Great New Stuff at Crate & Barrel

Pirouette Chair

Tailor Sofa

I was just at Crate & Barrel to grab a rug sample and ended up staying a bit longer than anticipated - they had a bunch of great new items that I spent over an hour there! They have used some unexpected fabric choices on their in stock upholstery pieces, and a nice variety of materials like stone and metal for their tables. I hope to fit some of these new products into a few upcoming projects I'm working on.

Everitt Dining Table

Trace Sofa

Tattersall Bed

Dot Table


French Kitchen Island

Vienna Side Chair


Trestle Extension Dining Table

Dan's Ikea Hack

Before

After

I thought I would share a great Ikea hack that my friend Dan Ting came up with for his place. He is a brilliant industrial designer so I'm sure it was pretty easy for him to figure out.
An Ikea Hack is a project that re-purposes or customizes Ikea furniture. Just type Ikea Hack in to a search engine and several websites will come up showing some very creative product adaptations from our favourite retailer of flat-packed goods.

Take a look at his web site to read about the full transformation process.

From the movie - It's Complicated

Everyone has been blogging and writing about the new Nancy Meyer's film It's Complicated. Not necessarily about the story line but about the set design. Typical of her filims like Something's Gotta Give an my favourite The Holiday, the interiors by Jon Hutman are always beautiful. I found these photos on the Traditional Home website, sadly they are not the best quality, but you will just have to go to the movie theatre and see for yourself! Interestingly, the interior of the house was built at the Broadway Stages studios in Brooklyn.




If I had a second home, no doubt it would have several of these design elements. William Birch style arm upholstery, linen drapes, unfitted kitchen, black metal windows, limed oak floors and maybe even a claw foot tub - just give me a few more years....

Bookshelf Details

Wow books, so what? I took the first snapshot at the Cooper Square hotel in New York and the second at a friend's place. I love the way books can look, even on the the simplest shelves. These work for me because they are all on their own - no accessories, covered storage or picture frames.

Furniture Trend: The Hutch

According to House & Home Magazine the hutch and buffet combo is a big furniture trend for 2010 - especially when it looks something like this. This is the Pacifica Buffet/Hutch Top from Crate & Barrel and sadly it's being discontinued (go figure!), but I recently purchased it for a client to hold linens on their second floor. That's the great thing about a hutch, It can be focal point in any space and it's pretty versatile - it doesn't always have to be used in your dining room to store dinnerware.

Loving Electrolux Icon Refrigeration

I've always wanted to design a kitchen using this refrigerator/freezer combination. This all fridge and all freezer is from Electrolux and are well priced (about $2400 each CAD) for the amount of space you get in each one (over 16 cubic feet each). It's actually more for the design of them - of course. They are counter depth and when they are paired with the optional trim kit they look totally built in. I love the simple full height handle and flat door, nothing curvy. Another nice feature is that you can place them side by side or separate them. Now the hard part is finding a client with the need and space for over five feet of refrigeration.

Union Jack

Over the past year or two, there's been a lot of home furnishings and accessories covered in the Union Jack. The latest sighting was a pair of chairs at the Ben Sherman Store in the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. If you are not up for the upholstery commitment, or a Vivienne Westwood rug from The Rug Company or her new wallpaper mural from Cole & Son, you can get one of her throw cushions.

Actually I've seen the Union Jack mostly on throw cushions.

Karen Hilton via Etsy

Henry Road

Jane Hornsby

Vivienne Westwood