CONDO PROJECT

I've been busy over the last while finalizing a project that I haven't mentioned. 

I have finally completed a condo living room! 

...Not too shabby if I do say so myself. 

I can't even tell you how nice it was to put the finishing touches on something - anything - and moving on feeling satisfied. 

And check out that styling! 

The client, Jill, is a single professional downtowner who already had a great sense of style, and we worked together brilliantly! She had pretty masculine tastes - square edges, clean lines, symmetry - but also craved a feminine vibe. 

We decided to channel a sort of tribal, safari-like feel with yellow accents. 

And there she is! The beautiful homeowner herself. The most satisfying part of the project has been how happy Jill is with the result - I know she'll always look forward to coming home and who can blame her!

By the way, some other "secret" projects from the pipeline are also going to be unveiled soon...

bZd

COLOUR WATCH: DARK GREY

Something I have been really drawn to for the last little while looking at pictures of good design is the use of dark grey. I find this colour acts as an amazing backdrop for the medium-toned woods like walnut and teak that are so popular right now. It also looks really good when accented with big hits of white and, of course, black. 

While I am still considering how to change up my bedroom (with nothing accomplished and ever-increasing procrastination) I can't seem to shake the idea of painting my room this colour - if only just one wall. 

Check it out!

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(uploaded by me a long time ago, unknown source)

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The colour seems surprisingly warm and inviting, given that grey usually connotes a cold and dreary mood. 

What do you think? Would you be brave enough to try it?

bZd

MORE STYLING

Look out world! I styled this.

I also happen to live here. Life is good.

I have been seriously considering getting into styling lately, so have been doing a bit of experimenting around my place. What do you think? I'm channelling a bit of Nate Berkus here. It feels right.

The 'Southbound' picture  was a little project I undertook that only cost around $20! I took the photo myself at Dupont station in Toronto with an SLR camera. The mosaic texture and the word itself I thought were really cool, so I adjusted the contrast on iPhoto and took it to Staples to get it blown up. The blow up only cost around $5 and I got the frame on sale from IKEA for about $15. Not bad!

Everything is coming together very nicely in the living room if I do say so myself. 

Is anyone in need of some stylin'?

bZd

THE WANT: SERGE MOUILLE LAMPS

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Do you like these lamps? No?

Well too bad because they're trending. 

They're sometimes called 'Praying Mantis Lamps'. Does that make them any more appealing?

These light fixtures are designed by French sculptor Serge Mouille, and have been showing up EVERYWHERE. (Including the cover of January's House&Home, featured in a design by Mazen el-Abdallah.)

I must admit, I'm a fan. I think they're sleek, graphic, interesting, and really pop in an eclectic scheme with white walls (my favourite). 

Naturally, they're expensive. Like $9000 expensive. Knockoffs Imitations are available at around the $900 mark if that seems any more reasonable. 

Are they worth it? Look for yourself!

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There he is above, the man himself. What a looker. Was he seriously engaged in whatever he's holding here, or just posing intellectually?

You be the judge. 

bZd

PATTERNED TILE

Another trend lately has been the resurgence of patterned tile. Once again, this is a trend that draws from old-world Europe but that has been reintroduced in a much edgier interpretation. 

Naturally, I drift toward the examples in black, grey and white:

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But this is a great way to introduce some funk and colour to your floors for those who may be more adventurous:

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(*You will note the frequent use of floor-to-ceiling subway tile in some of the included examples. Killing two trends with one stone!)

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This effect so strongly reminds me of a beautiful grande maison I lived in for a few weeks in France when I was younger. The foyer had this beautiful "tumbling block" tile pattern, similar to what is shown below but instead was black and burnt yellow.

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Tumbling block is a timeless pattern seen on endless materials with many adaptions, that also looks stunning when laid out on the floor in tile:

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I mean damn. That last image says it all. This, to me, represents the best kind of "Euro" - think moreso 60's Italy than, say, Romanian techno music or "guido". 

The natural place to test the waters with this look would be a bathroom; ideally a tiled room which often has a smaller square footage and could therefore justify a more dramatic pattern. 

Would you be brave enough to try it in a larger space like above?

bZd

THE WANT: WOOL BLANKETS

With the bitter cold setting in fast, I've been hopelessly wrapping myself in whatever I can find around the house in a losing battle against the draughty windows of our ghetto apartment building. 

Luckily, I have recently spotted the remedy to my dilemma that will inject this place with a much-need dose of style goddammit. 

Relish in the following and tell me you wouldn't want to get cozy with any of these: 

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The above are all made by Coyuchi, a company based out of California specializing in organic textiles. An enlightening quote from the product page for their wool blankets explains:  

"Sheep pastured in the cool mists of Canada produce the dense, cozy wool that's used to weave this blanket." 

Right.

I'm not sure what kind of effect these Californians think the "cool mists of Canada" have on anything, but it has been my experience that they result in nothing other than dampness and a longing to live anywhere but Canada.

West Elm has also paired up with Faribault Woolen Mill Co. and is selling their equally dreamy blankets and pillows.  

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Faribault doesn't offer any whimsical imagery, but they do make some pretty badass military-inspired blankets.

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I'm so into all of these options and am also in the market for a new bedspread. Alas, these blankets aren't exactly inexpensive but I have found something from IKEA that provides a similar stripe-y aesthetic to the striped blankets above:

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The BJORNLOKA bedspread is a bit more within budget, and still provides that simple, minimal, graphic look.

What do you think? I am going to start paying a bit more attention to my bedroom situation and I think this is a great starting point. With Christmas around the corner maybe you too could come into some striped blanket swankiness. 

But only if you're nice. 

bZd 

COLOUR WATCH: DARK OLIVE

While reading in the October issue of Lonny Magazine about Kristen Cunningham and Scott Jarrell's loft (which EVERYONE should check out here), I was really inspired by the colour palette of everything they have curated in their space. Blacks, whites, browns, and Kristen even mentioned they have painted most of their doors in dark olive. 

Dark olive naturally lends itself to a vintage, military and industrial vibe that brings automatic cool to anywhere you can find it. 

I present the following:

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I think that leaning more towards "dark" than "olive" is key as well - a pale olive bordering on avocado just brings the wrong kind of vintage feel (more hippy, trippy, and bad 70's which just isn't the look).

So, we welcome dark olive (also delightfully referred to as olive drab) to our extremely low-variety yet incredibly high-taste arsenal of acceptable colours along with black, white, brown, and brass.  

What do you think of olive this? Terrible. -__-

bZd