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High Point Market Highlights | Wesley Hall

One of the things I loved about exploring the showrooms at High Point Market was discovering the diverse “personalities” of the lines that were presented. Each showroom definitely had its own mood or vibe, and I would describe the vibe at Wesley Hall as sexy. Why sexy? Because more than anything, I fell in love with the curves and sumptuous lines of their pieces. I’m kind of a curvy girl myself I’d say, so it felt like they were speaking my language! And the truth is, if you get the lines of a piece right you can really upholster it in anything and take it in a thousand directions that will all end in fabulous.

Here are my top four picks from their new releases at this October’s Market:

ONE: The Barber Curved Banquette is all kinds of femme-glam with her hourglass figure and her button tufting and nailhead trim details. This is the kind of piece I would build a sophisticated breakfast nook around as the heart of a happy home. Here’s a shot of her live and in person nestled up to a round dining table in the showroom:

TWO: The Sway Accent Ottoman feels like it is extending an invitation to me to have my backside cradled by the warm embrace of its contoured shape. I look at it and immediately want to sit on it with the feeling that the curvaceousness of my badonkadonk will not be judged, but rather welcomed into a piece that was designed just for me and my backside. Any piece of furniture that can make me feel like being curvy is where it’s at has my number. I loved seeing this piece upholstered in this chartreuse chevron {below} in the showroom. Dee-lish.

THREE: The Foster Tufted Sofa is a beautiful marriage of traditional and modern. The tufted back and roll arms feel very debonaire English traditional, while the fully upholstered deck and legs and the nailhead detail that highlight them have a very modern edge, making this the perfect transitional sofa. I also kind of want to bite my palm seeing it finished in that decadent navy velvet. Truly a forever investment piece, Foster is the kind of handsome gentleman I would love to see with a dashing twin, the pair facing one another and flanking an oversized and dramatic fireplace.

FOUR: The Dunham Bench? Well, she’s got legs, and she knows how to use them. Between her leggy details, her button tufting and the gorgeous trim details {all customizable, of course} she is my kind of girl. I also fell in love with her kissing cousin, the Dunham Ottoman {shown below bunched as a group of four for a flexible, functional and fabulous alternative to a coffee table. Don’t you just love the contrast between the velvet and the linen? Yummy.}.

There were many other pieces in the Wesley Hall collection that put a glimmer in my eye, and my guess is they’ll be showing up in future posts. I’m also particularly intrigued by the rumour that headboards are in Wesley Hall’s fabulous future. I will most definitely be keeping my eyes open for that kind of gorgeousness when it makes its debut!

Hope this finds you warm and well on this Wednesday morning. Thank you, Wesley Hall, for such sexy and sumptuous inspiration to get our motors running!

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|November 13th, 2013|1 Comment

High Point Market Highlights | Madcap Cottage

Remember that announcement I made last week about the death of the matching furniture set? Well today’s post is an expansion on that announcement if you will. Today’s announcement?

Quirky is the new cool.

Yep, it’s true. In a design world where we now value personal expression over fitting in, a little quirk, a little whimsy and a heaping dose of the unexpected is just what the design doctor ordered, and the delightful gents at Madcap Cottage are leading the charge.

Decorating with pattern and creating a bespoke, unexpected mix with unique vintage finds are two of the hallmarks of John Loecke and Jason Oliver Nixon’s design aesthetic, and the Madcap Cottage booth in the Antique & Design Center showed off their signature style with aplomb. In fact, there are 3 Design Lessons that I think we should all take note of today as we enjoy these snapshots of their booth.

DESIGN LESSON #1 : EMBRACE PATTERN AND COLOUR

Can you say “pattern on pattern?” It’s de rigeur for this daring duo, whose fearless use of florals, geometrics, tribal patterns and colour is innately charming and all kinds of throwback fresh with an au courant edge that places them squarely on my “must watch” list. Like a box of decadent French bon bons, they never seem to stop at “just one” with their use of patterns and prints.

