Home Office Hutch

For those who are not blessed with large homes teeming with extra rooms, a large desk with a hutch is a good alternative to having a whole separate home office.

A desk/hutch combo contains the essentials of a home office: a work surface, shelves for display, drawers for storage and often a tray for a desktop keyboard.

Although not as functional for projects requiring a large work surface, such as crafts, for someone working from home one of the hutches below would  be adequate enough. I love them in the white finishes!

Room Service Home, Library Center, $2998

 

Williams Sonoma Home, Stanhope Desk, 5,950.00

 

Pottery Barn Bedford Corner Hutch, Over 1000 (depends on what add ons you choose)

 

IKEA, Johan, $129.00

 

Crate and Barrel, Chatham Desk/Organizer, $898.00

 

 

PS- On the topic of home offices, I'm loving Style & Grace's post on home work spaces.

She has a great rundown, including Celerie Kemble and Aerin Lauder's office spaces.

Who could resist the stunning Mary McDonald office! Of course I am loving the white desk.

Artist Spotlight: Andrea Marcus

This post is about an artist I think a lot of people in the online design/art community will take to: Andrea Marcus.

In my opinion, Andrea is one of the most innovative artists out there today. She is wildly creative, passionate, and her talents are incredibly versatile.

    

Andie is renowned in Toronto for her stunning glass work, which is displayed in the studio cafe in Toronto's Four Seasons hotel -- but it is her most recent project that has really struck a chord with me.

                    

    

The above image is the complete work and the one below is a close up so you can see the detail that goes into each work.

 

 

The process of Andy's work is both unique and time consuming.

First Andie paints each canvas. Then she proceeds to  form a variety of small shapes of a melted plastic-like material on silpat sheets or directly on to the canvass. She then glues the shapes on to the canvas in beautiful patterns and designs.

The result is a stunning 3-D work of art that is bold yet delicate with its floating designs and rich texture.

 

 

                       

 

Here is another close-up- love the bright psychedelic colours!

 

 

 

The black is so sexy!

 

 

I love the aquatic feel of this one. It's so organic. It reminds me of the movement of seaweed!

 

 

I'm lucky to have my own smaller work by Andie to display in my bedroom.

 

It fits perfectly in my black and white scheme and adds an organic texture to the room.

 

My younger sisters say they look like black spiders!

 

I think it's fabulous!

 

 

 

You can't see the details with my crappy camera so here is a close-up:

 

Also a side view so you can appreciate the fabulous texture.

 

 

 

Andie's star is beginning to rise,  so I suggest checking her out now if you're interested in having your own piece. On a recent visit to Toronto, international popstar and artist Mika was so taken with Andie's work (which was displayed in his hotel) that he ended up spending an hour at her house contemplating which pieces to purchase for himself!

 

http://andreamarcus.com/

Cow Hides

According to Domino, zebra rugs are super trendy.

Trendy can be fun, but when it comes to outfitting your home, I don't think it's such a bad thing to stray from the pack and do your own thing. For me that meant looking to Northern Ontario, rather than the safari.

A traditional black and white cow hide has the same graphic punch as zebra, but it's a little more rustic and less contemporary than it's jungle-cousin.

           

 

The varied pattern of the animal gives each hide its own unique character.

Some hides have the animal's brand etched into the skin but that's a little too much for me- I prefer clean black and white and not to be reminded that it was a living thing.

 

 

 

 

I have one in my bedroom to warm up the cold attic space and ground my bed on the weathered hardwood.

 

I got my hide at ELTE, an amazing design showroom here in Toronto.

 

 

I also have the cowhide IKEA pouf in my room. (Cow hide at IKEA? I know, I was surprised too!)

 

When I undress my bed it's where I place my beloved decorative pillows and shams.

 

 

I justified my cowhide purchases by figuring that once I move into my own place I will use the rug and the pouf in my living room.

PS- Choosing to use a hide in a design scheme can be an ethical dilemma for animal lovers like me, especially considering I grew up with cows as my favourite animal. I do eat meat though and wear leather, so I figured "why not?" and my conscience took a back seat to my attraction to the skin. Sorry PETA!

Here They Are!

As previously posted, I had ambitious cookie-making plans for this year's valentines day.

Below are the fruits of my labour...do you like?

    

I had so much fun mixing the icing colours for the candy heart cookies. I ended up using a fondant writer for the "xoxo" but my hands were too clumsy to write more complicated sentiments.

    

I had so much fun making the requisite red, white and pink heart cookies too. You can never go wrong with red on valentines day! They were very time-consuming though...

    

Don't they look so cute next to the china tea cup and creamer?

    

Someone at work offered me ten bucks for a dozen. In the future I will charge more as they took a looooooong time, but it was still exciting to have my first baking request by someone other than my mom.

       

I packaged them up in bunches and will be dispensing them over the next week to friends, fam and of course:  the boyfriend.

Valentines Fleurs

Red roses are the obvious choice for a valentines day bouquet, but I was bowled over when I saw some alternate flower arrangements on Martha Stewart's site.

If I was entertaining you can bet your bottom dollar I would be trying out one of the fantastic bouquets myself!

 

                  

 

How stunning!?!

 

Tulips are a softer alternative to roses in romantic pastels that match the sweet hues of the classic valentines candy.

      

          

I also like the more firey  version with red tulips  and cinnamon hearts as the filler.

 

To make these I'd put stoppers on each tulip stem and then just fill the vase with the conversation candy.

 

Or I could  just place a smaller vase within a larger vase and fill the gap with the candies.

Stay tuned for photos of my valentines cookies- some of them turned out perfect! (others not so much, ha)