6 months & Happy Holidays!!!

Can you believe it? I can't. Little Addy is already 6 months old this week. Wow. How time flies, and I can't believe how much she's changed in such a short time




The Olympic Torch relay made it's way through our neighbourhood this weekend, so we decked out Addy in her patriotic best! We can't wait for the games to start!

Merry Christmas everyone, I'll be posting sporadically until January 1st with some "Best of '09" posts, and to say hello!

Another domino replacement? Yeah, I don’t think so.

I miss Domino. Don’t you? I’ve found myself at my local Chapter’s standing in front of the Interior Design/Decorating magazine section staring into space, totally amiss as to what is now, or might I say NOT available to us on the magazine stand anymore.

On this last trip to Chapter’s, I picked up 4 magazines. House Beautiful (Apr 2009), Canadian House and Home (Apr 2009), Ideal Home UK (March 2009), and Elle Décor (April 2009). Overall, and I hate to say it, but I’m soooo disappointed. I used to come home with the latest issue of Domino and literally spend HOURS reading it from cover to cover. When I returned home, I spent a total of 1 hour TOTAL leafing through all 4 of them. Pretty pathetic.

The one magazine I was dying to get my hands on however, either isn’t available in my local store yet, or was sold out, the April/May edition of Ready Made. I think I’m going to have to subscribe to the ReadyMade as it’s the only publication that I’ve been excited about over the past few months since the announcement of Domino’s closure.

What do these magazines (the ones that I wasn’t very happy about) have in common? It’s like I picked up the same magazine, the same issue, 4 times. Nothing stands out, nothing is remotely unique about any of them. They are just simply blah. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that everyone’s issue sucks this month, but I must say it’s very disappointing. Most notably, House Beautiful.

House Beautiful has been touted as being the next best thing to Domino by various other design bloggers, well, I have NO idea where that comes from to be honest. The cover of the April ’09 issue is even boring.



After taking the 12 minutes in total it took to go through the entire magazine, I was unimpressed. There was nothing unique, nothing original, it was simply 147 pages of advertisements and editorial coverage that only embellished on their advertisements. Eesh. Give me something new people! Something that I haven’t seen before, or heard of. Every page was just fuddy-duddy traditional. Every single house tour in the issue was professionally decorated, and there was nothing REAL about them whatsoever. Over styled. Stuffy. Snobbish. EEsh. Like, do people actually live here? Or is this a model home I’m looking at. Yes, I understand that ever home is styled for a photo shoot, but NOT every home, and NOT everyone hires a designer to do so. Some of the best homes I’ve seen were designed by the homeowner over time, those are the best homes out there, and the ones that I want to see.

Do you feel the same about the existing shelter magazines available out there today? Would you like to see more REAL homes? Do you already have a source of where to find REAL homes for decorating inspiration? (please enter your suggestions, and opinions in the comments section below)

i did this {do not leave unattended}

Wow. I finally finished my contribution to the "Do Not Leave Unattended" project.

There's more, you'll just have to wait until Judy posts it on their site, here.



This is the first time I've completed anything like this in YEARS. Probably close to 20 years now.

I fully intend on doing more.

*smiles*

Paul Massey Photography {inspired}

Something about these photos makes me want to just crawl inside and have a nap.

Let me introduce, UK famed photographer, Paul Massey. Not only does he photograph interiors, but fashion, Hollywood celebrities, and portraiture. Beautiful. His work speaks for itself.

See his full portfolio here.







all images from Paul Massey

Extinguishing the Winter Blahs {House of Turquoise}

It’s February, it’s still winter, and I feel like i’m living in a black and white movie. Going outside is at the point that it’s depressing. I’m no longer saying “but it looks so pretty when it snows!” especially when i’m at the office digging myself out of yet one more snow bank. I swear I was not meant to live in this climate!

