The Winter Entrance

Winter can be a bit of a slump season when it comes to decorating your front door. The holiday season is over so your holly wreath and cedar garland have made their way to the compost but it's too early to plant spring flowers in your urns. So we've generated a few ideas for you to bring life to your front entrance over these cold dark months. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of fellow blogger Diane Carnevale.

Diane added life to these birch logs with winterberry branches.

This winter boxwood wreath from Terrain will last all winter long and bring a little green to an otherwise bare branch season.

On the other hand, you could embrace winters' starkness with this grey birch twig wreath from Lovegrass Farm.

Or how about an Amish Barn Star...did you know that each color has its own meaning? This black one signifies protection - perfect for a front door.

Itsy Bits and Pieces went beyond creative with this front door display!

So have a little fun and don't be afraid to go a little off-piste with your front door this winter. Happy Decorating!

Scandinavian Design +

Marimekko design has always been a favourite, but what if there was a shop that went beyond? Introducing Huset, a Scandinavian design shop that carries a multitude of uniquely and distinctly Scan housewares, furniture, and clothing.

Huset is defined as "The House" in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian and they define themselves as being able to "bring together the rare and unusual of today`s visionaries plus the time-tested Scandinavian icons of design, directly to your door". And yes, they deliver internationally.

Here`s a sneak peek into the colourful world of their shop...

Bird on a Wire Coat Rack by JBA

Rice dk Melamine Side Plates

The Swedese Tree Coat Rack

Krone Hanssen`s Wood Stubbe Poufs

bObles Elna Elephant Tumbling Animal

Rice dk Birdhouse Kitchen Egg Timer

You can visit Huset.com directly for more great finds.

In a Girls World

Yesterday, I found a beautiful photo of what  was clearly a girls room and I was instantly reminded of the fact that I would never have a room like it with a husband and 2 growing boys at home. Of course I'd never trade in my fab family for the sake of decor but I refuse to give up being inspired by the delicacy of white linen, lace, and toile!

For everyone who dreams of exploring the more feminine side of decorating, these are for you:

Inspiration Shot from Style at Home magazine (online)

Boys could absolutley not resist dropping food or rubbing mud on these white chairs!

Elle Decor.com

Oooh, white, pink satin, and glass - all no no's in a house of boys!

DecorPad.com

I'll keep dreaming...and living vicariously through my clients and magazines!

I woke up to the thunder of rain rushing down my downspouts today. Yuck! It was dark, cold, wet, and down right depressing. COFFEE was a requirement - pronto. Reading through some tweets I saw that House and Home had featured a textile designer named, Bev Hisey. Click click and voila, a little sunshine appeared in my miserable day. Hisey is based out of Toronto (my old stomping grounds) and her textile works include rugs, pillows, blankets, panels, and handbags. Yummy yum, they're so colorful they electrify. Her creativity is genuine; anyone who can turn botulism into a floor mat deserves to be recognized. Here's a sampling of her work:

Dirty Dishes Carpets in the Medical Series. From the top L to R: Anthrax, SARS, E. coli, Cholera, HIV, Influenza, Botulism, Streptococcus, Acinetobacter

Moroccan Hand Tufted Wool Carpet

O.K. maybe not the most colorful but Bev definitely had a colorful mind when she created this one! The "Mommy Dearest".

"In The Woods I"

"In The Woods I"

"Butterflies" and "Ants"

Hand Screened "Squiggles" and "Die Cuts"

Visit Bev Hisey.com to perk up your gloomy day! ...and for more details.

Eclectic Modern With a Bit of Soul

Last spring I met the coolest lady who needed help refurbishing her sofa. To say the sofa was eclectic would have been a wee bit of an understatement. However, it held many memories and was fundamentally an interesting piece. So I took some photos, we picked some fabric and paint, and we were off.

But this wasn't the last of the design; the room needed some soul after she had gone through the process of de-cluttering and removing several pieces of furniture. My client was so funky it was a welcome challenge to try to marry her eclectic style of travel chachkas with her desire for a "really modern" room with “lots of colour”!

The turning point for the design was when it came out that my client had a hobby - she was an amateur photographer! We went straight to her computer and low and behold, before me were hundreds of editorial and gallery quality images!! I knew I was in for an interesting ride. I immediately paired her with my dear friend (also a photographic artist) who happens to have a Giclée printing machine in his basement.

With art as our inspiration we moved forward with re-hauling this room into an accurate reflection of my clients character; eclectic modern with soul. Following are the results:

Before De-Cluttering & Furniture Removal

Before Room Design

After