Style & Decor Blog

Off the top, a giant huzzah and merci beaucoup to my pal the Style Sleuth for inviting me to guest here in his regular cyber spot. I’m just back from the gala opening of the Interior Design Show 2010 at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto and I have seen the light! I’ve been thinking a lot about light these days — or the lack of it around these parts this time of year — so it’s no wonder that great new lighting designs were my top takeaway from tonight’s first go ’round. Here’s what I spied:

Very cool sconces in one of the sheds designed for the 5 Small Rooms exhibit. This space by Stephane Chamard and Francoise Turner Larcarde of FTL+SC Studio.

Tout le monde was ooohing and aaaahing over these lovelies. 20 IKEA PS MASKROS — giant paper spheres inspired by dandelions. Simple, yet magical.

…And just a few booths away, the Moooi Raimond spheres at the Klaus booth.

An ethereal cascade of hand-blown glass spheres by Gregor Herman, some with colour, some with texture, each bouncing light every which way. J'adore.

Perfectly simple and modern by Secto Design.

Ok, I knew that Zac Ridgley of Ridgely Studio Works was talented, but this is ridic! This sconce looks like light peaking out of a crumpled sheet of solid gold. I'll take a pair please!

This floor lamp from Diesel for Foscarini is all 21st-century-loft-meets-'50s-beauty-parlor-hairdryer. no?

And for a dedicated Ilse Crawford fan such as moi, finally seeing this little lamp beauty with the saucy red cord in real life was as good as spotting a celeb. Have loved it from afar, but this was my first 3D meetup. Yum! Thanks to Stephanie Lees of Eye Spy Studio for bringing it in for her 5 Small Rooms space. And BTW, Stephanie's own place is amazing and we are shooting it soon for an upcoming issue of STYLE AT HOME. Stay tuned!

Can’t wait to head down to the show again tomorrow and Sat. After all, couldn’t exactly do the whole show tonight wearing these:

Ta for now, your faithful guest blogger and STYLE AT HOME senior design editor, Margot Austin.

If you’ve got time to dash down to the grocery store, you’ve got time to dress up your dining table for the holidays! Check out my grocery store decor tips from today’s episode of CityLine!

And, as promised, here’s a step-by-step diagram of how I managed that lovely furoshiki-style napkin fold…

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If you’re someone who knows what I mean when I say “Comic Sans Serif” was the un-funniest thing to happen to typography - EVER - you’re probably a typography junkie. The design of written characters is an art unto itself, and has a passionate, cult-like following within the larger pool of design aficionados.

Even IKEA’s jumped on the typography bandwagon with the rather splendid new Olunda framed artwork. I love how the vowels are printed in red, including the deliciously Swedish additions at the end. Did you actually know that the Swedish alphabet recognizes these variations of “A” and “O” as three distinct letters, thus bringing their alphabet to 29 characters? Fascinating! (Yes, I’m a junkie.)

Olunda picture, $60, IKEA

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One of IKEA’s staple storage collections hits a milestone this year… Billy – the bestselling bookcase in the WORLD – is turning 30!

To celebrate the anniversary, IKEA’s pulling out all the stops, including the launch of a limited-edition Billy series called Billy Jader.

Billy Jader’s got a playful, graffiti-inspired feel, with what looks like Sharpie-marker scrawlings lining the interior. Look a bit closer and you’ll notice that designer Annika Bryngelson’s actually used quotations from Shakespeare’s love sonnets in the script… Cute!

Here’s the full assortment of colourways available in the new series, which will be in stores for a limited time only. Those colourful little “B” bookends (which I’m rather partial to, naturally) are also part of the Billy anniversary release.

But have you ever wondered who was behind this iconic design?

Oddly enough, his name isn’t “Billy”.

Gillis Lundgren designed Billy in 1979, but had actually joined IKEA as the fourth employee (Wild! IKEA now has more than 128,000 employees overall…) back in 1953. What’s more, he doesn’t even necessarily see Billy as his masterpiece. Instead, he considers the Tore drawer unit (below) he designed in 1958 as the design he’s most proud of. So interesting!

Lundgren is also the man who came up with the idea of the flat pack, which will very likely be his most enduring legacy.

