How to Make a Christmas Indoor Planter

It's that time of year and I am busy getting ready for some celebrating with family and friends.  One of my favourite things is to decorate the house for the holidays and I thought I would share this planter I made this year which can be placed on a kitchen island, counter or a console table....

Start with a rectangular container.  This one is a lightweight stone 

composite but anything in this shape will work fine.                        

  Add the greenery

 Add three Red Amaryllis

 Start to 'create' using berry picks, apples, pears and birch tree branches (from fallen dead trees)

 The finished product

Here is another simple decor idea that could be placed on the back of the toilet tank; on a slim ledge or anywhere you would like a little festive touch...

Start with a glass container (this one from Crate & Barrel);  www.crateandbarrel.ca; add some river stones, green moss, moss balls and some wooden cranberries.  If desired, you can also add some 'battery" tea lights

p.s.  my photography skills are not so great but you get the idea.  Have fun creating and watch for more DIY's!!

GTA West have lessons on Bathrooms....

The GTA West Chapter of CDECA visited the Watermarks Showroom, www.watermarksboutique.com in Burlington recently and got the goods on all things 'bathroom'.  Many of the representatives from the companies who supply the great products to Watermarks were on hand to give us info on what is new and coming up as well as explaining some of the 'technical' and 'functional' aspects of each product.  This is important to designers and decorators so we are knowledgeable and can offer suitable solutions for our clients.

Many thanks to everyone at the Burlington showroom

 and all the representatives who came out 

and presented such great information.

Below is just a teeny peek at all the wonderful items you can source for both kitchens & baths at Watermarks which has several locations.  Check them out if you like luxury and quality!!

 

 

LIVING WITH COLOUR IN THE HOME - A Bloggers Event with Decor-Rest and Para Paint....

Last week I attended an event "Living with Colour in the Home",  hosted by Decor-Rest Furniture, www.decor-rest.com along with a presentation from Para Paint, www.para.com.  This event was directed to those of us who blog on the topics related to home, trends, colour, furniture, DIY.

Para rolled out their Colour Forecast for 2013 which has not been launched in stores yet which was great to see.  From what they presented, 2013 will be the year of much colour.  There will still be neutrals to pair with all of this rich and saturated colour.  Para is also introducing a new tool which will assist designers & decorators when displaying a colour group to clients.  Looking forward to this  It should be available in the new year.  The main colour groups presented as those for 2013 were blues, greens, purple, and golden. We will see references to the Art Deco period with colour, graphics, chevron, diamond pattern and a lot of texture.

The portion of the evening dedicated to 'blogging' touched on how important is has become as an inspiration for people looking for new ideas and what is trending.  In reading other blogs I find a great deal of information on all topics.  This  has become a great way to share, educate and just enjoy what others have to say.

After enjoying a lovely dinner, prizes and giveaways we toured the gorgeous showroom at Decor-Rest and got tons of inspiration for the next projects we undertake.

Decor-Rest features Cobi Style which is vibrant with colour and is very fun as well as Steven and Chris which is more masculine and subdued in colour and style, two distinctly different looks but they can work together.
Here is a few photos of their wonderful furniture.

All about Kitchens with Margaret Macdonald

Another great event at SOFA....

Last week I, along with many others in the design & decorating business attended a seminar by Margaret MacDonald all about  "What makes a Great Kitchen" from a  functional design perspective.  Margaret is a name known as a Kitchen Designer for the past 18 years and has worked with some of the top kitchen & bath manufacturers.

I have written about the types of kitchens we want, however this seminar went deeper into the framework of designing a great kitchen.  So many tips on the key elements of great design were shared, but keeping function and safety in the forefront were extremely important.  One can have a 'pretty or beautiful' kitchen, but if it doesn't function properly or there are safety hazards then it is not a great kitchen.  You must adhere to building code at all times.  This is something designers and decorators who are experienced in kitchen design will know and this is why it is important to work with one.  Margaret gave us a refresher on this by showing photos of the 'blunders' that can occur. We also took a step down memory lane to kitchens of the past and saw how far we have come to today's fabulous kitchens. What a great way to either learn or be reminded of the importance of the design process.

Thanks to SOFA, www.visitsofa.com and AGA/Marvel, www.agamarvel.com who co-sponsored the event.

Below are a few examples of well designed kitchens and not so well designed.  It is not always possible to have the 'perfect' kitchen layout depending on your space restrictions, however keeping a few safety and functional tips in mind will help with the overall success of a kitchen design.

The kitchen below is very nice, however the wooden

columns sitting directly on the counter and beside the

cook top are not to code and could be a safety hazard 

as well as they cut off easy access to the counter beside

This kitchen has the required space beside the

cook top.  The dishwasher are located across

from each other however it appears there is

enough room to open both within the space,            

especially with the over being higher off the

ground but it could be a little problematic if both

were being opened at the same time.

This kitchen has ample counter space on each

side of the range and the cabinetry does not 

go down to the counter, thus meeting code and

still looking beautiful

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