My Date With Nate
My appearance on the Nate Berkus show is airing THIS MONDAY (Jan.31st!). Oh my.
*****
A quick little recap of our NYC adventure with Nate...
Jan.12
10:00AM - Consult Urbanspoon and decide on delish breakfast at Sarabeth's. Follow it up with a brisk walk to Central Park to burn off some nervous energy.
12:00PM - Bye bye Lucerne Hotel & hello CBS studios!
12:30PM - WHOA, my own green room (that isn't really green)
1:15PM - hair & makeup, and a run-through with the panelled wall mockup. Two minutes after this photo was taken, I almost spilled an entire bottle of carpenter's glue on my shoe!! Yikes!
3:30PM - waiting, waiting, waiting and then it was showtime! Sorry, no photos in studio. You'll have to watch and see how it turned out!
4:15PM - All done and packed up - but stop for one more quick photo with "Nate"... the fake Nate that appeared on the show too :). Bye CBS studios!
Jan.13
9:00AM - up bright and early and head to our favourite store, Fishs Eddy. Stop into Eataly and admire the pretty packaging.
11:00AM - check out ABC Carpet & Home. Love the herringbone floors. Hmm, that wood frame around the wallpaper in the Barbara Barry display has me inspired to do something similar in my own home...
12:00PM - meet up with one of my favourite bloggers, Mrs. Limestone! And yes, she is just as lovely and humble in person as she appears on the blog.
4:00PM - So long New York! We had a fabulous time!!
Interior Design Show / IDS11
Its been a busy week here for Rambling Renovators! Its the Toronto International Design Festival which means all the biggest and best events in design are happening this week. The week culminates with the Interior Design Show which opened last night with quite the gala event. Along with a few other bloggers and media, I had the privilege of seeing the IDS show floor a mere 24 hours before opening night.
We started off our tour all smiles in our dorky hardhats. (Notice the always stylish Arren Williams in his orange Hermes helmet). That's Shauny Levy, director of the Interior Design Show beside Arren, who conducted the tour. We got a peek at the Sarah Richardson designed Panton chair that was going up for auction last night. Sarah had the chair shuttled around the city to get it signed by many celebrity personalities. Then we headed to the show floor - and let me tell you, it was pure chaos! I didn't know if they were going to pull it off.
76,000 hours + 9000 cups of coffee + 3000 steel toe boots + 1200 gallons of paint + 3 football fields of storage + 56 people laying carpet by hand. Those are just some of the numbers behind putting an event of this magnitude together.
We saw some beautiful installations in progress, like these stunning brass pendants at the Snob booth and the always inspiring lighting at Ikea.
The Miele folks showed off their new dishwashers which feature an auto-open feature that helps to dry the dishes, and their new multi-function steam convection oven. The ovens are in this shiny white exterior - apparently, shiny white kitchens are all the rage in Europe and are making their way here.
The highlight of the tour was the Sibling Revelry spaces created by pairs of designery siblings. Glenn Dixon and his fashion designer brother David were inspired by the book "Sadaku and the 1000 paper cranes" and created a dreamy space. I loved all the moulding and trimwork, which for a temporary installation was quite well done.
The Brothers Dressler created a giant room of glass. The exterior was made from reclaimed windows, all of which would be reused in other projects after the show.
And then of course, there was the spectacular space created by Sarah Richardson and her brother Theo. It was a standout. Each room was designed to showcase a product made by Theo, a partner in design studio Rich Brilliant Willing.
My favourites were the In The Right Light pendant lights and the Appalachian Chair featured in the dining room. Evocative of rowdy family gatherings around the dining table, the room blended modern and vintage features. I loved the brushed metal cupboard, the striking subway art, the Ikea dishes and bottles, and the mixed chairs all painted in the same warm cherry red.
At the gala last night, I was able to see how it all came together. I posted a few pics on my facebook page but do encourage you to come to the Interior Design Show this weekend and see for yourself!
Hanging Outdoors with Alfred Sung
If there is one name synonymous with Canadian design, it's Alfred Sung. Since the 1980's, Alfred has been creating apparel, fragrances, and home and fashion accessories in his signature timeless elegant style. So when I was invited to a Blogger social event in honour of the new SUNG Outdoor collection, I knew I would be in for a visual treat.
Saul Mimran, Jordin Mimran, and Alfred Sung
Held at the Mimran offices, the collection was featured in a white and airy loft space. Dramatic lighting and creative displays showed the pieces to full effect. It felt more like viewing an art installation than a furniture collection!
I love how they displayed the Madrid lounger on the wall. Its open weave design is sculptural and beautiful. Imagine lounging on that poolside! The stripey Mykonos chaise longue is pretty nifty too.
