Celebrating the Season.....

Our GTA West Chapter of CDECA had a nice celebration just prior to Christmas at the studio/showroom of one of our members.  Check out Parsons Interiors in Mississauga and Jackie Connolly will be happy to help you with your decorating requirements.www.parsonsinteriors.com. 

We had a great time and actually covered chapter business but more important - the food was great.  Unfortunately there are more photos of us having a good time and eating than of the lovely pieces in the showroom, so you will just have to stop by to see them!!

 

SOFA hosts the Canadian launch of Houzz.com

It has been a busy week for those in the design world...

I am a little late in posting this but it really has been a bit nutty with all the happenings. I must stay put and do some work but it has been a fun time getting out and about at events and seeing many new products.  One product which I already use is Houzz.   On November 29th,  SoFA , www.visitsofa.com hosted the Canadian Launch of Houzz, www.houzz.com which is the leading online platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device.

Houzz connects homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world.  Houzz is an easy way for people to find design and decor inspiration and advice.  Houzz starts the creative juices flowing but you then really need to find a designer or decorator to help you carry out your findings and bring about a great space. Houzz is a tool which assists us all and is less cumbersome than carrying around magazines with your picks.  You can create your wish list in an easy to use place and have it available whenever you require it.

Somewhere between 500 and 700 people in the design industry attended this fabulous event.  Thanks to SoFA's Director of Marketing, Linda Kafka, this was definitely a successful event. There were great hors d'oeuvres, great wine and the fun of connecting with others in this great industry.  I met some new people and caught up with some I already knew.  Lots of fun.  All of the showrooms were open and there were additional kiosks set up around the building to visit.  Lots of draws which is always fun.   Cheryl Tiegs was among those in attendance and she spoke and then met attendees in the AGA/Marvel Showroom after the presentation.  Liza Hausman, VP for Houzz presented the results from a new Houzz study on building, remodeling and decorating from the Canadian homeowners perspective . www.houzz.com

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

FALL TRADE SHOWS & HOME SHOWS FOR DESIGN & DECOR INFO.....

This post is a little late due to the fact that I caught it!! Yup got the bug going around and have been in bed since the weekend.  Going a bit stir crazy so decided to write something about the recent shows I attended.

Last week was a busy one with both The Decorating Centre Annual Trade Show,  www.thedecoratingcentre.ca and then IIDEX. I am loaded down with great information, and tons of reading material which I have been going through during my stay in bed.  Unfortunately I deleted all my photos this morning in error.  Guess I am not quite myself yet.  Better stay away from heavy equipment!! and the camera and possibly my computer.  Nah.... got to write.

AS in the past, the Decorating Centre put on a great day for us.  We were able to browse the suppliers new products and they are really great.  We heard some interesting speakers from Norwalk Furniture, www.norwalkfurniture.com giving us the Color Trends for fall, winter, spring and summer as well as Interior Designer, Kimberley Seldon www.kimberleyseldon.com and  Marysia Czarski of Velocity Partnership, www.velocity-partnership.com.  In addition to all of that we had a lovely lunch compliments of the Decorating Centre and many prizes were won.  Yeah!!  Sorry no photos this time.
IIDEX 2012 was this past week and there were many great new products to view.  I am hoping to borrow some photos from a colleague so I can show you some of these wonderful offerings.
Coming up will be the International Home Show and Interior Decorating Show, www.interiordecoratingshow.com, both at the International Centre on November 1 - 4, so mark your calendars.  With the line up of celebrity speakers it promises to be a great day.

Summer's here.....

June 21st,  the beginning of summer was marked by our chapter luncheon.  We had a fantastic turnout including several of our fabulous and supportive affiliates.  Our venue was Il Fornello in Oakville and a great time of networking and just catching up was had by all.  What a great way to start summer - good friends and good food!!

Keep watching as I discover more great decor and design destinations and products throughout the summer

GTA West Chapter of CDECA at Speers Paint

The May meeting was sponsored by Speers Paint www.speerspaint.com  in Oakville.  

Carlos Pignataro, store manager, provided us with information on preparing general specifications, including estimates, scope, examination of surfaces, surface preparation and workmanship. Wayne Woodley of Penwood Painting and Craig Lowe of Lowe Painting discussed wallcovering installations, painting systems, working with contractors and managing expectations of clients.  The area representative of Benjamin Moore was also in attendance to discuss characteristics of Benjamin Moore paints and recent developments.

Enjoying some refreshments while having our meeting

 Audrey introducing Carlos

 Carlos and Guido doing the draws.

The meeting concluded with opportunities for networking and further questions.  As usual we were treated to lovely refreshments and draws for prizes.  Thanks to everyone at Speers Paint for a great evening.

Spring and Home Shows....

