A Visit to Piper and Oak

 A while back I was in Paris, not across the pond, but Ontario.  It is a lovely and pretty town on the banks of the Grand River. There are fantastic restaurants and shops.  There are many outdoor activities to enjoy in Paris. We had a great lunch a Stillwaters at the short break between restaurants  being open and closed.

Of course no decorator can visit a new town without checking out the stores featuring items for the home. I checked Piper and Oak and found it to have an assortment of high end giftware items especially home fragrance products - great soaps, creams, candles, bath products.  It is worth the drive to Paris and a visit to this well appointed shop. 

Below are a few photos I took -

Great Home Decor & Furniture at 'Love Your Home'

I found the most wonderful Home furnishings and decor shop in Guelph on Brock Rd.  Love Your Home. I can never resist popping in to these type of places as I am so very addicted to lovely items for the home.  I ventured up to this store just after I had spent an afternoon at the Aberfoyle Antique Market.  Of course I found a couple of items I had wanted and thus made a purchase.  This is a beautiful boutique type store with more than one level of goodies.  It was hard to leave.  I know anyone who is into home decor will want to visit this store.  Not only can you find wonderful furniture and decor items for your home;  there are many items for gift giving.  For sure I will be heading back to this great store. Here are a few photos I took.

                                            

MORE BROWSING FOR HOME DECOR

As a continuation of my trips to retail stores that specialize in furniture and home decor I dropped into Structube for a little look and found many great items.  It will not disappoint. Below are a few looks you might like.  Gray is still popular but there is a lot of cognac hues throughout.

                                              Benches are very popular for a casual look

STILL CHECKING OUT HOME FURNISHINGS AND DECOR STORES

Well I have to share some of the fantastic items at Kitchen Stuff Plus (KSP) which a lot of people know about.  They have a wide array of kitchen/dining products from everyday to party.  They also have bath products and so many little gadgets you will go crazy wandering through this great store.  I am attaching some photos below of the kitchen/dining products in this post. I will share the other products in a future post. They carry high end end pieces like Staub Cookware, Henckels &  Zwilling Knives at great price points. You can even purchase dining tables and chairs, a lovely bar with storage and all the linens you would need. I could go on about the many fabulous products but you really should take some time to visit this store at one of their many locations.

  

Gresham House Furniture

This morning I had the opportunity to visit and take a tour of the Gresham House showroom and workroom where all of the beautiful furniture is made.  They create everything from sofas, sofa beds, ottomans, chairs, headboards, bed rails and so on.  Yes, it is Canadian made hardwood with all of the very best in construction as well as fillings.

It starts with Canadian hardwood which is corner blocked, dowelled, screwed and glued.  Sinuous springs and web and coil are offered.  The arms and backs are padded with cotton felt and green soya foam to offer comfort that lasts.  A single upholsterer works on each piece individually from start to finish. 

The seat cushions are made with eco friendly foam, soya, which is extremely durable and is wrapped in a soft fibre channeled so that it won't move around, and finished in a cotton casing to ensure futher durability. It is much nicer if one opens the outer fabric to see a nice white casing rather than just the foam.  

If you prefer feather cushions, for their luxuriousness, there is a feather blend.  100% waterfowl feather wrap for seats with a foam core and 60% waterfowl feather, 40 % fibre for the backs.  The ultimate in luxury is down fill (20% down, 80% waterfowlfeather in the backs and enveloped wrap on seats.

Each piece is hand cut individually in order to ensure that patterns are matched and then passed to the sewers.  The sewers do their part and then it is passed to the upholsterer who as mentioned earlier does the entire piece.  When sewing, the piping is cut on the bias for a better look and fit.

Cottage Paint

The other day a colleague and I had the opportunity to visit Cottage Paint and meet with Gail Rogers who kindly showed us how to use the paint and create different finishes. 

Cottage Paint is a clay-based paint that dries to a silky matte finish, and remains porous and easy to sand or wet distress when dry, making it perfect for the Shabby-Chic style furniture refinishing on trend right now. This type of paint isn’t new of course, it’s been around since the frescos in the Sistine Chapel, but the benefit of this modern clay paint is that it has been formulated to exceed today’s environmental standards by removing almost all of the VOCs in both the bases and the pigments. Cottage Paint is used as a furniture refinishing product, it achieves an authentic time-worn appearance through it’s chalky finish and the hand rubbed technique used to distress it. You can create many additional finishes when using their specialty products as well, the possibilities seem almost endless once you start to experiment with it.

 A few of the great qualities this paint has:

• Cottage Paint dries in about 15 minutes to one hour. Never do more than THREE applications of anything to a piece per day though, even if you can.
• It adheres to just about any surface you can think of: wood, plastic, metal, brick
• It requires NO sanding, priming or stripping most of the time. Just make sure the surface is clean. Varnished and stained surfaces do require priming to seal the surface prior to painting.
• The paint can be distressed as soon as it is dry using a damp cloth or fine sand paper.
• Cottage Paint does not roll or peel like latex when sanded, it appears as if the paint has gradually worn off over time.
• Can be used in conjunction with their other decorative finishes to create endless unique looks and combinations

Below are some of the different surface treatments available but a visit to this supplier is worth the time.

 My favourite below - using a special was on the fabric and then adhering it to a tabletop

If anyone is interested in a demonstration, please stop by Sheridan Nurseries for Ladies Night Out at the location on Southdown Road, Mississauga at 7 pm.,

Cannes has it all - Sun, Fun and Architecture

To anyone following this blog I have an amazing announcement - Air Transit found and returned my lost tablet with my vacation photos.  Wow, I am delighted!  Now on to the 2nd part of my trip to France.

Yes, Cannes has it all - fun in the sun, great food and amazing architecture.

Our second week in France took us to Cannes, (known for the famous film festival.and pronounced Can like a can of anything)

A stop at the famous french flea markets is a must

A block from our hotel is the historic Suquet districe which is lined with

shops and cafes right down to the waterfront

A cafe closed during the early day

open at night

 Home of the famous Cannes Film Festival on the waterfront

 A short boat ride away and we landed on the Abbey of Lerins, where Monks wander and

practice as well as make wine

 A little retail therapy in the Suquet

All the fabulous yachts in Monaco

I couldn't come to Cannes without looking for the area that housed interior decor items - Le Hoche