May
16

Love The Outdoors

Posted by Peter Brooks in Design Tips, Interior design on May 16th, 2012

Finally the warm weather has arrived! It’s time to go through the storage and dig out those patio chairs and flower pots. I always love this time of year, because I get a chance to experiment with colours and transform my outdoor space into something new. Like in nature everything is harmoniously connected. Like with any interior space it is important to create a cohesive look through layering. Look around your backyard and start pulling colours out of the surroundings. Look closely, it’s amazing how many different tones exist in a single pebble.

My neighbour recently came by for some designer advice on outdoor furniture. After looking at her backyard, we found several warm gray tones that would be used in her seat cushions. Incorporating furniture in a light wood birch would go perfectly with warm gray tones. Keeping larger items in a neutral palette allows for flexibility with accessories. A fresh new look each year with a few simple changes without breaking the bank.

The outdoor space really becomes an extension of our homes. Bringing elements such as lighting and even introducing artwork completely transforms my garden. The fence is simply a different type of wall. A recent DIY project of mine was a wire sculpture in the shape of a circle that I ended up hanging on my fence. It became a real focal point in my outdoor lounging area. Next step is finding that punch of colour that becomes the perfect accent. I think I’m in the mood for pink and yellow…can’t wait to go shopping!

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Apr
04

Interiors Inspired By Fashion – Colour Blocking

Posted by Peter Brooks in Design Tips, Interior design, Trends on Apr 4th, 2012

Colour Blocking is the hottest fashion trend for Spring 2012. Spring runways are more colourful than ever! It is not a new trend but is definitely coming back with a big bang. Whether inspired by graphic geometrics, floral prints, or watercolour fabrics, interiors can often be influenced by fashion trends.

Create the popular look by putting areas or blocks of solid colour next to each other. These colour harmonies can either be a combination of bright colours, muted colours, contrasting or complimentary colours. Have a look at the colour wheel as your guide and choose colours that are opposite on the colour wheel. Keeping your colour combinations in the same level of intensity is key – for example, pairing up a bright pink with a dull orange won’t achieve the colour block.

This could be intimidating to some. Start small with items that are not so ‘permanent’, such as bedding or vignettes. This is why I’m a big fan of white walls. A white canvas gives you the flexibility to change your looks completely with the season (or your mood) just by switching out your accessories. Once you are comfortable and confident with your creations, you can experiment with paint colours.

Colour Tip, stick to a maximum of three colors to avoid a ‘Rainbow Brite’ look.

Now, are you brave enough to Rock the Colour Block?

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Feb
22

Featured Local Artist: Sa~sha Murals

Posted by Peter Brooks in Art & Artists, Interior design on Feb 22nd, 2012

The talent is here at Sa~sha Mural Painting Faux Finishing, founded by a local Toronto artist, Peter Antonoglou. Brilliant Custom designs as well as reproductions of your choice are executed beautifully on any surface, in any space, including but not limited to: Living & Work Spaces, Children’s Rooms, Animal Habitats, Health Clinics and Shops. Our local artist is extremely talented and can create the precise image that represents you or your business perfectly.

www.sa-sha-murals.blogspot.com
647.242.2330

Look out for a custom creation on the side of our office building by Sa~sha Murals in the near furture!

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Feb
22

IDS 2012 ~ Highlights

Posted by Peter Brooks in Events, Interior Design Show, Interior design on Feb 22nd, 2012

2012 Interior Design Show Highlights.
We were at the evening Gala and took in as much as we possibly could. Over 300 retailers, studios and manufacturers and other exhibitors filled the Metro Convention Centre North.
There are so many established and new & up and coming designers, design shops and products. Check out the official Interior design show website and go to participants and you can spend time going through all of the websites. Be prepared to spend some time.
ONEXONE the non-profit children’s foundation: Guests of IDS 12 bid on 21 versions of the iconic Magis Julian chair and Saturday’s pancake breakfast raised over $30,000.00.

