Lilly, hot and hilarious

I spent the morning swimming in stunning fabrics down at Designer's Walk in Toronto, and I hafta say, there's a lot to be excited about (hello, I can't wait to see the Christian Lacroix collection for Designers Guild!). I was there working, scouting for Trendwatch for House & Home, and also dreaming about being somewhere hot and fabulous, since it's so stinking cold here right now. So, how about it? Florida? Palm Springs? The French Riviera?

In the meantime I'm keeping warm with the news that the Lilly Pulitzer collection of fabrics for Lee Jofa will be launching super soon (the snap below from the LP Madison Ave store shows a wall filled with the kind of fun, bright and summery styles we can expect to see). Not to mention imagining a blazingly sunny back yard with one of these hilariously over-the-top vintage Hollywood-esque style umbrellas from Santa Barbara Designs planted right in the centre (I'm currently jonesing slightly more for Flamenco over top of Lilypond). Pass the Ambre Solaire, I am so done with winter... [Image 1: Kravet's Inspired Talk]

{that one great thing} Meg's chair

I've known Meg Crossley, House & Home mag's senior editor for, well, ages. We've shot a gazillion things together over the years including a memorable out-of-town home shoot where the place actually turned out to be haunted. Fun times? Yep, especially with us both squeezed into a twin bed terrified about having another 'visit'. And so, with that kind of history I just had to ask her to contribute to that one great thing.

Meg Crossley: I love love love this chair my father made sometime in the early 60s. It was for the first little house he shared with my mom when they were newlyweds. As they got more established, their tastes changed and the chair ended up in our toy room -- where my brother and I kept Barbie's and GI Joes, games, the record player, the Meccano set, you get the picture. It became part of our "pretend" house or apartment furniture. Then the lovely thing was moved into the garage not to be seen again for years. My brother resurrected it in the 80s for his university pad (the cushions upholstered in something I would call School Boy stripe, very dark and masculine), then back to the garage. I rescued it just a couple of years ago, when I started to reno and furnish my basement. I needed low furniture because the ceiling was so low in the basement and I wanted to fool the eye into thinking it was higher. This did the trick. After a little lemon oil on the wood and a slipcover in white denim (it is a testament to how well it was made that it was so easy to resurrect), it mixed well with some of my quirky vintage things and my more traditional furnishings -- it is all about the mix after all. We shot my basement for a Makeover issue for House & Home and it landed front and centre, on the cover of that mag. Needless to say, my dad was thrilled.

{giveaway} Sarah Richardson fan decks signed by Sarah + Tommy

Hot on the heels of the fantastic/exhausting/inspiring IDS I have a super-duper fun giveaway for ya! Yep, you have the chance to win one of three Sarah Richardson Designer Palette by Para Paints fan decks personally signed for you by both Sarah and Tommy. Not only that, one grand prize winner will walk away with a gift certificate for enough Para Paint in Sarah's scrummy colours to re-paint a whole room - 1 gallon of ceiling paint, 1 gallon of primer and 2 gallons of eggshell. The other two winners will receive a gift certificate for a gallon of Para Paint in one of Sarah's tints (which comes in 75 lovely shades, available across Canada at Lowe's and select retailers), plus all three winners will receive the addition of a little fun extra swag from SR's hit shows on HGTV. Sweet indeed!

Here are all the deets:

To enter for a chance* follow these easy steps -

Prizes: One grand prize that includes a Sarah Richardson Designer Palette fan deck personally signed by Sarah and Tommy, a Para Paint gift certificate for 1 gallon of ceiling paint, 1 gallon of primer and 2 gallons of eggshell (redeemable at Para's dealer locations), and assorted other items. Two other winners will receive Sarah Richardson Designer Palette fan decks personally signed by Sarah and Tommy, a gift certificate for a gallon of paint (redeemable at Para's dealer locations) and assorted other items. 

1. Leave a comment below the contest blog post (please include your email where asked) explaining why you'd like to win, before Tuesday Feb 8th, 2011, at 12pm EST. 

2. One grand prize winner and two other winners will be chosen by a random number generator and will be announced by email and as an update to this post on the morning of Wednesday Feb 9th, 2011, at 9am EST. Good Luck! 

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY  Void where prohibited. Odds depend on number of applicants who participate. Participants may enter the contest by following the steps mentioned above by Tuesday Feb 8th, 2011, at 12pm EST. Applicants must be of the age of majority in his/her province or territory of residence or older at the time of entry to participate and win. Contest open to Canadian residents, excluding residents of Quebec. Contest winner will be announced on ArrenWilliams.com, contacted via blog post comments, and must correctly answer a skill-testing question to win a prize. 

