New Year's Approaching - I love the colour Champagne

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  My Christmas was so memorable this year, and I look forward to New Year's because I'll be at my cottage, which will be a winter wonderland.

Now that New Year's is only a few days away, I am thinking of silver and gold, and the perfect subdued warmth of the colour champagne.  It's a gorgeous, elegant colour - and always reminds me of the quintessential New Year's libation.  If only I could keep my champagne flutes intact from year to year!

Sources: http://www.onlineclothingmarket.com/goods-2228.html, gucci.com, 

thefinegiftcompany.co.uk, Leslea2 on flickr, mirrormirror.typepad.com

My Design Class Dining Room

I was having fun, going for a rather austere, but engaging space.  I loved working on the perspective of the space!  All the chairs were meant to be COCO dining chairs, but when I drew in ink through one of them, I realized that Kartell chairs would be an exciting addition.

The mirror is Crate & Barrel, the PARSONS table and COCO chair are from EQ3, 

the chandelier, thatched-leather bench, and white geometric shelf are Casalife.  

The paint selections (Silver Cloud and Symphony Blue) are Benjamin Moore.  

The track lighting is from Royal Lighting.  The blue painting is available on Etsy and is by 

Rossana Novella, and the photograph is by up-and-coming artist Karin Bubas.

Ceiling medallions as decor?

People are trying it.

What do you think of it?  I'm not a huge fan.  

But, with a ceiling medallion stencil, you could do a lot.  Those would look nice as major focal points on a wall which don't have that 3-dimensional distraction that actual medallions have.

You could make a patterned "wallpaper" out of it.  Using metallic hues at only half-opacity would add such glamour to a space.

And look at this beautiful floor stencil, somewhat similar to the wall idea.

On polished concrete!

Sources: remodelista.com, apartmenttherapy.com, daveandjoi.blogspot.com, flickr.com/photos/designamour, finishingacts.blogspot.com, pigmentoftheimagination.com, caboodle.com, s7.thisnext.com, thefauxschool.com, 3.bp.blogspot.com

west elm Vases

They have some beautiful vases.  I find them all a bit 'off,' though.  

Like this Hive Vase - is it ugly?  Regardless, I'm using it in a design today.

I Tried My Hand at Making a Table Lamp

I designed it to be art deco in style.  It was a hard process, and I got a lot of help, but I finished it.

It was based on this beautiful lamp I found in Architectural Digest from

Lalique Maison.

Sources: tablelamps-lighting.com, farm4.static.flickr.com, 4.bp.blogspot.com

Vitra's Roster

What a list of designers: Vitra's Roster of designers over the years.

C1 Chair Verner Panton, 1959

Algue Screen by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, 2004 

Organic Chair by Charles Eames & Eero Saarinen, 1940

Freeform Sofa by Isamu Noguchi, 1946

Map Table by Barber Osgerby, 2011

Suita Sofa by Antonio Citterio, 2010

In Toronto, plan b retails some Vitra Home products (planboffice.com).  Their showroom is at Davenport and Hazelton and also carries products from companies such as Kartell, Meridiani, and Flos.

Barbara Barry's Style

                      

Today I'm feeling inspired by Barbara Barry.  

I'm designing a bedroom in a kind of Hollywood Regency using a few of her pieces.

She has a classic aesthetic, and the look is both sweet and yet somehow neutral in a way.

House Beautiful

Elegant Layout

Fretwork Chair

Westone Bathrooms

I'm Jealous of This 1920s Kitchen Ad Rendering

Love the look; I don't think we appreciate the less glamorous 20s styles enough these days. Simple, functional, delicate.

See the rest at http://www.flickr.com/photos/42835754@N05/galleries/72157622446968292

Part I

New beginning. New blog.

Why not start with the old. Here is a house I lived in briefly when I was a child. It's up for sale for a fair(ly high?) price - over $900,000.

But given the location, the beauty of the surroundings, and the work that must have gone into designing and building the house, I hope that the owners do get their asking price.