See you later!

Hey guys, so it's a dual sad/exciting day around here...

On the incredibly exciting side of things, my new job has been announced - I'm the Creative Director of Home Fashions for The Bay. And on the sad side, it's time to say buh-bye for now to the blog. It'll stay up, though I'll probably have to switch off all the comments (boy, those spam commenters are a giant pain!), but I just wanted to thank everyone for all their amazing support over the past few years of my online adventure. And stay tuned, since I'm sure I'll be back online soon with my new gig!

Thanks again, and I'm leaving you with a lovely print by illustrator Wayne Pate. Seeya!

On my hols

Some of my fondest summertime memories are of spending blazing hot days in Brighton as a kid, walking the promenade eating an ice lolly, checking out all the goings-on on the piers (when I was young there were two!), and being amazed by the absolutely bonkers architecture of the Royal Pavilion. So I was excited to discover these giclee prints by illustrator Sean Sims for sale on Brighton POD that basically encapsulate my summer holidays growing up. Sean created a collection of designs - there are 7 in all under the name The Brighton Line - as an homage to vintage travel posters, and all take a look at quintessential Brighton-esque experiences and places. Love his take on the Royal Pavilion, yes, I have fed chips to sea gulls, and I remember an Oyster Bar just like the one pictured, where my Nan would buy cooked winkles that she'd have to pick out with a pin. Check out all of Sean's work on Brighton POD here, and yep, he's lucky enough to call Brighton home!

All this to say I'm taking a holiday (aka a vacation) from blogging for a bit, so I'll see you guys back here on July 19th.

Finding 'Found'

So, some smartypants friends of mine are starting a gorgeous new online store called Found that I wanted to give you guys a sneak peek at. It's not quite open yet (the crew are hoping to have everything live in the next few weeks or so), but by the looks of it you're going to want to stop by regularly and check it out. Once things get going you can expect to find a deliciously curated mix of vintage pieces, art and objects, and plans are even in the works to have Guest Pickers stop by with special selections of gear. In fact I heard a whisper of who'll be the first of the bunch and I have to say, it'll be pretty special! Okay, so without further ado, have a look at the pics below (shot by Michael Graydon and featuring some of the items that'll be on offer) so you can really get a feel for Found.

guest blog / Jenn Hannotte: Magic ice and other kitchen stories

Jenn Hannotte: You know how when you're living with something you can convince yourself it's OKAY? Like the old fridge that was approximately 4 feet high and held a carton of eggs, a jug of milk and a loaf of bread if you packed it intelligently? NOT OKAY. And I only realized this after my Whirlpool appliances arrived and we set up the new side-by-side fridge (I put the other guy out on the curb for recycling, I didn't hold that much of a grudge!). It wasn't *just* that the kids squealed with disbelief when I got them ice and water FROM THE FRONT OF THE FRIDGE like a magician (we're simple people), but the fact that it's totally roomy and still counter-depth sold me. And the new dishwasher? Our old one was likened to a garbage bag with a hose attached by the appliance installer - and he wasn't far off. We had to close all the doors to the kitchen and basically vacate the house when that thing was running. My new dishwasher is quiet, yes, but it also has cool features (like Sheer Clean) and is smartly designed - something I can really appreciate after using our completely inefficient old monster. And, then there's the slide-in range that leaves more room for the birch plywood backsplash to do its thing, and which has a quick-heat convection oven to get those frozen pizzas cooked chop-chop! So why white, instead of the more expected stainless? White is fresh and modern and especially in a small kitchen like mine, it helps to unite rather than divide. 

Once the engine of the kitchen was installed, Angus Fergusson and Arren came over to shoot these stunning photos. My perpetual kitchen reno is all done and what's the verdict? For me (the only client who matters!), I absolutely love the ambience of this room, it's less a kitchen in the traditional sense, and more a cozy retreat. *AND* everything works, works well and looks good doing it.

Here are the deets:

Counter Depth Side-By-Side Refigerator, Whirlpool Gold Tall Tub Dishwasher,  Electric Slide-In Range. All Whirlpool.

Vintage industrial bins, Avril Loreti tea towel, Imm Living cruet. All Russet & Empire.

Lighting Design. Matthew Birch for Russet & Empire.

Kitchen Design. Russet & Empire Interiors.

Ikea kitchen cabinets, butcherblock counter, Ringskar faucet, Tral work lamp. West Elm Tripod Table. Breville Barista Express espresso machine. Areaware Numbers LED Clock.

>>> Catch the rest of Jenn's kitchen reno here, and click here to check out Jenn's take on style.