{that one great thing} Susie's Bahamas photo

I'd gotten to know Fashion magazine's fashion director Susie Sheffman a little over the years, mostly by bumping into her around town (as well as catching her lovely home in the Sept '08 issue of H&H). But then, in a curious case of it's-a-very-small-world, Susie's smart as a whip daughter ended up on a work placement with my other half, David. So, with that great serendipitous small-worldness in mind I thought I'd get Susie to share something for my occasional series - that one great thing.

Susie Sheffman: This is one of my all time favorite photos from my all time favorite fashion shoot EVER in Eleuthera, Bahamas. I've been styling and directing fashion shoots for almost 30 years and by the time a shoot is printed and bound I'm somewhat over it and dreaming up the next one!

But not this time.

This photograph taken by my best friend, photographer Gabor Jurina was blown up life-size, framed in white (his suggestion) and is a visual magnet in my home. Everyone who sits on my couch is immediatley drawn to and transfixed by its hypnotic power. From the deep turquoise waves (I have a water obsession) to the haunting sky and the timeless, classic appeal of model Marie Eve Nadeau, we literally sit transported. fantasizing about being there (and being her!). It's hung beside my TV, and I often catch myself watching it instead of whatever show is on.

Here's the backstory:
We named the shoot Swept Away- and trust me we almost were! What? You thought this was all calm and serenity? Trust me it was anything but! Gabor was shooting from a teey weeny dinghy, tied a few feet from the boat. The sun was rapidly going down, the waves were enormous and pitching him every which way. Both of our asssitants were rendered completely useless- lying over the side of the boat seasick and vomiting... I stood (barely hanging on) just out of camera range trying to help him, running in every 2 seconds to adjust the jewellery while bobbing up and down like an apple. Gabor smacked his head on a wayward boom and to this day I have no clue how he held onto the camera much less captured such a moment. But here you have it- one of the most tranquil, serene looking photos and one of my favorite things!

Sitting on Tartan

Sitting on a classic Blackwatch Tartan to be exact, which is what you'll be able to do with one of the new collections from Sung Outdoor, the outdoor line designed by Alfred Sung. The other night I actually got to meet Alfred (who is an incredibly dapper chap) as well as creative director for the line, Jordin Mimran, and hear how Blackwatch Tartan is Alfred's fave fabric and how the design team worked incredibly hard to get the colour and pattern on the handwoven faux wicker just right. Oh, and get this - The peppy (and kinda preppy) Blackwatch collection is available to order exclusively at the IDS, so head down this weekend to give it a test drive.

Sign that Panton!

So tonight is the big Opening Night fun-fest for the IDS, and one of the funnest (is that a word?) parts of the evening is the unveiling of all of the customized white Panton chairs that will be auctioned off in support of Casey House. You'll see twenty of the modern classic chairs re-interpreted by everyone from Anwar Mekhayech, Matt Davis and Allen Chan of The Design Agency (get a sneak peek at their chair here) to Sarah Richardson and Tommy Smythe. Sarah, Tommy and their intrepid team have been lugging their Panton chair all over the place asking just about everyone in the design community to lend their support and sign it. Take a close look tonight and you'll see the signatures of folks like Miles Redd, Glenn and George of Yabu Pushelberg, Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine, plus - as you can see from the caught-in-the-act snaps below - Tommy, Samantha Pynn and Suzanne Dimma. That is one well travelled chair! For more deets on the auction click here.

Oh, and keep your eyes peeled - I'm working on a fun Sarah Richardson giveaway for next week!

Lath and plaster and carpets

While this weekend is going to be bananas, it's also definitely gonna be fun. One thing that I'll for sure be doing on Saturday is checking out all the hot design openings for Do West Design that'll be happening along Dundas West between Bathurst and Grace. One must-see for me will be the collaboration between a couple o' friends of mine, Bev Hisey and Donna Griffith, that'll be happening at R.A.D. 899 Dundas West. Bev has been going through a major home reno and was so inspired by the lath and plaster discovererd during the demolition that not only did Donna capture it on film (take a look at some of the gorgeous pics here), Bev also created carpets with the same look and feel. Click here to get a Do West Design postcard and map.

There's tons more happening in the city for the IDS and the Toronto International Design Festival so I'd suggest a little pre-planning is in order. You can download a TIDF guide and discount passport here, and for more info on off-site design shenanigans (with parties, exhibits, lectures and maps) you can download a Toronto Design Offsite app for your iPhone here.

