Displaying posts labeled "Art"

When Christmas was over I was itching for a house project. I wasn’t looking for anything major as I only had a few days to really get into it before the new year, so I decided to give my dining room a makeover. I wasn’t really feeling the colour scheme I had gone with of grey/taupe and pale pink. I found it a bit cold and lifeless, especially when I love cozy, dramatic dining rooms. And since my dining room can be closed off from the rest of the house I knew I could go with something bold. I’ll start with a before photo. And for those of you who lean towards subtlety you may prefer this to the after. 😉

I went looking through Farrow & Ball colours and kept going back to terra-cotta shades. They seemed so warm and inviting. So I went for it! I did a bit of a random colour scheme of pink, terra-cotta and mustard.

I thought this room could use some dramatic curtains, and thought some crushed velvet in a mustard shade would do the trick. After a bit of digging on Etsy I found the most incredible set of very heavy, vintage curtains that were absolutely perfect. (I’ll include sources for everything at the end of the post)

Because the curtains weigh a ton I opted for a short rod on each side for them and found some sheer fabric and had them made into panels that we could easily slide across for privacy. (We live on a busy road so having something that could close so the city of Ottawa can’t watch us eat was crucial). I feel like a legit grown-up now with this curtain set-up, complete with tassels! That scalloped edging at the bottom is also along the inside edges of the curtains and is such a pretty detail.

A few weeks ago husband and I drove to Montreal to check out our favourite flea market and I found the art in the photo above (and a third one which you’ll see later). I almost didn’t buy them but thought they were so fun I went back for them without knowing where I could use them. I realized they would be a bold addition of colour in the dining room. I am SO glad I ended up scooping them up.

There isn’t much wall space in my dining room so I opted for a gallery arrangement on the only decent sized wall in the room. I had fun coming up with this. 🙂

The gorgeous girl with the orange hair and the print of the lips in the previous photo are of my Instagram friend Kelseyanna who kindly sent me copies which I had blown up and mounted on acrylic. The other gorgeous girl is a print by Mel Remmers. Love her!

At the top is a canvas painting by another dear Instagram friend Andrea. Below it is a lightbox my husband built for me. Inside is a photograph I took that I turned into an x-ray. Unfortunately it is hard to photograph when turned on but I LOVE how it turned out!

To my amazement I managed to find a rug that had shades of orange and pink in it to bring in the 2 major colours of the space. And it’s a perfect low pile rug for a dining room so sliding these heavy tulip chairs back and forth and cleaning up cat messes is no biggie.

There are still a few things I want to change in here. I found a darling vintage fabric to cover the chairs with (might not have enough to do all though dammit); I want a smaller, oval dining table because this one my husband built is a bit too big; I want a new buffet that is ideally 7′ long like this one. Regardless of those items I am really enjoying this transformation. At first when my husband saw the colours he thought I was insane but he quickly grew to love it too. I also had him on board with the curtain situation despite it taking hours to install/hang everything. Hope you all like it!

>>>SOURCES<<< wall colour: Red Earth, ceiling colour: Nancy’s Blushes, alcove colour: Picture Gallery Red, velvet curtains: AuDelaVintage, fabric for sheers: bettiecouture, curtain tassels: FabricsTrimsPillows, curtain hardware: Cozzy Coverings, 3 pink and purple signed and numbered prints from Montreal’s St. Michel flea market, vintage radio converted into a Bluetooth speaker by my husband: Daff Design, purple vase on radio & glass owl vase on dining table & most of the vintage ceramics on buffet: Vanier Moderns, plate with semi-circle hanging on wall in alcove & bowl below it & 2 small bowls leaning against books: Le Lou Ula Atelier, plate with flower: L’Arbre et la Rivière, brass reed sculpture & brass plant stand: The Pale Blue Dot, wooden stool plant stand & purple vase on dining table: Highjinx, rug: eCarpetGallery, Hay Denmark blanket and Ferm Living orange pot: The Modern Shop, framed canvas abstract painting: Andrea @hunt.and.scavenge, photos on acrylic: Kelseyanna Fitzpatrick @kelseyannaf printed by PosterJack, print of girl in black/white: Mel Remmers

An amazing collection of artifacts and sculpture, an oh so chic apartment, a stunning Eiffel Tower view and not one but eight de rigueur Chandigarh Chairs by Pierre Jeanneret. Serious case of envy on my part. I wish I was the collector who lives in this stylish abode. Appartement Rivoli by CSLB Studio.

Photography by Reto Guntil

Hi everybody! We’re still here. The new blog is coming along just fine. We’re tidying up and fine tuning. What a job to move 11 years of content from one platform to another. Phew! Almost there. In the meantime lets enjoy a little real estate stalking in the salubrious Sydney suburb of Woollahra. Colour, fabulous art, historic home, modern living, leafy green courtyard and great location. It even has the current “it” chair in Australia, the Malawi chair welcoming you on the front veranda. Link here while it lasts.

I love art. I love large-scale art, I love gallery walls, I love photography art, and I really love seeing how others display art in their own spaces. Los Angeles based interior designer Kate Driver of West Haddon Hall is an inspiration when it comes to using art in her designs. That gallery wall above is PERFECT. Also totally smitten with the massive piece in the office below.

It may have been only existed as an installation for the Lodz Design Festival earlier this month but how amazing would it be if this hauntingly beautiful old house could retain its modern trappings, even better if I could live there. A fantastical world of peeling ceilings and tattered wallpaper as backdrop to cutting edge furniture, striking art and a jungle of indoor plants. This slightly fractured dream of a domain is by Design Alive and you can read more including sources here.

Photography by Marek Swoboda