Style & Decor Blog

I’ve been seeing a lot of metal side chairs recently that meld edgy, industrial chic with flea market charm. They conjure up vignettes of powdery, exposed brickwork dotted with wild and unkempt ivy and potted greens; something you might find in the cobwebby corner of an ancient conservatory, rich with atmosphere and history.

Anthropologie’s Redsmith Dining Chair, $219

I love the burnished copper finish of this piece: a bit of warmth that takes off some of the industrial edge.

Crate and Barrel’s Lyle Side Chair, $199 USD

Like a galvanized bucket reincarnated as a side chair. So cute!

You’ll even be seeing this style popping up at your nearest HomeSense in Summer 2010 in the form of this bargain-priced galvanized bistro beauty – priced at only $149! (Keep your eyes peeled for these dying-to-be-a-dining-chair perches, because these won’t last long with that price tag…)

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We’re all about democratic design here at Style at Home!

Here are the two contenders for the cover of our upcoming April issue (the Small Spaces special)…

Click here to cast your vote, and check newsstands in early March to see the winner!

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One of the most vivid booths at this year’s Interior Design Show belonged to Decotec, a Paris-based dealer of eye-poppingly brilliant bathroom fittings. With Decotec now available in Canada through a Quebec location, I just had to share my fave find from their colourful collection.

This piece, the Malles des Indes, is what Decotec is calling their “Bohemian bathroom”. So cute and compact - everything just folds into an attractive cabinet when not in use! The ultimate design solution for the teensy weensy bath? Euro-faboosh!

Decotec Paris Inc., 450-455-2559; decotec.ca.

A sneak peek at my CityLine segment airing Tuesday, February 9, at 9AM EST…

Anthropologie’s Folk Art teapot ($48) and Sugar and Creamer set ($24).

These little gems star in my Trendspotting feature on “haute folk” - the recent mass market homage to comfy, cosy-looking North American handicraft.

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As an out and proud Anglophile, I can’t tell you how much fun it was to pull together my Trendspotting column for December’s issue of Style at Home magazine.

What I love about this particular British invasion is that the well-loved and instantly recognizable British icons are being spun in really dynamic and creative ways. There’s something deliciously irreverent about these designs, but they’re also a respectful homage to the subject matter.

That’s why I fell for the London .005 collection of wallcoverings at Crown Wallpaper…

Yes - it’s the London Underground map, reinvented as an abstract wallpaper pattern! So yummy! I love that blue colourway.

Overlaid with equally iconic signage…

…And my favourite pattern of all: the gothic arches of the Thamesfront Houses of Parliament, almost unrecognizable in a tight repeat.

I would do horrible things to get this print in the Turquoise…

Rule Britannia!

Check out these wicked wallcoverings at Crown Wallpaper.

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The wait is over…

Transcontinental Media has just named Erin McLaughlin the new editor-in-chief of Style at Home (and my new boss!). Formerly the editor of Canadian Home & Country magazine, Erin will be EIC for both Style at Home and our sister gardening magazine, Canadian Gardening. Welcome on board, Erin!

Take a peek inside our new editor’s home!

Gotta love this showstopping ceramic tile. Sleek, sexy and… Hygienic? Savoia – downtown Toronto’s stunning tile showroom – announces the Canadian debut of Active Antibacterial Tiles. Through a process called photocatalysis (say that five times fast), the tiles actually clean the air of polluting organic substances when hit by sunlight. Crazy cool!

Avoria Segesto ceramic tile from the Active Antibacterial Collection

If you’ve yet to browse Savoia, now’s the perfect time, as Style Sleuth readers have been invited to the showroom’s upcoming open house where you’ll have the chance to have the kitchen or bathroom of your dreams tiled FOR FREE! That’s $7,500 worth of tile, btw. If you win, you have to promise to invite me over to see the finished product! Here are the deets on the open house event…

Saturday February 6th and Sunday February 7th, 9:00AM to 6:00PM; 145 King St. E. (just west of Jarvis), Toronto

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I’m horning in on Mr. Sleuth’s territory one more time to give you my final wrap up on IDS10, held in Toronto last weekend. First up are my top three picks of the show.