The gig is up

I got to meet Davide Tonizzo last year while I was hosting a Pecha Kucha Toronto design talk down at Harbourfront. Davide was super nice, especially since I totally mashed up his name while running through his bio. Now, with the Interior Design Show about to crash land in Toronto this weekend, Davide got in touch about his latest work, a multi-functional piece called Gig which'll be debuting at the show. It looks like a perfect solution for a small space, and is designed to easily flip from seating to lounging to sleeping. Oh, and his stop-go animation music video (that's DT playing) is extra fun as well.

And, in case you're planning on being at the IDS on Professional Trade Day this coming Friday, be sure to catch another Pecha Kucha Toronto talk happening at 5pm, with the likes of photographer George Whiteside, artist Bruno Billio and architect Brigitte Shim.

IDS Design Weekend with Arren Williams {giveaway}

Well this should be fun! The lovely folks at the Interior Design Show have organized a fantabulous prize for the much anticipated IDS11 happening Jan 27-30. Yep, you've got the chance to win an IDS Design Weekend with Arren Williams (errr, yes, that's me!). Along with 2 tix to the Opening Night shindig, you'll get 2 tix to my Arren Williams Up Close & Personal Talk (presented by Graham & Brown and Crown Wallpaper & Fabrics) which also include entry to the show, and 2 swanky nights at the InterContinental Toronto Centre hotel!

Here are all the deets:

To enter for a chance* to win an IDS Design Weekend with Arren Williams (2 IDS Opening Night Tickets, 2 tickets to the Arren Williams Up Close & Personal Talk, and 2 nights stay at the InterContinental Toronto Centre), follow these easy steps: 

1. Leave a comment below the contest blog post (please include your email where asked) explaining why you'd like to win, before Monday Jan 24th at 12pm EST. 

2. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and will be announced by email and as an update to this post on the morning of Tuesday Jan 25th at 9am EST. Good Luck! 

NOTE: The prize does not include transportation.

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.  Void where prohibited.  Odds depend on number of applicants who participate.  Retail value of prize $518.00. Participants may enter the contest by following the steps mentioned above by Monday Jan 24th, 12pm Eastern time.  Applicants must be of the age of majority in his/her province or territory of residence or older at the time of entry to participate and win. Contest open to Canadian residents, excluding residents of Quebec. Contest winner will be announced on ArrenWilliams.com, contacted via blog post comments, and must correctly answer a skill-testing question to win a prize.  Contestants may send a self-addressed stamped envelope to 10 Alcorn Avenue, Suite 100 Toronto, ON  M4V 3A9 to enter for a chance to win.  Rules are available upon request. MMPI Privacy Policy.

{that one great thing} Lucy's black cat lamp

My sister Lucy has a great sense of style, plus an absolute love of car boot sales and hunting for vintage gear, she's also the brains behind BlinkLondon, a pretty darned fantastic fashion consultancy and reporting service in the UK. Oh, and she scored an amazing lamp a while back (which I've been not so secretly coveting) which is the latest entrant in my new occasional series - that one great thing.

Lucy Williams: I spotted this lamp when I popped into a dusty antique store in Maidenhead to enquire about an Ercol rocker that they had in the window. I didn't actually need a new lamp but I couldn't resist, - the black cat is just so poised and elegant. It could be either 30's or maybe even 70's, and I like that it's so sexy and chic, yet minimal enough to sit back with the rest of my pretty eclectic style. I found a great gold lined, black linen shade for it - after canvassing both my brother and my talented friend Paul for their thoughts on shade shapes and styles - and now it sits proudly on my telephone table in the living room casting a lovely mellow glow over my phone calls. I did buy the Ercol rocker too, but that has since been moved on (it didn't quite make the cut when I brought it home). The lamp, however, will be here for the duration I think.

Spring forward with West Elm

Before the Hols I got to meet up with the always inspiring Alex Bates, West Elm's creative director, to get the lowdown on what was happening at WE for Spring, and what we can look forward to for - dare I say it - Summer!

Alex's current influences centre on both the art world and artistic expession - Art Basel in Miami and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo - as well as architecture and the move towards greener materials, and then travel, she absolutely LOVES the Jaipur region in India. In store, terrariums and indoor gardening is big news at West Elm this coming season since they are, as Alex explains, healthy, wonderful and calming and we should all be living with plants (and the collection designed by stylist Shane Powers is gorgeous). There'll be more antique influences, like in the rather swank Modern Windsor Chaise (here) and the Scroll Headboard below, which takes a trad form and re-interprets it so it can be layered into an interior to give it what Alex would descibe as soul - it really is all about the mix this year at WE, and how you personally interpret their pieces.

