Thursday, February 18, 2010

"Feeling Floored? - Let's Talk Flooring"


Last evening there were a group of local decorators, members of CDECA who attended a very informative presentation by Carl French, of Speers Road Broadloom , which also stocks a fabulous array of tile, wood flooring, area carpets, ceramic and so on.  There is always something new to learn about and one of a decorator's responsibilities is to keep up to date on new  products and technologies so they can pass on this information to their clients.  Carl was gracious enough to speak to our group for going on 3 hours and gave us much to think about.  This was like taking an updated course on floorings in that he explained different labels and ratings listed, which are very important especially when we are looking at the "green" issue.  Speers Road Broadloom is definitely a leader in the field in that they are members of many different advisory councils, as well as being one of the few dealers across Canada to be able to offer specific products, one in particular label - the Disney line.  Excellent service, the top brands, extremely knowledgeable staff and conections with the best installers make Speers Road Broadloom  an obvious choice for your flooring needs.   Here are a few pictures of some of their products from their showroom .....

Flooring Presentation by Carl French


Fabulous cork  
More cork

Oh, the beauty of wood!
Samples of some of the many beautiful wood floorings available

Multi toned wood flooring

 Sample of Wood Flooring with inlays around perimeter - There are other styles so you can have a very unique design

Now here's something special - it looks and feels like a ceramic/stone flooring but is not.  It is a vinyl tile that can be applied on top of current flooring such as ceramic, wood, etc.  It is attached to a special paper liner and then just laid on top of the current floor which means it could actually be removed easily in order to make repairs (if necessary) .  It then has a thin grout applied which again, makes this even more like ceramic.  It has another characteristic in that is is slightly flexible which means you can use this on floors that are not entirely level and you do not have to build a new sub-floor.  This tile is perfect in areas where you do not want to remove the old tile.
 

Even though we are featuring flooring materials, I couldn't resist a picture of these lovely stone wall tiles....

... and these glass tiles


A contemporary Area Carpet
Love this one! 
 Nice traditional Area Carpet
 and of course.... the softness of Broadloom.  Available in many colours, textures, fibres and eco conscious etc, etc.....
 
How about this fab "Shag" style carpet, it's much nicer and better made that what we had in the 70's

Dale Hickinson, beside a display of luxe Ralph Lauren carpeting which is much nicer in person that this photo.  Dale was on hand at the presentation and was responsible for our wonderful "goodie" bags full on wonderful flooring information and "chocolate".  Dale knows what we love!


Thanks again Carl and Dale for a very informative evening.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

More Set Decoration from the Movies....

Some of my favourite movies are also the ones with the the best set decor...  I already mentioned that one of the most loved movie sets by just about everyone that saw the movie -  is the Hampton's Beach House in Something's Gotta Give with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton .  Well here are some more of my other personal favourites... that is movie sets...

"The Holiday"   where Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet)  exchange houses for the holidays.  Yes another Nancy Meyers film.  Seems I like a lot of her work.  Check out some fantastic pictures of Amanda's L.A. California home.  Yes, her gorgeous home was my favourite. 

I also loved the set decor in the movie  "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" with
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt -
very elegant until they trashed it!



                                                                              


"The Breakup" with Vince Vaughn & Jennifer Aniston is about a couple who have been living together  in their newly purchased condo and now find their relationship is on the rocks and is ending.  They both find that one of the most difficult issues to deal with is who will get to keep the fabulous condo they share. 
In this story which is harder??  
 It's all a matter of opinion.
  
 

  






Sunday, February 14, 2010

The "Mighty Shower" renovation..... Completed!!

Hooray for great installers!!  I have the best people that I work with and was lucky enough to get them to work on my shower reno.  As mentioned in an earlier post it was a total disaster and the before pictures were just too horrible to show publicly.  The old saying about the shoemaker's kids having no shoes actually seems to be true of other professions like mine.  I should have had this shower done a year ago but just kept putting it off as I wasn't ready for the upheavel of gutting it and the subsequent mess.  Well it was completed in an amazing time frame and the upheavel was minimal as was the mess mostly due to the meticulous trades I had here.  Vince you and George are the greatest.  Thanks you so much for my lovely new shower!!
If you want tradespeople who have integrity, are fair and take pride in their work contact me and I will put you in touch with mine.

I am remiss in not showing the "after" photos yet, however the door was on order so I am waiting until it is installed.

"Before Photo"  A total tear down right back to the studs and below the flooring as it was discovered that the drain pipe was full of concrete from the original installation and could soon back up and cause damage.  Talk about people who are detailed in their work.!

My old shower
"After Pictures to follow".....

Glorious Bathrooms....

Watermarks,  www.watermarksboutique.com/  is the boutique of choice for a complete range of product solutions when considering your next remodelling/renovation project.  They carry the very best in premium & high quality Kitchen and Bath products including an elite selection of beautifully crafted product exclusives available on the market.  This week I was at the marvelous Watermarks. It is like being a kid in a candy store - so much to see and drool over. They have everything imaginable and you want it all!!   Or at least I did. It is a must see showroom for anybody considering a bath renovation or makeover. .  You can choose from traditional elements to ultra modern. There is something for everyone.   Here are a few photos I snapped... (remember I am just an amateur and if you want to see the spectacular range of products visit one of their showrooms in Etobicoke, Burlington or Kitchener.  Take a look at their website at http://www.watermarksboutique.com/


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Let's Go to the Movies.....

I used to think I was a little odd in that when I went to a movie, if it had a great "set" I was much more interested in checking out the details of that rather than focusing on the plot.  Recently I have heard designers and decorators indicate they were just like that, so..... now I don't feel so odd anymore.  I still often watch some movies more than once if the set is fantastic like the fabulous Hamptons House Diane Keaton had in the movie "Something's Gotta Give", another movie by Nancy Meyers who teamed up with set decorator Beth Rubino.   I LOVE that house.  Many people have loved that house. It has been said that clients will often mention that they too would like their home to look like the one in that movie.  Oh, and by the way, the move was great too!   Just take a look at some of the fabulous photos below...

Dining Room
Living Room

Kitchen
Dining Room
Erica's Bedroom/Study
Guest Room at Erika's
Jack Nicholson who played Harry had a classy townhouse which we only get a couple of glimpses of...
Harry's Townhouse
Harry's Bedroom