Bright and clean

Okay, well I'm happy to drop a little taste of our completely finished house. It's the laundry room, which is in the current issue of Canadian House & Home, and to quote a 1968 cigarette slogan You've come a long way baby. To see how vile it actually looked when we first bought the house click here. Yep, that's ugly, lol. Not to mention all the weird stuff we discovered when we ripped out the old basement kitchen - Part of a garden fence was behind the wall and the ceiling was suspended with sticks from apple boxes and an old chair leg. Seriously.

Here's a quick rundown of what you're looking at: We maxed out on storage and usability with Ikea kitchen cabinets fronted in Abstrakt white hi-gloss doors and a Numerar countertop (just out of view on the left there's a Lagan sink with a slick white Ringskar faucet). Built into the cabinetry on the left are the fantabulous  GE Profile SmartDispense laundry pair, more on them here. That sweet carpet is the Spun hand-knotted runner by Bev Hisey, and the wood floor beneath is actually this TrafficMaster Allure vinyl plank from Home Depot. [Image: Angus Fergusson]

Guest blog / Jenn Hannotte: Things are piling up

Jenn Hannotte: I've been noticing the floor getting a lot of attention by stylists recently. From piling magazines and books straight off the ground to create side tables, to using the surface to display art and objects. 

It's a fast and dirty way to update a corner or a whole room, and likely won't cost you a penny. Now, I'm not a designer in any professional capacity; I'm a mother of two who usually writes these wearing a house coat and drinking coffee while the baby naps! But I do love design and I think there are a lot of you out there like me, so take a look at my inspiration shots below and how I styled it up in my own home in that last shot. I have a soon-to-be mobile baby, Beatrix, and an off-the- wall 5 year-old, Willa, so it wasn't practical to have things directly on the floor for safety reasons. Instead, I've taken a vintage low coffee table, stuck it in an awkward corner and used books and mags to give the lamp and other objects some practical height, but it also conveys that sort of super-relaxed, eclectic aesthetic that we see in those delicious inspiration shots. [Image 1: Dos Family. Image 2: Andrea Ferrari. Image 3: Manolo Yllera]

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

Blue mondays

Is Monday your most favourite day of the week? Errr, possibly not. So, to get everyone through the gloom and chill of this particular Monday I thought we could totally do with some inspiring shots by photographer Tom Mannion. I don't even remember how I stumbled across his jaw-dropping work, but as soon as I'd had the chance to have a good rummage through his stunning portfolio I knew I wanted to post this series of shots. A quick e-mail and then Tom said yes. Cool!

Anyways, I love the mix of blues (turquoise is Pantone's colour of the year, btw) and the slightly surreal feel of the shots, all beautifully styled by the v. talented Faye Toogood for Elle Decoration. Time for some dotty paper lanterns, don't you think?

IDS finds

Well, it's one week later and I'm finally editing down my faves from the IDS. There was so much to see except, errr, I was kind of busy, so I literally begged off an hour on the last day of the show to run around and catch what I could. So, here's a few designs that really caught my eye, and yes, before anyone says anything, I totally realize I have a bit of a thing for lamps...

From the top: Mahabali welcome mats in natural coir by Cristina Covello. Intensely coloured turned wood lamps and mortar and pestles by Tahir Mahmood. Handmade silver on brass Egyptian pendant lights available at Snob. The Clown light, part of Jaime Hayon's hook up with Lladro (lawdy it's a stunner).

Staying in Martin's room

Yes, I think I'm on a bit of a hotel room jag right now, since this is a suite designed by edgy Belgian fashion designer Martin Margiela for a hotel/spa set in a vineyard in France. The hotel is Les Sources de Caudalie and the room Margiela designed is the grand suite L'ile aux Oiseaux. Check the hotel's website out in French and you'll see the suite before its transformation (it's a woodsy cabin on stilts set on a secluded island and looks totally charmant). So, perhaps the new look is a little incongruous with the rest of the hotel, but it certainly does have a rather dreamy edge with all that white painted wood, faux panelling wallpaper and mirrored cubes. If you fancy checking in it is a bit of a splurge at 650 Euros a night, but those that do decide to snuggle up to the pillowed headboard will apparently receive a special gift signed by Margiela himself. Via the NY Times Style Magazine [Image: Xavier Bejot]

Inky and pretty

In my line of work I get to see gorgeous stuff, well, almost on a daily basis, but every now and then I get completely gobsmacked by something that's just so jarringly lovely that I'm rendered speechless. Hello, did you take a look at the shots below? Are they not completely fantabulous? All that colour against that inky black wall is just so inspiring - let alone the vintage pottery and all the other collectibles - it just makes me want to grab a paintbrush and a gallon of Farrow & Ball's darkly glam Railing and paint over all our white walls. Let's give a big gold star to both the brilliant photographer Janne Peters and stylist Maria Grossman, who collaborated on this project, and thanks too to both of them for letting me share the images with you!

He who ho-hums loses out

10 lighting and furniture stores later I am still nowhere nearer finding the table lamps for my Hershey's Milk Chocolate inspired bedroom. I had the perfect ones withing my grasp, ho-hummed a bit and when I popped back to grab them - Sold! Serves me right. Anyhoo, of course I have a plan B (and C and D too if need be), but those lamps I saw at Flick & Co were just perfect; mismatched creamy white crackle glazed ginger jar-ish bases with matching dark turquoise drum shades. There's a slim chance that a new pair might arrive in time, so fingers crossed.

In the meantime the snap below, from Living Etc magazine (one of my firm faves) is my version of a Tylenol after all that fruitless lamp shopping. That, a square or two of chocolate, a shot of espresso and suddenly everything is copacetic again.

Gray matters

Luckily the weather has been grand, so bombing around town with the windows down and the stereo blaring the Black Kids has hardly been a chore over the last two very busy days. I taped a CityLine yesterday with Jeanette Hlinka and Karen Kayne that will air next Tuesday, have sorted out a Style Scout feature for this Saturday's National Post, as well as nailed down an upcoming Trendwatch for House & Home and worked on the Hershey's Milk Chocolate space. Phew.

Last night I spent an inspiring time at the Fall /09 womenswear preview at Holt Renfrew that included a capsule show by designer Joseph Altuzarra. I love hearing Holt's Fashion Director Barbara Atkins' presentation since she always puts everything clearly into perspective for the season, hitting on trends and high notes across all the lines that they carry (80's, big shoulders, statement necklaces, silver sequins, lots of leather and boots higher than you can imagine). But, if there's one thing in fashion that will definitely be having an effect on interiors, it's the prevalence of grays in every shade. I've waffled on about gray before here but wanted to share a bit more since we'll obviously be living with it for quite a while. In fact, I've picked Ralph Lauren Paint's dark and stormy Palais Royal for our media room.

The snap below shows a cool image by artist Damien Blottiere for Intelligent Life and is their pick of the perfect gray (Slate III by Paint & Paper Libray), which they contend can rub shoulders with any look, period or style you might pick for a space. What do you think?

Marcel in the kitchen

Let's end the week with a bit of kitchen inspiration. The space below is a slice of one of the condo suites at the Mondrian South Beach designed by Marcel Wanders. The hotel/condo is quite the fantasy world, designed to resemble an up to date take on Sleeping Beauty's castle with lots of trademark Wanders witty excess. The kitchen really caught my eye since it feels modern, yet uses those blue and white Delft tiles in a wraparound to stunning effect, all set against white, tangerine and black. Though to keep things running in that Miami vein the tiles picture lifeguards, sharks and bikini clad girls, rather than windmills and tulips, lol. To see more of the over-the-top interiors from the hotel check out travel website Mr & Mrs Smith, and to see Wanders describe his design direction in video click here. It's all quite barmy really, but you have to admire Wanders guts and very singular vision.

No sneaky sharing (but do go!)

Last night I ended up checking out the Junior League of Toronto's 2009 Showhouse at McLean House, and all I can say is WOW! More than 50 design teams put their best foot forward creating incredibly inspiring spaces, and with the ticket price of $25 I hafta say you'll definitely be getting your money's worth. Sadly I can't share any of the spaces on the blog (no matter how sneaky I might be) since they're destined for the Oct /09 issue of Canadian House & Home, so you'll just have to head and check the Showhouse in person. For more info click here, and to buy tickets click here, and to check out some behind the scenes action courtesy of House & Home click here. I have my faves (Katherine Newman, Kimberley Seldon, Jeanette Hlinka, Anne Hepfer, and Wiklem Design to name a few), but if you do go, please let me know which were your standouts! [Image: Canadian House & Home]

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The orange and the pink

One of my favourite finds at this year's IDS was this fantabulous orange and pink rug wool by Ikea (it's the Stockholm Figur); I just couldn't get that take-no-prisoners colour combo out of my head. So I was happily surprised when I saw this marvy Helix Ribbon pillow by Dransfield & Ross (available through the lovely folks at Teatro Verde) in a similar colour. It's not only the colour - I love that they're both rocking a modernized version of marquetry patterning, tipping towards a retro digital calculator vibe on the Ikea rug.  

Hello doll

I saw the work of Rich, Brilliant, Willing at last year's International Contemporary Furniture Fair in NYC and, other than their hilariously unforgettable name*, I remember being impressed. It's thoughtful and edgy, but still has a simple elegance about it, so, when I saw this table this morning (I'm on the hunt for tables for a project) it elicited an 'oooh' even before I knew who'd made it.

The Russian Doll Table Wood - yes, they have a Russian Doll Table Metal too, and no it doesn't look the same - comes in an ultra pale grey, a lemony yellow and a toasty red and is topped with glass. It's my new favourite occasional table, and fingers crossed someone will be carrying it in Canada soon...

* Here's the deelio on their name: The three guys behind Rich, Brilliant, Willing are Richardson (RICH), Brill (BRILLIANT) and Williams (WILLING).

   

Light work

It's been quite mega busy, what with the Interior Design Show (Did you go? What did you think btw?), major painting and priming happening at our place (we've sorted out the main floor, yay! Pics to come...), and then taping CityLine yesterday morning (watch for the show next Monday!). But of course I took time to slack off yesterday and hit my fav Goodwill with my friend Jasmine. I do have my reasons - we still need a long low dresser for the bedroom - but I still managed to find lovely stuff we definitely don't need, like a tooled brass vase-shaped lamp base that sat smartly on a black plinth. All for $9.99. How could I say no? Ummm, I had to, the last thing we need right now is another vintage lamp with 'personality'; if I bought all the ones that spoke to me I'd be tripping over them by now, lol.

While I was sourcing for CityLine I stumbled across this pendant fixture from West Elm and thought it was just so darned interesting that it was worth a post. I'm all over the mix between old and new; it has the feel of one of those star fixtures, but the faceting takes it an entirely different direction.

5 quick questions - Matt Carr

Matt Carr, Umbra's Design Director, is a difficult guy to pin down. When I first e-mailed him he was somewhere in China, Shanghai I think, so I'm amazed that he was finally able to spend time and answer a few questions. As Matt mentions below, he's participating in the Pecha Kucha presentation at the Interior Design Show today - I'm moderating the presentation, which should be a laugh. Hopefully it will be fun and fast paced; Pecha Kucha is Japanese for chit-chat, each presenter gets 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide to speak to the theme of 'Inspiration'. So if you're at the show today, make sure to stop by. In case that wasn't enough, he and his girlfriend, Joyce Lo, have also designed one of the spaces at Come Up To My Room at the Gladstone Hotel - A v. cool exhibit that runs until Sunday, Feb 8th.

I asked Matt to pick out a few of his favourite pieces that he's designed for Umbra. From the top: The Mixalabra, my current fav candleholder. The Rolly Desk, check out the rest of the Rolly line too. The Teatime Clock, love all those vintage teacups. And finally the Biblioteca bookcase, snapped in Matt's own living space. Click here to check out more 5 Quick Question interviews.

Arren Williams: Can you describe your style?

Matt Carr: Style is always evolving. Lately I have been really into industrial vintage antiques with a touch of folk and a little glam. Ransacking through the aisles of the St. Lawrence antique market has become somewhat of a Sunday morning tradition. I am not a huge fan of slick contemporary as I love blemishes and inconsistencies…the little things that give pieces character and a story. Neither contemporary nor traditional, my home is a complete mixed bag of pieces that work together to make a comfortable informal living space.

AW: What's really got you excited in the world of design?

MC: Technology continues to change the face of design. From new materials and processes that I was just checking out in factories in Asia to how we develop product in our Toronto design studio. We have been using a 3D printer to generate exact models from our computer renderings. It is such an amazing tool to explore and understand forms, surfaces, and ergonomics. It’s kinda like our little design oven.

AW: What's the next thing you'll be buying for your place?

MC: Moving from a loft to a house meant a lot more furniture to acquire. The to do list for the house is still long, but I think the next investment piece will be a great armoire to hide the TV and unsightly electronics that go with it.

AW: Anything, décor wise, that you totally hate and think should be banned?

MC: Ha! Hate is a strong word but when I visit Mimi’s, my fave Pho restaurant on Gerrard Street I cannot get over the peach coloured sponge job they went for. Almost so bad it’s good…

AW: What's next for you?

MC: The last month has been a busy one. Just got back from a trip to Hong Kong and China then headed to NYC for the NYIGF. My girlfriend and I are just putting the finishing touches on our “In My Heart” installation for this weekend's COME UP TO MY ROOM event. We were inspired by the experiences people share in hotel rooms. Whether it be a honeymoon or a torrid affair, hotel rooms have a long association with love and lovers. Using light, holograms and typography, In My Heart is an installation that explores these relationships. Also presenting a Pecha Kucha speech during IDS focusing on how we are constantly surrounded by inspiration…even in the most mundane everyday experiences.

