Monday Meandering & Giveaway Winner

And here we are again! It’s Monday, the middle of October already! Hope you had a happy weekend!

1) My latest Houzz ideabook is live and it’s entitled “20 Finds for Staging Your Home” or just to freshen up your home and add personality.


I love this print by Yangyang Pan – the vibrant colours and composition are brilliant.  I have recently commissioned her to create an original painting for one of my client’s and can’t wait to see it when it’s finished.

2) Last week, I attended a book signing at CB2 hosted by Style at Home with none other than Bob and Cortney Novogratz.   Their latest book, “Home by Novogratz” features 20 homes that they have decorated so that you too can get the “Novogratz look.”  Read my interview with them here and read more about the event and enter to win a copy of the book in Style at Home’s post here.

Yep, just a regular night hanging out with our besties. :)  They were so charming and friendly and it was surprising to hear that even though they have lived in NYC for the past 20 years they have never visited Canada.

This table, chairs and area rug are part of their collection with CB2.

3) That same night, we attended the opening of the FLOR Toronto store. FLOR creates 20” x 20” modular carpet tiles in all sorts of cool patterns and colours.  You can arrange them to create one of a kind area rugs and runners. Here’s a fun photo of my girls and I at the photo booth – note the floor tiles in the background.

 
4)  The winner of the $200 Paint it Like New Giveaway (chosen by random.org)  is Michelle of Sweetsuite 10.  Congrats! Please email me so that I can pass along the details to you.  And please be sure to send me the Before and After!

Have a happy week everyone!

If you require decorating/design advice, please email me at vanessa(at)vanessafrancis.com.

Something Blue + Giveaway

No, this isn’t another wedding post!  The publishers of House Beautiful’s latest book “Blue – 350 Inspiring Ways to Decorate with Blue” sent me a complimentary copy to review (and will provide a copy to one lucky reader!)

I love the House Beautiful books which are a collection of images from the magazine supported with ideas and advice from interior designers .  This one has to be my favourite thus far.  

 

Decorating with blue is timeless, versatile, appealing and  a fail-safe choice when decorating.  I realized that I have included some of  the images in the book in previous blog posts.  See here, here and here.

The book shows how blue can work in any room and with any colour scheme.  This bedroom decorated by Tom Stringer in a navy and white colour scheme is bold and fresh.

 

While this bedroom with a muted blue and orange scheme is more tranquil.  Designer John Willey points out that “the orange isn’t too bright because it’s printed on tan linen rather than cotton.”  And by cotton he means a white ground – good tip! 

This is one of my favourite images from the book, in part due to the gorgeous blue textiles but also the idyllic setting. Le sigh…

Would you like to have this book as part of your collection?  The publisher has kindly offered a book to a reader.  To win:

* become a Follower of Decor Happy by clicking on the Follow button near the bottom of the sidebar and

* leave a comment letting me know if you have any blue in your own home.  If you don’t have a blog, please leave your email.

For extra entries:

* tweet about the giveaway linking to this post and including @vanessajfrancis in the tweet

* follow me on Twitter

This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the US. I will choose a winner using random. org on May 19th.

Good luck!

Homesav Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone that commented, tweeted etc.  The winner of the Homesav giveaway is:

 

Christine from Just Bella.  Congratulations!  I will be in touch shortly with the details on how to claim your prize.

Giveaway with Homesav

I have entered dozens of blog giveaways since I started my blog as it’s a great way to support other blogs (by following them) and of course there are always great prizes to be won.  I lamented in comments on other blogs  about how I never win anything (cue the violins) which is true.  The only thing I have ever won is a pencil case in Grade 7 and BTO tickets when I was in high school (yes, I know I am dating myself.)   It’s funny but I had  completely forgotten about those two winnings until I wrote this – the power of writing.  Well, I think the giveaway gods were listening because I won not only one but three giveaways in the past couple of weeks.
First, I won a $100 Homesav gift certificate on Lindsay’s blog.  I bought a few funky Rock my Soul pillows for my daughter and niece.  I have blogged about them in the past and love that they are made with organic cotton.

Then, I won an LG convection range worth $1500– I know, crazy, right? All I did was tweet the giveaway which was being held in conjunction with Style at Home magazine. When I received the messages/tweets saying I had won, I had completely forgotten I had even entered.  I retweeted without really thinking I would win so now I have to figure out what to do with this range!  I have a few ideas though.  See, all that time spent on twitter paid off!
And then this past Monday I won an Address Script from Muse Custom Vinyls via Desire to Decorate.  I have always loved how these add personality to a home’s exterior and I am looking forward to installing mine soon. 