If I had a hammer

Even without including the family of foxes that recently moved in down the road, I have to say I have some very cool neighbours, one of whom is Graeme Cameron. Graeme was one of the co-founders of Best Made Company and is now the dude behind outdoorsy new brand Base Camp X. So, if you're in need of an axe (and who isn't?) BCX is definitely for you, but what about those times when a double-head Cruiser axe just won't do? Well you're in luck, since the other day Graeme brought over his latest tool for me to check out, a very hefty hammer made in collaboration with the guys at Hardcore Hammers.

Designed with a tough 19oz head, this is one hammer that really means business. Oh, and you've just gotta love the Tennessee hickory handle fire-branded with the BCX logo and smart red or green livery. Now, should you swing it at something or simply hang it on the wall? Pick yours up here.

                       

Christmas and Eames

It's July - and swelteringly hot - so in my world at least it means the Holidays have started. Last week the fireplace was lit and the house was filled with lots of sparkly decorations, a white tree, two models, a photographer (hi John Cullen!), two assistants, an art director (hey Jason Kang!), a wardrobe stylist, a hair and makeup person, plus a couple of extra folks who were roped in to lend a hand. And, we were lucky enough to have smartypants food stylist Ashley Denton on set too, who took a couple of secs in between shots to snap a few pics of the goings-on with the Instagram app on his iPhone. They turned out super-cool, so I thought it'd be fun to share them (there's more on Ash's Instagram stream here).

Yep, it's all very Christmas-y, but in that last shot you'll see something far more practical, the Eames Hang-It-All that's now installed in the front hall to handle a slew of jackets, trucker hats, dog leashes, and towels (for our occasionally mucky Whippet, Spot). It was a splurge for sure - after shopping around I found the best price for a new one on eBay - and, funnily enough, it's the only Eames piece in the house. Happy Holidays!

Feeling bookish

Over the last while I've been working on some cool projects for Indigo, and - after saying pretty please - they're allowing me to share a couple of the snaps.

Coralie Bickford Smith is the designer behind this F Scott Fizgerald series of books from Penguin Classics. There are 5 books in all, each of which have a fantastically glam Art Deco inspired cover by Bickford Smith, and all of which would make a stunner of a set for your bookshelf. I'm a huge Deco fan, in fact at the age of 12 it was my first collection (I still have the first thing I ever bought, a diamond shaped alabaster dressing table mirror - have a look at it here), and to this day I'm a total sucker for the glamour and artifice of the 20's and 30's. Back to the books... Wouldn't these covers make gorgeous wallpapers? Oh, and if you fancy your own set, Indigo now has them in stock.

A flower battle

So, I get asked to do lot's of fun things in my line of work, but some are definitely more fun than others. If you catch the current issue of Canadian Family you'll see a crazy huge feature that I got to work, shot by John Cullen, and yes, it was crazy fun - Three completely bananas days in-studio involving the CF crew, models, kids, food and crafts, and, in the midst of it Jen Reynold's (the mag's Editor-in-Chief) threw down the gauntlet and challenged me to come up with a centrepiece for $25.

Easy? Maybe, except her's was to be all gorgeous and fresh, while mine had to come entirely from the dollar store. And so here are the results. My 3 fake flower topiaries (glue gun fake flowers onto melamine plates, then attach bamboo stick and plant them into terracotta pots), versus Jen's fresh poppies, ferns and ivy loosely arranged in a vintage metal vase. Which is your fave? Vote right here!

White, no noise

I know it's a Sunday, but what the hey, inspiration struck and I decided to snap a vignette I threw together before we head out en famille to enjoy Woofstock.

That 1984 LA Olympics poster was a fantastic find at last week's neighbourhood yard sale (thx again Brenda for pointing it out!), and both the kooky Sgrafo Modern vase and Howard Miller gold clock are perennial faves too. But, it's the Dyson Air Multiplier that I'm totally counting on as the weather heats up. Yep, it's a fan, but apart from the incredibly sleek bladeless design I love the fact that a) it's way more attractive than the ugly old black fan we used to have hanging around, and b) it's way quieter than the ugly old black fan we used to have hanging around.

Form meets function and keeps you cool - What could be better than that?

Carmen - a lover or a fighter?

This'll have to be quick-sticks for me, since I'm about to slap some fresh-caught Chinook salmon on the grill and uncork a lovely red - It's been that kind of day. I did want to taken a sec to share my favouritest (I know, it's not a word) lamp that I spotted at the ICFF a while back. It's Carmen from FontanaArte, and comes in the lovely table version below, as well as a pendant option too.

I think it's the witty shape, and the crisp lines in white powder-coated steel that make me just love it so. Funnily enough Héctor Serrano, the designer behind Carmen, was inspired by medieval armour, but if you ask me I see more of a frilly bathing cap thing happening. To each their own I guess. Oh, and I also scored a snap of Serrano's notebook with his initial sketches for the line. Don't you love getting a peek into the creative process?

