My Living Room Inspirations...

As a decorator who gets to constantly delve into the wonderful world of fabrics, furniture and accessories every day, I am constantly clipping away images that inspire me. It can be something as minute as the accessorizing in the built-in's in the background, or as major as the colour palette, furniture and artwork; either way I collect these photos as references for my own work that help inform and open up my world of choices.

Designing the living room of my first apartment gave me a great opportunity to use some of my favourite images as jumping off points. With my favourite details from these images in the back of my mind, I curated my space to meet my and my boyfriend's needs (and budget!) while making a style stamp of my own.

Move-in day is just over 2 weeks away, so until I can show you the finished space, here are some of my favourite rooms that inspired my design:

(images top to bottom:  Peter Dunham, Jan Showers, Suzanne Kasler, Todd Romano, unknown, Kelly Wearstler, Anne Coyle and Nate Berkus, Dee Dee Hannah)

Trending at ELTE

A few weeks ago the Canadian design staple known as ELTE, hosted a breakfast for industry insiders to hear about their take on trends and get a sneak preview of some hot items they’re bringing in.

Here is a round-up of some of my fave new arrivals:

This super glam lilac Alpaca Fur Pillow, $265 is an example of the fur trend, which stormed runways at Fashion Week.

Graphic abstract  modern prints are very in…I would do bad things in order to own this Maverick 9 x 12 ivory and ebony wool rug, $2,695

Ikat is still everywhere you turn, as seen in these throw pillows on the Tate sofa, $4,795

Welting as a design feature was also mentioned, like in this swivel  Hickory Chair lounger which has a grosgrain flange, $3,425 and in this contrast-piped bergere chair, $1595 (we all know how I love contrast piping!)

Saturated rugs, like this 5 x 10 aubergine beauty, provide a quirky twist on traditional oriental motifs, $1,515

And lucky for me, two of my favourites, stripes and gilding, are sticking around (I doubt they will ever really go away due to their classic status..)

Happy Trending!

Quack Quack

My little baby cousin Emily celebrated her first birthday this past weekend, and I was happy to bake some special pink and yellow ducky cookies for the occasion!

Shoutout to the littlest cuzball!

C U Soon CB2

Well it’s not that soon, but at least Torontonians know it’s coming to our side of the border. Setting up shop in the crumbling space that housed the Big Bop, CB2 announced a couple of months ago that they will open their first brick and mortar location in Canada.

To celebrate CB2 making its way to the corner of Bathurst and Queen, here are some of my latest obsessions from crate and barrel’s younger fabulous sister:

The ceylon pitcher, perfect for delicious herb or fruit-infused summer beverages $29.95

Spicy lipstick-red engine stools are simultaneously glam and punk at the same time, $89.95-$99.95

The format acrylic desk accessories, cubes and shelves are aching to find a home in my office. I especially want the floating shelf! $7.95-$49.95

The fantastic pop art for your floor that is the Grrrl Rug, $349

You can’t go wrong with the classic peekaboo acrylic waterfall coffee table, $249

I’m so sad that the white metal trunk only comes in the large size – I would love to stack the white ones in my office and use them to store samples! $-69.95 

And lastly, I love their affordably sleek yet spunky barware, of which it is too hard to narrow down my faves! I am so excited to entertain with my andy warhol lip plates I purchased a couple of years ago online and can’t wait to be able to pop down to the store whenever I want!

Pure Design's Pure and Simple Kitchen

This really clean and simple kitchen that Style at Home's Samantha Pynn designed for an episode of Pure Design is a major source of inspiration for my own little galley kitchen.

There are no bells or whistles - just clean white cabinetry, black countertops, a white subway tile backsplash and stainless appliances.

The look is easy to recreate with simple affordable materials, for example I won't be able to use a real stone counter, but I can certainly pair a black laminate with white cabinets for the same graphic contrast.

While stainless appliances, or even a counter-depth fridge, are out of my reach right now, I will stave have the classic black and white look I'm going for, with a few of my own quirky touches of course!

Photos by John Queenan

My Living Room...Sneak Peek!

Here's a little taste of what's to come:

Are you excited??

PS- I don't want to give you the impression I am moving into some slum with the photos of the bathroom I posted the other day. It is an older building and the previous tenant had been living in the same unit for a couple of decades, so no updates had been made in ages -- hence the complete mess!  Luckily the landlord has graciously offered to let me spec the materials used as they update the unit for me, so no worries - my vintage modern space is on the way!

Conde Nast Store Sale

You can pick up stunning custom prints for 20% off for 3 days only at the Conde Nast store. If I hadn't already bought one last month I'd pick myself up another - specifically Herbert Matter's Golden Sunbursts (1956) which I am lusting over!

Sexy, eh?

Part of the excitement of moving into a new place is the fuss of determining the look you want to achieve and working with what you’ve got to make it happen. My mood for the place is eclectic chic with a Traditional French twist, but unfortunately my bathroom is more derelict-my-balls right now than anything.

I kid you not when I say this is the bathroom I am set to move into in a mere month:

Yuck-- I know. Like super yuck.

I could embrace the retro floor tile were it not damaged and I could even dare work with the junior high school pedestal sink if need be, but I cannot deal with the rest of the decaying mess. Feh..

Hopefully by the time May rolls around I will have a better photo to show you,  because g-d knows any decorator or hygiene-minded person for that matter will simply not settle for this.

PS- yes, a move-in date has actually been set for sometime in May and I can’t wait to share more as the weeks go by!

It's Matzah Time

It’s halfway through Passover and I am trying to think of creative ways to feed myself without solely subsisting on potatoes and eggs. You'd think I'd use the no rice, no pasta, no flour thing as a hard push to eat clean, lean and green for 8 days but I can never seem to pull my shit together as the seders sneak up on me...oh well! Instead I devour endless amounts of matzah pizza, charoset and the best of all: Caramel Matzah Crunch

Thankfully House and Home's latest issue included a fun new matzah pizza recipe for the heebs so I am definitely going to add that to the repertoire and see how it goes.

Hope you’re enjoying this amazingly sunny weekend!