Well, first of all THANK YOU for some many sweet comments on the “Before and After” post for our Blue Bedroom. The room turned out simple, fresh, and pretty and we’re so glad you liked it too!

I’ve gotten a few emails with questions about the room, so I wanted to do a quick post answering them. Here goes….

The original design plan called for a great taupey gray for the walls. But after looking at samples, we decided that the existing colour, Ralph Lauren Barn Owl White would work fine with the scheme and save a bit of money from our tight budget that could be better spent elsewhere. We felt the colour ended up working just fine!

The phone is from Pottery Barn. They come in black or silver and you get get one HERE.

As you know, we used Kravet’s Jellybean 1635 for the Euro shams on the bed. We backed them with a coordinating turqoise linen {great for saving a little bit of $ when using a pricier fabric}. The stripe is from Nautica for Robert Allen. It’s called Baron Stripe and the colour is Espresso. It reads more as a browney {is that a word?} charcoal though and worked well with the charcoal in the Kravet print.

We also did a couple pillows for the window seat in Robert Allen Dwell Studio “Gate” in Jade. If you are interested in ordering any of these fabrics, they can be purchased through Kerrisdale Design. Send an email to info@kerrisdaledesign.com for details.

The bedside tables, headboard, and bench are all available through Kerrisdale Design {info@kerrisdaledesign.com for pricing info}.

Other Sources:

• Task Lamps – Robert Abbey Alvin Boom Lamp in Nickel
• Art – frames from Pottery Barn, bird prints ripped out of a Cavallini and Co. calendar
• Convex Mirror – Kerrisdale Design
• Rug – West Elm Jute Boucle in Flax
• White linen pillow – Pottery Barn Jute Braid Pillow Cover in Ivory
• Duvet cover and sheets – Ikea
• Quilt and Shams – Pottery Barn Pick-Stitch Quilt in Sandalwood

Have a great day!

I’m refering to the recent Master bedroom design I did for a client. My very sweet client contacted me this past fall asking for help with her Master bedroom. Her and her husband are like a lot of us, focusing on decorating the rest of the house while the master bedroom gets neglected. A shame, because as busy parents of several little ones, they totally deserve a wonderful space in which to relax at the end of the day.

So, when February hit we got the ball rolling on the design scheme {I was booked solid and that was the earliest I could squeeze it in}. During our inital meeting it was clear that my client wanted a really fresh and happy space, nice hits of colour and a brighter feel that they currently had. Classic pieces for the furniture that they wouldn’t tire of. The word Pink even got tossed around when chatting about potential colours! The colour of the year was already making its way into our designs!

After I had a good grasp of what my clients were after, I hit the fabrics showrooms hard, and fell head over heals for a pattern from Kravet called “Jellybean”. What could be happier sounding that a fabric named after an old-fashioned candy?

When I saw the pattern I was first drawn to the pink colourway {top} due to my discussions with my client about going the pink route. But then I saw the turqoise one and thought how perfectly it fit my clients. Dilemnas!

So, I set about doing somehting I don’t normally do. Two colour scheme options. Pink and Blue.

Presentation day rolled around and I was excited about {and torn between}  both schemes. At breakfast I made my kids guess which one my client would pick. Surprise, suprise, the vote was torn along {stereotypical} gender lines:

I reviewed the design schemes with my client and she was torn too, loved them both! I left everything with her {samples etc}, and later than night the family of 5 had a vote- Blue or Pink?

And the next day the answer came back….we were going blue baby!!!

Here is the scheme they picked {click to enlarge}

The design got implemented and completed a couple months ago, and my clients are so thrilled with how everything turned out. Their bedroom has gone from being a neglected space to one that they enjoy relaxing in after a busy day of work, kids, and pets!

BEFORE

AFTER

all ‘After’ photos by Tracey Ayton Photography

I hope you enjoyed a little peek at this project. It certainly wasn’t the biggest project {in size or budget} that Kerrisdale Design worked on this Spring, but it was one of my favorites.  These clients are such a lovely family and it was a treat to create a space that they adore.

Next up on the tour {go here to read part 1} is the Family room at my clients new house. Being avid entertainers, they decided to forgo doing a formal living room, and instead have a wonderful “Great Room’ – large kitchen, family room, and eating area. Perfect for parties, as we all know everyone always ends up hanging out in the kitchen anyhow!

Family Room {click to view larger}

A lot of inspiration for colours is taken from this beautiful Schumacher fabric {my photo colour is a touch off its a bit warmer/creamier in person but you get the idea}

And I’ve ordered some of {everybody’s favorite} Imperial Trellis pillows from the wonderful Ceri at Cooper Grey {www.cooper-grey.com}

Hope you enjoyed another sneak peak of this client project. With a day packed with meetings, furniture deliveries, and other fun stuff, I better get going! Have a great day,

I’ve got a backlog of design scheme boards I’ve done over the past few months for clients that I’m excited to share with you over the next couple weeks.