Enter COLOUR. Our new apartment doesn’t have one white wall in it, which is a first for me in YEARS. I’m sooo tired of white walls. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about that any more. What’s funny, is when you do live with white walls, you are scared to paint. But when you live with colour, you could paint every weekend. Colour inspires me.

When I’m tired of looking at my own walls, of course i’m continually looking for colour on the web. Enter Erin Olson. Blogger extraordinaire! She author’s 12 blogs!!! OMG! Twelve! But, what’s most original about them, is each is dedicated to a specific colour, or colour scheme. Brilliant!

Her most popular and my personal favorite is House of Turquoise . Perfect viewing for dark and dreary days, the photo collections found here will instantly perk you up!










Her other colour blogs are Black and White Delight, Pink and Brown Love, Everything Turquoise, The Chocolate Blues, Just Blue & Green, and Pink & Green Scene. Her personal blog can be found here.

So Lovely!


all images from House of Turquoise

Online Workshop {Unravelling}

Thanks to Holly over at Decor8 for cluing me in to this amazing online creative workshop.

Find all the details here.

image from Unravelling: Ways of Seeing Myself

Anthropologie is coming to Toronto!

Yes, you heard it correctly. I am over the moon!!!! Scheduled opening is Spring 2009 in the Yorkville area of Toronto (not sure I agree with the location).

I can't wait!!!! Now I can stop drooling on the laptop shopping online! Yay!

TGIF!!!

Happy Friday everyone! My hubby and I are moving next weekend, so the next week will be notably crazy as we pack up everything we own and move into a bigger place to make room for the bambino-to-be. Posting will be a little bit sporadic over the next week or so, but i'll be checking in as much as I can!

Happy Weekend!

T.G.I.F button from graffiti2

Armoires? A thing of the past? Think again.

Now that tube TVs are pretty much non-existent with flat screens coming down in price over the past year, what is everyone doing with their armoires?

Domino magazine has a great photo gallery listing absolutely gorgeous armoires for almost any storage issue. You can use one as a portable linen closest, a home office, or as a makeshift china cabinet.

I have one. I'm currently using it as a storage closet due to lack of built in closet space in our tiny loft. An armoire is a good thing, not an eyesore.

See the full Gallery here, and here are a couple snippets of my own personal favorites.

images above from Domino

LOVE pillowhappy

On the hunt for new throw pillows? All of these from Etsy seller PillowHappy would work great in any room, my favorites are the coral and starfish motifs. I've had a thing for starfish since my husband and I were married in the Caribbean last year (omg, last year already?).

clockwise, from top left; modern poppy, $50; fall tree, $50;
modern flower, $50; pear pair, $16; willowpillow, $60;

clockwise from top left; starfish, coral, or sanddollar, $50 each; modern guitar, $25;
scrabble, $60; eggplant pair, $16; little pink bird, $35; little pines collection, $47

Overuse of "scapes"

I'm now seeing the word "mantlescape" being used all over the place. I drew the line with tablescape.

What happenned to vignettes?

image from casasugar

AT: The Homies 2008

Merry Christmas Everybody!

I just thought I'd stop in today for a visit and to say Ho Ho Ho !!! I have today off from my "day job", so I'm catching up on some blogs I just haven't had time to read in the past week or so with all the holiday festivities going on.

Guess What!!! Apartment Therapy is hosting The Homies: Best Design Blogs of 2008.



"There's awards for all sorts of blogs, but no one ever pays enough attention to the home blogs, so we're starting a little impromptu reader nominated and voted awards ceremony this year, and we're calling it The Homies. There are five categories and none of our five blogs is eligible (we're hosting). The prizes? $100 to the winner of each category and lots of traffic as we publish the five winners in a big congratulatory post across our network on January 6th. We want to elevate good home blogs, see who you love and gain awareness for the home niche."

Click Here, and head down to the comments section to nominate DecorAddict!