Highlights:
The gala greeters included entertainment from Stomp, So You Think You Can Dance… A headlining DJ set from DJ Karim Rashid, an auction of 20 Julian chairs by Magis (each redesigned by a different participant). There was Beer and Wine tasting and edibles from Wish, Burger Shoppe, Quality Meats, Belvedere Vodka and more.
The entrance installation featured a felt strip curtain of sorts suspended from the ceilings. Digital images were projected onto the piece.
Italian designer Piero Lissoni who has designed everything from household items to luxury hotels and yachts was this year’s international guest of honour. His installation covered 1,200 square feet – beautiful.
Mason Studio converted half of a shipping container into a living space, Our Home and Native Land. Designers Stanley Sun and Ashley Rumsey created a ‘trough-slash-table that featured various vignettes, but also acted as a route for water to travers, running from a faucet into a garden.
Just a few out of many incredible vendors.

Lighting:
Living Lighting on King Street, owner Jodi…. Was on hand – great booth!
Flos – Fantastic contemporary residential and corporate fixtures – Need to recharge your iPhone, tablet, laptop or other electronic gadget? Do so in style at the FLOS Power Station, where the lighting company will be previewing Philippe Stark’s ground breaking D’E-light lamp, which doubles as a PDA power source.
Am Studio – Custom Lighting and Art Glass Studio, Amazing
Eurolite – Fantastic, they’ve been around since the late 80’s, now in their new diggs 200 Queens Quay
Ridgely Studios – Very Kool

Furniture:
ELTE– One of our favourite Toronto furniture and rug shops. They have it all. ELTE displayed their one-of-a kind Silk Orchid Collection Rugs. These rugs are woven together with the unwound thresds of vintage silk saries from India. The entire collection currently consists of just 40 rugs.
UpCountry – Introduced a new line brought in by Terry Iwaskiw.
North on Sixty – Lots of beautiful wood!
L’Atelier – Owner/Designer Youssef Hasbani created a beautiful installation in his unique eclectic style.
Out Door Furniture:
SUNG Outdoor – Canadian fashion designer Alfred Sung launched the all new St.Tropez collection inspired by the pure and simple style of the French Riviera.
Andrew Richard designs – Led by brothers Andrew and Richard Bockner, they bring unparalleled innovation, style and comfort to outdoor furniture.
Jardin De Ville – This Quebec based firm with satellite showroom in Toronto has been family-owned for over 50 years. Specializing in high-end outdoor furnishings, they distribute Danish, French, Belgian and German lines as well as producing their own in-house designs.
Other:
JK Studio, Heidi Earnshaw Design, Shawn Place Designs, Felt Studio – The list goes on and on…

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Jan
26

Design Trends For 2012

Posted by Peter Brooks in Design Tips, Interior design, Trends on Jan 26th, 2012

 

2012!  Here’s a list of some of the trends we can look forward to for 2012. Keep in mind that you can infuse just a few of the ideas – you don’t have to get rid of all of your treasures and start again.“Live Your Life By Design”

 

Design Trends for 2012
FURNITURE & ACCESSORIES Last Year: DIY ProjectLast year was great for DIY projects. So many design shows and magazines showed off all kinds of DIY projects from wallpapering inside cabinets to painting old furniture.2012: Finer ImprovementsThis year its all about infusing fine pieces of new or reupholstered furniture, art work and colour. We’ll see the classic curvy full upholstered backs and arms making a ‘come back’.

PAINT COLOURS
Last Year: Grey’s
I rarely left the grey side of my paint decks last year. We were all doing cool tones Sicco Grey Drizzle or Sketch Paper, Benjaman Moore’s Paper White, Sterling.

2012: Orange

Grey tones will still be seen in 2012, however, bold large splashes of colour will be shown off on wall and full upholstered pieces, not just pillows.

