Mirrors = Magic + Dazzle
03/28/2011‘Floor mirrors are like portals into a magical, faraway land where you are excessively rich and live a luxuriant lifestyle. Use and abuse them.’ Jonathan Adler ‘You can never go overboard (or wrong) with reflective surfaces. They add twinkly glamour, light and the illusion of space.’ Jonathan Adler. (above quote too) I just installed a fabulous…
This Paint Job is only Right Once a Year
03/27/2011source A broken clock is right twice a day. This was the photo that Patrick from Shadows on Stone sent me the other day along with those 2 quotes. It’s a donut shop in Portland that looks pretty hot now with the matching cherry blossoms. He said it just screams in the winter and looks…
source I can count on one hand (okay maybe two) how many times someone has hired me to actually choose a white for their walls. White cabinets? Every day. White cabinets are fabulous anytime. But walls? I mean most people can pretty much pick white on their own. However, since gray became the new beige…
source Before the gray trend hit the streets, anytime I would hold up a basic linen shade (like BM Muslin or Manchester Tan) clients would say “ooooooooooooh that’s too gray”, or they would just raise their eyebrow and say “That’s the most boring colour ever!” So then I would either pull out a cooler gray…
When I’m reviewing a set of photos for an on-line consultation, if I see a double storey height or high vaulted dining room, I know I’m in Florida because in most homes if the living room has high ceilings the dining room ceiling is normal height. I’ve seen a few dining rooms there recently with…
How to Decorate underneath a Console
03/19/2011credit There comes a time when one gets tired of the constant rain in Vancouver. Tired of waiting for Spring. When looking at my undecorated console just gets old. So I took matters into my own hands today and this is what I came up with: Photos by Maria Killam Don’t forget the tablescape for…
Photo by Maria Killam Two weeks ago I was in Seattle to shop with Angie from You Look Fab for Spring. We had an awesome day together, Angie shops for clothes just like I shop for furniture and accessories with my clients. First we make the rounds in all the stores, leave some stuff on…
A Case for Decoration
03/17/2011Lately I’ve noticed a trend with the questions my clients ask during consultations and I have developed my own personal little theory behind it. Windsor Smith They’ll ask me questions like, “Should I install crown molding in here?” “Should I replace this countertop and introduce stone?”, “What about a tray ceiling?” Endless and many…
Who is Driving your Career?
03/15/2011source Think back to an experience in your life, when you were young and sitting in the backseat. Who was driving? What were you doing? You could coast, hang out and harass the person driving, but they still determined where you were going. There’s parts of our life where we’re in the back seat but…
All About Curtains
03/13/2011For years I have saved clippings of my favourite looks in curtains or drapes and have carried them around in a binder in my car so that it’s easy to show clients what I’m designing when it comes time to discuss curtains. I love drapery, they instantly add softness and vertical height to a room,…
How Influenced are you by Colour Names?
03/10/2011People often ask me ‘who names the colours in a fan deck’? Quite often in a colour consultation when we’re looking at 2 colours and both are equally as good because they are so close, sometimes the name of the colours decides it for us. Doesn’t San Francisco Bay (BM802) sound like a pretty blue? …
source Beth Sears recently sent me photos of her updated oak kitchen inspired by my extremely popular post about White Kitchens. Beth and her husband built their house in 1993 so when it came time to update their kitchen it was a total DIY renovation! Here is their story: Photos by Beth Sears “With the…
Is Colour the Best Neutral? Yay or Nay
03/07/2011Brown trend > Gray trend (source) For months now in most of my consultations in-person or on-line all over the country in US and Canada, my clients have been asking for the same thing. And it is this: “How can I eradicate beige and caramel/orange tones from my home and replace it with the cooler…
At the Design Bloggers Conference early this week, Rhonda from All the Best gave a talk on ‘How to create your Brand’. The message that really hit home for us all was “Everyone thinks social media is a magic bullet, but it’s not that easy. Social media is like teen sex, everyone wants to do…
7 Hot Blogging Tips from Los Angeles
03/01/2011source I’m here at the very first Design Bloggers Conference and yesterday Scott Hanselman gave us a talk on the 32 Ways to Take your blog to the Next Level. Here are a few of them: source 1. Moo.com, see all these quotes? Well they are from this great website where you can print business…
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