Realistic Chic

I love her french urban flair! Somehow she makes tattoo-covered arms look cute and innocent. I dunno how.

Restoration Hardware. Those guys are just genius with some of the stuff they come up with, even if a lot of it is too rich for my university-student blood. Observe:

The Selby is a site that showcases the homes and studios of creative people from around the world. A recent spot on Vincent Darre - an interior and furniture designer
at his home and store - in paris is both breathtaking, and somewhat eerie.

I love the strong use of colour and shape in his drawing room...and even just that he has a drawing room.
Hope you enjoyed it! I know it took me away for a little bit!

Style inspiration: Zooey Deschanel.

I am flabbergasted by Zooey Deshanel's many talents. She can act, sing, model, and her personal style is UNMATCHED.



I realize that Katy Perry looks similar to Zooey, but she has nothing on the She & Him singer as far as class goes, thank you very much.

French canopy chairs! These Louis XV period chairs are so stunning. I will admit, they'd dwarf the 8' ceilings in my condo and seem only slightly out of place amongst my Ikea furniture, but I still want one. Or two. I guess I'd place one where my teak mid-century chairs are right now, where I have two side by side in my living space.

Now the tricky part is finding one that's at least quazi-affordable.




This one has a flat back and open arm rests. Although I love the X-look at the base, I'd rather have a deeper one to sink into and feel like I'm in a luxurious cave-chair, don't you? Something to escape into.

Got it on Craigslist for $40! New dress forms run around $300 and up! What a steal! She adjusts perfectly to all the sizes I need for the four dresses I'm making. She's a little worse for wear, but nothing my glue gun can't solve. We christened her Queen Anne Boleyn, since she's lost her head and all.

So excited for some time off to get sewing!

I got this inspiration from none other than the amazing late-Domino magazine. I made my own by buying those loose pieces of cork board ($12 at Michael's), cutting them to size for the frame that I already had (free, given to me by my mum), glue-gunning them on to a stiff piece of cardboard that had already been cut to size, then gluing the map paper (bought on ebay for $6 incl. shipping) to the cork board. I used a synthetic gold leafing (bought on ebay for $4 incl. shipping) for the frame, then used pins ($3 at Michael's) to show where in the world my fiance and I have been. Pink is mine, blue is his, and green is us together. The whole thing ran me about $25. There are so many places he's been that I actually ran out of his colour of pins. There should be many more blue dots in Africa, Australia, and Thailand. I'll get around to buying more pins when I get over how jealous I am. :)

Douglas Coupland! I know he's a local author and all, but he very much stays out of the public grasp so you can imagine my excitement in my first time meeting him! I was at a special event where he was interviewing a famous Canadian cartoonist, except that, rudely enough, I've forgotten the guy's name. I was first in line for book signings and got him to sign three of my books. I actually own almost everything he's written, but it would be in poor taste to stand there with a crate full of Coupland novels, expecting him to sign all of them. I took with me my two favourites: Jpod and Microserfs, as well as his newest work, Generation A. He is my second most favourite author, next to Douglas Adams, of course. Somehow, he knew I was from the island (made a remark like he just knew...eerie); his social intuition is just what makes his books so interesting. LOVE.

Sadly, I can never find an email address or fan box forwarding PO Box or anything on his site. I suppose he'd never have time to read all the stuff he'd get, but oh, how I'd love to write him.

Project Runway. I have not yet shared my complete, utter devotion to this show. America. Canada. Australia. I've seen 'em all and keep a folder on my computer full of every episode ever. Downloaded UK seasons also, but don't want to start them till the semester is out...otherwise I'll probably fail. In the mean time, I will take this opportunity to share with you my top ten favourite PR designers ever!

#10 - Nick Verros (USA Season 2 contestant)


#9 - Anthony Capon (AUS season 2 winner)

 
#8 - Christian Siriano (USA Season 4 winner)

#7 - Irina Shabayeva (USA Season 6 winner... bitchy but great clothes)


# 6 - Carol Hannah Whitfield (USA Season 6 finalist ...she's better than you, Irina, even by one place...so take THAT)


#5 - austin scarlett (USA season 1 contestant, who now designs AMAZING wedding dresses for Kenneth Pool)

#4 - Biddel (CAN season 1 winner)

#3 - Korto Momolu ( USA Season 5 finalist)


# 2 - Juli (AUS season 1 winner)


#1 - Leigh Buchanon (AUS season 1 finalist)
 I just loved his whole collection. The European baroque socialite theme was INCREDIBLE. He's fabulous!!!

the plethora of gorgeous pillows on Etsy!

Just a few of the ones that caught my eye:

Pls?








One can simply never have enough interior design books. I think my next purchase will be Shabby Chic. I've wanted that one for a while now. What design books are you looking to buy or what ones do you already have that you would reccomend?