Fast facts:

* 41,000,000 - Number of Billy bookcases manufactured since 1979

* 15 - Number of Billy bookcase manufactured each minute at IKEA’s Gyllensvaan furniture factory

* Lundgren’s design philosophy: “At the end of the day, I designed for the many people,” he says. “I want to make solutions for everyday life, based on people’s needs. All my products are simple, practical and timeless. They should be useful no matter how old you are, or what your life situation is.”

Billy anniversary series, IKEA, 866-866-4532

In case you missed it… Here’s my last gig on CityLine.

Click HERE to watch!

With the premiere of Pure Design’s sophomore season on HGTV on Tuesday, September 29  at 9PM, Samantha Pynn returns to the small screen to deliver another shot of sustainable style.

What can we expect from round two of Pure Design?

“Our interiors are really awesome this year,” Samantha says. “The spaces are really tailor-made for the homeowners this season, ranging from the most traditional to ultramodern.” And that “liveability” is important, she says. “They’re the ones who have to live in the space, so they have to be happy!”

I weaseled an invite down to the Pure Design Production Office to take a peek inside Samantha’s world of beautiful before-and-after transformations, only to find that her office itself was subject to the makeover maven’s magic wand.

“Before,” says Sam, “this office was really cold and the colour was wrong.” She’s hard pressed to put a name to the hue that adorned the walls – “let’s call it ‘beige’” – and the outdated office fittings were anything but inspiring. “The 1980s ‘working girl’ desk gave me the chills, and we could never find anything – it was a state of complete disorganization.”

But armed with her inimitable style – and some fantastic finds from IKEA – Samantha brought order to chaos.

BEFORE… “Very dingy and damp-feeling”

AFTER!

“I think you can tell this space is very ‘me’!” says Samantha.

A crisp coat of Benjamin Moore’s Dune White CC-70 set the stage for Samantha’s office refresher, and by laying down gorgeous copper-tone seagrass carpet from Carpet One Floor & Home, the room shed all vestiges of its cold, institutional vibe. A new boardroom table flanked by IKEA’s contemporary classic Tobias chairs makes for an inviting meeting space that Samantha’s reluctant to take full credit for. “Pure Design Senior Stylist Malcolm Patterson helped me design the space,” she says. “He balanced my feminine style with some midcentury modern pieces from IKEA.”

And in keeping with Samantha’s environmentally-conscious approach, the old office furnishings found new homes at other offices in the building instead of ending up on the scrapheap.

BEFORE…

AFTER!

The production office is home to Samantha and six of her staff, but everyone’s got ample workspace in the new layout, thanks to new desks (in actuality, four Melltorp dining tables pushed together to form one gigantic worktop), and rolling under-desk filing cabinets from IKEA. The table lamps are from IKEA as well, but Samantha customized them by mixing-and-matching the lamp base with a different shade. “It’s always good to put your own spin on a piece,” she says. “Make it your own!”

The walls are lined with Samantha’s inspiration boards, complete with tears from her favourite photos from Style At Home magazine. The boards themselves are upholstered in pretty lavender fabric from Robert Allen. “I love how the lavender works with the apple green and pink accents in the room,” she says. “I wanted it to feel like a floral arrangement come to life.”

To create privacy without sacrificing natural light, Samantha selected translucent window treatments from Hunter Douglas Canada. Below the windows, acrylic trays from IKEA ensure fabric swatches stay neat and tidy – and save time when Samantha’s hunting for a particular sample, as the clear acrylic means all swatches are visible without having to dig.

Unfinished magazine boxes and filing drawers from IKEA were painted a perky apple green – another case of Samantha putting her personal stamp on mass market merch.

Adjacent to the conference table is this sweet little lounge. I love the Karlstad sofa from IKEA in this Linneryd Natural-colour slipcover, which is paired with the Vejmon coffee table – repainted, of course, this time in Benjamin Moore’s Violet Mist CC-880. Eagle-eyed Samantha fans will recognize the pink tufted chair from her own home, featured in Style At Home back in June 2008. Pretty patterned pillows break up the solid, softly-hued upholstery and add a hint of romance.

And those gorgeous floral arrangements that are among Samantha’s trademark flourishes? “One of our producers has a beautiful cutting garden,” Samantha says. “We always have fresh flowers here at the office.”

You’ll see more of Samantha’s office in Season Two of Pure Design!

