Before & After: Little Girl's Room

You may remember a few of my earlier posts this year about the

70's sidesplit

I furnished for a single mom and her young daughter.  I was tasked with furnishing this newly renovated (but not by me) home with 3 bedrooms, Living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, mud room and front entry, complete with accessories, window coverings and light fixtures - all to be completed within a 3 month time period and a very modest budget.  To say this was a challenge would be an understatement,,,,in fact I did all of this while simultaneously, also furnishing

Brian's condo

from top to bottom.  Yes I admit I went a little bit cuckoo there for a couple of  months while sourcing with a split personality,,,,,all girly and curvy and traditional and french for one place,,,,,,,,all masculine and modern and simple for the other.

So today I thought I'd share some of the after photos of the 70's sidesplit by starting with the little girl's room.  The little girls room and the guest bedroom were the smallest rooms in the house and also had the smallest amount of the budget allocated to them.  The little girl's requirements were pretty simple,,,she wanted pink, ruffles, and sparkle.  Her mother insisted nothing trendy and nothing too modern, it had to be classic and preferably with some french style.   Aside from the budget challenges the timeline meant that there was little if any time to order custom pieces or special order items, and forget about time consuming treasure hunts for antiques or vintage pieces, we needed things instock or quick ship! 

Here's an After photo of the girl's bedroom.......

Here's what it looked like Before

The room had new floors and newly painted walls when I came on board, neither of which were to be changed, so new paint or wallpaper wasn't an option.  I had to learn to love ICI's 'Bavarian Cream'.

This was the second edition of the concept plan, and a loose one at that,,,,,originally I had planned a series of low dressers with knee space for a desk to go along the window wall but that plan changed early in the buying stage and they're no longer shown here.  Instead you see an antique vanity : ).

One of the first decision made in the planning stage was to splurge on a custom upholstered headboard, ruffle bedskirt and roman shade.  So the first task was to select some fabric and then sketch up a design for a headboard to get the order in production asap.  I designed the headboard to have an exagerrated height and a contrast biased cut piping detail. I chose a solid colour fabric that would give her more flexibility in pairing patterns with it in the future.

While I was in a consignment shop looking for other things for the house, I spotted this vintage vanity table.  It has french style legs and the paint finish on it looked as if it was custom made for the girls' room, it was in great condition and a great price. It was perfect and I bought it on the spot. Except this meant I had to change the plan, we'd no longer have room for the combined low long desk/dresser combo under the window wall

and

this.......

Unfortunately the vanity table didn't come with a chair and I was having a really hard time finding something that would work with it and that was a affordable.  Just when I was losing hope, I walked into HomeSense one day and spotted this perfect painted Louis style chair with cane back for a steal. Twice lucky with this one room!  We took some of the wall paint from the room and drybrushed the chair frame with it so it would blend in more with the vanity.  Then we took a minwax stain marker and applied it to the carved details to give it more of an aged look.  

Because of the change in plan due to the vanity purchase, I decided to use 3 drawer dressers on either side of the bed that would also be night tables.  In total, this gave her 6 drawers which is what had originally been planned for along the window wall.  I chose the

Koppang

dresser from Ikea because it had simple lines that wouldn't clash with the antique vanity and because they’re solid pieces at a great price.  I replaced the knobs with crystal ones and had the drawer fronts painted a shade of pink found in the striped fabric.

Here's a glimpse of the dresser with the new paint colour and knobs.  This was taken on move-in day, we still had some art prints to hang and accent pillows to buy for the bed. 

I found a series of six botanical prints at the Sherway antique show in January then took them to my framers where we selected matts and a simple antique looking frame using the Bavarian Cream paint sample for reference.

We added a simple french line around the matts,,,, in pink of course!

The prints were ready to hang and here you can see the deep pile shag area carpet I placed under her bed, its one of the softest plushest shag carpets I've ever felt, velvety soft.

The homeowner's mother had these antique lamps in her basement storage room and I was crazy for them when she asked me if I thought they could work on the vanity.  They were purchased in Paris in the 1940's or 50's by her aunt.  The shades are hand painted silk and the bases are solid brass.  Gorgeous!  Still to come for this corner is a fabric and ribbon memo board.

Beautiful detail......

I opted for a bookcase on the wall at the foot of the bed, its another Ikea unit called the

Liatorp

 chosen for its traditional styling.  I had the beadboard backpanel painted the same pink as the dresser drawer fronts.  There are only 3 Ikea items in the entire house,,,,,2 of them happen to be in this room!  This was taken just a few weeks after they had moved in and they hadn't yet filled up the shelves. 

The botanicals finally got hung.....

I contemplated whether to hang two bontanicals on either side of the bed or just one,,,,I decided just one at the time but I think I'll add 2 more in the coming months.  You can see a bit of the painted chandelier in this photo,,it has clear beads with pink drops.

