Sunday, March 17, 2013

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Friday, November 16, 2012

Interior Design Questions Answered!

Come out and see us tomorrow! We'll be at Kingsway Carpets and Blinds meeting with people to answer their design dilemma questions!



Looking for flooring or window treatments? Overwhelmed with choices and colours? Well, tomorrow is the day to get the advice you need to make the right decision for your space.

Bring in your photos, material and colour swatches and we'll help you complete a scheme that works best for you.

For those interested in coming out ...

Kingsway Carpets and Blinds
100 The East Mall
Etobicoke, ON
416 253 0880
(one block north of Sherway Gardens, QEW and Hwy 427)

Hope to see you tomorrow - spread the word!

Happy Decorating!


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Design Tip Tuesday - Artwork Arranging


When I'm styling a space and need some art to decorate with, I don't immediately turn to paintings or framed prints - I try to think outside the box as well as always keep in mind the client and what they're tastes are and what they enjoy doing (or have done).

Image Via abode love

Art can be a beautiful painting that speaks to you, a photo that takes you back to a certain place or an object that holds special meaning to you. Art is anything that makes you happy and stirs an emotion within. Keep an open mind about what art can be.

To me, a perfectly decorated room is one that tells the story about my client, and nothing does this better in a room than the accessories - artwork included. I often try to incorporate objects that are special to clients onto the wall ... perhaps I'll frame an object that has sentimental meaning to them or incorporate the object onto the wall even without being framed - a hat perhaps hanging on the wall. 

Whatever you decide to place on the wall, unless you have an entire wall dedicated as a gallery, you need to hang your art in relation to the room’s surroundings. You don't have to necessarily match art to your furnishings, but make sure they relate and create a connection - either by subject matter, style or colour to create a unity. 

Image via Brabourne

Match the shape of the art to the shape of a wall – hang vertical art and groupings on vertical wall spaces and horizontal art and groupings on horizontal wall spaces.

Image via Little Things

Art over the fireplace should be sized to fill from 2/3 to the full width of the mantel – do not extend mantel art beyond the mantel’s width and art less than 1/2 the width of the mantel will look too small proportionately.

Image via House and Home

Art should be no higher than 5″ to 9″ from the back of a sofa or chair or the top of a table in order for the furniture and art to read as a visual unit. A single piece of art or a grouping of art should ideally cover approximately 2/3 of the width of the furniture it hangs over. In order for the proportion of the art installation to work well with the furniture it should never be wider than the furniture and never less than half its width – aim for 2/3.

Hang art to increase the visual weight of a piece of furniture. If you have a bookshelf that is tall and a bit narrow, hang art on both sides to increase its visual width. If more height is needed on a wall, top a piece of furniture with a piece of art.

Image via decorpad

Create groupings in which the individual art pieces relate to one another in terms of subject, colour, material, or framing. For example, don’t mix colour and black and white photographs in the same grouping – stick with one or the other. If grouping floral images arrange them so the colour is balanced throughout the installation.

Image via time worn

When hanging multiple pieces make sure the frames are the same or complement each other well.

Image via ipo Pinterest


Hope these quick art tips inspire you to create some great 'art' walls in your homes!

Happy decorating!




Monday, October 15, 2012

Monday Muse - Grohe Ladylux Faucet

Being an interior design professional I'm constantly being asked about my favourite products, so I thought it would be a neat weekly feature - my weekly product muse if you will.


So, for my first Monday muse, I thought I would introduce you to my favourite faucet.


Meet LadyLux. 

Beautiful, yes. A work horse, yes.

Grohe as a name has been around for years - since 1911 as Berkenhoff & Paschedag and since 1936 as Grohe. And there is a reason this company has been around so long - quality. They put out a super product and a warranty that leaves you feeling confident in your purchase.

Made of professional quality stainless steel it looks and feels like a top of the line product - but to me the most impressive part of this faucet is the pullout hand spray that is weighty in hand and boasts a tension spring that allows the hose to glide smoothly and retract easily.

One of my pet peeves is a faucet that feels cheap - and the majority of the pull out sprays available at big box stores have a plastic hose pull out that is awkward to pull out and feed back. Who has time to fiddle with that?

The LadyLux is my personal favourite for kitchens. It's always at the top of my mind when I spec for a kitchen. The price tag may be a bit more than most are used to spending on a faucet - but its worth every penny. It always amazes me that clients will reno their kitchen to a cost of $50k plus and when it comes down to the faucets (usually at the end of a project when the budget has taken a bit of a beating) they try to cut corners. It's an instrument in your kitchen that will be used daily - many times a day - it needs to stand up to the wear and tear. If you cheap out, you'll be reminded of it every time you turn on that tap.

If you know me you know that I'm a form girl - but function is never far from my mind. In some cases form takes the lead over function, but in the case of a faucet, function trumps form. It's much more important for this type of item to be functional rather than beautiful. But, luckily in this case, the form is quite appealing too!

Grohe sales offices can be found in throughout the world and production plants in Germany, Canada, 
Thailand and Portugal.

Do you have a favourite kitchen faucet?

Happy decorating!