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The Village Trend for Shoppers

10/03/2010
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We arrived at the University Village just outside of Seattle yesterday. Next to the Village at Park Royal where I live, this one is really pretty. Guess why we were here? Crate & Barrel of course (we don’t have one in Vancouver).   How cute are these umbrella stands for shoppers to use when it’s…

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Do you Dare to go Darker?

10/01/2010
18 Comments

When I help clients with colour who have had white walls for 20-40 years (okay a long time), it’s generally very hard for me to get them past a ‘barely there’ shade. This was what happened when I arrived at John & Rita’s home here in North Vancouver this summer. I had chosen their exterior…

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Guest post at Centsational Girl

09/30/2010
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I’m talking about 5 Ways to Cozy your Space for Fall at Centsational Girl today, click here to check it out! I love Kate’s blog and especially her sense of humour!  I laugh and giggle all through her posts, and she is a really talented designer! This is her family room re-vamp below: Before After…

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Does Home Decor follow Fashion?

09/28/2010
20 Comments

I was just asked this question by a reporter. I think it definitely follows fashion although slower because home decor items are more expensive and aren’t replaced as quickly as clothing. Then I was on The Sartorialist today and saw these images from a Jil Sander fashion show . Apparently several of the editors thought…

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Does your Art have a Story?

09/26/2010
30 Comments

A lovely friend and past client Rachel Lando sent me a link to these wonderful spaces by Los Angeles designer Kim Alexandriuk in an interview with 1st dibs (Photography credits are on each image). These two images (above and below especially) are so great for demonstrating beige undertones done just right! The sofa and roman…

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How to Choose Colour for a North Facing Room

09/24/2010
43 Comments

I received a brilliant question this week from one of my on-line clients. Before he hired me to help him with furniture layout and colour selection in Palo Alto California, he asked this question: Interior Design by Glen Gissler “I’ve enjoyed reading some of your articles, and came across your website by doing a google…

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Colour Trends are Important; Yay or Nay

09/22/2010
29 Comments

There seems to be two camps in the colour industry.  Colourists (CMG) who believe colour trends are important and critical for products, cars, etc and Colourists (IACC/NA) who think choosing colour based on trends is just plain uneducated.  Since I’m a member of both, I agree with both sides and there’s a context for each…

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Negotiating Lessons from Mad Men

09/20/2010
48 Comments

We were watching season 3 of Mad Men last weekend (I’m hooked on that show) and I was fascinated with the conversation ‘Don Draper’ had with ‘Conrad Hilton’ in one of the episodes. I love this show because there’s so much intelligent dialogue. Anyway, here’s how the conversation went: The Presidential Suite today at the…

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Do you Follow the 10 Year Rule?

09/16/2010
37 Comments

  You know the stuff you pull out when your friends or family come over that was a gift and you don’t want to hurt their feelings to suggest you don’t like it, so you display it when they arrive? How about the one-off candle holders you get as presents (everyone gets those). Or, just…

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Clean ALWAYS trumps Dirty

09/14/2010
23 Comments

 via Flickr I have found myself repeating this statement a lot lately so I thought I’d write a post about it. So, repeat after me; Anytime that you find yourself comparing a clean colour to a dirty one, the clean colour always looks better. Does this mean the dirty colour is wrong? NO. Photo by…

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Happiness is. . . the Weekend

09/11/2010
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Usually when I feel anxious I can figure out why and get happy again but this week there seemed to be too many reasons to be cranky. It’s unusual for me to have an off-kilter week so when that happens, I’m happy to find a reason and here it is: Mercury is in Retrograde until…

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A Sherwin Williams Turquoise Guest Room

09/08/2010
29 Comments

The client that I’m helping with the dining chairs just finished painting and decorating his guest room. It was so fabulous I asked if I could take some photos.  The colour is SW 6936 Aquatint. Love the way the feathery bird coordinates with the curvy mirror. You can’t have too much white with turquoise! Mirror…

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What I’m up to this Long Weekend

09/06/2010
22 Comments

I’m hanging out with my totally squish able 11 month old nephew this weekend. My sister and I were in the fitting room at the Gap trying on their famous new black pants (below). I bought the ones on the right and some skinny pants. We were together in a big one and had Markus…

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Consultation on Dining Chairs; Clean vs. Muddy

09/04/2010
17 Comments

One year ago I consulted on wall colours for this client (below). Then a few weeks ago when he finally got around to painting, he decided not to go with the more earthy shade of gold I had chosen to coordinate with the damask dining chairs, he went instead for fresh and happy, and painted…

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Do you choose Finishes based on Light vs. Dark?

09/01/2010
19 Comments

I can’t tell you the number of times I have had people say things like this: “Well I picked that flooring because it was the lightest one, I didn’t want my place to look dark”, or I chose that tile because I didn’t want my bathroom to look dark. Dana Wolters Well that is, until…

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