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So far Sarah Walker The Curated House has created 396 blog entries.

DESIGN EXCHANGE | MY CURATED AUCTION PICKS + A GIVEAWAY!

I’M DELIGHTED to be curating some of my favourite pieces today for the upcoming May 29th auction in support of Toronto’s Design Exchange. This live and silent auction will feature a stunning collection of furnishings and accessories, and the proceeds all help to support the work of the Design Exchange, Canada’s Design Museum. To say there are some gems in the mix would be a major understatement.
What is the Design Exchange, you ask? Located in the Historic Stock Exchange Building, the Design Exchange {DX} is a registered charitable, not-for-profit cultural institution, and Canada’s only museum dedicated to the pursuit of design excellence and the preservation of our design heritage. From furniture and architecture to graphics and fashion, DX exhibitions and talks are curated to reflect what is most current in contemporary culture, while reminding us of the relevance and importance of design in everyday life. Guest curators have included Pharrell Williams and our very own Canadian fashion icon Jeanne Beker.
ONE: This Dorwin Chair from Bernhardt is a classic revival of a mid-century design that is utterly timeless, while the brass frame makes it entirely fashion-forward and of-the-moment. I’ll take a pair for my soon-to-be redecorated family room, please and thanks!
TWO: Gone are the days of the eyesore of a doggie day bed in some bland brown microfibre. Jo Alcorn has brought her fresh edge to the realm of home decor and honours our four legged friends in style. You’ll be happy to coordinate your throw pillows with your pooch’s perch when they’re this hip.
THREE: Madeleine Weinrib’s rugs and decorative accessories have graced the pages of luxury shelter magazines such as Elle Decor, Dwell and Coastal Living. Her designs epitomize relaxed elegance at it’s finest.
FOUR: I adore anything paying homage to the beauty, vastness and wonder of our Canadian terrain. The Landscape Tableware from Drake General Store more than fits the bill. I’m hankering for a full set to use for endless summer entertaining.
FIVE: What can I possibly say about this iconic design classic? Eero Saarinen’s earlier studies in sculpture reveal themselves in this side table’s fluid form. Truly timeless, the Saarinen side table is equally at home in an otherwise traditional space as it is in a restrained, minimalist environment. 
SIX: The Dream Chair looks like a modern invitation to the imagination, the sensual curves ready to embrace and the subtle pillow ready to support your daydreams.
SEVEN: Doesn’t every dream home need a touch of Kelly Wearstler? Strong and graphic, this electric sculpture would bring dynamic energy to any room in the house.
EIGHT: I’ve been crushing hard on Sebastian Herkner’s bell tables for awhile now, and his Bleeker Street Table only confirms my design crush. Simple, timeless and elegant. The man can do no wrong.
These eight pieces are my design favourites, but there are even more amazing selections up for grabs at the auction. I’d love to know which pieces you love most!
Fancy the opportunity to see them all in person and bid on one {or all} of them for your own nest? Well here’s your chance! I’m giving away one ticket to a lucky reader to attend this design event on May 29th from 7-10pm at Toronto’s Design Exchange. Rub shoulders with the who’s-who of design and design media and try your luck at picking up an iconic design treasure while you’re at it!
Here’s how to enter:
1. Follow The Curated House on Instagram
2. Follow The Design Exchange on Instagram
3. Save and share the photo of your favourite piece from this post on Instagram using the hashtag #designexchangeXthecuratedhouse
The winner will be announced on Monday, May 25th on Instagram. Good luck!
xo
s.

By |May 13th, 2015|3 Comments

THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE | WEEK SIX | THE BIG REVEAL!

Happy Thursday design lovers! If you’re new to The Curated House, you’ve chosen a great day to stop by as it is at long last time to share the “afters” for our project for this season’s One Room Challenge. Do the last six weeks feel like a blur to anyone else? What an adventure! I’m so excited to share my little Luxe Laundry Room project reveal with you.

