Goodbye Summer....

My Living Room, August 2009

As of 5:18pm today, summer was officially over and tomorrow will be our first full day of fall.

This means in the coming days I’ll be making some small changes around the house to make it feel more cozy and seasonal, in fact I started last weekend.  Just subtle changes,,,like putting away some of the summery feeling accessories.  Below are some shots of the way the living room looked mostly towards the end of summer - I’m always changing up things even throughout a season.  Simple things like changing the covers on the toss pillows to a watery blue/grey,,,switching out the coffee table books to more summery ones in both colour and subject,,,,adding summer flowers, light weight throws, sea shells and hurricane lanterns.  Even though we live in the city, we also live by the lake so the house lends itself to a casual lakeside feel, our furniture isn’t so much that look,,,,but I think just a few touches were enough to create that mood.

This is a rental house that we moved into during the summer of 07 immediately after selling our condo.  Like most rentals, the house was not in the best of shape, it was pretty nasty in fact,,,(the exterior still is!) but a good cleaning and a fresh coat of white paint throughout the interior did wonders.     Even though we had all of these things when we moved in,,,,,the placement of the artwork and smaller accessories took some time to fall into place.  But overall, I love how our existing furniture from the condo seem to just fit right and at the same time,,take on an entirely new look in this space.   I didn't care that we were only going to be living here for a year or two,,,I was determined to make the place looked like we had always lived there and to make it comfortable and welcoming, and without buying anything new for it.  It was a great excercise in 'making the most of what you've got'.

The house had two features that i fell in love with immediately (aside from its location),,,,a wood burning stone fireplace in the living room, and a large 2nd floor loft space with cathedral ceilings, loads of natural daylight and a walkout to a second floor deck - the perfect home studio.   I knew instantly that i would fill one complete wall of the loft with Ikea expedite shelving.  I had some of these in our condo (which we built-in) and couldn’t imagine living without them, and coincidentally the height of the units fit perfectly in this loft space on the low side of the sloped ceiling, like it was meant to be.

Reference Library in my loft studio

Ikea's Expedit shelving, wall to wall

I'm not fond of corner windows but I grew to really like this one, its placement gave us great views of the lake and it has a big deep sill that makes a perfect spot for the cat to perch and he spend a lot of time there.  The landlords horizontal blinds are pretty unattractive but I keep them up most of the time so they really weren't an issue and besides there are just way too many windows in this house for me to start changing the window coverings! 

This was our last summer in the house as we’re currently searching for a permanent home that we hope to find sometime in the next few months.  But in the meantime its still home for now and I’ll continue to feather my nest here until its time to pack.  I can’t say i’m going to miss summer, because I LOVE fall,,,,and the changes that will come with it, but I’m really going to miss this fireplace, my wonderful lightfilled and spacious loft studio and the sound of the waves lapping against the shore......

All Photos:  Carol Reed

the design shop

My e-design website - thedesignshop.ca

As a designer I receive a lot of inquiries from homeowners regarding my services, all are very enthusiastic about their home improvement plans and have gathered loads of designer inspiration rooms, eagerly hoping that with the help of an interior designer they can bring their vision to reality.   Unfortunately, the reality for many of those who inquire is that the cost of hiring a designer on a full-service basis is just not feasible for them.  Generally I find most people have misconceptions or just no real concept at all regarding design fees, and that’s totally understandable - and its also a topic for another post entirely because I have a lot to say about that!

I’m a passionate advocate for good design,,,in all aspects of life.  I don’t believe it should only be accessible for the wealthy because I don’t believe that good design is about expensive things, how much something costs or has anything to do with how pretty something is.  In fact, I believe that when it comes to investing money in our homes or our business, we can’t afford not to utilize the advice of design experts, especially with small precious budgets.

