a well lived life...

Social Media

Lucky Me! I have a social media expert working on my business this spring. In addition to organizing and coordinating all my social media sites, he will be improving my website and updating it with photos of projects over the past year!

Check out the Trish Knight Design Facebook page and my Google + profile where I will be focusing on interior design articles, new products and photos I know design lovers will enjoy.

I also have a new addiction - Pinterest - I am sure many of you can relate!! It is so easy and a great way to file and store inspiring photos. I will be posting some pictures of my projects, but will mostly maintain the integrity of the Pinterest concept by pinning inspiring images - from travel and food to fashion and decor. If you haven't created your own pin boards yet, I highly recommend it! Let me know when you do!

Sneak Peak

I am spending some time over the next couple of weeks having recent projects photographed. Stay tuned to my website for updates!

Spring Flowers

While we wait for a little heat and a bit more sun to help this years flowers burst into their full glory, enjoy these pictures I took last Mother's Day in Queen Elizabeth Gardens.

On the move!

After 2 years in my Kitsilano design studio it is finally time to move on to a bigger and brighter space. Although there is lots of commercial real estate available in Vancouver right now, it was not easy to find the perfect location. Too big, too small, too dark, too far from my home and clients...

After a couple of months of searching the soon to be perfect space materialized. The new studio is in an old character building in a funky light industrial neighbourhood, filled with creative types, open high ceilings, and lots of natural light. With a bit of negotiation the landlord has agreed to paint everything, change the windows, upgrade the lighting and renovate the bathroom. I will take some "before" pictures in the next couple of weeks, in the meantime - here are some inspiring office spaces!

Outdoor Living

Evidence of spring is all around us - cherry blossoms in bloom, tulips sprouting up out of the ground, stores filled with daffodils and all my clients thinking about outdoor furniture. Even though we are at least a month away from sitting outside without being surrounded by heaters, if you don't order your outdoor furniture early, you will not have it in time for summer.

The Capri Collection is a great new line available at Restoration Hardware - hard to believe it is even outdoor furniture!

If you have not been to Brougham Interiors new location in the Armoury District you now have a great reason. They carry beautiful outdoor lines like Gloster's Cloud Collection and have an entire showroom devoted to the outdoors!

You can be stylish without a huge outdoor space, or budget - take a look at these chairs available at Spencer Interiors. The Viento chair by Bonaldo is stackable, in stock and starts at $190.

The tables above and below are by Cane-Line - a furniture line from Belgium also available at Brougham Interiors. The dining table has a square stainless base with extendable top. I love the "On the go" tables - easy to pick up and move around as needed on your patio.

I can't decide what I want more...this table and chairs from B&B Italia's Canasta Collection, or just to go on holidays to where ever this photo was taken! Available at Inform Interiors.

B&B Italia Canasta

This is another great new look for Restoration Hardware, and so unexpected. The Mulholland Collection uses Sunbrella straping with brass frames to create a mid century look.

Sting & Trudie Styler

On Saturday night, I had the pleasure of sitting in row 10 for the last night of the North American leg of Sting's Back to Bass Tour. The music was great, and antidotes entertaining, the lighting really well done and Sting looked amazing.

Darko Sikman Photography

One of the things I love about being a designer is the relationships I build with my clients. I get to know their lifestyle and their families while designing their homes. No question when you see Sting you know he is leading a clean and healthy life which made me wonder what his home(s) would look like...

These pictures are from Architectural Digest's article on the London Home he shares with his wife Trudie and their children. I was very excited to learn it was designed by one of my favourite architectural firms Shelton, Mindel & Associates.

I love the way they brought light through the house including the lowest level. They were able to raise the ceiling from 7' to 9' and add the sky light over the over the table this room to make it bright and welcoming.

These next three are from their Lake House in the English Countryside. Sting spoke about how the rolling hills of barley inspired him to write Fields of Gold.

Lake House

These are from Jan 2011 Architectural Digest and focus mainly on the landscaping surrounding their Tuscan home.

Tuscan Home

I love this shaded garden for dining.

This reminds me of the house my friends and I stayed at in Tuscany last year.

Tuscan Home

White On White (and a touch of Grey)

Inspired by the Yabu Pushelberg interiors of the newly opened "The Room" of The Bay, I started to think about some of my favourite white paint colours. Anyone who has ever picked up a paint fan deck knows that not all whites are created equal. There is a full spectrum of whites - some are warm, some cool, others tint beige, pink, yellow or blue. The Benjamin Moore OC palette has more than 140 colours all considered "off-white".

The one thing that all whites have in common is a need for natural light. If you paint a darker room all white, it will tend to look a bit grey in the shadows. This isn't a bad thing, if you like grey like I do, and you might even consider pairing white with grey in the same room - such as white cabinets and grey walls or carrera marble.

My favourite Benjamin Moore whites are Cloud White - great overall warm easy to live with white. Simply White - a bright clean white without too much grey. Decorator White - classic and popular white with designers, looks great with greys and blacks. Super White - revered by many American designers as the perfect white. Although it is not part of the Canadian Benjamin Moore colour line up, the formula is available and can be mixed at any Ben Moore dealer.

My favourite Benjamin Moore greys are Kendall Charcoal & Overcoat - both great for mill work and walls, Days End - one of my favourites for interior doors, Revere Pewter - beautiful for kitchen cabinetry and Chelsea Grey - great mid tone colour.

Regardless of your personal design aesthetic, the perfect white will work in any environment - modern, traditional or anything in between.