So,  a big thank you to the bloggers and giveaway sponsors!
Homesav has kindly offered one of my lucky readers a gift certificate for $100 to use on their site.  Homesav is a member only site but it only takes a minute to sign up and there are no fees.  They are a Canadian online retailer, based in Toronto, which features home decor items, kitchenware, furniture and more at a great price for sale on their site for 24-96 hours only.  
I was so impressed with the items for sale, pricing and customer service and I know you will be too!
If you live in the Toronto area, you may have caught  one of the Homesav founders on Breakfast Television this morning showcasing some of their items for sale.
In the past, they have had linen ottomans, flatware, cushions, art and table runners for sale on their site.  These items are currently on sale for a limited time and I would be quite happy with any one of them:

Good news!  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US readers (as of early Feb.)
To win:
1) Become a follower of my blog via Google Friends (see all those happy, smiling people on the right hand side) and leave a comment.  If you are already a follower, then just let me know in the comments. – one entry
2) Post this on your blog sidebar and then leave a comment. – one entry
3) Tweet a link to this post  and/or post on Facebook and let me know you did. – one or two entries
Remember, if you don’t have a blog with your email address, please leave your email address in the comments so I can contact you if you win.
The contest is open until January 31st and I will post the winner on February 1st.  Maybe that beautiful, linen ottoman will become available again at that time!
Bonne chance mes amies!

CSN Giveaway

I have 100 followers!  Yay me!  Seeing your smiling faces in my sidebar makes me happy and to make your smile a little brighter, the folks over at CSN (featuring le creuset cookware) have kindly offered a $60 gift card as a giveaway.  (If you aren’t a follower yet, maybe this will entice you to become one!)

I think most blog readers have heard of CSN as they do a stand-up job of marketing their company to bloggers and graciously providing gift certificates for giveaways. 

On a side note, did you happen to see the home of CSN’s CEO and founder in the July 2010 issue of Better Homes and Garden?  You can see some images of the family-friendly home decorated in red, white and blue here.  

  The  Jonathan Adler Meurice Pendant, Saarinen dining table by Knoll and the Mademoiselle Chair with Missoni Fabric by Kartell are all available through the CSN network of 200 online sites.  Pretty impressive!.

They offer a full range of products.  Everything from accessories like these pillows from Thomas Paul and Dwell Studio:

To area rugs like these jaunty ones from Dash and Albert:

To art work like this map, one of over 300 on the CSN site.  Room Remix did a wonderful post on decorating with maps here.

Or lighting like this attractive Jonathan Adler ceiling mount:

Do check out their sites to access a diverse range of products at various price points.

To enter:

1.  Become a follower and leave a comment to let me know.  If you are already a follower, simply leave a comment!

For additional entries you can do any of the following:

2. Post about this giveaway on your sidebar.

3. Subscribe to my blog via email (see sidebar). 

4.  Tweet about the giveaway.

Please leave a comment for each entry as I am using random.org to pick a winner.

The contest is open to readers in the US and Canada and will close on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at midnight.  Good luck!

(I’m still confused about the different ways to read a blog:  become a follower, google reader and subscribe via email.  Are these all different people?  Even though I have 100 followers, there about 400 of you that follow, use google reader or subscribe via email.  Thank you for reading!!)

(Oh, and I’m on holidays this week, so posting will be minimal, or rather, non-existent.)

And the Winner is…

Thank you to everyone who commented, followed, posted and facebooked! The response was overwhelming which goes to show that we are all interested in decorating on a budget and doing our part to take care of the planet at the same time. I loved reading all of the ways you recycle, restore and repurpose.

The winner of the book is….

Commenter # 47 – DaniBP from the Mop Philosopher. I had never heard of her blog but it was a real treat when I visited and then read that she lives somewhere in Ontario. Dani – please email your address to me at decorhappy@gmail.com, so that I can get the book out to you.

Thanks again everyone for entering – it was fun! Since I find decorating and design books so inspirational, stay tuned for future book giveaways. This coincidentally happens to be my 100th post so announcing a giveaway winner is a great way to celebrate and give back to my readers who make blogging so much fun!

1st Giveaway!

Contest closed – winner announced here.

If you are mad about decorating sustainably and on a budget, then you will love my 1st giveaway!

The publishers of RESTORE.RECYCLE.REPURPOSE – Create a Beautiful Home have kindly sent me a copy to give away to one of my lucky readers. Written by Randy Florke, Country Living Contributing Editor, with Nancy J. Becker, the book shows how you can achieve a look that’s beautiful, good for the environment and inexpensive all at the same time.

The book is filled with images of comfortable and simple rooms exuding country charm. I’m sure you will be inspired!

How to enter – 4 ways to win:

1) leave a comment on this post telling how you decorate using restored, recycled or repurposed items.

2) become a Google follower (see sidebar) and let me know or if you are already a follower, leave a comment and let me know .

3) post about the giveaway on your blog.

4) link to this post on facebook.

Please note your email address in your comment if you don’t have a blog, so that I can get in touch with you. Only enter if you live in the US or Canada. I will choose a winner on June 4th. Good luck!