Before I do, I need to say thank you. First and foremost, I need to thank my incredible husband who has tackled this room on top of his extremely busy job as a software executive, all in his “spare time.” His perseverance, patience, persistence and incredible work ethic are the number one reason I have beautiful “after” photos to share with you here today. I am incredibly grateful to him and for him, not just in this project but in our real and everyday life together. I love you, babe.

I’d also like to thank Linda from Calling It Home for creating such a dynamic event. As a designer I can say that we all need someone to light a fire under our behinds when it comes to completing our own personal projects, and the One Room Challenge is the perfect spark. I plan to fan it into a flame with the Fall 2015 edition, and I hope more of my fellow interior designers will join me in taking on this design dare once again.

Speaking of design community and lighting a fire, I’d also like to thank my friend Lisa Canning for cheering me on with this little personal project. For years I’ve worked solo and been very isolated in my design business. Now that I have a design sisterhood, there’s no turning back! You are a gift, my friend.

A HUGE, heartfelt thank you goes out to all of my incredible brand partners, all of whom I will list with much gratitude at the end of this post. Without your generous support, this project would not have been possible.

Thank you, too, to all of you lovely people for following along and commenting on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and right here on the blog. I have loved having you weigh in on the selection details with me! You’ve made the process fun and engaging and I’m so grateful we got to do this together.

OK, so without further ado, here is our much awaited “after.”

Vases – Black Rooster Decor

Do you remember how dark and dreary our “before” was? The typical basement dungeon of a laundry room.

Well as Florence And The Machine would say, the dark days are OVER!

Now it is bright and pretty, happy and practical, full of storage solutions not just for laundry, but also for calligraphy, art, sewing, gift wrapping, painting and all kinds of other fun and creative activities. I now think of this space as my laundry-room-meets-arts-room in the storage sense of things, and I love how the TooFifteen bins accommodate everything with casual elegance.

Remember the problem of the furnace and water heater visually dominating the room? Such an eyesore! Not anymore. The incredible sliding door hardware system from Upper Canada Specialty Hardware matched with the gorgeous rift-cut raw white oak solid doors from Metrie mean that this now feels like a feature wall when the doors are closed, while still keeping the furnace and water heater totally accessible when necessary. These raw, rift-cut white oak doors add natural texture and interest while hiding a multitude of sins {including the rest of the floor tile yet to be installed on the other side of the floor-mounted track!}. I now love this side of the room – when the doors are closed, of course! – and it feels harmoniously balanced with the feature wall. 

Two of the design decisions you so kindly weighed in on that I waited to reveal until today include the countertop selection and the grout colour. In the end, I chose Silestone’s Lagoon for the countertop, which led to the selection of Silver grout from Mapei to pull out the soft and subtle grey tones in the counters. I’m thrilled with the final result. The combination offers just enough contrast to be interesting without competing with the stunning statement floors, and somehow the palette speaks to a quiet femininity that just works for me.

Woven Ombré Towels + rose quartz Rock Soap – Anthropologie

Another of the decisions I kept secret until today was the question of which faucet would win the day. If you’ve been following along, I think it will come as no surprise that the Delta Trinsic was the right faucet for our space.

Cucina Hand Soap – Anthropologie

The champagne bronze finish of the Delta Trinsic is absolutely perfect with the gorgeous satin brass Lewis Dolin pulls from Upper Canada Specialty Hardware, don’t you think? This faucet is extra special in that it features SmartTouch® technology. The proximity sensor allows us to use the faucet totally hands-free when needed, and just a touch of the faucet also allows us to tap it on or off. We can of course just turn it on and off the old-fashioned way as well if we choose to!

I decided to have a little fun with the storage for my pre-soak stain removal detergent and picked up the black faceted geometric terrarium you see below on the right from West Elm. Paired with an antique silver spoon it makes stain removal seem almost an elegant affair, don’t you think? Perfect to use with our amazingly deep and functional Blanco sink from The Home Depot.

