Kelly Wearstler Style

Some days I love Kelly Wearstler's design style, and some days I'm just not feeling it. Today is a good day, and I'm loving the chic LA office space of Kelly Wearstler Interior Design. Check out these images from the March/April issue of Lonny magazine:

The office entryway welcomes guest to KWID.
Love the custom marble floors!

The office space is open, with high ceilings and lots of light.

Each table contains several inspiration trays, where
Kelly collects ideas for ongoing projects.

The orange board room features a vintage chandelier.
The armoire and chairs are Kelly's designs.

Kelly also designs a collection of objects for
Bergdorf Goodman. How cool are the
sputnik sculptural pieces?

What do you think of the KWID office space?

All images courtesy of Lonny Mag.

Sarah 101: Episode 10 Neutral Master

Last night on Sarah 101, Sarah and Tommy decorated another room that was stuck in the 80's - this time a large master bedroom. It was time to strip away the lace, ruffles & flowers and make room for clean & simple timeless design. As is often the case, the jumping off point for this room started at Designer Fabrics, with the selection of a wide stripe in neutral tones of linen and white. The wide stripe was used as drapery, and set a calm tone for the space which the designers built upon with a matte tone on tone wallpaper. Touches of lavender were added throughout the room to provide just a hint of accent colour.




Sarah taught us that when wallpapering an entire room, it is a good idea to prime the walls with a paint colour similar to the main colour of the wallpaper. This way, if the wallpaper spreads slightly along the seams, any colour showing through will blend. Another lesson learned is that when working with low ceilings, select crown moldings with a shallow height.


While hunting for furniture to fill the room, Sarah found a $95 vintage king size headboard of which Tommy didn't wholeheartedly approve. However, when sprayed white and backed in a sweet polka dot fabric, the headboard turned out to be quite lovely, sitting just below the window.


Sarah also found a pair of vintage end tables for $175. For. The. Pair. Measuring 26" x 26", the size of the tables was appropriate for the scale of the new king size bed. In classic Sarah style, she had them sprayed and then topped each with a custom cut antique mirror.



A pair of diamond tufted chairs are reupholstered in a tone on tone paisley pattern, and accented with lavender faux silk pillows. A $25 table is given a second life as a bench at the foot of the bed with upholstered linen inserts.



A vintage chandelier with five lights is the perfect amount of illumination for a bedroom of this size. Sarah chose this fixture because the brass accents echo the metal of the bedside table lamps. The chandelier adds a touch of sparkle to the room without being over the top.


Tommy selected a large vintage dresser to provide drawer storage for the bedroom. At $700, it wasn't a bargain, but because the piece was in excellent condition, it didn't require any labour intensive refinishing.

Did you enjoy this episode of Sarah 101?
What did you think of this neutral master bedroom?

All photos courtesy of HGTV Canada.

Intro to Design Maze

This is the living room of fellow Toronto design blogger Tim Lam, who writes Design Maze. I love the way Tim uses slipcovers and pillows in colourful fabrics to add a sense of the season to his space. On March 17th, his entire condo will be featured on CBC's Steven & Chris, or for more immediate gratification, visit the Design Maze blog and website.

Welcome to the Toronto design blogging community, Tim!!

DIY Weekend Extravaganza

This weekend went by super quick, but I had enough time to finish several of the DIY projects on my list. It will be hard to go back to the office on Monday knowing how much more I could be accomplishing at home.

Does this corner look familiar?
I posted this photo on January 18, 2009:

No more dead orchid perched precariously on top of a cable box, in turn perched precariously on top of a vintage television. It took just TWO YEARS (?!?!) to give this hidden corner a 21st century update. I mounted a new LED tv in the corner, then painted and ran a wire concealer down the edge of the wall to the outlets. Now I can watch tv from bed without getting a kink in my neck.


I also gave the 20 year old table a coat of fresh white paint. I'm planning a bit more DIY work for the table, so stay tuned for the final results.

Remember these yellow urns?
I posted this photo on March 2, 2010:

I thought the urns would look fabulous outside, one on either side of the balcony, with a pair of coordinating toss pillows. I bought a pretty yellow and white floral fabric last year, and finally sewed the pillow covers today. Not bad, this project took only ONE YEAR to complete. Now I am fully ready for spring weather!!

What did you do this weekend?

Recent Thrift Finds

Lately things have been busy, but I have found a half hour here and there to do some thrifting. These are some of my recent finds:

First is a tiny soap dish made by Limoges for the Hotel Prince de Galles in Paris. I thought maybe it was a sign that I should stay there during my upcoming trip, but unfortunately the hotel is currently in the middle of a year long renovation. This little dish is perfect to corral loose coins or jewellery.



These hexagonal Bavarian plates with gold edging were just too pretty and unique to pass up!! In perfect condition, they would be great as side plates for a casual lunch or for afternoon tea & cookies.

Have you thrifted any cool items lately? Please share!!