Gold Hardware

There is just something so warm about gold. I think that's why gold has made such a big come back this past year or so. And what space needs more warming up than a kitchen?
I'm currently crushing on gold hardware in the kitchen, especially when mixed with stainless steel appliances. Mixing metallics has been frowned upon in the past, but today is totally accepted and encouraged!

via Bijou and Boheme

Sarah Richardson via HGTV

via House & Home

 Would you try gold hardware in your own kitchen?

Busy, busy, busy !

 

Hello my friends, oh yes I am so very busy! Besides working on clients projects, we are in the middle of our living room redo.

To my blog colleagues I would love to ask, if they please can forgive me for not finding much time to comment on all their latest blogposts! I promise to catch up with reading and commenting a lot of blogposts within a few weeks.

 

The redo of our living room was planned last year, but we didn’t make it ! So Jan and me deciced that it had to be ‘our beginning of the year 2013 project’.

Following my blog, you maybe will remember having seen pictures of how our living room looked like until a few days ago.

Living room as it looked.

 

On Monday morning we started to empty the room. And this is how it looks like today!

Living room this morning.

Yes, there are planned some changes. The room will be totally paneled, the parket floor should be given another finish, the window treatment fabric has to be chosen and we’d like to bring in some new furniture.

Of course, paneling will be manufactured in the workshop of our company Lefèvre Interiors, according our design sketches. The paneling will be executed in French oak and is inspired by French 18th century paneled rooms.

Sketches of the paneled living room. (copyright Lefèvre Interiors)

 

I just love 18th century French paneling as seen in this picture.

Image source here 

At this moment the painter-artist of our workshop is preparing a few samples of the patina the paneling wil be given. This is the most difficult part! We have to mix and brew until the perfect patina is found!

Different patina options.

 

When I discovered this beautiful aquarelle painting at the FB page of my French friend and renown aquarelle painter Céline Chollet, I was thrilled!! OMG! I do know that she has to paint an aquarelle of our living room too!

Source FB page Céline Chollet. Blog of Céline http://wwwboitedaquarelles.blogspot.be/

 

To be continued…

I promise to share the progress of our living room redo in later blogposts!

 

If you would like us to help designing and manufacturing your paneling, feel free to contact us at info@lefevre.be

For more Lefèvre Interiors realisations visit our website at www.lefevre.be

 

 

xx

Greet

Bubble Diagrams

I'm currently planning the condo layout for a school project, which involves planning adjacency and spatial relationships. This is primarily done using an adjacency matrix and bubble diagrams.

Bubble diagrams represent rooms in approximate scaled size, but more importantly determine location with other rooms in the space. They are meant to be fast, messy, exploratory, and easy to crumple up and start over. My prof recommends completing them on trace paper for this very reason!

Bubble diagrams are on the NCIDQ exam, so if you want to be a licensed interior designer, you need to know them!
Even though they aren't intended to be pretty, I think there is something absolutely darling about these diagrams. Don't you?

Emerald Green: With Pink and Gold

We all know that Emerald Green is the 'it' colour for 2013, as named by Pantone.
I heard recently that the most common partner for this hue is blue, which totally makes sense. Sapphire and Emerald together create a regal and rich palette.

My favourite pairing for Emerald, however, is pink and gold.
Here is a mood board to show you how well this combo works:

Because red is green's compliment on the colour wheel, and pink is a tint of red, this totally works!

Erika used this colour scheme in creating her pinboard, and it looks great!:

via Small Shop Studio

 I'm channeling it in my own place with the addition of my new Kelly Wearstler Trellis Pillow in Emerald Green!!:

What do you think of this unexpected combo?

Checking in

Hi lovers

I am here but not back. I just wanted to check in so y'all know what's going on in my world.

If you follow me on Instagram (amberinteriors), you would have seen that we did not make it to the UK in time to see Nan one last time. She passed away on the Monday before we left 

It's so SO sad but we are happy to be here with the Ducks fam celebrating Nan's life.

We had a stroke of luck (in my book at least) and got to see the snow! 

G had the best time and has been such a good girl despite the long travel and major jet lag.

I am so thankful she has been awesome...I may be overcompensating and allowing her way to much chocolate, can you blame me?

Here are some things you all should know about...if you don't know already.

I created a little gift guide for To & From Magazine.

 Valentines is right around the corner and seriously this kinda gift giving made easy is right up my alley!

roller skates...COME ON!

then...

I jumped on the #VineApp bandwagon and got myself a little profile

Follow along for little videos such as this!

also, there are only a few days left of Free Shipping on all items from the Shoppe

Ends on Feb1st so don't miss out

I will be back soon,

 don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Vine (amberinteriors)

love you mean it

Buddha Heads & IDS Toronto

There is something so peaceful about a Buddha head. With the eyes closed in a meditative state, a Buddha head radiates a serenity and sense of calm. Also, the bump on the top of the head (or ushnisha) represents superior wisdom. How cool!
Buddha heads are a popular styling item in decor right now, and it's easy to see why. They represent a global aesthetic and bring a feeling of travel and worldliness to any space!

Meredith Heron via Style at Home

Sig Bergamin via Elle Decor

Julia Ryan via Pawleys Island Posh

Laura Collins via Gracefull Searching

Of course, here is mine, which you saw last week when I talked about my Ikea Expedit:

You guys had some great tips for my cord dilemma! Hiding those will be my next project.

Also, on Friday I went to the Interior Design Show in Toronto! It was so much fun. I even had a chance to say a quick hello to Sarah Richardson and Tommy in between takes (they were filming)! I snapped a picture of Sarah in action. It was really neat to see her in front of the camera - she is such a natural!

