The Love List
I'm loving...
These oh-so-French decals from MIMI'lou:
Canvases from pi'lo
Wreaths by KnockKnocking
All so happy and sweet.
The Art of Framing Art
When we were emptying Mama HandyLuster's home to prepare for her move, we uncovered a set of wonderful old photographs. The photos were taken by Wallace Macaskill, a great Canadian Maritime photographer renowned for his photos of the Bluenose schooner (one of which was used for the Canadian 10-cent piece, where it appears to this day). Mama HandyLuster had been given three of these prints as a gift, and had found two others at a garage sale. When I saw them, I knew I wanted to display them in our home. I loved their worn vintage quality and since HandyMan loves to sail, they would feel very personal.
Mama never had the photos framed and given their size and the fact there were five of them, I knew it would be a bit pricey to do so. Luckily, Michaels offers 60% off custom framing every few months so I waited for the sale. Now here's where a lack of forethought ended up costing me a few $$. I have never had anything custom framed before (Ikea has served me well to this point!) and thought it couldn't be too difficult - just pick a frame and a mat, right? Wrong. Do you know how many different frames and mats Michaels offers?? There are 15 variations of white alone! But I had a squirming baby on my hip and had driven 1/2 hour to get to the nearest store so there was no way I was leaving without placing my order. Really.Bad.Idea.
The framing people were helpful but let's just say they weren't really versed in more contemporary styles and like everything matchy-matchy. So while in my head I was thinking of something more like this:
I ended up ordering something more like this:
Huh. Yeah, what just happened there? I don't know. After I got home, I thought more about it and realized I needed to order a more neutral mat. And on closer look, I also realized the mat width the Michaels' framer specified wasn't as large as a thought it was (only 1.5") and would look really skimpy. So, the next day I packed up the kiddo again, made the trek to Markham, and picked out what I should have picked out the first time: French White mat, 3.5" border.
Some of the photos were vertically oriented while some were horizontal; some were sepia toned while others were more black and white. Because I wanted to display them all together, to make them more cohesive I had them matted so that their exterior dimensions were all the same.
The plan is to display them in the dining room but we haven't yet decided on the layout. So for now, I have them propped up in various spots around the house.
After the framing fiasco, I'm not quite ready to commit and drive some nails into our pretty wallpaper! Baby steps here folks, baby steps.
Monday Funny
Designers, here's one for you! Ever dealt with a difficult, demanding client with ridiculous requests? Then you will enjoy reading Clients From Hell, a collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from designers. Happy Monday.
Details, details
While HandyMan and I agree most of the time and share the same tastes, we differ quite a bit in how we approach a project or a space. I'm a big picture kind of gal - I can envision a space, see how a layout works, have an idea of how furnishings and materials work together - before there is anything in a room. HandyMan's forte is in the details, figuring out what step goes first, how things are made. He worries about measurements and fittings and pieces and sequences... and well, sometimes, I could care less. It works for us though because I can envision the plan and HandyMan figures out how to make it happen.
Take this rad box. Looks simple enough right? I gave HandyMan a few parameters to work with - same shaker profile as the wainscotting, routered top to mimic the routered chair rail, same perforated panelling as the other rad boxes in the house, and it had to have open 'feet' so that it wouldn't look too heavy. HandyMan took care of the rest. Like figuring out how tall to make the box so that the top strip lined up perfectly with the wall panel, but leaving enough room for the box top to be easily removed. And working out the measurements on the front perforated panel so we wouldn't have any partially covered holes. And determining how to build a box with only two sides and a top (since the side nearest the curtain needed to remain open so we could access the valve).
I on the other hand wouldn't even think of these things... and even I did think of them, my brain would explode after a while because I hate thinking about finicky (but I know, necessary) details like that. Good thing HandyMan is the one doing the building though because we end up with quality detailed work like this. It matches the rad cover in Chloe's room nicely, don't you think? I wouldn't have thought of that ;)
And for those keeping score:
Time it would have taken us pre-baby to make this rad box - 1 weekend
Time it has taken us post-baby to make this rad box - 9 months!