No. 3 The Giant Steel Pinecone. I’m a bit of a nut for a great chunk of yard art and when you combine that with my belief in the pinecone as nature’s perfect accessory, well, this thing has can’t lose written all over it.

No. 2 Well, it was love at first sight when I met her Thurs. night at the gala as you know, and she’s one of the main reasons this booth — Lightform/Metalarte — was an award winner (more on that later in the post). Still love her, miss her…

No. 1 Oh my, it’s as if this was custom designed for me. Thanks Tristan Zimmermann of Science + Sons. So, here’s the deal: it’s called Radio Canada and it allows CBC Radio-addicted householders (that’s me) to switch from Radio 1 to Radio 2 without moving an old school dial through static (if you’re thinking digital tuning and presets already solved this, well, you just aren’t one of us, so skip along now). As a bonus it has MP3 player capacity for when Jonathan Goldstein is on. Anyhoo, this baby is a prototype so click on over to Science + Sons and sign up for the news on when production will begin.

I caught lots of inspiring speakers, including the PechaKucha — loved that! Met the super talented Ingrid Abramovitch and got a behind the covers tour of what it’s like to be the author of a stunning new book, Restoring a House in the City. V. JEALOUS!  Another highlight was being on the judging panel to distribute the design awards for booths at the show. I breezed in there thinking it would take 30 minutes, but more than 3 hours later I was still debating and assessing with fellow judges. I selected in the 400 sq ft booth category but didn’t hesitate to pressure fellow judges into going with my faves in their categories, too, ’cause that’s just the kind of girl I am.

Here come da judges (we even had official IDS clipboards). From left, John Tong of 3rd UNCLE Design, moi, Clayton Budd of 64th and Queen Design Agency.

For me, the challenge came down to which is most important: the product, the installation, the signage or the layout?? Well, I decided to go with product first, ’cause without that, the rest is gravy. So, I chose Lightform/Metalarte (see  lamp above) and Lema as my winners. Lema had just the most beautiful closet fittings I have ever seen. And the stylist in me loved the black paper suit jackets hanging in their closets. One simple idea to elevate the whole presentation.

Boo, this pic isn’t doing Lema justice, but it’s the best I can find.

See you at IDS11, Jan 27-30, 2011. Thanks Mr. Sleuth. - Guest blogger and STYLE AT HOME senior design editor Margot Austin signing out.

As longtime Style Sleuth readers are aware, toxic houseplant awareness is a cause near and dear to my heart. Last summer, my precocious little kitty (Buddy) nibbled the tips of an aloe plant while staying with his unknowing sitter, and almost died as a result. It was a real wake-up call to the potential dangers of mixing pets with houseplants. Thanks to the efforts of his wonderful vet, he made it through and has bounced back to his cuddly, ever-curious self.

But with lily season just around the corner, I thought it was the perfect time to reiterate how dangerous certain greens in and around the house can be (as I mention in the March 2010 issue of Style at Home). To get the inside scoop, I called up Dr. Erica Gehring, a veterinarian at Marineland in Niagara Falls who also serves as a small animal vet. Seeing as how we hear all about lilies (and poinsettias, come to that), I asked Dr. Erica about plants that don’t play well with our four-legged friends.

“Interestingly,” Erica says, “The poinsettia is only a mildly toxic plant, despite its reputation. There are other plants that are much more toxic, and have a higher potential to cause death, depending on dosage.”

Topping Erica’s list of pet-unfriendly plants?

* Rhododendrons

* Azaleas

* Oleander

* Lily of the Valley

* Foxglove

* Milkweed varieties

* Castor beans

* Cycad plants

…and of course…

* Lilies (”in cats specifically,” Erica says)

Please keep this list in mind before bringing these greens home and when planning your garden this spring!

Inspired by the fang-like rock formations that drop from cave ceilings, the Stalac Collection Coffee Table designed by The Practice of Everyday Design was one of the highlights of IDS10 in my books.

I love the juxtaposition of fluid, undulating base with the right angles of the tabletop.

Part of the juried Prototype Exhibition at the IDS, I’ve got my fingers crossed that this prototype gets picked up for production in the future. I had the chance to talk to David Long, one half of the creative duo behind Everyday Design, who said a series of vases and a chandelier were next to receive the stalactite treatment… Can’t wait to see them!

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