I love Christmas.....

I know we live in a time where all "Holiday" celebrations seem to fall under the umbrella of "Holidays" which is fine, but I celebrate Christmas and,  of course it is a religious day, but it is also a time for fun, friends, family, great food, gifts, and DECORATING.  I have enough Christmas decorations stored in my basement that I could have a little store.  I am trying to control my purchases in this area but not too successfully.  I know one should 'purge' something when bringing a little something new into the house but I am not so good at that when it comes to Christmas.  Other times, I do well at purging but definitely not Christmas.

Over the past couple of years I have decided to take photos of some of my Christmas Decorating ideas just so I can look back and see what I have done and how I have changed or progressed.  I have written articles on Christmas Decorating for a local newspaper and recently myself and 2 colleagues did a demo at Sheridan Nurseries for a Holiday Centrepiece where we took one tray and decorated it 3 different ways depending on your personal taste and style.  I usually keep a general theme and colour scheme going but do vary a little depending on the room.  Below are some of my past years of decorating.  I have many new ones for this year so stay tuned and I may get them photographed in time to post this year.  I made a little video rather than post tons of photos.....

Getting Ready for Winter & the Holiday Season with Sheridan Nurseries

There was a large crowd of designers, decorators and other professionals at SoFA, www.visitsofa.com today for the Sheridan Nurseries, www.sheridannurseries.com Presentation of Winter & Holiday Planters.  WOW!!  How inspiring.  We all wanted to rush over to Sheridan and pick up our supplies and then home to make our own creations.

One of the recent new companies to join The Marketplace at SoFA is Gardenflame,  www.mygardenflame.com,  who offer concrete fire pits and other decor items, made with a special concrete, thus making them much less heavy than regular concrete.  They use gas or propane and come in many different styles. They have a showroom in Burlington, ON as well.   Thank you to Gardenflame who sponsored our lunch and the speakers at our event.

Introducing the floral designers from Sheridan Nurseries, is Linda Kafka, Director of Marketing for SoFA.

There were several styles created and displayed.  For more great arrangements and holiday decorations, visit a Sheridan Nursery near you.

Just a few of the many styles available

Most decorators and designers who live and work in the GTA and surrounding area are well aware of SOFA, located at the International Centre in Mississauga, www.visitsofa.com and what a treasure trove it is,  carrying everything you require to create beautiful interiors under one roof.

This one stop Design Resource Centre for designers & decorators offers the highest quality and variety of products with so many options you feel like a kid in a candy store. There are over 30 showrooms offering everything;  including rugs, lighting, mirrors, accessories, art, furniture, kitchen appliances like you have never seen, luxury linen, tableware and much more.  This Resource Centre has grown in leaps and bounds from its early beginnings, especially under the direction of the current Director of Marketing, Linda Kafka. This can be credited to the fact that she is always obtaining input from the very people who will be utilizing their services - the designers & decorators and trying to make our jobs easier.  This makes for very efficient sourcing!!

SOFA offers many different events with prominent speakers and educational seminars throughout the year so that the designers and decorators are always up on the latest offerings they can pass along to their clients.

This is a trade only business but clients are always welcomed when accompanied with their designer/decorator. The extremely professional staff in all of the various showrooms are very efficient & knowledgeable about everything in their showroom and will bend over backwards to obtain any information required. That being said, SOFA still maintains a casual and welcoming nature that makes everyone who enters feel comfortable and glad they stopped in.

Check out a recent video made to highlight the greatness of SOFA with prominent designers and,  yours truly got to be an 'extra'.  Lots of fun.

Sheridan Nurseries Charity Event....

A couple of weeks ago, there was a great event held at Sheridan Nurseries, www.sheridannurseries.com on Southdown Road, in Mississauga.  It was "ladies night out" and along with many other businesses,  myself and two other decorators were there to do a decor presentation.  We chose holiday table centrepieces for our presentation and our theme was "one tray, three ways"  We wanted to appeal to every one's taste and style so we did a "Glitz & Glam", a "Refined Rustic" and a "Traditional Elegance".

We had a great time and all of the money raised was going to the Children's Wish www.childrenswish.ca

Here we are getting ready for our presentation.  Not sure why I look so serious??

Again I am so serious?? Must be concentrating on not breaking anything

All completed and looking very festive....

Traditional Elegance

Refined Rustic

Glitz & Glam

Cambria Quartz

Last week CHUM FM did an advertisement mentioning my name and that of my colleague which was a nice surprise. We spent a few hours at the gorgeous Cambria Showroom,  www.cambriacanada.com on Parliament St., in Toronto doing complimentary Consultations as part of their "Stylemaker Saturdays".  Just being in that showroom surrounded by the many lovely samples of quartz along with the designed spaces gets the creativity flowing.  I met some very nice people and enjoyed assisting with their new kitchen designs.