These white faux wicker chaise longue are part of the Capri collection and available through The Bay department stores. Only $399 each, I think they are a pretty reasonable investment. There is a lot of ugly outdoor furniture out there (why is that?) so to find something attractive, and affordable by a Canadian brand is pretty cool.
The Blackwatch collection was based on Alfred's favourite Blackwatch Tartan pattern. Its made of hand-woven faux wicker on an aluminum frame and so handsome! Its only available during IDS11 this weekend so hurry to the show if you want this gracing your backyard!
My favourite in the collection? The Paris chair, mais oui. I love the preppy gingham check pattern and I'm sure HandyMan would fall for the simple lines and open construction of the piece. Quite a statement chair!
Thanks to Alfred and the Mimrans for hosting an enjoyable event. They really have me craving summer now!
Sarah 101: Andrew's Bedroom
On Sarah 101 this week, Sarah and Tommy tackled a large loft space. The loft, in a former baseball-making factory, belonged to a single guy so you would think it be designed as a more masculine space. What they ended up with was something both feminine and masculine which I like... what do you think:
Where to start decorating when you have a room this large? Fabric! And in this case, the bolder, the better. Sarah used Schumacher's ubiquitous Chiang Mai dragon fabric (at $150/yd!) as her jumping off point. I love this fabric but would a guy, a straight guy, love it enough to put it on his headboard? Any guys care to chime in on that? She paired it with leather sides on the bed and added nailhead trim. One interesting detail: she cut out the headboard corners to line up with the window sill. Think of these details - that's how you get a perfect, custom look.
Anyway, from this fabric, the rest of the decor palette fell in place... mustard yellow and teal paint on the walls, antique red carpet, bold yellow lamps, linen & teal draperies, blue stools. The teal was brought in again on the ring pattern fabric on the masculine wing chair. Other details included the personal heirlooms made into art, and the big large scale accessories like the ladder and reworked vintage mirrors.
A few more tips from Sarah:
- work with the style of the space. The loft had a rough, industrial vibe which they echoed in the industrial chic accessories
- with a bold fabric (like on the wing chair), use a contrasting piping to emphasize the shape of the piece and support the "heaviness" of the fabric
- in an open concept space, you can change the paint colour anywhere you have a sharp corner. Its easier to change at an inside corner (where two walls meet) because your painting doesn't have to be super precise
- use a rug to add human scale to a large space
- in a single room, drapes should be all the same fabric but you can change up the application. Here, Sarah mixed roman blinds and drapery panels
- running a rug perpendicular to your bed means you'll have comfy walking space around the perimeter of your bed
- best location for a bed is on the wall you first see when you walk into the room
Lots of good tips this week! I think too the episodes are getting better. We got to see more of that Tommy & Sarah playfulness this week - and Tommy got a bit more input into the design this time around!
** Don't forget to tune into Sarah 101 next week. I think they're featuring Geeta's Dining Room, and as you may know, Geeta found out about the Sarah 101 casting call right here on this ol' blog :)
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Closet of Shame
What is it about the new year that makes me want to purge, organize, refresh and start in a new direction? Or maybe its just the realization that I've lived one more whole year with a nagging problem that makes me say "That's it! No more. Time to do something about this!".
Let me introduce you to my closet of shame:
Uhm, yeah. I admit it, I've been keeping this dirty little secret from you all. This is one part of the front entry makeover you never saw, right? But we all have a few secrets, don't we?
Its not like I haven't tried to keep this mess under control. I've just had a few things working against me.
The layout of this closet renders it almost impossible to keep it neat and tidy. It has an angled door and its too small to put a shoe rack in their properly. Instead of a rod, there are hooks around the perimeter. Now you can see why we end up with piles of coats on hooks and piles of shoes on the floor!
I think seeing all that winter gear stuffed in there helped me reach my boiling point. So one day while the babe was down for a nap, HandyMan and I tore everything out and turned this closet into something more functional and neat.
We started with a good cleaning, some patching, and new quarter round to hide the cable. A few coats of white paint freshened everything up. Then we took the existing Ikea shoerack and cut it down to fit. Now we have a space for those tall winter boots.
We removed all the hooks and added a hanging rod. Coats hang on the right and umbrellas hang on the little area in front of the bumpout to the left. We kept the existing shelf overhead but I added baskets for hats and gloves. Now with the coats hanging properly, I can actually reach the shelf!
On the door, I put this pretty hanger-thingy from HomeSense. Its the perfect spot to put Chloe's little coats.
The kiddo woke from her nap before we were able to finish everything so we'll have to leave installing a wall-mounted shoe rack and some hooks for my bags on the left wall for another day. But for now, its good enough... and I don't have to worry about an avalanche of coats toppling on me anymore!
Do tell, do you have any shameful secrets hiding in your home?
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