If you’re a detail freak like me, you’ll notice there are little touches that have yet to be finished {like caulking in the corners along the edges of the cut tile} but overall I couldn’t be happier with this dramatic transformation. From the floors and brass details adding sophistication, to the white oak doors and floating shelf adding a humble yet modern warmth, to the vases and bins adding a feminine edge and sense of style, this little laundry room has a new lease on life and has successfully converted me into a laundry lover after all!

A huge thank you to Ashley Capp for doing such a beautiful job of capturing the space for me – you are truly the loveliest!

And once again, a massive and heartfelt THANK YOU to all of my incredible brand partners for making this laundry room not only possible, but ultimately a gratitude project:

Subfloor R+ and SMARTWALL system – Dricore
LED pot lights – CREE Canada
Casing, baseboard and white oak slab doors – Metrie
Brass cabinet pulls and sliding door system – Upper Canada Specialty Hardware
Cabinet, wall and trim paint – Para Paints
Trinsic Faucet – Delta
Blanco Sink – The Home Depot
Silestone Lagoon slab for countertops – Cosentino
Bevelled subway tile – Creekside Tile Toronto
White + brass vases for flowers and brass jack – Black Rooster Decor
Tyvek storage bins – TooFifteen

Now it’s time for me to pour over the details of all of the reveal posts from these amazing talents!

Coco + Kelley * Jana Bek * Autumn Clemons * The English Room * Vanessa Francis * Greige Design * Hi SugarplumI Heart Organizing * Jenna Sue Design * Stephanie Kraus * The Pursuit of Style * Julia Ryan * Savvy Home Simple Details * Simply Grove * 6th Street Design * Jill Sorensen * Swoon Worthy * Waiting On Martha * Kimberly Shlegel Whitman * and my friends and linking participants Lisa Canning and Abby M. Interiors. Go to Calling It Home to check out all of the amazing “afters” posted today by the Linking Participants for the April 2015 edition of the One Room Challenge!

Be sure to leave me a comment below telling me what your favourite details are from our little laundry room makeover. I’d love to hear what you think of the final reveal. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Now, off to do some laundry! *wink*

xo
s.

By |May 7th, 2015|53 Comments

Mother’s Day 2015 | A Curated Gift Guide

Searching for unique and beautiful ideas on how to spoil your Mom {or perhaps how to be spoiled as Mom} this year? Look no further. This year’s Curated Mother’s Day Gift Guide has a little something for everyone.

ONE: This sweet little book entitled Collected Quotations from Chronicle Books is the perfect place to jot down all those quirky quips and unforgettable tweetables your kids come up with, and the cover’s so pretty you’ll be happy to keep it on display for regular reading and updating.

TWO: It’s impossible to measure the number of kisses a Mom dishes out in a day, but it is possible to give her a little something to keep her lips perfectly kissable! Tata Harper’s new Lip and Cheek Tint in Very Popular is totally organic, absolutely gorgeous and totally on my wish list.

THREE: What could be more decadent than a bit of pampering with a modern manicure from Her Majesty’s Pleasure? Add a glass of champagne and the company of a good friend to savour the experience with her and she’ll feel utterly spoiled.

FOUR: Infuse her wardrobe with a little leopard love with this gorgeous clutch from Clare Vivier. It’s timeless and fashion forward all at the same time. The perfect clutch for a little pattern play.

FIVE: Tell her she’s golden with this gorgeous Tom Dixon votive holder from Anthropologie. Even better, get a set of three to decorate the table for that brunch you’re going to make her. *wink*

SIX: Looking for the perfect way to spoil Mom rotten? Go for gold with this stunning rose gold Cleo Necklace by Carbon and Hyde, available through Gilding The Lily.

SEVEN: Give her fresh flowers that she can enjoy for years to come with this stunning art print Alex by Ashley Woodson Bailey via Citizen Atelier.

More than anything, use your words. Tell her how much you love her. Take the time to write down all of her most uniquely beautiful qualities. Tell her how much she means to you. Thank her for all the little things she does to make you feel loved. And keep telling her these things day after day after day. It’s the best kind of gift you can give her.

Happy Mother’s Day!

xo
s.

By |May 5th, 2015|0 Comments