It's that time of year when we all break out of our winter hibernation and start to enjoy warmer weather and of course the variety of local home shows.  Last weekend Oakville had it's annual home show and it was full of great and wonderful products and information on everything you need to upgrade your home.  This booth which was put together with some creative thought,  including some decor items showed how on trend they are. Below is a photo of Karl French from Speers Road Broadloom, www.speersroadbroadloom.com and Joe Isabella the Territory Manager from Shaw Industries, www.shawfloors.com posing with a very unique piece. 

A student from Fanshawe College in London created the dress and jacket out of carpets that Karl supplied.  She got a very good grade for this project and won an award.  For an close up look of this fabulous project, drop into Speers Road Broadloom, Oakville.

One display in particular was the Speers Road Broadloom

Barbeque at Painters Place

Everybody knows 'Tom's Place' www.paintersplace.ca in Oakville where you get the best service and of course great Benjamin Moore paint.  I attended the 'Redneck Barbeque' Tom and staff  had for their clients and what a great time it was.  Tom really knows how to throw a party and have fun as well.  There was fantstic food & beverages of course but the games were the hit of the evening.  Of course many wonderful prizes from suppliers as well.

 Everyone studying their Bingo Cards

Tom welcoming us and giving out prizes.  Love that hat!!

Thanks to Tom and his fabulous staff for a great night.

For the Love of Design and Decor and those who do it....

I am so passionate about design and decor.  I always enjoy meeting the people who have been at it longer than I have and who are well known in the industry.  Whenever I have the chance I usually introduce myself and if I have a camera with me I get a photo.  I find they are all incredibly friendly and do not mind taking the time to stop and chat with people. I have had the opportunity of meeting several of our great designers and maybe again in future I will run into them again and get their photos for my little album.

Here are a few I have met and had the opportunity to take their photos.......
I call it my Wall of Stars

Glen Peloso at the Brentwood Designer Night 2010

Colin and Justin Spring 2010

Leigh-Ann Allaire-Perrault at the an Event hosted by "The Painter's Place" in Oakville presenting Benjamin Moore

Kimberly Seldon at Brentwood 2011

Suzzanne Dimma from Canadian House & Home at IDS 2011

 Steven & Chris at IDS 2011

Alfred Sung who was gracious enough to offer me a chair in his set at IDS when I was so tired.

Steven & Chris at their Show in March 2011

Ramsin Khachi at SOFA October 2011

There are more great designers and decorators I have met but forgot to get the photos.  They all seem to be so gracious in letting us pose with them

CDECA AGM

Once again we held our Annual General Meeting at the wonderful Vaughan Estates behind Sunnybrook Hospital.
As anybody who reads this blog knows, I am an active member of CDECATM, and this year for our Annual AGM I was entrusted with creating the table centrepieces as well as arrangements flanking our podium.  The great thing was that Crate & Barrel, www.crateandbarrel.ca, an affiliate of CDECA TM,  donated all of the containers and floral pieces to us, which made my job all that much easier.  What fun it was to go through that store and select whatever I liked.  Many thanks to Crate and Barrel.   Below are my arrangements and my photography skills do not do them justice.

Our Keynote Speaker, who was sponsored by our affiliate, was Sue Kenny www.suekenney.ca , who walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, the famous pilgrimage route across Spain was sponsored by our affiliate Hunter Douglas www.hunterdouglas.com.  Her talk was incredibly inspirational and enjoyed by all.   During her walk and talk, stones were a special part so I decided to create centrepieces which carried that theme, thus the stones and moss surrounding the orchids.  Not that orchids are natural in Spain, but you get the idea.  The centrepieces were drawn for as gifts which delighted the people who won them.  Alas, I did not win one but I will be going back to Crate and Barrel very soon in order to pick up the supplies to make myself one!!

Our workshop speaker of the day, was Janice Lindsay of PPG Pittsburgh Paints, www.pittsburghpaints.com another wonderful CDECA TM affiliate,  who spoke of the upcoming color trends which offered inspiration to us all. PPG also had a display and were responsible for the wonderful goodie bags we all received.  Many thanks to PPG for all their support.

We had a great day, with excellent food and many of our wonderful affiliates donated prizes and offered financial support to us in order that we could have this day.  Thank you to everyone!!

Karndean International - sponsored the Kitchen award winners
Watermarks - sponsored the Bathroom award winners
Royal Lighting - sponsored the Interior Decoration Under $25,000
Pittsburgh Paints - sponsored the Interior decoration over $25,000
Speers Broadloom - sponsored the Challenging Budget Award Winners
SOFA - sponsored the Green Project Winner
Sun Glow Window Covering Products of Canada Ltd. - sponsored the Commercial Aware Winners
ICS Canada - sponsored the Student Category
Crown Wallpaper and Fabrics - sponsored our photographer for the day.

