Moroccan Spice: Pattern, Texture + Layers
March 11, 2013
I haven’t quite caught up after lying low with the family last week but we all got a good dose of sunshine on Saturday, which certainly helped boost our spirits. My friend Janis recently returned from an enviable trip to Morocco and her photos made me crave more colour and texture for my own home. I love the look of these Eastern-inspired interiors. Rich layers of pattern, mixed metals and bold colours that all come together to create an effortlessly cohesive space…
Janis Nicolay
West Elm
The Marion House Book
Nuevo Estilo
Design*Sponge
Country Living
Apartment Therapy
Janis NicolayWasn’t it nice to have an extra hour of daylight yesterday? Although the weekend did seem to speed by mighty fast. I actually can’t believe we’re this far into March already and Spring Break is just a week away. I’d better get organized with some activity planning or else it could be an interesting 2 weeks with the kiddos at home! No tropical holidays for us this year (sigh), how about you? Enjoy your Monday 🙂
Hello, Yellow!
March 8, 2013
This week has been a doozie. Sick kids, sick me, a midnight trip to the ER (for Gabe’s croup, but he’s on the mend now) and a major lack of sleep all around really took the wind out of my sails. But so goes life sometimes and there is always light at the end of each rough patch, right? So, let’s say “hit the road” to the past week and chase away these winter blues (and germs!) with a bright dose of sunshine, once and for all…
Emily Henderson with Yeah Rentals
SPRK. Photo by Richard Leo Johnson.
A Beautiful Mess
Love + Olive OilI’m off to work today and tomorrow and must admit that I’m looking forward to a couple of days out of the house! Cabin fever was setting in at full force (for all of us) but, fingers crossed, the worst is surely behind us. Have a bright and beautiful weekend!
Going Dutch: A Fresh Family Farm
March 6, 2013
After such a fantastic weekend away, fate would have it that I promptly came down with a stomach bug and two of my three kids came down with croup, go figure! We were cooped up for the last couple days and there wasn’t a lot of sleep happening for any of us between the symphony of coughing fits. After a relatively healthy winter, I can’t really complain but it was definitely quite the shock to the system after several blissful days away. Sigh. We all seem to be on the mend now and I thought this lovely Dutch farmhouse was just the antidote for any mid-week slumps happening out there. I think I’d even be ok hunkering down for a sick day or two in this lofty barn conversion, designed by Utrecht-based design firm Viva Vida….
All photos by Viva Vida
Layers of pattern and texture bring personality to the neutral backdrop of reclaimed wood and concrete and I absolutely love the liberal use of bright artwork and unique lighting throughout the space. With such dramatic ceilings and beams, it could be hard to make such an open space feel like a home but I think that the design firm accomplished the task amazingly well…
All photos by Viva Vida
All photos by Viva Vida
All photos by Viva Vida
Aren’t the kid’s rooms darling? I want to crawl into the one cubby and close the doors, yawn! I’m back at the shop today after a few days off so better get to work. Enjoy your day!
A Whirlwind Weekend…
March 4, 2013
I had such a fun weekend in the city! Had a great girls night out with 2 dear friends on Friday night before meeting up with my Spruce girls at the Terminal City Club on Saturday to set up for the first Hush wedding show. The venue was beautiful and it was such a treat to be part of such a glamourous event! It was even more fun to take a little “vacation” with my partners and really enjoy each other’s company outside of work. Well, I guess we were technically at work but it sure didn’t feel like it! Yesterday, we woke up in our hotel room to glorious sunshine and spent the day walking Gastown (Jessica is such a trooper at 36 weeks preggers!) and visiting some of our favourite shops….
A glimpse of our vintage rentals at Hush
Stunning quilts at Orling & Wu, handmade in Sweden.
We had a couple of hilarious attempts at Vancouver Photobooth
All of the fun (not to mention high heel-wearing and furniture hoisting) have caught up with me so I’ll keep things short and sweet for today. What did you get up to over the weekend? Could you believe the difference between Saturday’s monsoon rains and yesterday’s sunshine? Fingers crossed that it sticks around for at least a few more days…see you Wednesday!
All that Glitters: Gold for the Weekend
March 1, 2013
It’s Friday, yeah! And better yet, I’m making a run for the city, double yeah! I’ll be hanging with a couple of friends tonight for an impromptu girls night out before meeting up with my Spruce girls to set our vintage rentals on display at the Hush wedding show on Saturday night…the perfect mix of work and play! Despite the never ending downpour outside, I thought I’d get this weekend started off on the right foot with a dash of glamour and what could be more glamourous or on trend than gold! If you’ve met me, you’ll probably recognize this necklace (I’ve been wearing it longer than I can remember) which was given to me when I was 9 by my Baba and Dida (Croatian for Grandma + Grandpa). My sister has one with her name on it too and I plan to get similar ones made for my girls when they’re a little bit older…
I fell in love with this kitchen some time ago and haven’t been able to look at chrome hardware in quite the same way ever since. I know, I know, it feels like you just finally purged the ’80’s out of your kitchen and it’s all come full circle, right? Ah, but so it goes and I’m loving the revised clean lines and minimal take on warm metals this time ’round…
Matthew Williams for Dwell via Camille Styles
Rue via SF Girl by Bay
Emily Henderson
NY Times via Automatism
Although some may cringe, I’m a big fan of mixed metals too…no matchy matchy for me! Worried your new stainless steel appliances will clash with burnished bronze accents in your kitchen? Don’t be. They’ll warm it up and add character in no time! Enjoy your weekend…I know I will 🙂
