Rooms Bloom

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Top Picks from May Mags

I hide magazines. I hide my addiction to buying them from my husband and my daughter. I am a magaholic! I am also quickly becoming an ezine-holic. I LOVE to pour over the glossy pics of the oh-so-fabulous interiors of these next four. I don't discriminate from foreign mags - I love them too - but rarely buy them as regular as monthly. These fab four are my constant friends on the tray of my Living Room ottoman. I thought you may like to see what caught my eye in the May issues:

Traditional Home

The two stories above are by Amy Elbert, Senior Architectural Editor at Trad Home.

Elle Decor

I can't very well scan the whole magazine, so I will say that the Open-Minded story caught my interest enough to read it late at night. It is Alice Cottrell's 700 sq ft apartment reno in Dallas. She says there are no doors. The custom sofa is 16 ft long. How cute is the Cole & Son damask wallpaper that her walk-in closet hides behind?

Michael S. Smith's New York penthouse is so interesting - a treat for the eyes!

I really have to stop myself here, because there is so much to see (as always), but do pick up the issue before it's too late. Well worth it! It's the one with Ellen Pompeo on the cover.

House Beautiful

Two caught my eye here. This first one is from the cover story on Melissa Warner's LA apartment. Not at all my style, but I enjoy hers and really good advice (this is the mag's "Big Advice" issue). Her style icon is Jackie O and has her black & white photos in her closet (below).

The other interview I enjoyed was Dan Marty's about his L.A. home. I would love to attend one of his parties! the bedroom was the most interesting for me, but all of his rooms are worth the price of this issue.

Style At Home

What I like about Style at Home is it offer some fabulous ideas and how-tos for the average home owner. They also have a great website full of advice an ideas, like this pic. This wallpaper is amazing (by Monsoon):

Each issue has so much, not just this 178 page issue. The Yellow pages for decor after the 178 pages is so handy!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

In no particular order....

... things that tickle me:

via Mark Burstyn

via Citified Blog

Southern Accents via From The Right Bank

via Heartful Art

via Cath Kidston

via The Late Afternoon

My knitwear design site via Joanne Yordanou

via Citified Blog

Joanne Yordanou

Monday, May 3, 2010

Kimberly Seldon's Distillery Market

via Style At Home

Bright and (almost) early, my friend Linda and I made our way downtown (Toronto) to Kimberly Seldon's Distillery Market. The Distillery was founded by William Gooderham and James Worts in 1832. The brother-in-law grew the distillery to be the largest in the British Empire. It has since become a delightful destination filled with artist galleries and studios, boutiques and restaurants. We had both heard the show was fantastic from another friend, Laurel. I was reminded of it in the latest issue of Style At Home. It starts at 9 and is one day only. We made it there a little after 9 and it was packed! We didn't have to line up though, thankfully, but once we were in, it was the penguin walk (if you know what I mean). These photos looked spacious compared to what it was!

via Style At Home

We started out to the right which took us to the Robert Allen table. Oooooh! Fabrics were folded on tables and end rolls leaning against the walls. Prices were incredible!!! I bought 2 yards of a fabulous turquoise ticking stripe for $10 and another 2 yards of linen in a large check for another $20 (I am told some of these fabrics go for $100/yd!!!)

via Style At Home

The Kimberly Seldon Design Group also had a great section filled with finished fabric panels (I bought two panels of a lovely blue check that I will make duvet covers from for the bunk beds at the cottage) and many books on design and gardening (PS. Thank you kind, blonde lady who said "sometimes, you just have to be nice" and gave me a deal).

for duvets

I think we took and a little over an hour to get through the market/show. Not a huge space but that's what was nice about it. It didn't take your whole day to walk. When we exited, the line up must have been 150 long! We finished up with a coffee and orange walnut muffins at Balzac's (another treat!); had a nice chat there and then perused the shops and galleries for another hour.

via Style At Home

I am so happy with my buys! I envision using them at the cottage, but also thought at the next house, I could use them on the backyard patio. For now, they will have to be added to the stash (except for my finished panels for the duvets-they are getting used right away!).

Friday, April 30, 2010

I'm so excited!

I have finally upgraded my camera to a digital, serious camera. My hubby and daughter have each a small digital camera that I have been using, but they just didn't seem to capture a great shot, like my old film Canon EOS. So I finally caved last night and bought a Canon EOS Rebel XSi. Without even trying, I captured these lovely Spring flowers from my garden:

It was hard slogging, but I find cleaned out the pond. When it gets a bit warmer, I can add the aquatic plants, but you can see my lily over-wintered nicely.