Gold is Up!

For how many years have we been swarming silver tones?  Chrome.  Nickel.  Stainless. Platinum.  It’s been a decade?  At least.  Well, it’s finally time to warm up and get some classic back.  Gold is making its comeback.  Some of it is still brassy…but most of it has that satin or brushed finish that’s, well, simply divine.

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A little colour injection

I. Want. COLOUR!

Is there a little kid inside of you screaming for colour? It’s like this deep longing inside your soul that jumps up an down with glee every time you see bright pretty toss cushions and brightly painted walls. You are reminded of summer, and amazing vacations and sunshine and life. Oh but you can’t! What will people say? Would if you got sick of it in a year?

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Revolutionary Fabrics

I have been working in the design industry for over twenty years now. Most of those years have been fabric filled.  It’s really an obsession of sorts.  My reps come to visit my office, they bring armfulls of new books. The books are filled with swatches of new and exciting fabrics, textures, colours and patterns. The smell of the fabric fills the room. The colours bounce around and the patterns dance like butterflies around my head. Okay that’s super hokey. But seriously. One the the best parts of my job is finding the perfect fabrics for a space.

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Pantone 2017! It ain’t easy being green!

The long-awaited day has finally arrived and here you have it Greenery 15-0343, Pantone’s 2017 colour of the year.

I don’t even know where to even begin with this one!! I think the general feeling about 2016 is let’s move on and get a fresh new start for 2017, and this colour will definitely send us in that direction. Greenery gives us endless possibilities with so many different applications and colour palettes!! Its just one of those colours that can blend into any style of space.

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How to Shag!

Mad Men set – Interior Design Magazine

In the 60s, shag rugs began to surface.  The TV show Mad Men has one designed space that blows my mind. The bohemian vibe, and shag rug over high pile rug make me feel a little nostalgic for the 70s, when this was all the rage, I am pretty sure one can link the rise of asthma with the popularity of these rugs.

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Pillow Paralysis? How to choose toss cushions!

You ever flip through a magazine and see a sofa with ten toss cushions on it and think “Wow! How did they do that?”

Here’s a couple of tips for you:

In spaces where you have one accent colour, and you want that colour to really play a part in your design, use multiple patterns, textures and shades of that colour in your cushions.

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Dare to be YOU!

Well, let it be said that design occasionally reflects on past trends (dreaded stirrup pants and neon pink t-shirts), but design’s true calling is moving forward: bigger, bolder, inspired and, well, ALIVE, to be honest.

With so many designers being focused on greige the last few years, it is a welcome breath of fresh air that Pantone has released some awesome, bright and, dare I say, happy, forecasted colours for 2016.  Not one greige in the deck.

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Cheers to the 2015 Colour of the Year!

I’m always game when the world of design moves in the direction of good wine.  What?  Oh, sorry, did I write that out loud?  Marsala, a wine produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala, AND, the Pantone colour of the year (#18-438).  An earthy brownish-red that is described by Pantone Color Institute Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman as “nurturing and fulfilling…Marsala is a natural fit for your kitchen or dining room, making it ideal for tabletop, small appliances and linens throughout the home.”

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