Back from vacation…

We had a great time on vacation, went to visit my Moms house for a 2 week stay on Vancouver Island…

Landed ok…I do not like to fly anymore…and we had to go over the Rockies, oh my…  must admit better than driving through them for 2 days…the flight is only 1hour and 15 minutes from Calgary to Comox…

Now what does a designer do on vacation…

First things first…find a new lamp for your Mothers living room…   

This is the great new chandelier she bought last year…so I used it for inspiration…

                        Before   The old lamp, just sad…that’s all I can say (sorry I forgot to take a great before picture)

                    After   The new lamp…goes really well with the chandelier above…

Now the next thing to change…Art over and around the TV unit

Before…artwork she has had since 1962…time for a change…

After…new artwork that stands out a bit more, and a redo of the shelves of the TV unit…just adding a few books, moving the pictures around and adding a great suitcase I found in the shed…much better, my Mom was all smiles…

Now, tidy up the glass tops on the coffee and end tables…my Mom bought these tables in 1947…they look like tables out on the market this year, the x sides are all in…imagine having the same tables for that long…they have been refinished 3 times…(I would love to stain them in a dark espresso finish…maybe next visit !)

Before…with weird felts under the glass, just to busy…I have wanted to replace them for years…after we started changing things, I just got bossy and changed them out for clear rubber ones without asking…she smiled at me…so I knew I was not in trouble…

After…now isn't that better, so nice I bought the flowers to add some colour to the top…

Now, time for dinner…my Mom took us to a wonderful restaurant in  Comox, Blackfin Pub check them out here

I loved the metal artwork and flowers on the deck, so nice…

My hubby Jim with my Mom…on the deck. I had a great salmon dinner on the outside deck above…over looking a view of the marina…

Me and Mom at the Marina, nice place for a walk after dinner…

A few days later we went for Brunch at the Kingfisher Spa…we did some major eating on vacation…that’s what a vacation is for right?

Just one of the most wonderful places to stay, spa and eat on the island…Kingfisher Spa, check them out here

The brunch food was amazing…you name it, they were serving it…

This is the garden between the restaurant and the spa…

So you take pictures of the flowers, right…here’s a few…

OK, that enough flower pictures, right? Ok, now how about birds @ the beach…

 

I collected some nice rocks and shells for a bowl on the coffee table…this time I remembered to put them in my main luggage and not in my carry on…last time they took my rocks away from me at the airport…so embarrassing…I thought they were kidding, they were not…(I had forgot they were in my purse, security was not amused)

Now one of the coolest things we did on vacation was go to see the RCMP Musical Ride…they came to the Comox Valley while we were there…great timing…

Beautiful Horses…

If you ever have an opportunity to see the musical ride, I recommend it highly…it was an amazing show of skill with the horses…all the riders are working officers with the RCMP…they do this for fun…just amazing !

Well that is what I did for vacation…back 3 days and I am swamped with clients…I am booking appointments for September already…I have a feeling the recession is recovering…fingers crossed !

Just after I order the magazine…it closes

I am shocked… to hear the news about Southern Accents, I just

subscribed to it a few weeks ago…

I had just received my first issue and now it is gone…

The last time I ordered a new magazine subscription…

I ordered Domino …

and a few issues after that it closed…

Oh my, Canadian House and Home & Style at Home

Please hang in there !   This designer needs her magazine fix every month and the pickings are getting very slim…

Chances with Pink…

It is a few hours before I officially take off on vacation, so dear blog world I am leaving for 2 weeks…with out my laptop…I need a rest and without it I just might get one.

So I have decided to leave you with some of my favourite pictures using pink.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Colour blocking on each side of the fireplace, adds pop with one gallon of paint…they used hue of pink from the floral fabric to get it right on…always pick the fabric before the paint…

Lots of white…with bits of yellow…and accented with pink. Use of black in this room makes it sing and the area rug just grounds the lot, love this room.

I love the soft pink on this house, the use of black for the bench and the window awning adds punch…and then how cute is that smart car…

Change out the art and pillows…paint the bookcase another colour…any colour and you can change this rooms feeling completely…that is smart design, really smart design…

OK, who’s has the guts to do this to their kitchen…or for Joni, who’s husband would let them do this to the kitchen, if they really and I mean really needed to do this…lol   I know if I asked my husband,  he would think I was nuts but he would let me!

This is pink and Brilliant !  Change the ribbons for a different colour and your done !

 

How cool is this, candle drip catchers used for a bit of bling and sparkle, oh and the pink tulips are lovely too!

 

Now I thought I would leave you with a great quote…

Take chances everyone, even with colour…what colour have you used as an accent in your home…has anyone used pink ?

Client Presentation July 31,2009

Today’s presentation, wish me luck…I will pick the lamps and artwork this morning to finish off the room…that was this morning…

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Back from work, all went very well, client loved and purchased it all… I will now add the pictures of the lamps and artwork I added to finish off the room.

Theatre Room and Reading Room, click on plan to enlarge…

Close up of the wall to wall carpet in the room.

Paint on the walls Benjamin Moore “Turret” - CC-604

“Matinee” Theatre Seating in Dark Brown Leather.

“Kiefer” Sleeper Sofa in a taupe micro with a herringbone pattern.

Pillows on the sofa, larger ones for the pop of colour and smaller ones to speak back to the chairs and ottoman.

 

2  American Journal End Tables from Kincaid in the Blackberry finish. I always use black tables when there are too many finishes in the room or I cannot exactly match the a finish.

Uttermost Lamps on each end table, which is going to look like a million bucks on the black finish tables.

Leather storage ottoman on casters, in same leather as theatre seating above.

 

2  Talbot chairs, side by side.

Repeating the Dark Brown Leather on a Allegra chair and Talbot ottoman is matching fabric as the chairs and pillows.

18”D Accent table from Hammary with a Blackstone top and iron legs, sits beside the allegra chair.

Uttermost Floor Lamp beside the allegra chair, behind the round accent table.

2 Howard Miller Bookcases/Ty Pennington designer… one on each side of the fireplace…see picture below, they are going to look wonderful.

 

Artwork…called “Burnt Orange Dish” it is a ceramic plate attached to the center of the frame

I can just see the artwork over the fireplace and the bookcases on each side, the art is wild and will give the fireplace just the right amount of pop…

This was fun, I hope you enjoyed looking at my work as much as I enjoyed posting it…

Regards,       

Carol Ann xx