First up is a house we’ve been calling “Modern European”. I’ve been working with the owners since the end of January, selecting fixtures and finishes for the new build. There is nothing more satisfying than being able to play a role in a homes design right from the start, and now that we have moved on to decor and furnishings, its so nice to be seeing the full scheme play out.

Right from the start my clients used the words modern, European, Tuscan, warm, comfortable, etc to describe the home they were building and the design they were after. Earthy browns, creams, ivory….think rich wood and limestone, aged bronze, and touches of worn gold.

To give you a feel for the home, here is the front elevation {a rough mockup from the architect}:

Once all of the decision making for the building portion was done {just the past week or so}, we turned our attention to discussing the furnishings and decor {the “fun stuff” if you will!}. There was a little catch, however. It seemed that this portion of the project would have to be competed in a very short timeframe. With a wedding happening shortly after the homes completion, and out of town guests arriving in June, we needed to get this new home furnished and gorgeous by the end of May {6 weeks!!!}. Yikes!

Anyone who has ever purchased large items for their home knows this…. it is rare nowdays for stores to stock things. Waiting anywhere from 8 to 16 weeks {in Vancouver anyhow} for a sofa isn’t out of the ordinary! Were we up to the challenge of decorating this new home lightening-fast in time for the wedding festivities? You betcha!

 The key to having a design come together quickly and be implemented on a short timeline? A designer who undertands her clients well, clients who trust their designer, good contacts & reliable suppliers, some creativity, and the ability to work with in stock items. Yes, we designers LOOOOVE our custom pieces, but it wasn’t happening this time round!

SO, first up on the “Modern European” design scheme tour for today? How about the Master bedroom? After a busy year of house building and wedding planning, what could be better than a relaxing Master retreat for my clients?

Master Bedroom Design {click to enlarge}

The colour scheme is based off a gorgeous Kravet fabric called “Latika” – 100% linen with a stunning print of grays, caramel, ivory, and black. It’s a wonderful pattern that straddles the line between traditional and modern . It feels timeless yet fresh. Here’s a couple closeups:

The rest of the bedding selections will pull from this fabric – ivory sheets and duvet,  taupey coloured coverlet, and some other accent fabrics that reference the caramel, gray, and black. The Latika fabric will be used on some Euro shams.

Out of all of the rooms we’ve designed for these clients, the Master is one of my favorites! To me it feels restful and elegant, everything a Master bedroom should be, I think. I can’t wait to see all the pieces come together and share some pictures with you!

A month ago some former clients {oldies but goodies!} that I’d worked with last Spring emailed for a bit of help. They had bought a beautiful piece of land in North Vancouver and were working with a builder to create their dream house.

The builder whom they are working with is known for more contemporary architecture, but my clients tend to lean towards the more classic when it comes to design.

Their builder had put together three options for the exterior design of the house, but none of them were quite hitting the mark for my clients, which is why they called for a little help!

Option 1 – Contemporary

Option 2 – Transitional

Option 3 – Traditional

I decided I liked the basic idea of the “Transitional” version best for my clients, and set about making some subtle tweaks which gave it a touch of elegance.

Here’s the “Kerrisdale” version of Option 2:

Oval Windows, Panelled Front Doors, Straight Columns…. clean and classic touches! Picture a great lantern-style hanging fixture at the front entry and coordinating wall-mounted ones on either side of the garage to add to the look.

Just a few simple details, but the end result was a design that perfectly fit my classic clients! Their email response to the changes made me smile:

“I love it Karla! I just couldn’t figure out what it needed and you hit the nail on the head! ”

Happy clients….is there anything better? 

I was just saying today how proud I am of our Canadian design mags, both Style at Home and House & Home magazine. I honestly get all patriotic when I see other {US/International} design blogs writing about stories/images from either magazine.  Proud Canadian am I, I think we have fabulous design magazines in this country! So needless to say, to be included in one of my favorite magazines is very cool and I can’t thank Style at Home enough!

You may recoginize the photos from the issue from my portfolio. Janis and I originally shot the condo for my portfolio last year {image below from that shoot}.

When Style at Home decided they wanted to feature the condo in an issue, they booked to shoot it again {they planned to be out in Vancouver shooting some other spaces and wanted to do mine at the same time}.

So, one day last summer, my client Giselle VERY SWEETLY let us come back and shoot her place again for Style at Home. For me it was a really fun half day of watching the pros at work – Janis Nicolay back to shoot the condo a second time, and Christine Hanlon {Style at Home editor} there overseeing styling. Two very talented ladies whom it was a pleasure to see in action….I learned so much from both of them!

Thanks again Style at Home for including Kerrisdale Design in your Small Spaces issue!  

After a fun-filled and jam-packed 4 days in Los Angeles I’m back to the grind …..kids, work, and the usual fall time sickness has hit full force! Los Angeles was a great time though of visiting suppliers, shopping, Disneyland, movies, eating out {yummy food and such a treat not to have to cook or cleanup!}, