Time and Design

Well, despite everything, things have been a little busy. Dealing with a couple of design projects, including our own main floor bathroom (half bath, or powder room, depending on what part of the world you’re in), as well as launching the Spring/Summer ‘21 collection for Casa Cubista and the imminent launch of my new collab with Hudson’s Bay that’s a super-fun collection for bed, bath and beach.

Honestly though, I’m just thankful that Spring feels like it’s just around the corner, and warmer weather is on the way.

What’s been going on with you guys?

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The promise of sunny days always makes me think of jute and seagrass rugs underfoot. I’m such a fan of their relaxed vibe and how they can really take the edge off a modern space. In fact, I just sourced an ace striped jute rug for a project that will see the light of day in the next couple of months.

But, GAH, if only I’d seen the fab scalloped jute rugs from Tigmi Trading sooner. Hello, yes, you read that right, SCALLOPED! That added detail just amps it all up that bit more, no? Anyhoo, Tigmi’s jute selection comes in both rectangular and round versions, in plain as well as with a single line of colour. Who’s gonna say no to that?

Okay, yes, Tigmi Trading is based in Australia, but thankfully they do ship worldwide. Oh, and to make you go even more bug-eyed, they just opened a stunner of a new showroom in Byron Bay that’s definitely worth your attention. Check it out here on The Design Files.

Photo: Scalloped jute rug with yellow detail at the Tigmi Trading showroom in Byron Bay.

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The struggle is real when it comes to sourcing a small-scale corner mount sink that doesn’t eat up the entire room. In the end, I managed to find something for our space that both fit the bill, and the budget, on Wayfair. That’s all well and good, but how about finding something that completely hits a home run, from a design perspective?

I spotted this charmant petite toilette from GCG Architectes on Insta, and just fell in love with the sink they’d scored. How perfect for the space, with it’s eclectic mix of colour and pattern (the wallpaper is from Erismann, the tiles from Popham). But where is the sink from??? If anyone can let me know, please do, since I’m envisioning someone lugging it all the way home from a Parisian fleamarket.

UPDATE: GCG Architectes kindly dropped me a line to say that the fab sink was actually in the apartment, and that they were able to save it!

Photo: Benjamin Colombel

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I adore a singular vision when it comes to interiors, and a full-on commitment to style. British photographer Rachel Smith shot Kentaro Poteliakhoff at home in his Hackney townhouse - the gloriously dubbed Villa des Narcisses - for the Observer Magazine, and I am living for it. What, your home doesn’t have a name? You better get on that…

Poteliakhoff is the owner of ROOMS, an interiors store and veritable treasure trove of kitsch, mid-mod and antiques, and I definitely admire his take-no-prisoners maximalist style. Beige is so, well, yesterday.

Photo: Rachel Smith

Feeling a beat

Okay, now I know these have been out for a while, but I was struck by how simple this shot was, and yet how gorgeous that gaggle of Beat lamps look. The Beat line of fixtures is designed by Tom Dixon and inspired by trad indian cooking pots and water carriers. In fact, Dixon tapped skilled craftsmen in Mordabad, Northern India, to create the series out of hand beaten brass (hence the glow-y gold interiors) that are then finished in matte black. And if that isn't enough, the light fixtures are mirrored by an equally stunning set of ovescale vases in an unpolished satin brass. Yum. BTW, that great shot is courtesy of photographer Tom Mannion and stylist Faye Toogood - a creative power couple if ever there was one - from the latest Dixon catalogue. Oh, and if you fancy getting your sticky mitts on all the Beat bits and pieces, check in at Klaus by Nienkamper for more info.

Slightly awol

Yep, I have been slightly awol from the blogosphere of late, since Tommy Smythe and I have been working together on a Very Important Project that's been taking up a fair bit of time. More news on that soon (it actually starts shooting today!).

In the meantime, how about checking out a fantastic new exhibit called 10x10x10 that photographer George Whiteside is working on. I saw George the other night at Azure Magazine's 25th anniversary party and he told me all about it, here's the deal - Starting on 10/10/10, he'll be hanging 1,000 of his photographs at Toronto's One 800 Gallery. Each day more will go up - including Polaroids, test prints, collages and one of a kind images - and you can even volunteer to help in the process (call 416.986.9900 for deets). The show opens Oct 20th, and yes, everything hung on the wall will be available to purchase. Oh, and for even more inspiration, check out George's stellar portfolio here.

Oh happy day

It's hard to be glum when the sun is shining, even if it is a Monday, so I thought I'd start the week off bright (nope, that is not a typo) with a peek at the swell home of San Francisco-based photographer Nicole Hill Gerulat. These lovely shots are outtakes from Nicole's house shoot for The Nest mag (click here for more). I'm totally digging her sense of style, and confident way with white and colour, not to mention that great camera collection in the last shot! For more from Nicole, check out her portfolio here, and follow along on Twitter here, oh, and the styling on Nicole's house shoot was done by Anthony Albertus.

Bananas and bathtubs

I'm having a bananas week. Actually, I should correct that, I'm having a BANANAS week. It all started off with the best of intentions. Monday was brilliant, since I spent the much of the day shooting the ultra-lovely results of a bathroom reno I've been working on for Canadian Family mag's upcoming Summer issue. While you'll have to grab the mag to get the complete tour, I wanted to share a bit of a sneak peek of how it's all looking - without giving everything away. So, there's a snap below of photographer Angus Fergusson in the bathtub, in the midst of angling for a shot of the toilet. Yes, I know, the sleek Kohler Purist faucet is listing slightly (it wasn't properly attached yet, and was just resting in place). Oh, and take a look at the spooky Bates Motel-ish before shot. Extra points if you figured out that we kept the original sink which Megan, the homeowner, cleaned with a ton of elbow grease and a few Polident tablets (seriously).

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?

Julia Black: Capturing Heidi Leverty

One of my favorite aspects of working on Pure Design is searching for local artists to feature in each episode. Several of us on the team would brainstorm and research that perfect creative type for each episode at hand, and with countless talented and passionate artists out there discovering them was such a memorable journey. One of my absolute faves this season was Heidi Leverty, an astounding photographer and enlightening artist. Her exceptional ability to convey, through her lens, the beauty in discarded objects is amazing. Within her four collections of photographs, Heidi shines a light on transformations, cycles, and lifespan, which causes us to reconsider and appreciate the value and beauty of all that is around us. Take a close look and you’ll see the ordinary material of our everyday routines becomes an extraordinary photograph. You can catch Heidi's inspired work on this week's episode of Pure Design on HGTV.

For even more of Julia's point of view check out her cool blog here.

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!

A split style personality

We have our house, which you can check out in various states of disarray here on the blog, and then there's my other house - a white painted cottage. It's imaginary of course, lol, but it's where I can indulge in more of the modern country side of my personality. It would still be filled to the brim with vintage and thrifty stuff, but would feel more kicked back and definitely more on the 20's, 30's and 40's side of things. I'm thinking white painted floorboards, slipcovers, mix and match painted furniture, a fireplace and a vegetable garden.

Well, as I keep on dreaming, I occasionally stumble across perfect additions for this make believe home. Check out the work of photographer Yvette Inufio's work. The compositions, colours and moods are perfect. And yes, I recognise a fellow magpie with a vintage shopping addiction when I see one, lol. You'll find Yvette's very affordable work on Etsy right here, and her portfolio on Flickr here.

   

A healthy obsession

Whenever I ask a photographer to share some of their favourite shots I never know quite what's going to happen, so when I bugged a good friend of mine, photographer Angus Fergusson, to send through his faves he kindly obliged and then revealed that he's 'kitchen obsessed'. Yep, 3 out of the 6 shots he sent through are of very posh kitchen spaces. Funnily enough Angus and his darling wife Beth have a luvverly kitchen of their own; the result of surviving a reno on horrifyingly run-down fixer-upper in Toronto's west end. They bravely managed to see beyond the filth, rotten panelling and oddly placed toilets to create a bright, open and modern space - Fingers crossed we'll see it popping up in a mag sometime soon (it's quite the transformation).

The first two shots are from the sadly defunct Wish Magazine, the next three are from House & Home, and that final snap is of House & Home's Editor-in-Chief Suzanne Dimma, at home with her feet up, from the Globe & Mail. Make sure to take a boo at the rest of Angus's portfolio here and, on a personal note; Angus shot our last house for House & Home (you can see some of the snaps here on Apartment Therapy) so I'd love to give him first dibs on shooting this one, whenever it's ready, lol...

      

Have camera, will travel

Richard Powers thinks he would have made a terrible fashion photographer, funny thing is I'm happy he thinks this, since his interior photography is so delicious. I came across his work on a cool blog called Yatzer, while I was marvelling at an artist's Manhattan loft space that he'd shot (make sure you click on that link, it's a fab place). So I went digging, found his website and dropped him a line asking if he'd mind me sharing some of his work. Luckily he said yes, so here's just a taste.

Richard has shot around the world - you name it, he's been there - and his work has popped up in top o' the line mags like Wallpaper*, World of Interiors, Dwell and Elle Decoration. He's also shot a couple of books worth checking; Beyond Bawa, by David Robson, and Tropical Minimal by Danielle Miller. Does he ever sit still? Probably not, lol. Click here to spend some time checking out his incredible portfolio, and click here to be wowed by, ummm, a mouth-watering library of 56 houses that he's shot in hot spots like Brazil, Denmark, Australia and Switzerland.

      

Light and composition

The last time I saw photographer Michael Graydon was just before Christmas, in the grip of a pretty evil snowstorm, when we worked on this feature for Report on Business Magazine. I always enjoy working with him (he has such a calm and thoughtful point of view, and a beautiful way with light and composition) so I thought it would be fun to post some of his work. The five shots below represent just a smidge of what he's done, so make sure to check out more from his portfolio here; in fact, I'm happy to say that some of the work we've done together over the years is there.

The first four shots were seen in Canadian House & Home (that's ceramic artist, Jennifer Graham pictured in #4), and the last - but by no means least - is from Canadian Family.