) is a biphasic (shake me) serum with glycolic acid to happily (but gently) munch away at dead skin and vitamin C to brighten and tackle any dark spots. It’s a perfect thing to apply during the day when you’re home. Just putter about the house, in your slippers and fuzzy sweater, clutching your tea while doing your skin some good.
If getting an uninterrupted eight hours has become fraught (thanks for nothing, menopause,) Sweet Bee Organics Sweet Sleep, a lavender scented highly emollient magnesium balm you rub on your feet before bed, helps promote restful sleep. This nightly ritual tells your body it’s time to sleep and although the jury is still out on the science, it’s undeniable that having lavender-scented, moisturized feet is very cosseting and luxurious.
UK food writer Skye McAlpine’s The Christmas Companion, $47, Indigo Books, with its utterly lickable pages, is just the ticket to get you into the nesting and holiday spirit. With her mismatched china, overloaded tables, half burned down candles and glazed fruit studded Christmas cakes, McAlpine’s tables are extravagant but relaxed. And there are enough non-Christmas recipes like say, pumpkin gnocchi, or the cheesy fondue roast potatoes pictured here, that you can start working on your protective, winter insulating layer now.