Phone Book, look!
My name is Wanderluster and I am addicted to my iPhone. There, I've said it. As a new mom, I wonder how I've managed to live without one for so long. Sure, its great for holding a million photos and videos of Chloe, but its even more awesome for storing my To Do lists (pregnancy brain lasts well after pregnancy, I'll tell you!), tracking all of our doctors appointments, playdates, and baby classes, and keeping me preoccupied when those breastfeeding sessions run a little long. And while I've come across some apps meant for little ones (like baby flash cards), I've never really been keen on exposing my little one to technology too early. But this, I think, is pretty ingenious and quite a clever use of the iPhone in a way that can actually benefit kids and enhance their learning:
The only problem will be figuring out how to get the phone away from the little one so I can actually make some phone calls!
Etsy Shopping
Have you started your Christmas shopping? I haven't. But after spying these pretty things on etsy, I may just have to put some things in my cart.
Teacher Holiday Greeting by simplesongdesigns
Palest pink ring by sweetmini
Girl's Christmas dress by HolyCrapClothing
Pink Lemonade Headband by ummashin
Counting Fish set by Heartfelt3
Brown silk headband by BeSomethingNew
Literary Journey by almondtreeframes
Kids chunky cowl by knittles
Pecha Kucha
It's that time of year again when HandyMan and I put together a Pecha Kucha Night. What's a Pecha Kucha you ask? It's a high-energy presentation format. Think of it like the Twitter of presentations - each presenter shows a slideshow of 20 images, each slide shown for 20 seconds. Oh, and its tons of fun for the audience to watch (especially when a presenter looks over their shoulder and realizes they're talking way too long and are 6 slides behind!).
As we did last year, we are organizing the Pecha Kucha for Trade Day at the Interior Design Show, Canada's largest contemporary design event. IDS is the must-attend show for design fanatics and we are thrilled to be involved.
We've managed to line up a diverse and interesting roster of speakers from the fields of fashion, design, media and the arts:
- Allan Guinan - Partner of figure3
- Arriz Hassam - Principal of 3rd Uncle Design
- Cobi Ladner - Former Editor of Canadian House & Home magazine and creator of cobistyle.com
- David Dixon - Leading Canadian women's fashion designer
- Gord Peteran - Canadian contemporary furniture designer and artist
- Nigel Smith - CEO and Creative Director of graphic design firm Hahn Smith Design Inc.
- Shinan Govani - National Post columnist, resident snoop, town-crier and people-watcher
- Sara Diamond - President of Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD)
And bonus: Trade Day registration to IDS is free until Dec.15th! Sign up now.
Read more...
Sarah says...
This cute pic has nothing to do with today's post :)Lucky me, I had the chance to hear Sarah Richardson speak live and in person yesterday. And I got a free Tassimo at the event, so I was doubly lucky! Sarah was as down to earth, fun and engaging as she is on her shows. During the talk, Sarah mentioned her thoughts on design which I wanted to share with you all:
- Sarah thinks more traditional kitchens (of which she is a huge fan) are making a comeback. Think stained kitchen cabinetry with rich woods like crotch mahogany and panelled doors.
- Consider getting kitchen cabinet doors professionally sprayed instead of repainting them yourself. (She uses a sprayer in Toronto who charges a reasonable $20/door)
- Incorporate storage in every room you decorate or renovate
- Design to suit the architecture of your house. You don't want to go ultra modern if your space has traditional bones
- Populate your space with things that have meaning and pull back on the current "display culture", where you buy things just for the sake of having them
- Open concept spaces don't have to be one colour! You can change the colour any place where two walls meet, like in a corner.
