Act 1:

Sitting at her desk, our intrepid design groupie suddenly stands, opens the window and leaps… to the balcony screaming:

D.G.: “I LOVE WALLPAPER!!!!!!!!”

Act 2: 

After being yelled at by the neighbouring suites, our design groupie got some sense into her to get back inside and sit back down at her desk and declare her love for all things wall related to her loyal readers instead.

D.G.: ” I love wallpaper, really I always have. I remember the wallpaper that was in my nursery (from photographs seen in recent years of course) and it was off white with large green and red apples all over it. Very Scandinavian in essence. When I was 3, I hit my ballerina phase and had an all pink bedroom with Laura Ashley wallpaper to match the curtains and duvet cover (again as attested by photographs seen in more recent years). When I was 8 I renounced all associations to my princess years and entered my blue phase… with again a off white Laura Ashley wallpaper with tiny lavender blue flowers all over it. To my mother’s best design advice, I also had the matching bedspread and curtains in contrasting blue and tiny white flowers fabric.”

Act 3:

All this reminiscing has given our design groupie a massive thirst so she gets up and fetches a glass of green juice (aka: Pond Scum) that is supposed to be great for you but that really looks awful. Hey… the lengths at which she is willing to go to for bikini season.

(not a very exciting act… it is an author’s movie, you know)

Act 4: 

As she sits again…

D.G.: ” After the childhood years came the experimental teenage years…during that phase I changed the decor of my bedroom every year for 6 straight years. The thickness of the paint on the walls must have been quite impressive. I painted sunflowers as a headboard once (my peace & love phase), then it was a mural of a surfer on a huge blue wave (my Point Break phase), then I had 4 walls of 4 different colours (I hesitate between my confused or my Lego phase)…During what seems today like forever, I left wallpaper aside for 6 full years.”

Act 5: 

Fast forward on the College years, the innumerable apartment changes and the hummm suspicious boyfriends.

Act 6: 

Our design groupie is now a mother of 3 lovely munchkins, always well dressed and never dirty, with good manners and excellent dental hygiene (again… let’s focus on the fact that this is a movie and that I should not let the facts spoil a good story!)

D.G.: “As time have passed, and my disgust for green pond scum juice has not, I have rekindled with my love for wallpaper. From the powder room to the bedroom and all rooms in between, it still fills me with joy to see the effect a repetitive pattern has on the dynamism of a room’s decor. ”

And they lived happily ever after.

The End…

sources: The Style Files, Norske Interior

Unfortunately, not all our homes are gifted with ceilings of breathtaking heights and beauty like the one above. In fact, most of our ceilings fall at the complete opposite end of the spectrum: plain and boring.

Let’s face it, ceilings are often neglected. At best, they’re white, matte, and don’t have too many cracks or stains. They might even be graced with the presence of a lovely pendant. But, truth be told, they could look better.

After all, we spend countless hours choosing the perfect wall color, wallpaper, flooring, tiles… Why not pay our ceilings equal attention?

We may not look up as often as we look down, but our eyes wander over to the ceiling more often than we may think, especially in our bedrooms where we spend countless hours staring at the ceiling!

With this, here are my top 5 tricks to give your ceiling the attention it deserves.

1. Don’t paint it white. This may be stating the obvious, but there are endless options here. Painting the ceiling the same color as the walls can be especially effective in a smaller space like a bathroom. It creates a feeling of cosiness and cocooning.

Make the ceiling the focus of your room by painting it a bright or dark color. The combinations here are endless, because this trick can work with white or colored walls. Let your imagination run wild! A dark color will add a sense of depth, especially if used on the upper part of the walls as well as the ceiling.

2. Geometric patterns. This will immediately draw the eye to your ceiling. Geometrics can be achieved with paint, moldings or wallpaper. But I also love this inexpensive idea of creating a geometric pattern using nailheads like the one below by Pam of Simple Details.

3. Silver leaf. Silver or gold leaf really does wonders to a ceiling! Its highly reflective surface will make your space lighter and brighter. I’m guessing an entire ceiling covered in silver leaf probably doesn’t fit most of our budgets. If you like the look, why not follow this faux silver leaf ceiling tutorial?

4. Lacquer. This is my personal favorite. It works with every color under the sun, but also does wonders with white. It will give your ceiling a glossy finish that will make you feel like you’re standing inside a jewel! To get the lacquer effect, Jackie Astier used automotive paint, but a high gloss paint finish would give a similar effect at a much lower cost!

5. Wallpaper. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, wallpapering a ceiling can make for a wonderful visual effect. Whether you’re continuing the pattern from the walls or covering only the ceiling, a patterned wallpaper is sure to leave a lasting impression!

Now that you’ll never look at ceilings the same way, tell me: do you have a favorite look? Would you try any of this in your home?

See you next week!

Gabrielle | Savvy Home

Sources: 1. Shelton, Mindel & Associates apartment via Architectural Digest 2. Celerie Kemble for Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse 3. William Hablinski Architecture 4. Modern Declaration 5. Domus Nova 6. Jonathan Adler’s Bathroom via Houzz 7. Simple Details 8. Daniel Romualdez via Architectural Digest 9. Jackie Astier’s Apartment 10. Lonny Mag

I had the pleasure to introduce you to Gabrielle Savoie, of Savvy Home, last week as a new collaborator onto Damask & Dentelle’s blog. Her reflections on what makes a home savvy got me thinking about my own reasons and of my personal set of rules for making one’s home… a home.

I have become a bit of a cheesy gal over the years. I have come to embrace the melted chocolate heart that is in me. Case in point: I cried watching Kung Fu Panda with my kids (the first 5 times!!!). With that cheesiness came the acceptation of doctrines such as: “Home is where the heart is” and “Home sweet Home”. I am not at the point of getting these saying engraved on little wooden planks or stamped on my doormat, but there is something fundamentally true about their message.

Whatever set of rules you abide by; whether you dream of symmetry and order, of a dishevelled miss-mash of sentimental pieces, or of a museum-like collection of antiques and artefacts of centuries past, your home should reflect your deepest values and make you feel comfortable and at peace. As your clothes are a reflection of the person you wish to present to the world, your home is the most intimate depiction of your personality. It is where you laugh and cry, build your dreams and see your children grow, entertain friends and make holiday memories.

That consideration came to me last week, after I met with a lovely couple who moved into their house over a year ago and are longing to make their home … a nest. Their Montréal brick 2 storey cottage, with gorgeous bones, is filled to the brim with personality and the life (& toys) brought in by their 2 young boys. They have great heirloom pieces of furniture, some with market value others infused with childhood memories, and they wish to make it work. He: a more rustic-industrial type of character and she: a whimsical-glamour kind of gal. Can a lifelong love bloom from all of this? Of course!!!!!

Like a drummer beating to his own drum, they too will find their own set of rules and see their mingled style emerge as they come to understand their own set of rules. Because if there is one thing I know for sure is that it takes a little bit of this and a little bit of that for a recipe to be delectable!

source: Idha Lindhag Photography

Good morning!!! I came across these images and a whole lot of memories and fuzzy feelings came back to me. After living in California for a few years while attending university, I came to really love their casual yet sophisticated style.

Airy rooms and soft textures, beaming light and industrial accents are all key features that, to me, define this style. I mean, let’s be serious here for a moment… wouldn’t it be great to sprawl here sipping a mojito?

Let me interject in your delightful style binge for a moment more and point to the fact that this rustic looking settee and armoire  are actually in the master bathroom. What a great idea to add both storage and decorate a vast space… although it wouldn’t be a problem in our bathroom which is the size of a post stamp, but hey it sure is something to look forward to right?

Source: Country Living