One of Alex's most fave pieces from the new line is the artist designed rug collection, expecially John-Paul Phillippé Art Rug, a fantastic modern design which is woven using natural un-dyed wool (it's lovely enough to hang on the wall). Tabletop steps it up too, as does a whole new look at bath, which encompasses three different looks that you'll see hinted at throughout the store - Swedish, Globalist and Naturalist - and then for Summer keep an eye out for WE to move into the kitchen and really get into cooking and entertaining in a big way, as welll as intro-ing the first David Starck Summer collection. Phew!

From the top - Here's one of the Shane Powers layered indoor garden pieces. Next is the Scroll Headboard, as well as some lovely block printed bedding. Then there's the John-Paul Phillippé Art Rug, see what I mean about hanging it on the wall? LOVE this mixed-up tabletop shot. And finally, here's a bathroom to definitely get stylishly wet in...

Staying with the snow

We spent a fair bit of time shovelling out this morning after yet another wintery dump. Lovely. And today is a busy one, since I'm prepping for a shoot tomorrow that will not only be outdoors (in all this snow), it also involves adorably cute chocolate labrador puppies. Meanwhile I'm being tempted by an e-mail asking me to come for a cocktail to meet some fave design heroes of mine Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, to check out their latest collaboration with Spanish carpet firm Nanimarquina. Only trouble is it's in Paris and I'm - errr - not!

The Bouroullec brother's new floorcovering design is called Losanges and is their modern take on a hand-woven kilim and well, it's pretty darned gorgeous, so here we go with a quick peek. Click here to find a listing of Nanimarquina retailers. [via Dezeen]

{that one great thing} Paul and Ashley's action figure shelves

Other than being total smartypants, illustrator/designer Paul Dotey and his other half food stylist Ashley Denton (who's work you've seen on the glossy pages of H&H magazine) are also incredibly creative outside of their respective fields. So, with that creativity in mind (as well as a v. cool collection) here goes with Ash and Paul and another post in my new occasional series - that one great thing.

Paul Dotey: My husband Ash has been reading comic books since he was little, and collecting action figures almost as long. We wanted to display them in a stylish way without being too kitsch; we figured if you collect anything you should display it proudly, otherwise why bother? 

Finding a home for sixty plastic figures wasn’t immediately obvious, but while Ash was away for a long weekend I surprised him with a freshly painted bathroom and some slender shelves over the toilet. Four narrow strips of pine from our local Home Hardware did the trick, added a couple of coats of glossy white, and the tiniest of L-shaped brackets since the figures don’t weigh much at all. Of course, the Justice League was standing proudly at centre stage. 

Ash was over the moon! It adds a lot of colourful fun to a room we’re kind of stuck with as renters. More than a couple of our friends have outed themselves as comic nerds, and after a good dinner party we always find a few figures in creative positions. Not surprisingly, almost everyone goes for Green Lantern.

A chair story, part two

So you might remember a while back I was challenged to makeover a pretty ugly vintage chair by Chatelaine's decor editor Virginie Martocq, well it's time to share all the pics (thanks VM!) with you lot so you can see the results. Firstly I hafta say it wasn't just me involved, since Virginie also dragged in Tommy Smythe, Jeffrey and Deborah Fisher and Candice Olson to re-do chairs too - And looking at the bunch of them together they couldn't be more different.

That first snap shows the chair in all its - ahem - original glory. Next up there's mine, which looks fantastic thanks to inVU Drapery for the delovely DwellStudio Vintage Plumes fabric, as well as tackling the upholstery (you can see all my prep work here). Then Tommy's chair is ultra chic whith a white glossy frame and wide black and white stripe for upholstery. Jeffrey and Deborah slipcovered and skirted theirs, which did a nice job hiding the rather ugly legs. Finally Candice gave hers a preppy tween feel, dressing her chair in white, kelly green and fuchsia. Got a fave? Then you can vote here. [Images: Roberto Caruso]

Pretty tempting

This time of year is all about predictions and resolutions, especiially when it comes to decor. If you ask me I predict lovely slightly worn out ice-creamy colours will be hot, and I resolve to keep my decor as interesting and as vintage-filled as possible. Talking of predictions, Sico did a lovely job with their colour palettes for 2011, making the three looks they picked very tempting indeed. My fave is Inviting, that's the first one (LOVE the idea of a big patch of colour on the wall), followed closely by the second palette there called Dazzling, just for the sheer colourful hell of it. And finally, a look called Authentic, which - while it's perhaps the least 'me' - has a relaxed time-worn vibe and a great handsome feel to it. Which do you like, and are you feeling inspired to paint?

