Home Sweet Home

While I was in Florida, Geoff worked non-stop on installing new floors. I'm happy that everything is finally coming together.

We've put a lot of work into the house - painting, renovating, making accessories and furniture or collecting original artwork (from my brother mainly). I personally love looking at other people's homes for inspiration so I thought it might be fun to share mine with you.

1. Large metal tiled frame with recycled mirror, made by Geoff.

2. Ikea chairs spray painted white.

3. I screen printed and hand-dyed this runner in my No.03 pattern.

1. Screen printed and handmade pennants. By me.

2. "The Mocking of Christ" by my brother, German.

3. Handmade pillows. By me.

(I got the idea from a decor book to cover an ugly couch with fabric. Much better than navy leather any day.)

4. My favorite piece so far: Geoff and I designed this coffee table/ bench with heavy metal legs. My father cut and made the metal leg frame, while Geoff stained and finished the pine table top.

5. Geoff's first wood work project - 3 individual pine shadow boxes.

You can barely tell, but I pushed the 3 boxes together to make shift a side table.

1. Original bird drawing by German.

(Expedit Ikea bookshelf sits over top of a vent. Geoff made and painted the block legs the shelf sits on to allow air circulation.)

1. Original painting by German. (Love this one.)

Hope you enjoyed the tour. : )

::: Nathalie

Etsy: Vibrant Colours with A Hint of Silver

My latest esty treasury: Vibrant Colours with A Hint of Silver.

I love the Etsy community for being able to buy directly from so many talented artists around the world (who we might not have a chance to know otherwise).

Be sure to click on the treasury link to find out about these beautiful works of art. : )

::: Nathalie

Sources: dahlhaus, mujoyas, EloiseRenouf, etco, sweetestelle, Caracarmina, verabel, Judykaufmann, jennykim, thewheatfield, crystalljackson, OldNewAgain, sushipotparts, Geninne, tushtush, PeggyWolfDesign

Inside Books: The Private World of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berg

Happy Monday and welcome to a new section of the blog for book previews/ reviews.

The idea for this category comes from my own book hunting experience in suburban bookstores which don’t often carry a wide variety of design/ art related books. A lot of the time, I search for info online – where helpful previews of a books contents aren't always available and subjective reader comments are all you have to go on.

My first review and latest book purchase is The Private World of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berg (ISBN: 0865652511).

This book has been on my wishlist for months so I was really excited to finally get it.

Unfortunately, the book wasn’t as I'd remembered from months earlier. I was expecting opulence and exuberant décor and styling (which it has) to jump out of the pages and inspire me, which it didn't.

My favourite of their eight homes was the one in Marrakesh. Perhaps I should look for a book on Marrakesh design. Recommendations anyone?

Beautiful book featuring beautiful homes but it didn't inspire me enough and for $77 (amazon.ca price), I thought it'd be best to return it.