Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

Come Up To My Room 2012!

By far my favourite design event of the year in this city, I am hoping to go to the 2012 edition tomorrow morning.  The Gladstone Hotel is the perfect venue for local artists and designers to let loose their creativity within.

Here's a binder I made of photographs I took at last year's event:


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Racecar Driver Suit?

From Moncler Gamme Bleu.

I guess the new look for men on the runway this year is the illustriousness of a racecar driver's suit -  with the cheerfulness of a sunshine yellow blazer layered underneath.  I'd like to see how this could translate to interiors.  Primary colour mania?  Astronaut/racing themes?  I like the British hairdo.
guestofaguest.com

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

TYPE's Rainbow

Busy with the start of school, trying to get organized so that things unravel more slowly as the four months progress - this leaves me short of time for blogging.

Here is a cute video made by TYPE, the bookstore across from Trinity-Bellwoods Park.  It utilizes the recently popularized rainbow bookshelf (books arranged by the colour of their spine).  Personally, as an ex-library worker, the idea drives me a little bonkers, all of that stuff out of order, placed willy-nilly based on some decorative whim.  But it does look nice.  And this video must have taken a lot of work!


freshome.com

Friday, January 6, 2012

Resolutions Schmezolutions

I am not making any resolutions this year - I made them all during the year and am in the process of carrying them out.  And rather than calling them resolutions, I call them habits, goals, things-I-meant-to-do-but-never-found-the-time, etc.

I love hot yoga, and I see, this week at least, many new faces in my class.  Good for you, I say, but I hope it lasts.

Something that is lasting are improvements you make to the place you live.  Why live in a hovel when you can live in a palace?  Why stare at that stain on the baseboard when you can spend a couple hours buying paint and painting it!  Little changes make vast improvements overall, and over time, if you add to your abode's charm, you will see a better quality of life take shape.

With that in mind, I should introduce you to a book that my dad got for me from the library.  At first, I thought it looked simple and a bit silly.  However, upon opening this tome of decorating wisdom, I found it dense with useful information.  Much of the knowledge I have learned through arduous and long decorating projects at college, through trial and error, but here it is for you, all laid out and without all the huffing and puffing and head-scratching that I had to do.



Some charming advice from the first chapter, "Entryway":

"5. A Mirrorless Entry Hall

...the first thing I look for is a mirror.  The cry, "My kingdom for a mirror" bounces around in my head as I scan the walls of the halls of entry (be it sizable or small) hoping for a little help.  Wind, rain, or a treacherous seatbelt can put an end to even the best hair days.  Is it too much to expect a simply framed, mercury coated, plate glass reflective panel artfully hung in a friendly way?  You know, something that reminds the visitor "Before you walk into the crowd just around the corner you may want to fix that bird's nest of a 'do teetering on your forehead!"  Or, the even more intimate suggestion that hints, "Although we love you dearly, we fear that children and the elderly will be spooked by those false eyelashes masquerading as earrings."  A casual glance in a mirror (that tool of vanity we thank the warlords of dynastic China for) can either send you boldly in to the social fray without a worry in the world or cause your fingers to speed-dial a hair and makeup rescue team from the nearest beauty emporium."-p. 9