I recently landed on Ingrid Fetell’s Blog/Website. The Aesthetics of Joy. Ingrid talks about JOY inhabiting that ineluctable space between wonder and pleasure, neighboring delight, but somehow more profound, an essential emotion that renews and uplifts the human psyche. Introducing those pops of colours that surprise and entice us is all in this year.
This year its all about being optimistic; happy colours and every shade of orange is topping the list for paint colours. From pale rust to tangerine Tango, this citrus colour is topping 2012’s list for painted walls. A colour of strength, courage, action and confidence.

PATTERN

Last Year: Geometrics
Stripes and geometrics were all the rage, a 70’s inspired come back.
2012: Large Floral
Flowers are back; they are bright and big and feel modern. Anywhere you can bring this fabric in it will make a big splash to your decor.

Classic designs as well, tartans, polka dots, herringbones and damasks.

FURNITURE

Last Year: Low, deep & square
Low, deep and lounge-like was all the rage last year for sofas and chairs. Everything modern and contemporary. We found that many pieces looked great but hurt sitting in them.

2012: Curvy and rounded
Traditional style is making a return and curvy lined furniture is feeling most welcome after 2 decades of square-edged, hotel-inspired furnishings. Look for the classic camel-back shaped sofas and organic shaped side tables to round out your rooms.

 WALLPAPER

Last Year: Crazy and busy patterns
From large-scale damask patterns to metallic and velvet-flocked geometric patterns, Wallpape has been making a huge come back over the last few years. Last year the young urbanites were marketed and introduced to wallpaper. We love it.

2012: Soft and subtle
We’re seeing softer tones and faded looking background colours in the wallpaper this year. Soft and subtle is most definitely the look this year.

FABRIC

Last Year: Natural linen
Belgium linen in natural beige/sand tones were being used for everything from upholstery, bedding and draperies.

2012: Linen leftovers
Don’t throw those linens out just have them dyed. We’ll be seeing much more colour in our bedding and covers.

METALLIC

Last Year: Brash brass
Nickel-plated door knob, kitchen handle and towel bar were everywhere then last year brass came back – I was shocked.
For some it border lined on garish and for others it was a scary blast from the 70’s.

2012: French gold

Now that’s more like it; a mixture of silver and gold makes French gold; a soft, warm tone that allows our eyes to adjust to the change from cool metal tones to warm. So Canadian isn’t it?

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Nov
16

Where are we shopping this week?

Posted by Peter Brooks in Design Tips, Interior design, Shops on Nov 16th, 2011

Dark Tools – architectural lighting distributors

I recently dropped in to see a new lighting shop called Dark, located just south of the Lakeshore on Carlaw Avenue.  I was given the full tour by owner Mo Nahar who was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable.

If you’re looking for modern lighting that takes budget into consideration you must make this a definite stop on your shopping list.

They are distributors for Corbett, Troy, Habbardton Forge and several other lighting design/manufacturers.

Their showroom features some beautiful lighting fixtures from wall sconces to large and small ceiling fixtures, pendant lighting and task lighting. 

Let us know if you plan a visit to Dark Tools. We would be happy to introduce you and pass along any Designers Discount.

Happy Shopping.

DESIGN FIND ~ LED LIGHTING:

LED lighting has come a long way over the past 12 months.  Applications of strip lighting and SMD LED puck lights are endless.  Some of the advantages of LED lighting are their operational life, white LED lamps will have a 100,000 hours estimate life.  This is 11 years of continuous operation.  The average life of an incandescent bulb is approximately 5000 hours.  Another significant factor of us in large office buildings is the cost of maintenance to replace bulbs can be enormous. 

The key strength of LED lighting is reduced poser consumption.  When designed properly an LED circuit will approach 80% efficiency, which means 80% of the electrical energy is converted to light energy.  The remaining 20% is lost as heat energy.  Compare that with incandescent  bulbs which operates at about a 20% efficiency (80% of the electrical energy is lost as heat).