A couple o' owls

Can I hear a hoot-hoot? Okay, apologies for the punny intro, but owls are just not going away. This morning I caught a behind-the-scenes Facebook snap of some prop owls that Dwell Studio will be using on an upcoming shoot (here), then there are some incredibly cool owl bookends that Indigo will be intro'ing in August - along with the rest of their fantastic new home collection, not to mention Uhu, the cool wall-mount lamp from Contraforma that's pictured below. I caught the Contraforma line at the ICFF and I hafta say, I was super impressed by the Lithuanian crew behind the line.

And then there's the rather sad looking owl vase in that second shot. It doesn't have a name, and has probably been languishing in a shady corner in my mother-in-law's garden for at least 10 years. Well, I decided to stage a rescue, and its now been brought home, washed and is on its way for a bit of a fix-up. So keep an eye out for more owl pics soon!

West Elm and Etsy's love-in

Hey there. Yep, I know I've been barely hanging around here recently (I'm blaming it on a combo of being blisteringly busy with work, travelling to both New York and Chicago within the past couple of weeks, oh, and getting kinda sick too), but here's something that you guys can really sink your teeth into>>>

West Elm's Toronto store will be hosting an Etsy We Heart Handmade Art pop-up event curated by Fieldguided - that's her smashing carryall pictured below - which'll feature a slew of other local Etsy craftspeople, as well as promising both drinks and tunes. I was in the store yesterday and they were being busy bees getting prepped and clearing space for what promises to be a very busy Saturday. All the deets are below, and yep, Bookhou (a local design fave of mine) will be there with lots of gorgeous gear, including the pillows and artwork pictured below, too.

I'm hoping to make it, but might be entirely exhausted after participating in our mega local neighbourhood yard sale (shout out to everyone who lives in The Pocket!).

Guest blog / Jenn Hannotte: The perpetual kitchen reno

Jenn Hannotte: Last October, after my youngest pulled what looked like 1930s underwear out from behind the radiator in our kitchen, I called John at Cera Stone. "GUT IT," I said. Really, I didn't *want* to renovate the kitchen, I wanted to live with it and save up for the real-deal. 

But after the underwear, and because earlier in the summer I had removed all the cabinet doors because they were covered in SLIME, and because after the bathroom renovation we had a big ol' hole in the kitchen ceiling thanks to the old toilet losing it's shhhhh all over the place - well, it wasn't a kitchen anymore. And so, like I do, I started to rip things apart myself and discovered the original asbestos-tiles, and while not exactly good for the lungs, they were in really good shape which gave me hope for the pine-plank subfloor. Yes, we were going to gut the kitchen, but, no, we weren't going to spend much putting it back! Once everything was out, I decided to have a wall framed out over the messed up plaster that held the old cabinets in place, and we clad it in beautiful birch plywood. The sink, stove and fridge all stayed in the same place to keep costs down. A couple of base cabinets from Ikea, an inexpensive butcher block countertop, rough-pine shelf from Home Depot ($12!) and bingo, we had a kitchen. 

Okay, it didn't go that smoothly - I have hung different cabinets and shelves, moved the fridge around, painted the floors after resolving not to, and painted half a wall black before deciding (surprise!) white it was! This is a temporary kitchen - if temporary means 5 years or more to you. So, because we'll be living with it for quite some time, we figured that we might consider getting some appliances that work. I know people go on about "function and form" all the time, but sometimes I like to ignore that and spend money in places we shouldn't instead of... .getting appliances that work.

And so, this week a new crop of appliances that will bring harmony to the kitchen are set to arrive. Appliances that marry form AND function. I know, what a concept. Once they're here and installed I promise a full kitchen tour. For now, here are some shots of the before and during - and a sneak-peak of the 'after', shot for the Marion House Book last month! (which, incidentally, already looks different!)

For more of Jenn's take on style click here.

New York whirlwind

As I write this I'm close to comatose on my bed at The Hudson hotel in NYC. Yep, it's been a bananas couple of days running around Manhattan checking out everything that's going on during New York Design week and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, and it's not over yet. Below is a snap of all the catalogs, postcards and mags I've collected so far that caught my eye - and yes, before you ask, I've already edited it down to the stuff I really, really like. Luckily it all fits in the Tom Dixon bag that I snagged, which seems to have gotten the vote of the coolest ICFF bag around (hot on the heels of the gold metallic bag Tom Dixon doled out last year). And keep your eyes peeled, I'll be posting lots of my NYC design faves over the next while...