For those homeowners who can’t manage to hire a designer on a full-service scale I’ve always offered them the opportunity to work with me on a virtual consultation basis for a few hours of time, enough to provide them with some critical and valuable design direction and ensure they’re not going to make any costly mistakes.  Thru the convenience of internet and digital photography all this information can be shared by email and is what’s key to making these consultation services affordable.   The hours and hours of meeting time, travel time, and project management time is eliminated and I can focus entirely on the planning and design issues,,,,leaving the leg work for the homeowners to take on - with lots of guidelines and direction of course!

Do I need to see a home in person or meet an individual in person to visualize their space or understand their needs, or style, or to give them design advice?  No!  In fact for many years I’ve designed spaces entirely from paper information because the building didn’t even exist yet, or the building was located in a different city or province or country.  As long as I have all the relevant information, dimensions, site photos etc., that’s all i need to start planning - architects and designers work this way all the time.  Personal information regarding needs and style preferences can all be obtained by asking the proper questions, thru detailed surveys and questionnaires,,,,whether in person or online, the answers are the same.  

I launched my first Interior Design website in 2004 and also created a complete concept for an on-line design website, but didn’t proceed with it at that time.  I posted a  notice on my website saying that ‘On-Line Design” was coming soon and I had even secured a separate domain name for it.  Despite the fact I was already working with clients this way, I never did get around to launching that site,,,,,,,,,until this year.   This past winter I thought the timing was better than ever to offer value based services and my new e-design website the design shop was created and then launched in June.

I’m proud to say that I think this is by far the most professional, comprehensive web-site devoted to e-design services I’ve come across on the web and I think the value is simply incomparable. There’s a complete menu of ‘prix fix’ services and if you don’t see a service that suits your needs just drop us a line and we’ll put one together for you - its literally a one stop shop for design advice.  

Imagine your personal designer, a click away!   I hope you check it out and let the possibilities inspire you...

www.thedesignshop.ca

Beautifully Simple

When I arrived one day at a clients house back in June, (with a bouquet of fresh peonies from my garden!) I couldn’t help but notice her guest bedroom was void of night tables and bedside lamps.  It was easy to notice because there was a direct sightline from the hallway outside the bedroom directly to that empty space beside the bed, not that I didn't notice the bed was perfectly made and lovely looking on its own,,,, but just that something was missing.   My designer radar kicked in and as I scoped out the rest of the room I spotted a pretty vintage chair with layers of chipping paint on it tucked in the corner, and then in her home office......a floor lamp that wasn’t being utilized.   5 minutes later,,,,,,,this is what the room looked like (photo above). 

Now the view from the hallway is so pretty, it brings a smile to her face everytime she walks by the room, and to mine everytime I look at this photo.

Often its the simplest changes make the biggest difference and usually they don’t cost a dime.  I love to work with things my clients already own and in my experience, there’s nothing they love more then when they see how beautiful their own stuff looks simply used in a new or different way.   

I admit it may not be the ideal night table or lamp for this room, and one day she’ll find them and the room will evolve over time.  But for now,,,this works just perfectly and is so much better than doing nothing.  I know that often people choose to hold out for that ‘ideal’ piece (if you can figure out what that is!?) but unfortunately that approach usually means you’ll likely end up living with empty spaces and blank walls for years...... there’s nothing appealing or practical about that.

I’m always amazed at the treasures I come across sitting neglected in basements or garages or spare rooms in clients homes.  I’m a firm believer in making the most of what you’ve got before exploring new alternatives.  I guarantee you, you can transform a room or a hallway or an empty corner just by using things you already have.  In fact, you may not even like a particular chair or a lamp or a piece of art that much,,,but by placing it in a new spot or an empty corner it suddenly gives new life or purpose to that otherwise blank space.  Ultimately, its the overall effect that can be created that you’ll love, the colour its suddenly added or the texture, or simply its function.  Even if you’re not so crazy about the individual item(s), you’ll get such satisfaction from the other aspects of how the space suddenly seems useable or more pleasing to look at - you’ll wonder why you hadn’t done it sooner and hopefully it will inspire you to continue building on what you’ve got.

Photo:  Carol Reed