I didn't want to bother them for a picture together while they were working, hopefully I'll get a chance in the future! I grew up watching Sarah's shows and consider her a huge inspiration and a major influence in my decision to become an interior designer!
Were any of you at the show?!

Favourite Furniture Fridays: LiveLaughDecorate

Hi peeps, I'm Nicole from LiveLaughDecorate and I'm thrilled as punch to be chillin here with Tiffany this morning. Let's dish shall we? Among my favorite pieces of furniture is this little Louis XV Salon chair that now holds court in my office.

This little gem once had a twin. Seven years ago, I rescued the two from a guaranteed trip to the trash. Battered, bruised and broken, they were the casualties of a bitter divorce of a dear friend. I happily took custody, knowing right away they could be things of real beauty (so, so sorry that I have no before photos).
At the time, I had a very contemporary space but I didn't care and just knew the chairs would fit in somehow. I fell in love with the purple fabric combo on a trip to the fabric store. Again, there was no purple to speak of in my condo but I didn't care. Purple it would be. I had the frames painted white for additional drama and two new beauties were born. Alas, I sold one to a client a few years ago because it blended perfectly with the bedroom I'd designed for her daughter. 
The other has been the perfect pop of color and pizazz to my home office and I happily hold court in it every day.

That's all folks. Thanks so much Tiffany for allowing me to reminisce about one of my favorite pieces. Brought back so many memories!

 Thanks so much for sharing Nicole! I've always wanted a Louis chair! Yours is so fun! Happy weekend :)

My new American friend Rela

 

Dear friends, today I do have to tell you about my new friend, the Napa Valley based interior designer RELA GLEASON.

Rela Gleason

If my husband would have known that I was going to write this post, he absolutely would have insist to write down : ‘We do have to tell you about OUR new friends Don and Rela’ !

And actually he is right, we met Rela and Don in Belgium, a few days before Christmas.

Jan and I, both have a weakness for the spontaneous way American people behave. We just love this ! A few moments after our meet and greet, it actually felt as we did know each other since a life time. We spent a wonderful evening together in a restaurant in Brussels. And while Rela and I were talking about interior design and all things related, Jan had a heartwarming conversation with Don.

Rela and I

Don and Jan

 

In earlier times we already met American designers and architects Natasha Esh (New York), Maryanne Flaherty (Texas) and Brooke & Steve Giannetti (Los Angeles). All such a wonderful people who became dear friends. We do cherish these friendships!

Natasha Esch and I - Jan and Natasha’s husband Matt  (Brussels, November 2009) 

Maryanne Flaherty and I – Jan and Maryanne’s husband Peter  (Paris, January 2010)

Brooke Giannetti and I – Jan and Brooke’s husband Steve  (Brakel, June 2011)

Blogging is a fantastic way to connect with people from all over the world.

 

Back to Rela now!

Stumbling on my blog a few months ago, Rela contacted me by email to ask me about some interesting places to visit in Belgium. She was planning a business trip to Belgium.

I realized that Rela knew a lot about Belgium! Not surprising, if you do know that she was raised in Brussels! She probably does know more about our capital than I do!

After Rela contacted me, I visited her website Rela Gleason Design and I was thrilled to read that Rela collaborated with one of my favorite American architects Bobby McAlpine of McAlpine Tankersley, to build her house named ‘CASA KULANU’, which means “all of us” in Hebrew. So ’Casa Kulanu’ is a warm and inviting family home.

Rela and Don told us that they both love to have their children and grandchildren around.

 

‘Casa Kulanu’, the Napa Valley home of Rela and her husband Don, which was the first California commission for  the Alabama based architect Bobby McAlpine.

It was Rela herself who made the first house sketches.

The house definitely has architectural influences of the Flemish farmhouses of Rela’s Belgian childhood, but Rela emphasizes that she loves authenticity and she absolutely didn’t want to create a faux-Tuscan villa. ‘Casa Kulanu’ is an honest house and the architecure of it possesses a Napa-style authenticity.’, Rela says.

 

The salon, - with steel doors, wooden beams, linen upholstered seats and a Flemish chandelier -, reveals Rela’s Belgian childhood.

Rela knows exactly how to choose the right furniture for every particular room of the house and she even has her own furniture collection.

The cavendish daybed - Rela Gleason Design Collection  Source website Rela Gleason Design

 

The sunroom of the house.

 

Red-cedar-paneled library.

 

Gorgeous master bedroom! Rela combined a love seat and a wing chair of her own collection with an antique armchair.

 

Beautiful bathroom design! Notice the marble vanities with iron mirrors, designed by Rela herself.

 

A chalet-style box bed in a child’s guest room.

Rela travels across the United States and to Europe to find the most beautiful antique pieces for her clients. Her interiors are stylish and are composed of bespoke furniture and quality pieces.  “Invest in quality pieces that can follow you anywhere.” says Rela convincingly. And I couldn’t agree with her more!

 

If you are interested to see more of Rela’s work, please visit her website RELA GLEASON DESIGN http://www.relagleasondesign.com/

If you would love to ask Rela to help with the design of your interior, please contact Rela at info@relagleasondesign.com

Blog Rela’s Journal : http://relasjournal.blogspot.be/

 

For the wine lovers among you, I do have to mention that the Gleasons are settled in the Northern Californian’s wine country and that the family’s Summer Hill Vineyards produce Cabernet Sauvignon wine and olive oil.

www.gleasonwines.com

Vintner Don driving through the family’s Vineyard.

Source images : Architecutal Digest November 2011  – Photography by Roger Davies

 

Please tell me, do you love Rela’s house and her design work as much as I do?

 

XX

Greet