THE WANT: FILAMENT LIGHT BULBS

A huge trend in lighting right now is the exposed filament light bulb (further proven by my visit to IDS13). The glowing filaments of these bulbs, which when dimmed give a really beautiful 

orange-y glow, are reminiscent of turn-of-the-century technology yet feel just as at home in contemporary schemes.

They are becoming increasingly more available, with examples like the above from Restoration Hardware. 

(Lonny)

So cool, amiright?! Of course, they look their best when put in a fixture that fully (or almost fully) exposes the entire bulb, revealing the glowing filament inside.

Naturally, filament bulbs have the edgy aesthetic that receives the bZd seal of approval.

Rock on.

bZd

IDS13

It was a pretty hungover decision, but I'm glad I did it. For months I had been planning to attend the Toronto Interior Design show and, as always, I continually put it off until the very last possible minute. This usually results in me altogether missing some really great opportunities.

But not this time. 

It was a pretty spur of the moment thing, but I bolted out of my hangover coma and dashed out the door to try and make it to the last few hours of the convention. After a huge slip-up on Google's part, who gave me the wrong address in the wrong part of town, I finally made it down to see all of the designer-y glory. 

The show itself was very product-oriented, but this being my first time to such a thing I didn't really know what to expect. The absolute highlight though, was happening upon Suzanne Dimma (of House & Home) and THE Tommy Smythe's live audience presentation. And guess what? I MET TOMMY SMYTHE!

He was doing a meet and greet and answer questions, and after a few minutes of nervous pacing (which I'm pretty sure he began to notice) I just went for it! I YOLO-ed! I talked to Tommy freaking SMYTHE!

He gave me some great advice about how to get started in the design industry, and he really inspired me to begin to take this whole thing by the balls.

Enough blather. 

Some hot pics from the show:

A neat idea using mismatched wood planks.

 

I loved the edgy but rustic feel of these black tiles.

This was really awesome, pre-fab antique wood tiles! They are tongue and groove so they can even be installed as a floating floor solution!

Some art-deco inspired mosaic. 

Need. This. Farrow & Ball black and white bamboo wallpaper. 

Seriously considering for my bathroom.

This sink is a huge, solid piece of marble. So beautiful in person, from all angles. 

There were also some really amazing rugs, some of which were full

pieces of art in their own right.

Sorry I'm not really sourcing all of these, the show was all such a blur and I'm still a pretty huge n00b.

bZd.

PERSIAN RUGS

 I can hardly say that Persian rugs are anything groundbreaking in the world of interior decorating, but they have certainly enjoyed a resurgence lately.

As always, some inspiring imagery:

(via Tumblr)

For my apartment, I knew just had to get one and was really happy with my purchase from Paradise Rug. 

For those of you in the GTA, I would highly recommend Paradise Rug if you are in the market for a reasonably priced Persian. The gentleman who runs Paradise Rug (whose name I have since forgotten) is a super nice guy, operating his business out of his home in Thornhill. In fact, *spoiler alert* when you pick up a rug from him, it involves being taken to his basement where he will proceed to flip through hundreds of huge rugs and work up quite a sweat until you find the right one. It sounds weird, but it was actually really nice - he wouldn't even allow me to help him!

I chose Paradise Rug because their prices were by far the best I had found in my immediate area, so please check them out!

If online shopping is your thing, I have also heard the RugsOnTime website (eSale Rugs in the U.S.) is reliable, affordable and has a huge selection. Here are some of my favourites:

(1)

(2)

What's best about this site (or any others like it) is that they take a tonne of pictures of the rug from all angles and sides, even up close to give you an idea of the quality and the colour. So shop away online if you are unable to find (or afford!) a Persian rug that you like in person - just be wary and use the sites that seem the most reliable.

bZd

ANTLERS

Hours Years of poring over pictures of beautifully designed spaces has led me to one conclusion: I am a fan of antlers as accent pieces. Antlers have been an ongoing increasing trend in magazines and online and I think it is all due to their versatility. 

Antlers feel as appropriate in rural, country schemes as they do in more minimal, contemporary ones. Their popularity appeals to youth's current affinity for all things gothic and macabre (taxidermy and gore have almost taken over my Tumblr dashboard) and also speaks to the classic tradition of mounting trophies from successful safaris or hunting excursions of a classier time. 

But enough hypothesizing. Let's let the images speak for themselves!

For the goths:

(via Tumblr)

As Part of a Gallery Wall:

Classic:

(via Lucketts Store)

(via Elle Decor)

 Contemporary:

(via House Beautiful, by Betsy Brown Interiors)

Some Rustic Examples:

(via Lucketts)

Happy hunting!

bZd

PLUMBING SHELVES

The long wall of our living room has always been a pretty major sore spot in the apartment. Budget, lack of commitment, and did I already say budget? were huge setbacks against this wall ever realizing it's full potential. 

I knew I wanted shelves, but they are just SO. DAMN. EXPENSIVE. Having been a university student, I knew I would never cheap out on another set of fibreboard shelves that sag as soon as the smallest amount of weight is put on them again (sorry, IKEA). 

Lately, I have been really inspired by the combination of black metal and wood, like this:

                    

  

(Both at CB2)

And because I have been pretty into this sort of industrial/wood/metallic type thing, I have been compiling some images that only until writing this post did I notice how consistently I enjoyed this little trick:

  

(Clothing racks at Banana Republic)

(Built-in shelving system at cool Asian store in 

Kensington Market)

This last image was the tipping point, which finally forced me to ask the shopkeepers where they got this stuff. In broken English, I made out two words: "Home Depot". 

I immediately ran home and searched the Home Depot website to find all of these small, screw in plumbing pieces that were literally SO CHEAP and I was immediately inspired. 

I then typed two other words into Google and, at long last, I had found the solution to our shelving dilemma. The words were: "Plumbing Shelves", and a new, glorious world dawned on me.

TADA!!! 

(Sorry about the crappy iPhone pic, but I was just too 

excited to share it!)

In fact, I found my new favourite blog through said search, as The Brick House built exactly what I was looking for. Morgan (the writer of Brick House) gives a pretty good idea of how it was done, but basically it involves some pine planks, some stain, cleaning the pipes of their factory grease, and black spray paint. Put it all together and drill 'er in!

   

Shout out to my Dad for helping install this bad boy. 

The shelves turned out amazingly, AND IT ONLY COST ME AROUND $150. These babies ain't saggin' anytime soon. 

I will say I'm not totally satisfied with how they're styled yet, but I will be sure to update and keep you posted!

bZd