Gorgeous global finds

One of my dream jobs involves gallivanting around the globe as an international buyer. How does one end up getting paid to travel the world in search of beautiful home accessories from the casbahs of Morocco and the markets in India?

One company that consistently grabs my attention with its beautiful global treasures is Serena & Lily. Their colourful finds combined with fantastic art direction have me eagerly awaiting the next catalogue delivery.

Their latest spring catalogue had a great cover photo of a stunning stencilled staircase - something I've wanted to try out once I have the opportunity...maybe on the basement stairs?

Garden party anyone?

Beautiful beach loungers

Nothing says summer like shades and trashy novels.

I suddenly have a strong urge to throw an al fresco dinner party in the Cotswolds.

Serena & Lily...if you happen to be looking for a buyer - give me a buzz :)

The few things I know for sure

If you were a child of the late 80s/early 90s, you might recall those thin white jackets you could buy that came with fabric markers - allowing you to customize your new outerwear with rainbows and butterflies galore.

I remember my parents buying me one of these and I was ecstatic. I remember opening the kit and pausing to ponder my future masterpiece. I probably couldn't decide between stars, hearts or rainbows, or what combination of the above to go with. I remember being paralyzed with indecision. What if I drew blue stars and immediately regretted it? I put it away and decided it required more thought before putting ink to fabric.

My procrastination continued and the jacket sat unadorned in my closet until I grew too old - and far too cool - to wear something I had coloured. I was so worried that I'd make a bad decision, that I avoided making any decisions at all.

Now that we're planning our next home, the same type of indecision is coming back to haunt me. OK - 'haunt' might be a strong word, but I digress. The fact that building a home is such a big investment - in both time and money - I'm worried I'll make a bad decision and regret it. This isn't the mistake of choosing blue stars over pink hearts - it has more permanent implications.

So, although I am full of uncertainty, I'm choosing to focus on the few things I know for sure. And here are two of those things.

1. A unique, custom front door - and while we're at it, why not just say that all the doors will be a little out of the ordinary. I was inspired by the fantastic doors at my aunt's lovely home in the Gulf Islands.

Foreground: Monkey the dog. Background: The gorgeous front door.

Exterior shot of the front door. I love the idea of using a large pull instead of your standard door knob.

I loved this sliding barn door in the guest cottage. In fact, our current home has sliding doors on the pantry and I'm really happy with them - it's an element I'd love to keep in our next house.

Our current sliding pantry doors - at left.

2. A modern, floating staircase. The other thing I know for sure is that I want to incorporate a floating staircase. I love the way it allows more light filter in, depending on the placement of windows.

 

And said staircase could use a bit of sparkle - in the form of a bubble glass chandelier like in the photo below. I love how it descends from the top floor into the basement. Perfection.

Edmonton architect - Habitat Studio

I'll build my list as I go, and hopefully a year from now I'll have it more or less figured out. Unlike that old jacket - our plans won't end up sitting in a closet going out of style.

If it's good enough for Sarah Richardson...and my mother

We've taken what I feel is a big step forward in our plan to build our own home. Last week, during a trip to Regina, we paid a visit to Robinson Residential and started the process of creating plans for our future home. In a few days, we'll receive the first set of drawings.

Although we had a lot of ideas, we also asked for their professional input - especially on the second floor as we didn't have strong opinions on the layout of the master bedroom and ensuite.

We decided to check out Robinson Residential as my parents had used Robinson plans for their beautiful cottage in Nova Scotia. After a bit of research, I noticed that John Robinson collaborated with Sarah Richardson on her farmhouse.

Before leaving Regina, we checked out a few of their current plans being put into action. A couple of Robinson's contemporary plans are coming to fruition near the Cathedral district. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera, so we took these shots with Josh's Blackberry.

As these stock plans are for narrow lots, they're ideal for older neighbourhoods like ours. However, we decided to have plans created from scratch as we know the layout we want on the first floor.

What I love about these houses that I'd like to duplicate in our design are the clean lines, mix of cedar and stucco, and the large windows with black frames. If it's good enough for Sarah Richardson, and my mother, it's good enough for me.  :)

I heart Moroccan poufs

I finally did it. After lusting over Moroccan poufs for the last few years, I finally caved in and bought one tonight. I've seen them in decor shops in both Vancouver and right here in Saskatoon, but the hefty $300+ price tag always scared me away.

