I take a lot of photos every day and I upload them onto my laptop 2 or 3 times a week, sometimes hundreds at a time. Collectively these photos are a snap shot of where I've been, what I've been sourcing, what I've been working on, job site progress, what I find inspiring, things I love, and things that I find interesting and worth keeping on file for future reference. Here's a small sampling of the latest images uploaded from my camera. Starting with the photo above - freshly cut peonies from my garden, I'm surrounded by them as I type this and the scent is heavenly...... : )
The month of May marks the beginning of the outdoor antique season, I made a trip to the Aberfoyle market a couple of Sundays ago in search of a painted dresser and a pair of night tables (for 2 different clients). I arrived late in the afternoon so I only had time for some quick browsing but was lucky enough to hit the jackpot. It didn't take long to spot this dresser and I scooped it up instantly, it was a STEAL.
The dresser is for the 70's sidesplit I recently furnished for a single mom and her daughter, it'll go in the guest bedroom, pictured below...
Oh, the ones I left behind, sadly these beauties didn't come home with me,,,,I really really really wanted them, they had the most incredible blackened brown patina and they were solid. I have no place for them in particular but still I didn't want to pass them up, especially when they were only $15 ea.!! $15!!! If it wasn't for the fact I had zero room, not even an inch of space left in my car that day, these would be safely at home in my basement right now. : (
Trendspotting,,,,,,I couldn't help but notice these butter urns or crockery pots everywhere at the market,,,I mean everywhere. I also spotted these in the latest Pottery Barn catalogue so it seems the vendors are taking their cues from the home decor industry. I love the simple utilitarian form of them, the typography and their oversized scale. Today I would put a big huge bunch of fresh cut pink peonies in one of these.
I'm in the early stages of working on some design concepts for a rooftop deck which hopefully will be built this summer. I've been checking out what's available in ready made cushions so that we can mix these with some custom made. This chaise from West Elm was particularly interesting to me as it reclined completely flat becoming a bench, which makes it doubly useful for entertaining....
A trip to DFO to scout out their in-stock outdoor fabric selection,,,I just pulled out the ones that caught my eye and started mixing. I love this large graphic floral and this graphic geometric together, they both had a modern feel. The colour is actually a beautiful very orange/red but seems to read more red in my photos.
This stripe worked well with the large floral above, but I think i would use it sparingly in a candy stripe piping detail or for the sides around a box cushion.
I wasn't looking for navy at all but loved this combo, especially with some nice crisp white piping!
I think I would have liked this more if the yellow was more vibrant. I think the tourqoise print below would make this trio more dynamic. For outdoor fabrics, I prefer to stay away from too much green because I like all the green to come from the grass, trees and plantings.
Think I would nix the solid green here for the yellow floral above. All in all,,,not a hugely successful trip as I was looking for more prints with tourquoise and more modern graphics in general, but definitely some possibilities.
I was impressed with the distressed antique pewter finish on this Entry Set by Rona, part of the Rona Collection.
This striped runner at Home Depot had me thinking I needed to use this somewhere, and I wish they had more colour options. How fun is this!
Trendspotting.......I took this photo simply because I'm seeing this buckle detail in many different places lately, on furniture, on vases,,,on handbags....... on pillows like this one at Pottery Barn. Speaking of Pottery Barn....
Dear Pottery Barn: Your lamp shades are always too small for your lamps. I've mentioned this to sales associates many times who reply "the merchandising manual says that table lamps always get medium size shades". I don't care - to my eye they look oddly disproportionate.
Dear Pottery Barn: Last week when I was in the store to pick-up a bar stool that's been on back-order since January (yes, 5 months!), I noticed this sign beside the cash desk and was very excited. I thought finally, you've been listening to all the complaining I've been doing and have actually brought your CDN prices more inline with your US pricing. Then I noticed the fine print says to look for select products with a maple leaf to realize these savings. Honestly, I looked around the entire store, twice, and didn't see a single item with the maple leaf?? Is this a trick? Is my bar stool in yet.......
A lovely whimsical branch chandelier seen at Sheridan Nurseries....this needs a cottage, preferrably one with an all white board & batten interior.
All Photos: Carol Reed