a well lived life...: March 2011

Quotes...

The best decisions are always made at the last minute. Just know when the last minute is.
Holly Hunt

Be faithful to your own taste because nothing you really like is ever out of style.
Billy Baldwin

All rooms ought to look as if they were lived in, and to have so to say, a friendly welcome ready for the incomer.
William Morris

... to ensure a successful mix, I treat cushions, trimming, lampshades and other accessories as the shoes and handbags of the home. The right shoes can really make an outfit - and equally, if you have the wrong shoes, you can feel old-fashioned in the smartest of suits.
Nina Campbell

Each item in a collection has its own story, its own memory - the search, the day you bought it, who you were with, the vacation, etc.; a collection provides a special satisfaction and sense of achievement.
Tricia Guild

Good design has to tell a story. It has to stop people, and it has to make them wonder. Good design is a conversation.
Zahid Sardar

To do: Buy new notebook for meetings

On todays " To Do" list was to stop at 18Karat and pick up a couple more notebooks. For the past few years I have been using their suede unlined notebooks to take with me to all my meetings. Unfortunately they no longer seem to have them. I was however easily distracted by their gorgeous South Granville store. I absolutely love this vase and need to find a home for it...maybe mine.

Amorpha Bowl

So, then I started to think about where I could find a nice leather notebook - maybe refillable would make sense. Hermes came to mind....

These notebooks look really cute too. This is a set of 10 individual books presented in an archival box that when layed together in the right order create a beautiful Hermes scarf pattern.

Not that I was procrastinating today, but once I started to think about Hermes my mind wandered to the colour ORANGE in general. I have always been a fan although must admit, I have not introduced it to many client's homes. I love the use of orange in this Jeffrey Bilhuber interior. The paint colour and the drapery fabric look beautiful with the touches of brown and cream.

Coordinating the paint with the leather banquette looks great in Steven Shortridge's Venice home.

These headboards were the inspiration for a client's vacation home. I like the way single beds have designed to definitely be "grown up" in this bedroom.

For the less daring, orange can easily be added in small touches like this Brooklyn brownstone by Brandon Coburn .

Or in a bold showstopping way like this stair case as seen on Design Sponge.

Picture walls

I am always drawn to designs with great picture walls. Be it a living room, stairway or kitchen - the eclectic use of art and photography really give a room personality. The choice of art is always a discussion point and the photos give you a window into a more private part of peoples lives. Here are some of my favourites:

Marlene Birger

Christine Ralph

India Hicks

David Jimnez

Marlene Briger

Canadian House & Home

Feeling Blue?

Blue is FINALLY back and in a modern way. Over the past couple of years we have seen light blues with brown, teal blues and grey blues. This spring we are seeing true dark blues in fabrics, tiles, paint colours and accessories. Companies like Kravet are presenting exciting fabric collections from designers like Barclay Butera featuring some great blues!

Barclay Butera

Architectural Digest

I love the high gloss walls featured in the Architectural Digest home below. In order to successfully achieve this look you need perfectly flat walls - preferably new drywall. Benjamin Moore is making it a little easier with their Advance line which you can clean up with soap and water.