TGIM

Yes, as in Thank God It's Monday and I'm finally finding time to pop up a quick post. Things continue to be crazy busy in my world (best quote from one of the kids in the midst of a shot for last week's HUGE photoshoot for Canadian Family's summer issue - "I need to go poo!").

Anyways, enough of that, how about some of this??? I was hunting for rugs designed by Christian Lacroix for Designers Guild and this happened to pop up instead and has suddenly become my latest design crush - The Dot-Grid Printed Cotton Mat by West Elm. Seriously, what's not to love?

Powered by the letter N

For me to get through a looong day, without any awful mishaps at least, I definitely need to set the ball rolling with an espresso. And to keep me really happy (and well caffeinated) it's just gotta be a short shot of the hot stuff from my Nespresso machine. We have their CitiZ hanging out on the counter, but now I'm a wee bit jealous, since they've just launched Pixie, a compact new machine that can brew a hit of espresso within 25 seconds of being switched on. Oh, and if that's not enough to pique your interest, Nespresso hooked up with a Parisian design crew called 5.5 Designers (seen below monkeying around) for a series of Pixie accessories, including insulated cups inspired by the aluminum coffee capsules.

Getting on the tube

Okay peeps, as a little bit of a sidestep from the normal stuff I post, I thought I'd give you the lowdown on a brand new HGTV Canada show that's just started casting and is need of, well, you!

Friends of mine at Proper Television are on the hunt for houseproud design savvy homeowners (not design professionals) that love their home and are opinionated about style. Into modern or traditional? Just survived a reno? Live in a yurt, a mansion or a condo the size of a walk-in closet? No matter. If you're picked to get on the show you've got the chance to win a cool $1,000.

Here are the deets -

If you live in Southern Ontario and think your home is something special they want to hear from you. Just email the following to casting@propertelevision.com by April 29, 2011: 

• A short description of you and your home
• A snapshot of you (jpeg if possible)
• Up to 5 snaps of your home (jpegs if possible)
• A daytime telephone number
• Video isn't necessary at this point but if you insist, upload your vid to YouTube and send the link

It's a mug's game

I've spent the last while researching a couple of feature projects for the likes of House & Home and the National Post and, while I was noodling down an internet back alley, I happened across these rather cool mugs. Okay, while I'm not much for funny mugs, these were inspired by the weird ones that get half forgotten and shoved to the back of the cupboard. They also have a rather nice bit of provenance too, since they were designed by Baptiste Ymonte and Vincent Jousseaume of Atelier Polyhedre and are from a limited edition line called Mug Shot. Now that's a nice way to enjoy your no-foam-half-sweet-lactose-free-vanilla-latte. Baroque and Flash are available online here from Paul Smith.

Going out Est for Eames

I recently got the chance to speak to students at Humber College all about what I do, as well as my thoughts on design, and, other than the fact that they must've thought I was bonkers, I did find time to beg them to please try their best to not buy knock-offs. I'd much rather see a vintage piece, or great affordable design (hello, Ikea, Habitat and West Elm!) in an interior, rather than a sad looking fake Barcelona Chair.

So this week I was super-duper happy to check out a brill new online mag from Australia called Est Magazine, which had a great feature comparing a fake to a real Eames DAW (that's Dining height Armchair Wooden base to you and me). Click here to look at the mag, and to read all about design integrity vs. a ripped-off copy, and have a boo below at the 4 looks Est stylist Amey Rosenthal put together, photographed by Toby Scott, of the real thing. Traditional, Family, Old & New, Corporate - Do you have a fave? And thanks too to Natalie Walton's great blog Daily Imprint for the intro to Est!

White, no. Pink, yes.

I'm having kind of a bananas week involving styling for Harlequin romance novels, photographing weathered barnboard, sourcing vinyl banners, walking the One of A Kind show and having a slew of furniture sprayed at Beresford's - the fantastic spray shop I use. So, I've been snapping away with my phone to capture a couple of cool things as I run around. In that first pic below you can see the in-between of the two vintage chairs I'm getting re-done (here is the before) at Beresford's. I've picked a lovely dark smoky grey for them, the white is just the primer, and can't wait to see the results. Well, lovely after Tim has kindly pried off the fiddly applied carving that sits on the frame at the head and below the seat. Don't they look better already?

The other snap I took on the fly after admiring the fantastic job my friend Bev Hisey has done on her place. This is her fab looking front porch (with a bit of unseasonable snow still hanging around) that has been painted in a charcoal and gussied up with a new door - that's one of Bev's die-cut wool Botanical table runners hanging behind the glass for privacy - new numbers (from Lowe's), a new light and vintage shell chairs that were transformed from old rust buckets with a quick sandblast and a powder coat in ultra-bright bubblegum pink. Brilliant.