I decided to take a chance and buy one on eBay - it was actually my very first eBay purchase. The poufs are imported from Morocco and they come unstuffed. I'll have to stuff it myself - makes sense otherwise shipping would be pretty pricey - but I think Josh has enough pairs of holey socks and t-shirts that I can probably fill the thing. I've often threatened to throw out his holey clothes when he's not looking - but stuffing the pouf with them should be a good compromise.

The total cost was about $120 CAD. I'll consider that a steal if it looks just as good as the local $300 versions. I was a bit torn between turquoise and metallic gold, but it was this pretty photo that helped solidify my decision.

Gold it is!

I'll post a photo of the real deal once it arrives...

Another use for your shower curtain

File this one under "why didn't I think of that?"

I stumbled across the below photo recently and was amused to see the West Elm shower curtain we bought last year being used as a window curtain. Why not?

It's a gorgeous 100% cotton shower curtain - why not use it as a window covering? At 40 bucks a pop, it's a pretty reasonable price.

I wouldn't repeat the same pattern by using this particular shower curtain on the windows in my house. However, West Elm has a few other beautiful cotton shower curtains which would work just as well for this purpose. They range from $40-$50.

A smattering of sunny options.

Three great Gastown boutiques

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been lucky enough to find myself in Vancouver three times this year. Two trips were short layovers, and the third was an afternoon following a weekend in the Gulf Islands. Although short of time, I still managed to squeeze in a few trips to some stunning shops.

Gastown had a great variety of beautiful home decor boutiques. Here are a few we checked out...


1. Parliament @ 115 Water Street. Chock full of gorgeous accessories, affordable furniture and great geometric rugs, it was only thoughts of astronomic shipping costs that kept me from whipping out my credit card and buying every pretty thing in sight. The staff were super friendly too :)

Love the office chair and gold garden stool

Great pillows - love the mix of colour and sparkle

2. Inform Interiors @ 50 Water Street. This was a huge 3 level showroom with stunning modern furniture, lighting and unique accessories. I loved the light fixture below and the glow it cast on the table beneath it.

More great lighting...

Inform had an amazing selection of design/decor magazines and books.

Usually a reluctant shopper, Josh even managed to amuse himself at Inform.

3. Orling & Wu @ 28 Water Street - An eclectic mix of wallpapers, fabrics, home decor accessories, gifts and tableware - this shop was so much fun to browse.

I still regret not making room in my suitcase for some of this great acrylic cutlery.

Acrylic cutlery images via Orling & Wu

The only thing that saved me from myself (read: emptying my bank account) was the fact that we visited these shops on the way to New Zealand, not from. Anything I would have purchased would have had to be carted over 24,000 km before making it back home to Saskatoon.

I did make up for it on our recent visit - details to follow soon.





CB2 opens in Vancouver

On our way to New Zealand in February, we were able to finagle a stopover in Vancouver both on our way there, and on our way home. On our first visit, I was ridiculously excited to see that a CB2 would be opening on Robson near Jervis. However, I was sad to see that it wouldn't be until spring 2012 - as the posters in the window would have me believe.

In a recent article for the Globe & Mail, Sarah Richardson rightly described CB2 as Crate & Barrel's hipster sibling. I'd add that the hipster sibling is on a tighter budget, as CB2's prices are a bit friendlier on the wallet than the original C&B. Vancouver is the second Canadian city to get a CB2 - Toronto scored the premiere location in January.

Two weeks later, on our return journey, I noticed a poster at a sky train station saying that CB2 was now open - and it wasn't even spring yet. Josh knew he was doomed. He stopped at a cafe on Robson and gave me a head start.

It was great to see everything in person that I had previously drooled over on my computer screen. I've never been able to confidently buy furniture online having not seen it in person first - I didn't pull out the credit card for the original Crate & Barrel until I saw what I had been lusting over in-person at their Calgary location.

One of the long-time objects of my affection was this marble-topped coffee table. At $359 it's a steal, but the shipping costs for this beauty take some of the shine away from the great deal.

Josh gave this coffee table a test drive. Being the enterprising type, he assured me he could have something made that looks just like it. I like the industrial look of it, but the marble topped table above is still my fav.

Josh making himself at home.

We were lucky enough to go back to B.C. to visit family for the Easter long weekend. Our only day in Vancouver was Easter Sunday, and it seemed CB2 was the only store on Robson that chose to close its doors. I was a bit disappointed, but my disappointment abated when we opened a pressie from Mom and Dad - appetizer plates and cute birdie tea light holders from none other than CB2.