I was enjoying myself so much during the day, I forgot to take pictures, however our professional photographer did and when I get some I will certainly post here.

A Day At SOFA

The GTA West Chapter of CDECA are on the road again..... we were up at SOFA http://www.visitsofa.com/, (Source Of Furniture & Accessories) a Trade Only Resource Centre at the International Centre in Mississauga, and an affiliate of CDECA.  We were offered a window space to showcase our association and highlight what we actually do; so we decorated it of course. 

Our mandate was to bring attention to the Canadian Decorators Association and to impress how important it is to hire a qualified Decorator and that by hiring a CDECA Decorator or Designer, you can be assured that you are getting a qualified Decorator or Designer and the and the end result would be successful.

Our theme is  'GLITZ & GLAM' and we were highlighting the Pantonne Colour for 2011 - 'Honeysuckle'

 a mix of red and pink.  Such a fun colour especially after all the neutrals and it really makes one think of Spring being here - Hooray!!

Our window focuses on a small area which could be anywhere in the home and illustrates how to bring it together with the correct balance, proportion and continuity of a theme.  We also used several different textures which gives interest the overall look. Our glitzy space flows well with just the right amount of bling without going overboard.  Selecting the correct accessories is really like 'the icing on a cake' so to speak, when you have finished with the furniture, flooring, window coverings, etc.

The CDECA Banner is displayed and it depicts all the 100's of Decisions people have when looking to decorate their homes.   A decorator can take away the uncertainty and give you expert advise and in turn you you have a cohesive space designed to your specific needs and budget.
We had a great time selecting our accessories and furniture, most of which was donated or loaned to us by our generous affiliates and the showrooms located at SOFA.  I have to say the craziest part of this undertaking, was the five of us trying to attach a very  gorgeous but extremely heavy chandelier to the ceiling beams and getting is level.  We finally lured Sid, a rep from Van Gogh Furniture to help us and he was incredible.  Thanks so much Sid.  We can do most anything in our profession but we really did need another pair of capable hands and you fit the bill.  We laughed about 'how many decorators it took to hang a chandelier' as you will see from the photos below.

Drop in to one of the many seminars and events held at SOFA and the International Centre and look for our fabulous window -we hope you like it!

We had a lot of  laughs and fun doing this window

 Here are 4 of the eventual 6 people it took to get this chandelier up - It was extremely heavy but well worth the effort.  We know it is a wee bit high but when you spend as much time as we did with this baby, you are glad it is up and you just leave it alone.  In person it looks great and our sign is not blocked so much.

This chandelier is nothing short of magnificent with all its crystals hanging.  It was loaned to us by an affiliate of CDECA, Royal Lighting in Toronto.  http://www.royallighting.com/

Below are some of the photos of our completed space.  In the very near future, we will some magnificent floor to ceiling window blinds as our backdrop, from another of our affiliates, Sun Glow Window Coverings, http://www.mysunglow.com/,  and at that time I will take some updated photos

Here is the space we are so proud of - Our gorgeous chair is on loan from Van Gogh Designs http://www.vangoghdesigns.com/,   and the black and gray area carpet is from Beaulieu Canada http://www.beaulieucanada.ca/,   both located at SOFA

Artage International    http://www.artageinternational.com/, also from SOFA, loaned us a classy transitional glass and chrome coffee table

A secondary vignette with another area carpet donated to us by Prosource Flooring, Mississauga  http://www.prosourcefloors.com/.   We wanted to show how the two different selections could work together or separately.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED AND LOANED US THE PIECES IN THIS WINDOW

DABBLE, daBBLE, DAbble......

It's the newest on-line magazine which focuses on design, architecture and food.   Kimberly Seldon and staff have a great new magazine and from reading the first issue it is sure to be a success!!  Dabble http://www.dabblemag.com/ held their launch party at Elte in Toronto last Thursday, March 24.  This party was the place to be and be seen.  Such an amazing turnout of support.  It seemed that everyone was there - from celebrity decorators, designers, the Cityline and Benjmain Moore celebs and everybody in between.  It was like no other event that I have been to recently, and I go to many events, as you know from reading this blog.  There was great food and beverages - wine, water and vodka and of course some amazing draws.  It was so crowded that you just had to laugh and have fun.  I was enjoying myself  so much that I didn't take many photos.  Oh well, the main thing is that we all had a great time. 

The Dabble photographer were taking photos of anyone what wanted and of course I went for it and may appear on the pages of Dabble sometime in future.

Kimberly Seldon welcoming everyone to the party.

As you can see my photography skills need some refinement and consistency.  Oh well you get the picture (no pun) I am a decorator not a photographer, my daughter takes on that role.....

Tons of people mingling and enjoying themselves

I promise I will practice and get better at taking photos