I’m partial to swing arm lamps beside a bed, in this room I thought that these ones added a bit of contemporary freshness to the vintage vanity lamps and traditional chandelier.  For the summer the duvet cover was removed, normally its folded at the foot of the bed but I took this photo about 2 weeks ago and I like the lighter look of just the matalese coverlet at this time of year.

Since move-in at the end of February, we've added the botanical prints, a new euro sham and a vintage look floral accent pillow.

The eyelit lace trim pillows were from Pottery Barn.  You can see the biased cut contrast piping detail of the headboard,,,like a candy stripe.

The pink bordered eurosham is from Pottery Barn and the feather filled floral pillow is from HomeSense.

It’s such a small room I wasn't able to capture an overall view in one image.  The other side of the room has the bookcase unit which still needs some filling up.

I think the key to this room is that we avoided themey type bedding or accessories, the pieces we chose are all classic and can grow with her into her teen years and beyond.  The solid fabric headboard and multi toned striped skirt can be mixed with other solids and textures as well as florals, geometrics or checks so there's lots of potential to easily layer and change things up.  There's lots of room for her to display her personal things on the bookcase and on her vanity top and room on the bed and her dressers for more stuffed toys or dolls.  I was able to give her pink and flowers and sparkles and even some ruffles without it looking too granny or too babyish .........I have to say I don't even mind the Bavarian Cream so much anymore.   

All Photos:   Carol Reed

Canada Day: McMichael Gallery

Bay of Islands, By Frank Carmichael (1931)

I had nothing planned for this Canada Day blog post but as I sat on my deck early this morning enjoying a coffee I couldn't help but think of where I wish I could be at that moment.  If I could chose anywhere in the entire world to be on any day in July, without a doubt, that place would be on a waterside dock at a cottage in Muskoka, Ontario, just a couple hours north of Toronto.  While I was sipping my coffee, I was browsing thru a book from my coffee table - the cover of which happens to be a landscape painting of that same region in Ontario, the granite rocky shoreline of georgian bay with tall pine outcroppings.  This painting has become one of those iconic images of Canada that I certainly can relate to.

The Jack Pine, By Tom Thomson (1916-1917)

"We define ourselves as citizens and as a country by the images we think of when we describe our place in the world - what we call 'here'.  Although there are no towering firs on the prairies, no majestic mountains in Nova Scotia, nor borbidding icebergs in Vancouver, and no tidal flats in Ontario, we relate to the iconic paintings of these natural aspect of our country as being part of who we are as Canadians.  We are mostly an urban people now, yet we continue to think of ourselves in terms of geography.

The images created by the Group of Seven represent a Canadian sensibility, which means that they contain in the choice of their subject, and in the means of expressing it, an essential reflection of who we are as individuals brought up in this particular part of the world.  These images, which were created by Tom Thomson and the members of the Group of Seven in the early twentieth century, have been adopted by us as signifying the country when we imagine it.

At a certain point, if images are strong enough and profound enough, and if they are sufficiently broad in their appeal, they achieve the status of a symbol.  That is, they come to stand for something more complex and comprehensive than what they simply describe or depict, and they evoke emotions and responses that are powerful.  National anthems are musical examples.  Thomson's great paintings The Jack Pine (above) and The West Wind (below) are the visual equivalent of a national anthem."

The West Wind, By Tom Thomson, (1916-1917)

Just like these images alone don't reflect the varied landscape of Canada, these particular Group of Seven paintings don't depict the varied subject matter and locations that make up the collection of their work.  Its safe to say I'll never be fortunate enough to own any one of these pieces but we do own a nice collection of Canadian art books and many of them are on the Group of Seven.    

  The text above is the forward from a book called 'The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson' by David P. Silcox, published by Firefly.  It has a beautiful cover and is always prominently displayed in either my floor to ceiling wall of shelving or on my coffee table, I move by books around a lot!

One of my other favorite art books that I always have on display is simply called 'Thomson' by Dennis Reid and Charles C. Hill.

Although I've provided the Amazon links to the books above, I'll also add them to my sidebar (eventually),,,,,,my favorite Toronto source for art books is D & E Lake Ltd.  This little shop on King Street East in Torontno is like stepping into the past, its filled to rafters with with over stuffed bookshelves with towering piles of inventory stacked on the floor.  If your lucky enough to walk in on a day when Donald is there, you're in for a treat!  He's the proprietort and he's an authority on Canadian Art and art books, he owns an impressive art collection himself and I imagine he must own the largest and most valuable rare book collection in the country (?).  He carries unique and sometimes contraversial books you won't find at the big chain retailers, in addition to art books, he has a vast selection of design, architecture, food and wine books.  Just tell him what you're interested in and he'll happily make recommendations for you...... but you'll have to stop him at some point because he could go for hours pulling one book after another, he's a walking encyclopedia who not only knows the content of each book but he'll also tell you about the author and the publisher.  Its an experience you'll enjoy as much as the books you'll come home with, you'll even get an old fashioned hand-written receipt.