Premiering Tuesday, September 29  at 9PM, HGTV

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Remember that mysterious excursion to Sweden and Denmark I’ve been blathering on about for the last three months? And the secret sneak-peek IKEA granted me while at IKEA’s world HQ in Almhult? 

Well, the secret’s finally out…

The Maskros pendant lamp is the unquestionable star of IKEA’s new PS Collection - a series of stunning new products from the Swedish design powerhouse that are hitting select IKEA locations across Canada (Boucherville, QC; Etobicoke, ON; Edmonton; and Coquitlam, BC) this month. 

This mammoth 31.5″ beauty is already the best-selling piece in the new PS Collection in Europe (where it was launched last February), and it’s easy to see why. Designer Marcus Arvonen looked to dandelions for inspiration for this destined-for-the-dining-room pendant, and the radiating white starbursts filter the light in truly spectacular ways. I’ve seen this installed in a plain, white-box room, and once this pendant is switched on, the light casts patterns on the walls, creating the effect of crazy custom wallpaper… It’s absolutely fascinating.

Price: $100 (For reals! Can you BELIEVE it?!?)

Available at: select IKEA locations (see above), 866-866-4532

Did you get your copy yet???

Here’s a smattering of the yumminess inside IKEA’s new 2010 catalogue…

Loving the grey!  IKEA’s pronouncing it the achromatic hue of the year, and you’ll see it on its own and paired with bright colours throughout the book. 

Ektorp Pixbo three-seat sofa-bed in Svanby grey

I’m really falling for the geometric print (Figur grey) on the IKEA Stockholm easy chair. Here’s a detail:

And for all you naysayers who think grey can’t be “pretty”… 

Edland four-poster bed frame in white, Alvine Kvist duvet cover and two pillowcases, Alina bedspread in dark grey, Alvine Rand rug in grey/white/black, Ritva cushions and tie-backs in grey

And of course, my personal favourite… The new Edland series. It absolutely rocks in grey, and the curvaceous leg is a stunning little detail…

Edland night stand in grey

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Woo-hoo!

I’ve done pre-taped segments for CityLine before (butler boot-camp, anyone?), but I’m making my live studio debut later this month! 

I’ll be joining STYLE AT HOME’s Contributing Decorating Editor, Kimberley Seldon, on the show, airing at 10AM on Tuesday, July 28, to dish on some Scandinavian table settings – all the rage this summer, as seen in my “Table Style” column in the August issue, on stands now!

I’m so excited to meet Tracy Moore, as I haven’t had the chance to work with her yet. Yippee!

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…And now, for the third and final instalment of my journey through the hallowed halls of the IKEA Through the Ages Museum, I’ll take you from the 80s – the decade of Dynasty, excess and primary brights – through to present day.

Yes, even IKEA designs lived large in the 80s, as witnessed by this poor Klippan sofa (released in 1980, and still available in stores!), which is being strangled by a puffy, sleeping-bag-like quilted red slipcover, circa 1984. 

And here’s the tuxedo-style Klippan, 29 years on – mercifully sans sleeping bag.

Klippan loveseat in Frasig black leather, $599

1987 saw the release of IKEA’s first Stockholm Collection – furnishings at a slightly higher price-point, and having undergone a curious change of design direction. Certainly not something you’d ever immediately associate with IKEA, this must have shocked a few shoppers back in the day. (A second Stockholm Collection came out in 2006-2007, as you may recall, and it was gorge!)

…But it’s back to form in the 1990s with that iconic, Swedish simplicity that continues to inform IKEA’s contemporary designs. Light, bright and airy, the Tomelilla sofa and armchair (1993) in loose fitting white slipcovers are so relaxed and inviting, and the Egeby carpet (1998) has since become a decorating staple. 

A great experiment began in 1993, with the sale of 18th Century Swedish furniture at IKEA. Based on genuine Gustavian antiques, these were truly works of art. The line was discontinued about five years later… The curator of the museum explained that it was because the line just wasn’t selling enough units (the furnishings tended to be more costly than standard IKEA releases)…

And that, ladies and gents, brings us back to the 21st century, and the IKEA that we know and love today. And, of course, the reason I was in Almhult, Sweden, to begin with. Which I still can’t divulge. lol