1. An abandoned swallows nest on the kitchen window sill. 2. Incredible limestone tile throughout and including the countertops (chosen by Brooke & Steve Gianetti from Velvet & Linen during a trip to LA) Such a great way of working with all the ORANGE wood, providing a break from it as well as creating a balance of warm and cool.… Continue reading
This post is written by my design associate Irene Hill: source In my previous life as a designer, I specialized in selecting and supplying artwork for residential, commercial and developmental applications. Basically, anyone who needed art for a space and didn't have the budget or inclination to start a personal investment fine-art gallery. Probably like you and me. Most of… Continue reading
source My client has 3 floors in her home and this gorgeous staircase which had been empty of artwork for a long time. So she called me to help her create a gallery wall. Nothing really beats IKEA frames for the price and she needed a lot of frames. I suggested that once they were all installed, she could get… Continue reading
Eun emailed me for an on-consultation because she had some questions about colour as well as decorating her living room. She wanted to buy a new sofa. The yellow on the walls and orange drapery were already here when she moved in and she liked the existing colours. Before Notice her carpet is pink beige but we decided to ignore… Continue reading
Last year it was my birthday when my True Colour Expert Workshop was held in Toronto. As a special treat, I got to spend the day with Ian Varney in his studio. Ian uses wax paint which dries very quickly. Oil canvases take months to dry so this is a great medium to use.
Sometimes when a client takes me to an undecorated room to get my advice they will say "Everyone loves this dated lamp, art, vase, chair [insert dated piece here] so I want to keep it and/or build the whole room around it." Continue reading
Did you know Pinterest is one of the hottest social networking sites going? It cut down the time it takes to source images for my blog by more than half – so awesome, and it still took me months and months to finally set up my own boards. What the heck was I thinking??? When I looked at my statistics,… Continue reading
All my friends and family know better than to buy me 'what nots' or 'tchotchkes' as a gift. They know it will pretty much not see the light of day in my house. And there are times when I have kept the occasional knickknack out on display for fear of hurting someone's feelings. For example, I had these little wooden elephant bookends that my mom gave me on my bookshelf for years until my friend Tami said that they were bad luck because their trunks pointed down instead of up. So then I gave myself permission to stick them into the Sally Ann box. Continue reading
I am helping a client plan a family wall of art. She lives in a house with a spectacular spiral staircase and has a large wall she'd love to use to showcase family photos. Just a pretty spiral staircase, unrelated to art here (source) First we went to Ikea for several sizes of Ribba frames. Then we're going to take… Continue reading
Apparently one of the biggest attractions in Wisconsin is Frank Lloyd Wrights Residence called the Taliesin Preservation in Spring Green. We arrived at 11:30 am today so we enjoyed brunch first in the Riverview Cafe where I snapped a photo of the centrepiece on each table. I loved how simple and architectural it was. The Valley and tops of the hills… Continue reading
