Monday Meandering

Happy Civic Holiday to my fellow Canadians.  Hope everyone is having a beautiful long weekend!

1)  The latest issue of House of Fifty is out and I’m loving the cover - well the whole issue really.  My friend Christine wrote the most insightful article on How to Build an Eclectic Space.  If this doesn’t stop you from “buying the set",” I don’t know what will!  Click here to read.



2) Recently stumbled upon this site. Love the photos pairing unlikely celebs like this one of Mick and Dolly.



3) I’m loving some of the new pieces in West Elm’s Fall preview.  You can see them here.

  

4)  Ikea will introduce some new products in mid-August.  Vibrant textiles, vintage boxes and magazine holders and life-size (to a toddler) fabric dolls which make me smile are just a few items that caught my eye.

(told you, didn’t these dolls make you smile?)

5) This post on ottomans was one of my first and I need to write an updated one as I am still a huge fan.
Sneak peek:  I picked up this ottoman and stuffed all 60” of it into my car to deliver to a client (the things we do!)  Isn’t it beautiful?  I custom designed it using a Thom Felicia for Kravet fabric.  My upholsterer did an amazing job on the diamond tufting.  It softens all of the leather furniture my client has (and wants to keep) and means that everyone can put their feet up while watching the tele!

Have a wonderful week!

If you need decorating help, I’m just an email away!  Please contact me at vanessa@vanessafrancis.com. 

Blogfest 2011 Part 2: The Joy, The Wisdom + The Pretty

A few highlights from Day 2 and Day 3 of Blogfest 2011.  You can read my previous post here where I just added a  photo from the Joss  & Main party which was recently emailed to me.

Joy 
 

 

Love this photo of Barbara Barry I snapped when she was informally showing us her Indochine line for Kravet.  You can see the passion she has for what she does.  I think she was responding to all the love in the room that day.   You can read highlights from her presentation on how her Asia travels inspired the Indochine line here.

 

Loved this room designed by Suzanne Kasler showcasing Lee Jofa’s New Shiraz Print from the Heritage Collection. Seven designers (with licenses at Lee Jofa and Groundworks) were asked to reinterpret a favourite Lee Jofa print based on his/her unique style.  Suzanne reinterpreted a multicolored floral by tracing the outline and recoloring it with one colour on white linen.  It’s stunning!

We were able to meet Suzanne and other designers such as Thomas O’Brien, Suzanne Rheinstein and Eric Cohler at a cocktail party at Mayo Studios to preview the collection.  See more photos here.

Wisdom

Margaret Russell, Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Digest gave us a behind the scenes look at the magazine.  One of the stories she shared was that AD was shooting Elizabeth Taylor’s home the day she passed away.  The family insisted that the article be printed as that would have been her wish.  Below is her garden and you can see more photos on their site here plus a full article in the July issue, out soon.  Andie Day did a great recap of her inspiring talk here.

Pretty

One of the highlights for all of us bloggers was visiting the Kravet, Lee Jofa and Brunschwig and Fils Design Studio.  We were able to chat with staff about the creativity process and what it takes to produce their beautiful fabrics.

The Showroom Merchandising  team designs showrooms and decides on the fabric each furniture piece will be upholstered in.  I noticed that they were fabricating a sofa in the Jellybean fabric I used on my daughter’s headboard for their showroom in Stamford.

Some of Kravet’s new custom and semi-custom carpet collections.

Not sure if I was allowed to take this photo (but I’m sure it’s fine as bloggers always have cameras at the ready!)  Hand drawn sketches and computer generated images all have a role in the process of designing a custom carpet.

This new collection is called Chelsea (after the neighbourhood in NYC) and the graphic print above represents tire treads. Fun!

Barbara Barry’s new Indochine line – elegant, understated and timeless.

I’m loving this new collection by Alexa Hampton - so  relaxed and beachy.  Kravet is currently working on a new Thom Filicia collection with jewel tones.  They are also happy to have Jonathan Adler as a new licensee and are working on his collection as well.  Always something new to look forward to with Kravet/Lee Jofa!

I think we all were in awe of this woman who, even though her job title is Director of Print Department, paints by hand Lee Jofa’s block print patterns ensuring the exact colours before they are produced.

       

For Eric Cohler’s new collection, they are reproducing one of his popular patterns in a velvet. Wouldn’t it be fun to play with those colour swatches?

 

Kelly Wearstler’s new line for Lee Jofa Groundworks will be available later this year.


 

Happy fabrics from the new Lily Pulitzer for Lee Jofa collection.

   
Wouldn’t it be a treat to come to work here every day? This was the Kravet licensing studio where we had a sneak peek at new indoor/outdoor fabric collections by Windsor Smith, Barclay Butera and Echo. 

 
Thank you Kravet, Lee Jofa and sponsors for this amazing opportunity.  Blogfest’s tagline of “Access to Inspired Design” was exactly that and I look forward to next year!

If you didn’t have an opportunity to attend Blogfest 20ll, follow on Twitter or Facebook to hear when their 2012 site will be up.  There were over 100 peeps on the waiting list and I can only imagine the added interest due to all the tweets and blog posts from everyone in attendance this year.