So just like that, a beautiful sunny Canada Day morning brought images of Muskoka to my head, in my heart that's where I wish I was at this very moment but sadly, I'm not.  I had intended on spending this day working but on whim, after browsing thru the art books, we've decided just moments ago to head up to Kleinburg for the day to visit the McMichael gallery and enjoy the Group of Seven collection in person.  If I can't be lounging on a dock today, then I can't think of a better way to spend this day than enjoying these iconic Canadian images in person.

Click here for info on The McMichael Gallery and its collection.

Happy Canada Day!!

Upload: June 22, 2010

Fresh white peonies and some fireplace renderrings in my studio

Well its been 3 weeks since my last Upload here.....which coincided with the peak of peony season around my house,,,,,and that lasted all of about 1 week this year.   They bloomed faster than I could cut them and then a few days of hard rain destroyed anything that was left on the bushes.  Such a shame I just wanted to cry,,,,,,um, actually I think I did.  So then, picking up here where I left off you'll see the last of my peony photos for this year! : (  

I was stacking the peonies wherever I could find a spot.  

I was like the Peony Express,,,I was taking them to friends and clients!

If you remember my last upload post you'll remember a vintage dresser I found at the Aberfoyle antique market, I delivered it to my clients and had her handyman hang the mirror above.

The mirror was purchased a couple of months ago and was waiting for the dresser, it was nice to finally get these pieces in place.  The dresser was perfect for this spot,,it was only 18" deep and had 5 drawers.

Mirror is from HomeDepot, flowers are from Chapters. All it needs is a couple more accessories  (Doors, floor and wall colour were all pre-existing when I came on board, and all had to stay as is).

It is possible to find some really cool fixtures for not a lot of money.

I can't help it, there are usually about 2 or 3 shots like this a day - Iphone is so touchy!

Now off to source some items for a rooftop deck...

Making fabric selections for new outdoor furniture

We're thinking about these for the rooftop deck too,,,,the large size

A lighting option for end tables..

A modern outdoor light fixture option....

This one isn't the one for this project but I love the pattern this fixture throws off, dramatic!

I sat down last week for a long chat with one of the owners of a new furniture store coming to the Caledonia & Castlefield design district.  He sketched out the floor plan floor for the new showroom and has shown me tons of photos of the product they'll be selling.  I've been hearing all about the progress of this new store for months now so it'll be intersting to see it evolve.  It's called Shelter Furniture, you can check out their facebook page here for a sneak peek of what's to come.

One of my favorite pieces soon to be available at Shelter Furniture

  

Before photo: I'm currently designing a new island for this client's kitchen, but were not stopping there, the entire kitchen is going to get a complete modern facelift.  Oh and the floor,,,that's going too!

And in my spare time (!?),,,,,I'm helping a family member finish his kitchen reno.  He needs cabinets stat, so I helped him get that all sorted out.  See drawings taped to hood!

I've been searching for a certain pair of night tables for about 5 months now,,,the search continues.

At first i like these lamps (almost love them) but I hesitate, I know if I start to see them en masse, I'll hate them.  But oh how I love a black shade!

Entrance to Gail's Kitchen, in the midst of construction as I arrived for a site meeting last week.

Things are moving along, framing, electrical and plumbing inspections have been passed and the drywall went up last week.  This is the view from the family room up into the kitchen.

I tweeted last week that if no one bought this chair, I would.  But it wouldn't fit in my car and I don't currently have my own mod patio for it, or a client for it.  My basement is already full of chairs.  I envision it spray painted with a new fabulous cushion and a funky side table.  C'mon,,,its only $95, I can't believe no one's bought it yet!!!

  

I may need to rent a storage locker soon.  I spotted this set of nesting tables outside an antique store in Oakville and I can't stop thinking about them.  I wish I had a client for these, I'm crazy for them.  This is the type of thing that takes a room to the next level.  When you have a room full of new furniture, you need to add something like this.  Its the unexpected thing you can't ever plan on finding or imagine you'd ever buy but once you see it in place it makes the room.  I can envision this even though its on the sidewalk and believe me, it would be stunning!  Look at the tourquoise detail......

And this chair,,,,,yes it needs some new fabric but this,,is the quintessential accent chair and it would make quite a statement in any space.  Love it.

I'm so influenced by the weather, my moods and my appetite.  I love the rain, I always have.  We've had a lot of it lately and the other day it was the strangest of days, it was a mix of both brilliant sunshine and torrential downpours.  Rubber boots and Ray-bans, I think those are the best kind of rainy days....

All Photos:  Carol's Iphone