- When designing a dining room, look for inspiration in your dishware
- Paint your crown moulding in a chalky white, so that your ceiling colour (painted something other than white) pops
- Wallpaper is still "in". Sarah loves grasscloth for texture
- Pull the colour that is least used in your furnishings as your accent colour. Look at your carpet or wallpaper and use the least prevalent colour for accents, to provide subtle hits around the room
And for all you Sarah fans, she has a few more shows coming soon to HGTV Canada:
- A Christmas special on Nov.29th. This show was filmed at her own house.
- Sarah's House 3 (its a farm!) in March 2010
- A new show called Sarah 101 which I mentioned in this post. She's currently casting for 13 homes in the Greater Toronto Area and is looking specifically right now for bedrooms and children's rooms. The show is a "back to basics" focused on DIY, decorating on the cheap, and the ABC's of good design. Sounds like another winning show to me!
Read more...
A Modernist Jewel Uncovered
I really shouldn't be writing this post. Not that it isn't post-worthy - it is - but if anyone should be talking about this house:
...its HandyMan. This is the house that started it all. This is the house in which HandyMan grew up. Its the house his parents bought in 1969 and which Mama HandyLuster lived in until we sold it this past June. Its a house filled with memories and experiences, good and bad, as all well-loved homes are. See that iron gate, the large dial sculpture, the fence? HandyMan built them. And he painted the exterior and laid the walkway too. 
Here's the interior courtyard and the backyard pool. HandyMan laid the all the stones, built the lattice fencing, and even put in the koi pond to the right of the front door. Mama HandyLuster has a green thumb and planted beautiful magnolia trees, mulberry trees, rosebushes and an awesome corkscrew hazel on the property. 
The interior of the house was last renovated in the 1980's so some of the finishes are, um, 'vintage' ;) But I hope you can appreciate the mid-century modern style layout with the ranch style design, long sightlines, and open spaces. HandyMan and his Papa touched every surface in this place. They installed the clear cedar on the ceiling, cut out the wall for the sunroom, built the wood slat wall of doors, laid all the marble tile and hardwood, and even sawed real bricks in half to create the feature wall. 
Some views of the other eclectically decorated rooms. There's definitely some style choices we won't be replicating... like walls covered in cork, a dark teal painted room, and terra cotta tiles in the bedroom. We all have some design skeletons in our closet, don't we? ;o)
The kitchen was unique with striped tile floors, and 70's mirrored backsplash. And then there was the catch-all room in the back. Converted from part of the garage, this room housed Mama's office, storage closets, and laundry machine.
So this is the house as it looked when HandyMan learned to tear down walls, lay tile, install plumbing, paint walls, and in essence, become HandyMan.
And this is how the house looks now: 
We were lucky to find a buyer of the house who loved it just as much as Mama and HandyMan did. One who could see beyond the dated finishes and realize the beauty of the space. A person, a family, who could do a sympathetic renovation and bring out the Modernist glory that was always just below the surface.
Throughout the years, HandyMan would have grand ideas for the space - blowing out walls, clean consistent flooring, more minimalist design - but soon enough he was out in the world, working on his own homes, and those ideas were never realized. Until now. The new owners hired talented Reigo & Bauer to do the renovation. They created a very contemporary design that allows this house to shine, don't you think? I love the sharp colours - black ceiling, electric orange kitchen, white walls. Everything looks so alive. So right. 
We hope the lovely family that now lives in this home enjoys it and fills it to the brim with memories. Thank you for allowing us to share these photos! Selling the house was difficult (is it ever easy?) so to be able to see that the right owners got the place helps bring closure and puts a welcome salve on fresh memories. Moving on now. Good bye, old house.
(Note: all the photos on Reigo & Bauer's site were taken by uber-talented Tom Arban, who also did the photos for the book HandyMan and I wrote together. So it is very likely that our good friend Tom will be taking photos of HandyMan's childhood home for the designers' portfolio. What a small world, indeed).