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mid-Century Dining Table, the search begins

Our current apartment doesn't really have a dining room, it's just really an extension of the living room and kitchen which essentially one room in itself. The table we have right now is our landlords, but we don't use it as a dining table either, it's more of desk, actually I'm writing this from it as I type.

Our new place has an actual dining room. With Space! Enough room for a decent sized table, and maybe even a credenza or buffet. I can picture a curved/rectangular mid-century modern teak dining table in that spot, and I've been on the hunt for one even since we signed the lease. Unfortunately, so far, I'm not having much luck.

Yes, sure Craigslist has lots to choose from, but it's just not right.

THIS is what I'm drooling over at the moment.....

Lima dining table, from INCH Furniture

Unfortunately this is manufactured in Switzerland, and only SOLD in Switzerland, so I'm truly S.O.L with this one. It's so sad. Sniff.


Then, I found this!

Teak Coffee Table designed by Ib Koford Larsen for France & Sons,
Denmark, 1950 from Still Design

But, it's a coffee table. ARGH!!!! I need just a little more leg! And, they're in Victoria, BC. ARGH!!!

I'm still looking for that perfect table. I will not rest until it has been found. I refuse to settle for anything less, and so the journey begins.

Bollocks!

Love This! {via apartment therapy}

How-to's can be found here.

I'm Back!!! NEW Surface Collective

I'm officially back from Colorado! What a great state in the grand US of A!!! Although the altitude unexpectedly bothered me, overall it was a great trip! Fresh air, beautiful rocky mountains, not to mention fabulous shopping! I have a few pictures I'll share with you later in the week.

I spent most of yesterday going through a gazillion emails, making this weeks to-do list, not to mention catching up on laundry, I'm so sorry for the wait everybody! While I was gone, a whole whack load of new exciting things filled up my inbox, the most exciting for me being Surface Collective, remember I talked about them here a few months ago? Well they've just released some new wall decal designs, and they are better than ever! Kudos to my fellow Canadians!

clockwise from top left, sunlight is gold, weekend in Miami, undermine, & incognito

Surface Collective has also reduced their prices on their most popular designs, they've introduced 4 new designers, and will be releasing laptop skins! Yay Surface Collective!

clockwise from top left, damask, flo, lost lenore, & bamboo

Has anyone tried out these wall decals? I'm seriously considering some for our new apartment that we're moving into next month. Wow. We're only a month away from our move already. Here are a few that I'm considering for our combined living/dining room.

top - bye bye blackbird, bottom - woodcut

What do you think?

Dreamy Comfy Bedroom Inspiration

I love sifting through online photo galleries of UK and European shelter magazines. Always eclectic, always different compared to their North American counterparts.

I'm browsing through bedrooms right now, looking for some inspiration for our new greige master bedroom, here are some of my favorites!

from Living Etc

from Living Etc

from Living Etc

from House to Home UK

from House to Home UK

from House to Home UK

from Point Click Home

GOOP, from Gwyneth Paltrow

Huh? What do you mean, GOOP? Gwyneth Paltrow? Confused yet? Plan to be pleasantly surprised.



The uber-celebrity has just recently launched her own lifestyle website, titled GOOP. I signed up for the weekly newsletter the minute I heard about it, and I can honestly say I have not been disappointed.

In her own words,

"GOOP.com is a collection of experiences [of] what makes life good. My life is good because I am not passive about it. I want to nourish what is real, and I want to do it without wasting time. I love to travel, to cook, to eat, to take care of my body and mind, to work hard. I love being a mother who has to overcome my bad qualities to be a good mother. I love being in spaces that are clean and nice.”

Sounds good to me.

In this weeks newsletter Gwyneth discusses and suggests current art exhibitions all over the world that are going on right now, from NYC, to London, to Madrid. Also included are some of her favorite websites. Some I've heard of, some I have not. Now that I've heard of them, from Gwyneth, I can say, hey, you'll never guess where I heard about this site from. I like that.



The full site hasn't been launched as of yet, no word as to when that will be unfortunately, however, maybe one of their weekly newsletters will soon let that cat out of the bag. I can't wait!