{that one great thing} Jason Hudson's birdcage lamp

I bumped into Jason Hudson at a party over the Holidays and bugged him about his lovely birdcage pendant lamp that I'd seen over on his great blog These Roving Eyes. Anyway, he was happy to share the story behind the piece, and thus begins a new occasional series on the blog - that one great thing.

Jason Hudson: My partner Jeff fell in love with this old wooden cage when he saw it at an antique shop when he was a kid. He proudly brought it home and it sat in the living room for years. After his father passed away, we found it amongst junk in the garage and I could see that it had a special place in Jeff's memory.  

I'm a firm believer in taking meaningful objects and adjusting them to work in a contemporary setting. Like your Grandma's old piano - the cherry finish isn't working in your mid-century modern dwelling, but it holds a ton of sentimental value, so have that sucker refinished! It's still the same piano, still full of memories, its precious ivories untouched. So make it work! 

Because the honey-coloured wood and sad-Cat-Lady-overtones weren't working for me, I convinced Jeff to let me spray out the cage in a high-gloss black. We wired-it-up with a great Edison bulb and just like that, had our very own, ultra-cool, one-of-a-kind lamp, rife with Jeff's childhood memories but within the limits of our (read: my) personal style. 

It casts lovely shadows on the walls and adds a certain warmth and organic quality the room was lacking before.

Happy Hols!

Okay peeps and Tweeps, this is a quickie since we've got neighbourhood Christmas cards to deliver and probably one or two more gifts to wrap before our Christmas Eve celebrations begin. This great poster is from the cool dudes at the Poster List, who have a lovely bunch of affordable art ready to doll up your walls at a moment's notice (I quite fancy grabbing their Projector on Wood for our walls). And this great shot was taken by Nora Griffin for her super-crafty blog, check it out here. See you in 2011!

{giving it} Oxfam Unwrapped

So right about now I'd usually be found bombing around town dropping off big glass jars filled with chocolate covered almonds to friends and clients alike, but not this year. Nope, this year its all about chickens. Flocks of chickens. Oxfam has a fantastic program called Oxfam Unwrapped that lets you buy the birds (or goats, beehives or sheep) so that they can be donated as a self-supportive start-up business - to market things like eggs, honey and milk - for recipients in more than 20 countries around the world. Now that's way better than chocolate covered almonds. Oh, and while I decided to specially create a poster (thanks to Jasmine Cirjanic for designing it) Oxfam will actually send out a card for you too. Get shopping here.

guest blog / Julia Black: Getting into Auggie

Recently I was invited to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Auggie, a splendid children’s boutique in the charming Yorkville neighborhood. The delightful shop and its big sister fashion store next door, Augustina, are top-notch destinations for your holiday shopping. At Augustina, the stupendous in-house brands have recently expanded to include fragrances, jewellery and leather goods, and over at Auggie you will find all sorts of darling gift ideas such as vintage Babar and Winnie The Pooh framed prints, 3 Sprouts organic canvas storage bins, durable Beatrix backpacks, and so much more for your child and home — all of which can now be ordered online here. And while toasting the 1 year-old Auggie I was so happy to find out store owner, Cristina Burgess, and her sister (and graphic designer) Genevieve will soon be adding a super-marvelous kid's bedding collection that includes sheet sets, duvets, pillows and quilts to the mix. So, while we all venture out to tackle our last-minute shopping lists, I hope you get a chance to enjoy all the holly-jolly goodness found at Auggie and Augustina. Happy shopping!

{giving it} Tivoli Model 10 Clock Radio

{giving it} is all about my take on what makes a good gift. Every day I blearily wake up in the shower to the dulcet tones of a weather-proof Tivoli PAL radio, so I'm thinking that perhaps it's time to replace the infernal beeping of my alarm with something more soothing, aka their Model 10 Clock Radio. Love the simplicity of the design, and well, I'm already sold on how good a Tivoli sounds, so I guess it just comes down to colour? The Model 10 is available in 6 finishes (the anodized aluminum below is my pick), plus 3 fancy-schmancy designer finishes. Click here to find out where to get your hands on one.