Weekend Antiquing

We had a beautiful day this Saturday as we walked up and down the aisles at the Christie Antique Show enjoying all kinds of treasures and some crazy relics from the past.  Here are some of my favourites:

All kinds of accessories and accent pieces at this booth as soon as we walked in. 

Nice detail carved into this piece, slightly weathered but still elegant.

I loved the aquamarine colour and the fun swirls - picture it with your favourite bistro chairs

Imagine these Opera seats covered in fun fabric like the one shown and maybe painted white. 

They would be nice in a hallway or even outdoors.

Architectural piece (turned sideways) would look great over a mantel or little girl's bed.  The owner of this booth caught us taking the picture and told us it wasn't for sale because they decided to keep it.  Well then don't be leaving it on display, lady!

Oh Canada!  Every Canadian cottage needs a canoe table, right?  There were canoe shelves, canoe planters and canoe shaped accessories of all kinds.  Wish you had one too, eh?

My friend picked up two cute bedside tables and a unique set of vintage, mirrored wall sconces. 

I will post the pictures as soon as I have them along with a few of my "what's up with these?" shots.

I'm now even more inspired to keep looking for outdoor antique and vintage markets over the summer.  How about you?  Do you go to summer antique markets in your town? 

Treasure Hunting

I wandered over to 1st dibs this weekend and picked out a few new items for my next little project (ha, I wish!).  This site feels like the castoffs of the rich and famous but it's just beatiful stuff and where many of the top designers go for unique pieces.

1940's studded, pink armchair

1970's Italian lamp by Vetreria Vitosi $3,102

1960's console

19th century chandelier $19,775

Here's where the "unique" part comes in... 1980's Octopus coffee table by Henri Fernandez $9,588

And what to do with your old radiators? Turn them into a chair of course, only $2,538. Now that's creative recycling, but I think it needs a really, really thick cushion!  Don't you? Actually, I would put it outside in the garden for friends to find.

Long Weekends...

With the first long weekend of the summer season here I'm already excited about turning my creative energy to the outside of my home.  The first part, weeding and cleaning up the yard, is not so much fun, but once it's done, I can think about enjoying the beauty of the flowers and greenery, cocktails on the patio, and leisurely barbecues to come.  Until my backyard is where it needs to be, I will have to enjoy these gorgeous outdoor rooms recently spotted on House to Home UK

Happy Long Weekend!

Fun with Fabric

I discovered a new resource centre nearby the other day and was like a kid in a candy store when they told me they had over 4,500 fabrics for me to peruse.  Then, since it was Friday afternoon and they had leftover wine from a seminar the evening before, I was able to sit with a glass of white wine while fondling the best of the best fabrics I've ever seen.  These are the days when I say thank goodness I'm out of the corporate world.  Check out some of these colour schemes I pulled together..

contemporary but fun geometric

funky teen's room

modern living room

Little girl's bedroom

Zebra Crazy

People that know me know that I love animal prints - especially Zebra.  A black and white combination is great whatever the pattern, but something about the smooth flowing lines of zebra that always makes an impact in a room.  I'm not the only one that thinks so, check out all these great rooms with a dash of zebra.

So striking against an all white background

Alex Papachristidis, who says you can't put zebra in such a sophisticated space?

Zebra and velvet and giraffe - oh my!

Nice contrast to the bright blue walls and vintage dresser

Powell & Bonell, contemporary den

Robert Passal, what a mixologist!

Just imagine what a little bit of Zebra could do in your space.

Mark your Calendar

The semi-annual Christie Antiques Show  is coming on Saturday, May 29th from 8am to 5pm, rain or shine.  There are 300 vendors from all over Canada and the US sprawled over 10 acres of land out in Dundas, Ontario.  They have furniture from the 30's to the 90's, folk art, architecutral items, wrought iron vintage outdoor pieces, jewellery and so much more.  It's a really fun way to spend a few hours hunting for great finds.  If you've been watching Sara's House 2 this season and following her renovation of an old country house, you will see her and Tommy were at the show last year hunting for pieces for the hallway entry, the kids' rooms and other items around the house.  I've been going for years and am never disappointed, and it's almost always a nice sunny day.  Here are some shots from last year's event.

And, no, that's not my truckload of stuff (I wish), it's their delivery service option.  Happy Hunting!

How do you like your home office?

As mentioned in an earlier post, one of the first things I did when I started my design business was create a comfortable space to work every day.  It was inspired by the colours and mood of the beach and had to be both functional and beautiful enough to keep me wanting to go in there every day.  I love to design home offices because I'm fascinated with organization and there are so many storage options for all the stuff people need to keep in their work spaces to be productive.  I'm still working on little touches to my own home office, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share some other beautiful and very diverse work spaces.

Domino

Kloe Kardashian's Office - major Glam!

 Designer Celerie Kembel's Office

Nate Berkus

Jonathan Adler

Do you love your work space?  Does it motivate you?  If not, hopefully these pictures can get you inspired to create a beautiful space for yourself.  You'll be more productive and maybe even more creative.

My Inspirations

I have followed many designers over the years as I consumed about a dozen shelter magazines every month.  Now I'm exposed to so many more with the blog life and beautiful websites.  Here are just some of my favourites.

Kelly Wearstler

Barbara Barry

Jamie Drake

Jonathan Adler

Ruthie Sommers

Brian Gluckstein

Sarah Richardson

Miles Redd

I could go on and on.  I chose a few famous Canadians because I think they are really making an impact in the world of design and have expanded their brands well into the US and beyond.  I'm proud that people like Brian Gluckstein, Kimberly Seldon, Sarah Richardson and Candice Olsen are out there leading the way with their remarkable talents and bigger than life personalities.  Way to go Canada!

One door closes...

Another one opens.

My first post has to be about what inspired me to go down this journey of starting a new business when I had a great career in Marketing that I could have continued to pursue. I "left the building" thinking that I'm only half way through my life and there's gotta be more! Within minutes, I knew it was now or never to take the plunge and I needed to follow my passion.

So here I am. With renewed energy, a sense of unlimited possibilities, anxious and overwhelmed, but loving every minute of the freedom to be me and all the ups and downs I'm going to fully embrace as I embark on a new life.

My first task: to create a great space to work in. My design studio was inspired by my love of the beach. The colours chosen to reflect the sky and sand, the light fixture in capiz shells, the chair in one of my favourite animal prints. I always wanted a glass topped desk and a Lucite chair, so now I have them.

I will show you more over the next few posts and share my inspiration as I peruse the design blogs, visit showrooms, attend events, travel and see beautiful things that keep me excited about my new life as an Interior Designer.

Ciao for now,

Ana