Apartment Therapy has a brief write up on it here as well.

all photos from GOOP

decor8 Discount week !!!

One of my favorite blogs, decor8, is hosting a special discount week in collaboration with her various sponsors and blog-friend's. You can check out the full details here, and see discounts so far here.

Thanks Holly!!!!

MOMA Favorites

The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in Manhattan is a place I unfortunately have never yet had the chance to visit in person. Luckily, I have the pleasure of visiting the museum online whenever I choose, and I'm never disappointed.

Museum's, and art exhibits, both online and in person can greatly inspire a person, which is probably why I love them so much. When I attended Nuit Blanche last month here in Toronto, an all-night modern art installation event, it was unlike anything I expected, both good and bad. Most of the exhibits here much smaller and/or larger than I expected, and others I found I connected with emotionally. The same can be said with visual arts for me.

The best part about MOMA for me, is the MOMA online shop. If you are looking for a gift for a person that has everything, this shop is the best place to find something that they definitely don't have. It's also a fantastic shop for home accessories, and even furniture! Anything and everything in their shop is a work of art, and a conversation piece.

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite pieces with everyone, and if you see something you like, don't worry, they do accept international orders!!!

Clockwise from top left,
Distinct Patterned Glasses, Emmanuel Babled, 2004
NelsonTM Swag Leg Desk, George Nelson, 1958
Colorful Wobble Glasses, Monica Lubkowska Jonas, 2007
Eva Teakettle, Eva Zeisel, 2005
Wiggle Stool, Frank Gehry, 1972

clockwise from top left,
Midsummer Light, Tord Boontje, 2004
Garland Shade Light, Tord Boontje, 2003
Candela Rechargeable Lamps, Duane Smith, Stefane Barbeau, 2003
Joy Candle Lamp, Josefin Hagberg, 2007

Of course visiting the MOMA would be better visited in person, however, i'm thanking my lucky stars for any online version of MOMA. I will get there one day. I promise.



(all images from MOMA)

Budget Book Love: Domino & Handmade Nation

I’m a sucker for impulse shopping. I see something I want, hold it in my hands, smell it, and buy it! This past weekend, I resisted temptation while at Chapter’s (large bookstore chain in Canada). I went in to scout out some new design books, some international design glossies, and the cookbook section. I found everything I was looking for, but, the only thing I walked out of the store with was the new issue of Domino magazine, UK shelter magazine Ideal Home (wow! More about this amazing magazine later in the week), and a book from the clearance section called Scandinavian Modern Home, by Elizabeth Wilhide. The only reason I walked out with the later, was because it was only $25 Canadian, at over 50% off the regular price.

I almost gave in to temptation and bought the new Domino book, I had it in my hands, and was practically drooling over it, but I remembered a post I read on decor8 last week about decorating on a budget .... I held my breath, and put the book back on the shelf telling myself to wait until I got home to check the price on Amazon. I am sooo happy I did! In-store, the book was $37.00 Canadian. Online, it was only $23.00 Canadian! That’s almost 40% off the list price! I was so happy, that I bought another book on my wish list, Handmade Nation, regularly $27.95 Canadian bought online for only $18.00 Canadian! That’s 35% off! I’ve never really thought twice about buying a book online vs. in store, nor did I realize the savings involved.




The post on decor8 got me thinking about how I could cut back to save money, nothing too drastic, but maybe only 1 trip to Starbuck’s per week instead of every morning, bringing my lunch to work, and recycling more stuff, such as gift bags and ribbon. This will help me save up for the new sofa we will be buying from Crate and Barrel this January.



You may have noticed a new link in the DecorAddict Elseware section of the page, the link is DecorAddict Books! Yes, that’s right, you can buy the latest design books online here at DecorAddict!



What design books have you been buying or have on your wishlist? What design magazines are your favorites? I'd love to hear from you!