Art through the Seasons

Lately I have been so inspired by beautiful images and art. It has a way of taking me to another place and inspiring me. I recently purchased an amazing book to grace my coffee table called ‘An Eye for Design’ by Allegra Hicks, a London-based designer whose line of luxury fashion, homewares and accessories are sold worldwide.

The images are breathtaking! The colour and design that is captured in each photograph is stunning. The book has a way of awakening the inner artist in everyone….at least I think so. Allegra compares textiles, landscapes, nature and colour’s to different seasons and how we associate our memories and emotions with those seasons. Here are some of my most favorite displayed below. http://www.allegrahicks.com/

These make me dream big dreams for myself and help me get through these dreary winter months and to even appreciate the beauty seen in every season. Just like the seasons of life, ‘a time to rejoice, a time to rest, a time to mourn’, there is beauty in all of it.

Art is so interesting and I find very often when individuals are choosing artwork for their homes they have the idea it has to be matchy matchy; the art needs to match the toss cushions, the toss cushions need to match the rug, the rug needs to match the coffee table etc etc. Not the case! What is so freeing about art is how expressive it is and that it breaks the rules and does not have to be put in a box. Art is meant to evoke strong emotion, conversation and even controversy. So keep this in mind next time you are choosing that perfect piece for your space, it can flow with the room without matching every detail of it, don’t put yourself in a design box J

A few years ago my husband and I were on a cruise through the Caribbean, beautiful. On this cruise they had an art auction. We have always shared an interest in art and love going to museums and galleries on our travels, so we thought WHAT FUN! Plus there was free champagne! Well we ended up purchasing our first real piece by Michael Godard. If you know me at all my style is generally French provincial classic; Michael Godard is a bit of a rebel from Vegas, his artwork includes images of olives, strawberries and grapes in bar scenes whilst getting intoxicated. Needless to say a bit of a switch from the Paris street
scene I have hanging in my living room. Our piece is a little tamer; it features a grape and an olive drinking wine on the beach under the moon. It’s different and I LOVE it and it always comes with a story. http://www.michaelgodard.com/

  

~ Daniela

LONDONTOWN

Well I am off to London this evening, and I couldn’t be more excited. It has been a couple years now since my last visit to this wonderful city and I can’t wait to be there once again!

I have been to London twice before and I just love the energy and excitement you feel when you are there, like it is really ‘the place to be’. There is SOO much to do, and see and eat it is hard to cram it all in to a 2 week vacation….but it will be done.

I love the history of the city, beautiful churches, historical buildings gorgeous museums and galleries that really take your breath away. On my last trip I just couldn’t get enough pictures of the architecture of the city and the quaintness of the countryside and old cobblestone roads.

So as my husband and I were planning out the itinerary for the trip (which you really need to do or its just overwhelming) I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to hit up some design hotspots. London is known for being so ahead of us in fashion, design etc. I want to seize the chance to see what is out there in good old Londontown. As I was doing my research I came across an awesome post from the Design Sponge blog called London Design Guide. They have outlined tons of great London design spots including small shops, department stores and many of the markets throughout the city.

The list is tres long and I am planning on narrowing down where I would like to go on my very looooooong flight over, but here are a few that stood out:

Liberty – Mix of Vintage and Modern furniture with a big lighting department

Mint – for a little ‘window shopping’

Selfridges –  A department store which supposedly has a fantastic interiors section

And of course will have to check out Portobello market and Borough market for some one of kind finds!

I will hopefully be able to post some pics from the trip while I am away of what I have been up to and any of the great design finds I come across in my travels! Cheerio!

~ Daniela

Shout Out to Urban Barn!!!

Now if you know me then you know that Urban Barn is my old stomping grounds, such a great Canadian grown company with awesome product I just love it. I  learned so much about furniture and how to piece together the perfect unique space for a persons individual taste during my time there. As with any retail job it seems that is where my paychecks always ended up, but it was well worth it :)

Urban Barn is known for its modern and contemporary styles along with innovative and sometimes ‘out there’ accessories. I have to say I was so impressed with my last visit in to the store. They had just gotten there new shipment of accessories, bedding, pillows and artwork and I wasn’t leaving empty handed that’s for sure.

For seasonal I purchased the Mini Cinderella Pumpkins which you may have seen me use for my dining table centrepiece.

LOVING their new Karma Toss Cushions, such great colours and design interest.

Owls are everywhere!!! I don’t know what it is – but owls are in! Anything from an accent owl on your side table, to owl bookends, to owl toss cushions. Loved what UB had in the way of this.

Chic French inspired wall hooks.

Contemporary wall clock – ‘White and Black Oval Clock’

And much much more! You can check out their website below. Urban Barn is also great for custom sofas, loveseats, chairs and even headboards. This way you are able to pick the perfect furniture piece to fit your space in a fabric you love!  Urban Barn

Another great tool on there website is ‘The Make Room’ it is an easy to use interactive room planner. This is sooo great for anyone wanting to plan or design a space. It can be so frustrating measuring out a space for furniture and often very expensive mistakes are made. Using this tool you can plan out exactly what will fit in your space which will also give you a great visual plan view of your room that you can print off and take with you on your furniture shop! I love useful design tools like this, it makes the planning process much easier. You can check this out below.

The Make Room 

Hope you found these design tips useful! ~ Daniela