CELEB STUFF: BEST CELEBRITY ROOMS FEATURED IN 2011

Check out some of my favorite Celebrity spaces featured this past year. All are super cozy, comfortable and make for a relaxed environment. Hopefully I'll be working on some exciting spaces like these in the coming year!

Nate Burkus - Dining Room

Kerri Russell - Living Room

- Elle Decor

Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux - Great Room

Ralph Lauren - Montauk Bedroom

- Elle Decor

Ellen Degeneres and Portia De Rossi - Eating Area

- Architectural Digest 

Barefoot Contessa  - Barn Kitchen  

- House Beautiful

PIZZA LIBRETTO: ON THE DANFORTH

I just came from dining with my 2 best friends and the best friends BF at Pizza Libretto on the Danforth. It reminded me of The Meatball Shop in NY with it's simple but delicious menu, friendly wait staff and raw interior. I wasn't a fan of the light fixtures they chose, - thought they were a little too childlike and random, but overall liked the rest of the decor. Thoughts?

DIY : KITCHEN UPDATES

Inspired by many DIY projects I see online, I talked my sister into updating her nice, but outdated kitchen over the holidays. Luckily, she moved into a house with pretty decent bones so the updates while time ocnsuming wont be too hell-ish. We wanted to keep the kitchen light and contemporary, which is exactly what we did.
It began with a few trips to the paint store, but we finally landed on a colour. Since the cupboards are white laminate with wood trim, we dedided to keep the laminate as is (too daunting a DIY) and update the    trim. So we chose a nice soft grey - far away enough from the white so it didnt look like we were trying to match, but soft enough that there wasn't too much contrast. We landed on Benjamins Moores ...
For all you DIYers who are dying for an inexpensive kitchen update, follow these simple instructions, and you'll be fine.

1. remove all drawers and cupboards that are being painted
2. sand surface enough so that the surface is raw - then clean the surface with a damp cloth to ensure no dust particles are left to be painted on top of.
3. prime surface -my container said the leave the primer to dry for approx. 45 mins
4. paint - definitely 2 coats

Some nice and handy tips to note during the process:
- do not test paint colours on the actual cabinets. If you do, you'll spend a ton of unnecessary time sanding off the test colours before you start the project (once colour has been decided)
- be open to talking to more than 1 person in the paint store.. they all know different information
- its worth buying samples. Although the cost and countless trips are super annoying, its well worth finding the right colour. Colour ALWAYS changes in your light.
- remove all knobs and handles before painting

... have fun and play music. It'll make the time pass much quicker!! Any other tips and/or questions, let me know!!

INSPIRATION: Best Travel Pictures of 2011 Named

I was just sent the link to National Geographic's Best Travel Pictures of 2011. Have a look for yourself and let me know which inspired you the most. 


And the winner is...

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, USA

WINTER SALES

Check out some of Toronto's best sales.. Hoping to find a good ottoman and art for my sisters pad. What are you hoping to find?
Happy sale shopping!


PUTTI FINE FURNISHINGS: 
WHEN? December 26th at 10:00 till 5:00 and continues through the rest of the week
WHAT? 25% to 50% off all Christmas decorations

ELTE: 

WHEN? NOW 

WHAT? 30% to 50% off all Christmas decorations

Know of any other sales? Let us know.

HOW TO: DESIGN A GALLERY WALL

Who doesn't love a gallery wall. It's the perfect way to fill a wall.. and it doesn't have to cost a lot. For my "Great Room" I decided to gather pictures from mine and Lisa's travels and put them on display for my guests to see. There are so many ways to design a gallery wall.

Here are my tips on doing it right and making it your own.

1. Decide what kinds of frames you want to use. You can go with a variety or different styles to give it an eclectic feel, or stick to the same frame for all pictures. 
2. What pictures are you going to include? If you don't have any pictures of your own, a great idea is to go to a used book store, pick a book with some great pictures that match your taste or interests, and frame the images. 
3. Frame it. I played around on iphoto with the colouring. Once I was happy with it, I went to the local print shop to have them printed to size.
4. Finally - it took some patience, but I framed the images myself. Try your best to center and tape the photos to the frame so they don't move around. 
5. Lay the pictures out on the floor - feel comfortable with the layout before you start making holes in your wall. 
6. Mount! 

INSPIRATION: HOLIDAY DECOR

I am a huge fan of table setting decor. It's simple, easy and unforgettable. For as long as I can remember, I've been in charge of the centrepieces for all my parents dinner parties. What's most important to me is that they're simple, relatively inexpensive and creative. Here are some of my favorites for the upcoming holidays to include Christmas, Chanukah and New Years. (not) shockingly, most of them came from The Martha Stewart. If you've got any others, send them my way!