As the cost of LED lighting comes down along with the flexibility of usage, colour tone and brightness flexibility, LED lighting is an exciting trend that is here to stay.

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Nov
02

Global Style

Posted by Peter Brooks in Design Tips, Events, Interior design on Nov 2nd, 2011

We were out at an evening talk hosted at ELTE Furnishings last week.   The guest speaker was the new editor for Styleathome magazine Erin McLaughlin.  Erin spoke about the ‘trend’ of infusing a global look into interior design calling it ‘Global Style’.  Erin presented slides showing works of designers such as  Martyn Lawrence Bullard (www.MartynLawrenceBullard.com  – Bravo’s Million Dollar Decorators) whose wildly eclectic designs are definitely not for the faint of heart.  However, it’s the idea of bringing pieces from other cultures such as Asian, French, Spanish that are bold in texture and colour that will infuse your décor with a ‘global style’.  Pieces may even come from your travels abroad, down south or even small town Ontario, something that speaks to you.  You can also be very deliberate about bringing in different textures and pops of colour through fabric, paint, art, sculpture, furniture pieces and don’t be afraid to mix things up.

Erin also spoke about the designers rule about not using more than three colours, you can use different shades of each colour but keep in mind rules can be broken. 

Global Style is certainly on trend and I’ll bet many of you already bring this into your décor now.  Don’t be afraid to add a little extra punch – start with a wild pillow. Have fun and ‘Live your life by design’.

Peter

 
 
 

 

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Oct
24

Posted by Peter Brooks in Design Tips, Interior design, Shops on Oct 24th, 2011

As you know, we have started new weekly Blog Series where we will feature one of our favourite shops every week. We thought we’d also tell you about our “Design Find of the Week” which will be a unique product that is too interesting to keep to ourselves.   Let’s shop! 

AllSet Interiors:

We absolutely love shopping for tiles. Dramatic changes over the past 10 years has increased the options for tiles incredibly. You can shop for ceramic tiles, stone tiles, porcelain tiles, glass tiles, stainless steel tiles, copper tiles, mosaics and patterned tiles and they all come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Allset Tiles is a small boutique shop located at 201 King Street East (www.allsetinteriors.com). Owner,  Maria Magaletta runs the shop along with her son.  Maria is always there to help put together incredible tile combinations for any project you have in mind.   If you’re looking for something different go and visit Maria and tell her BedfordBrooks sent you.

Other favourite tile shops include

Anitca Tiles  www.antica.ca  30 Bermondsey Rd

Cercan Tile  www.cercantile.com  320 Davenport Rd.

Ciot Tile www.ciot.com  1020 Lawrence Ave. West

Stone Tile  www.stone-tile.com   1451 Castlefield Ave.

DESIGN FIND OF THE WEEK: MosaicWorks:

Canadian designer Karen Johnston puts a new twist on the ancient are of mosaics with monochromatic pieces that sparkle with tile, rhinestones and beads. We recently contacted Karen and commissioned 2 large vanity mirrors for our clients from her Shag series.  These mirrors will definitely add a touch of glam to this ensuite bathroom.   We’ll be sure to post photo’s after the installation. 

Be sure to have a look at her portfolio – www.mosaicworks.ca    

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Oct
13

Where Do We Shop?

Posted by Peter Brooks in Design Tips, Interior design, Shops on Oct 13th, 2011

We are starting a new Blog Series and every week we will feature one of our favourite shops. I’m often asked if I have any favourite shopping haunts, so I thought I would try to blog one shop at a time.  I have so many different shops that I’ll visit each week depending on what we are looking for specifically.  It could be tiles, bath fixtures, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture or art work. Let’s shop!

Where are we shopping this week?     