Take for example some of the details in this vignette. Thibaut’s Bungalow wallpaper from their new Resort Collection makes for a a cheery “hello” yellow backdrop to the grouping pictured above and below, and the Michael Taylor for Baker Furniture asian sofa pictured in this vignette is available through the Madcap Cottage 1st Dibs store here. Love the pillows? Then you’ll definitely want to check out the complete Madcap Cottage pillow collection.

I also loved the faux bamboo barrel back chair {below} that sat opposite the asian sofa in this grouping, yet another example of Jason and John’s unabashed use of pattern. I mean, pink leopard with a vintage floral on a faux bamboo chair, all sitting on a vintage kilim rug? Come. On.

DESIGN LESSON #2 : EXPRESS YOUR PERSONALITY WITH VINTAGE PIECES

Seems I wasn’t the only one making a beeline for the delightfully unexpected inspiration awaiting in the charming Madcap Cottage booth. In fact, I had to pause and stop at another booth on my way just so that I wouldn’t feel as though I was stalking Tobi Fairley {pictured below perusing the Madcap collection}. I was coming straight from Tobi’s session on the business of design that she had just finished delivering, and the session was packed with valuable insights on the changing landscape of the design industry.

I love the canopy cain chair that Tobi Style Spotted. It was my favourite piece in the booth as well, and I particularly love the hot coral piping on the Tony Duquette upholstery. Delicieux.

The Madcap Cottage booth was of course brimming with all sorts of amazing vintage finds just waiting to infuse your home with that quirky and unexpected “something” you’ve been searching for.

How charming is the Vintage Carousel Light {pictured above}? It’s got enough personality in and of itself to launch the design of an entire room. If only I didn’t already have a light fixture and design direction for the nursery this would have made the perfect jumping-off point!

DESIGN LESSON #3 : GALLERY GROUPINGS ARE WHERE IT’S AT

Of all the reasons I love them, I think my fondness for the clever curators of the Madcap Cottage collection is rooted in our shared love of all things British. Scouring the globe for unique finds, these two gems spend a great deal of time on my “family island” of the UK, and it shows in the decidedly English dose of debonaire to be seen throughout their booth.

Don’t you just love the way Thibaut’s “Shore Thing” wallpaper creates a dramatic canvas for this gallery of British gents in all their finery?

More than just purveyors of vintage finds, custom furniture and a signature pillow collection, Jason Oliver Nixon and John Loecke also offer design services where you can see all three of today’s design lessons come to life. Just feast your eyes on their use of pattern, colour, vintage finds and gallery groupings in these refreshingly unique spaces:

Thank you, Jason and John, for the abundance of inspiration! It was a delight meeting you both, and I hope our paths will cross again soon.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|November 6th, 2013|0 Comments

The Curated Collection | Off the Walls + Into The Woods | Zoé Ouvrier

I love it when art is able to come off of the walls and create its own centre stage and spotlight. Some pieces do that figuratively with their strength of presence and story. Others do so more literally, combining art and architecture and merging with the world of design in inspiring yet unexpected ways. Such is the spectacular work of French artist Zoé Ouvrier and her decadent wood-carved screens.

Born in Montpellier, France, Ouvrier studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. With nature as her muse, Zoé uses traditional methods derived from book and scroll making to engrave natural materials with strikingly fantasy-like woodland motifs. Plywood becomes elevated from the commonplace to the sublime in the caring and skilled hands of Ouvrier, and the results are nothing short of breathtaking.

The scale of her works is expansive, like set designs exquisitely crafted for the dramatic and tender moments of life. The perfect way to define a living or dining room in an open loft space, for example, one needs no wardrobe to escape into Narnia now. Ouvrier has provided all the entrée one needs into the vivid and detailed world of the imagination.

Zoé is represented by Gallery Fumi in London where inquiries for commissioned, one-of-a-kind works are welcomed, allowing designers and architects to place unique value on space planning with the juxtaposition and marriage of art, design and architecture. Ouvrier’s work has been featured in Vogue, Elle Decoration and at England’s estate museum Chatsworth House.

I hope Zoé’s work inspires you as much as it does me! I’m going to be dwelling in the land of imagination and wandering off into the woods today as I savour her beautiful pieces.

Happy Monday!

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|November 4th, 2013|0 Comments