    

Dark and cold

Last night, as the temperature dipped once again (ugh), I stopped in at the opening of Radiant Dark, and I have to say, the show is totally worth checking out. The mix of all-Canadian designed pieces on show bridges the line between concept, art and design with some exceptionally cool results. Take a look below for a couple of quick snaps I took -The Stag (Tapestry) by Grant Heaps crosses paint-by-numbers with pixelated 1" squares of fabric stitched together - how cool. And more of Bev Hisey's Dirty Dishes; circular rugs inspired by bacteria, viruses and Petrie dishes. Other highlights for me include the In The Round (Dining Table) by Luflic that pairs felted wool covered legs with a polished glass top, and Propellor Design's Dram (Chandelier) that re-cycles vintage glassware into a very covetable light fixture.

Radiant Dark, organized by the fabulous folks at Made, opens today and runs until Feb 8th, click here for more info.

 

On the carpet

If I haven't been carrying a box I've had a paintbrush in my hand (which is why I've missed out on posting on the blog), oh the joys of a new home, lol. Yesterday I escaped the drywall dust for a bit and met up with my mate, and rug designer extraordinaire, Bev Hisey. She's just launched her new designs for '09, one of which - Dity Dishes - will be debuting at Radiant Dark 2009, an exhibit of Canadian design curated by Made. The show runs from Feb 5th to the 8th, so make sure you check it out.

Some of hew new work comes with a back story, here's the deelio - Cross My Heart, in wool and silk, was inspired by a neighbour's heart surgery. Sightlines came about from Bev's recent eye exams. Dirty Dishes was inspired by a Petrie dish. Escort was patterned after shredded fishnets from her teenage daughter's punk phase (Bev is thankful it was a short lived phase!). One last important thing - Bev's rugs, as always, are stamped by Rugmark, guaranteeing no child labour was involved in their manufacture.

   

Over black?

The iPhone is such an iconic design object that's marvellous to hold and play with, let alone place a call, but, does it's slick black finish really match 'you'? Urban Outfiitters have stepped in with a series of happy/edgy/cool artist designed skins to mash things up a little, and take the look beyond basic black. I've picked a couple of my faves below which totally have a decor vibe - Blue Willow by Colin Thompson which, yep, happily borrows from your Gran's china, and Bunny Blossom by Kozyndan totally feels like a vintage wallpaper (I see it working with a navy velvet sofa, pea green wingbacks, a glass waterfall coffee table and an oak herringbone floor - but that's just me...).

   

 

A sad day

The sad news just broke - Domino Magazine is ceasing publication. March /09 will be their last issue, and the word is they'll be shutting their online presence too. Like it or not (it was one of my faves), Domino had become incredibly influential; they've definitely put their well decorated stamp firmly on the world of decor.

In an effort to stay cheery I'm posting this fab limited edition wallpaper that I spotted over on Rachel Best's blog (Rachel's post on Twitter alerted me to the news about Domino). Topo Azul is the name of the paper - from the v. quirkily titled design firm Alan, The Gallant from Barcelona. I'm totally digging the pattern's hand drawn vibe...

 

Once more with feeling

Sometimes seeing a classic re-interpreted just makes you go hmmm, and that's what happened when I saw this shot of Bergere chairs; upholstered in a fantastic tropical leaf print and finished with a black frame and nailhead trim. Will we ever get tired of Bergeres? I think they've transcended the trend and have become part of our current design vernacular so, if you want my two cents, 'no' is the answer to that. 

I have chairs on the brain right now - along with lots of other stuff - since I'm on the hunt for occasional chairs for our new place. On my travels I've spied a pair of 40's-ish side chairs in a local mechanic's waiting room (of all places), that I'd love to get a hold of and re-upholster in African batik. Errr, I just re-read that last sentence and think that I might sound potentially certifiable, lol...

Via Swank Lighting's blog

A pitcher is worth...

I'm thinking calm thoughts - We are having painting issues. One bedroom is totally sorted, thanks to Zinsser Bulls-Eye 1-2-3 from Home Depot. We'd suspected we were dealing with oil-paint and wanted to play it safe (it's a transforming primer). For the second bedroom, in a wildly bad idea, we switched to a regular latex primer. Yeh, no. As soon as we started slapping it up the walls started to bubble and flake - somewhere underneath that old latex is a layer of oil paint that's causing nasty problems... We're going back to the house tonight to sand the walls and seal everything up with the Zinsser. Lesson learnt, lol.

So, in an effort to get to my 'happy place' here's a quick look at an instant collection that I'd love to make room for - Pitchers. The first is modern with a trad blue stripe, from the Chophouse line by Terence Conran for Royal Doulton. The second is an Ikea classic, Dryckjom, that has the look of a hand-thrown piece at a smidge of the price. The third has muscular minimalist lines; Cove from Crate & Barrel. The fourth, called Kooky Feathers, is all hand-painted and witty from Anthropologie (where else?). The fifth is a major splurge - the pretty Still Life Water Pitcher by Job Smeets from that temple of design; Moss.