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



The Art is in the Hanging

Last week we had the task of hanging art for a discerning client.  Many people think there are rules you must follow; however, when it comes to hanging art, rules are made to be broken. 
To take on the task, we knew that our not-so-skilled hands could not meet the challenge.  So, we called in an expert.  We called in Kent Southwell of Kent Picture Framing here in Vancouver.  He was up for the challenge!

His easy going professional manner was met with quick and expertise hanging.  This guy knows his stuff. 

If you're ever in the market for hanging art - he's your guy.  We will no longer go anywhere else!

Thanks Kent!

We're currently scheduled to take professional photographs of the results...stay tuned...