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An Update on Project Ugly Duckling + an Intro to Project Debonaire Young Sir

I don’t know if I can get an “amen” on this one from any of my fellow migraine sufferers, but this weather has been giving me a run for my money lately! At least I think it’s the weather. Apparently we are in for another week of rain here in Ontario, which is not exactly the best news I’ve heard all year. Ugh. These are the weeks I start packing my bags and buying us all one-way tickets to California. You’d come with me, right? At least, those of you who aren’t there already!

{source}

Well in the midst of the gloom and glum of overcast skies and endless wet, good news keeps arriving in inconspicuous cardboard boxes via my friendly neighbourhood FedEx delivery man. Firstly, the wallpaper has arrived for the bathroom!! The rolls are actually bookmatched to one another so that the pattern is wider than your typical wallpaper and feels more like a mural. Decadent! I. Can’t. Wait. To. Get. This. Fornasetti. Gorgeousness. Installed. In. My. Home! Colour me giddy.

Another lovely delivery to arrive by post this week are my sconces for the bathroom. I wanted something simple, slightly retro and even nautical/industrial in feel while still modern and fresh. I’m really happy with the look {and the deal} of what I found. I ordered two of these Possini sconces from Lamps Plus which arrived lickety-split. No fuss. No muss. Very happy.

OK, it is now confession time. Yes, I wanted to go with satin brass on all of the fixtures in this bathroom. Naturalment. But I had already purchased the towel bars and other accessories in chrome a year or more ago when we renovated the other bathroom, thinking I would want all the bathrooms in the house to flow. While on the one hand I’m sad that my need for brass cannot be fulfilled in this space, on the other hand, the chrome faucet I’ve order was a fraction of the cost it would have been in satin brass. And chrome never dates. So I am content.

I’m also excited, because the hallway that connects to this bathroom {the one that is now adorned with that gorgeous chevron floor} also connects to a bedroom {formerly my design office, which I’ve moved} and we have decided to transform it into Noah’s new “suite.” He’s a rather sophisticated little monsieur, so I’ve decided to call this Project Debonaire Young Sir.

I’m basing the inspiration very loosely on one of my favourite bedrooms by one of my favourite fellow designers: Thomas Smythe. Tommy Smythe has officially got debonaire down to an art form.

{Image via House + Home}

Much will be different about our space, of course, as Noah wants cream walls rather than charcoal and mama can’t afford to get her sweet little prince a Louis Phillipe commode just yet…but, the mix of pattern, the gallery wall, the nod to colonialism…well, I hope to include a dash of all that goodness with a little whimsy thrown in for good measure!

Still waiting on the mudder/taper to get in here and finish the walls so we can get the baseboards, crown and trim up. It’s a good shot to the arm to have fun things arriving in boxes right now as it makes me feel like progress is still being made, even if the rooms are kind of at a stand-still right now.

{drums fingers on desk and looks up number of drywaller again}

It’s so hard to wait when the Ugly Duckling is showing signs of her inner swan emerging! But many years in this business have taught me that it will be worth the wait. Sigh.

Wishing you all a very happy, inspired Thursday!

xo
s.

By |July 4th, 2013|1 Comment

An Update for Project Ugly Duckling {including some VERY good news!}

I received a very, very happy phone call last week and it has been all I could do to keep the news of it under my hat until now. As it would happen, the lovely ladies at Kravet Canada follow my blog and read last Tuesday’s post about my love affair with Fornasetti’s Nuvole wallpaper.

This may feel a bit like a genealogy for a moment, but Fornasetti wallpapers are made by Cole and Son, and Cole and Son is distributed by Kravet. It’s one big happy designer family with many different personalities and aesthetics represented in the clan.

Well, last Wednesday I received an unexpected call from Sonia at Kravet {as a side note, this woman has the most perfectly shaped eyebrows you’ve ever seen…seriously…I have confessed my eyebrow envy to her many a time}. To my utter amazement and total delight, Cole and Son has decided to sponsor the wallpaper!!! Eeeeeee!!! I’m pretty much covered in bruises from pinching myself since I got Sonia’s delightful call and cannot WAIT to get this stunning, statement-making paper installed! Oh happy day!!!

The truth is, we are just at the drywall stage, repairing the walls now that the electrical has been done, and I’m waiting for the mudder and taper to fit us into his schedule. {Mudding and taping is the ONE job Graham won’t do – he values his sanity too much. Read: mudding and taping is the messiest, most tedious, WORST job in a reno!} Once the mudding and taping are done, Graham will get the trim up and we’ll paint the trim and crown and ceiling, etc…and THEN the wallpaper can go up! So I have to take my patience pill for now and wait a couple of weeks for the gorgeousness to be revealed to you all. Things are always much slower when you do the work yourself, but gratifying too {and of course, WAY cheaper}.

Next on my to-do list is lighting, so I’ll update you with that next week as we keep plugging away on the beautification of Project Ugly Duckling. She’s still more duckling than swan right now, but I can visualize her transformation and am rather giddy at the anticipation of the reveal!

Happy Thursday!

xo
s.

By |June 27th, 2013|3 Comments

Design Find | The Casa Acanto Collection by Fisher Weisman

It’s been nearly a year since that fateful day when I naïvely stumbled into the design offices of Fisher Weisman, thinking I’d come upon a retail store. Their bright red door – top half open to the breeze – was the perfect gateway to the enticing view of spectacular custom pieces within. Little did I know that in that moment I had surreptitiously discovered one of the premier design firms in San Francisco.

Today I am delighted to tell you that this brilliant design duo has recently launched their own line of accessories and furnishings, bringing their impeccably original and timelessly beautiful designs to a wider audience with the launch of Casa Acanto.

The name for the eponymous Casa Acanto collection was drawn from Andrew Fisher and Jeffrey Weisman’s spectacular 18th century San Miguel De Allende Mexican retreat, recently featured in Architectural Digest.

Casa Acanto‘s stunning collection of tables, desks and accessories showcases Fisher Weisman’s brilliance for pairing exquisite craftsmanship with intricate details and the use of unexpected materials. The collection is at once timeless and yet somehow other-worldly, inviting a fanciful sense of wonder and admiration at their attention to detail and delightfully unique designs.

“The Casa Acanto collection showcases the dramatic style and unabashed luxury that have become hallmarks of our interiors,” said Andrew Fisher, Chief Creative Director of Casa Acanto. “Throughout the course of our careers, custom pieces have been key to our work and the Casa Acanto collection enables us to offer our designs to a broader audience that appreciates inventive design.”
Perhaps my favourite grouping in the Casa Acanto collection is the Veracruz series of outdoor tables, exquisitely crafted from Brazillian teak and powder coated steal. The way these pieces fit together like a puzzle is entirely genius, and the flexibility they offer for a variety of configurations for entertaining is perfect for our fluid and flexible lifestyles. I can see this collection of tables making a stunning formal dining table for an indoor dining space just as much as outdoors, but how decadent to dine in such luxury under the stars!

Perhaps it is in their collection of Casa Acanto accessories that Fisher Weisman‘s sense of whimsy and wonder are most keenly expressed. The golden toad appears to have materialized straight out of the pages of a fairytale.

Casa Acanto is the culmination of our combined five decades in the design industry,” said Jeffry Weisman.  “The collection pairs rich materials with fanciful details and exquisite workmanship.  We are thrilled to offer these distinctive pieces, designed to transform any room.”
With such a delightful initial offering, I will most definitely be keeping a close watch on all things Casa Acanto and Fisher Weisman! They have unquestionably captured my imagination and delighted my appetite for innovative design.
xo
s.
By |June 25th, 2013|0 Comments