Our first shop is macFab Fabrics (755 Queen Street East) and macFab Home (734 Queen Street East)

macFABfabrics

Dale Sonier, owner of MacFAB moved from his very successful Queen St. West location to his new digs on Queen St. just east of Broadview.  Dale, along with his staff (Becks, she’s who we love to deal with when we are shopping there – say hello for us and tell them BedfordBrooks sent you J)are such a great pleasure to work with, full of energy and incredible service. When it comes to fabrics they bring the latest in design and colour.  The macFab workshop offers quality workmanship producing beautiful drapery, headboards, slip covers etc.

 macFABhome

Dale recently took on a beautiful retail shop right across the street from macFABfabrics and named it macFABhome! This is an absolutely must see shop.  A unique mix of new and vintage furniture pieces, accessories and fabrics.  They showcase European fabrics, wool rugs, and everything vintage. If you’re looking for that one of a kind stand out piece stop by and have a talk with Dale or one of his friendly staff.  If what you’re looking for isn’t in their shop he will create it for you. I’ll let you in on a little secret – They have a full shipment of vintage furniture coming in from Paris very soon that they will reupholster and reshape into to functional art forms.

Peter

 

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Sep
20

Picton Farm House

Posted by Peter Brooks in Interior design, Vacation on Sep 20th, 2011

Friends with benefits.

Much of our travels include fantastic invitations to friend’s vacations homes.  One of my very best friends Maria and Glen Jenkins have an absolutely spectacular ‘farm house’ in Prince Edward County.  About 8 years ago Maria and her daughter Carolyn went on a scouting mission to find the perfect summer home.   They found it! 

Just minutes to downtown Picton, the property is surrounded by farm fields and has two fabulous old barns and a smallish house that the previous couple had added two small extensions onto.

Maria is one of the most talented and industrious people I know.  In no time the farm house was transformed and filled with unbelievable treasures.  I’m not sure if I would call Maria a collector only because that term seems too narrow in her case, however, she does collect beautiful objects.  Many she finds at antique shops, auctions, yard sales and good will.  Maria also has some beautiful pieces from supporting local Toronto and Picton artists not to mention treasures from around the world from her travels.

After settling in for a few years she felt she wanted to make some vast changes to the farm house and the property. The main renovations took just over a year.  Keeping most of the existing farm house she extended the house out and up!  Every angle and every detail was incredibly well thought out.  Every room has incredible views.

Maria was very hands on throughout the renovation/design process.  She sourced out material and was sure to have them on site, stayed on top of quality control, she lifted and dragged, dug holes and pretty much painted the entire interior herself

- Glen helped :)

When the farm house was ready to put back together, each room was carefully thought out and beautifully furnished.  I would call the style ‘Clean Country, Comfortable and Functionally Eclectic.’

Maria has been taking an upholstery course for a few years now so some of her pieces are truly hers, she’s made her own drapery, pillows, painted furniture, framed art work and hung lights.  If that wasn’t enough her gardens, and she has many, are absolutely beautiful.  Each one well thought out for their views from inside the farm house and outside as you walk the property. 

I have taken many, many photo’s at the farm house, each time I tell myself I’m going to ‘blog’ about each inspiration – even her pantry, you should see it. She has decorated it beautifully and if you happen to forget to close the pantry door behind you, it won’t matter – it’s just another corner of treasures to entertain the eye.

Maria and Glen are amazing hosts.  Glen will beat me at a round of golf then we’re back for a walk around the farm with drinks in hand, where Maria is usually preparing a fabulous dinner with fresh local ingrediants – yet another one of Maria’s talents. 

And the cherry on top of this cake is a perfect night’s sleep in our fabulous guest room on the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept.  She insists that you choose a pillow that you’re most comfortable with.  You lay down on sheets that have been hand ironed, who irons sheets anymore?

I could do a series of blogs on the farm house.  I just may.

Maria and Glen offer their home for rent for vacationers who want to experience the county in style, have a look at some of the photos and amenities on line. See you in the County!

http://www.countyholidayhomes.com/county-white/

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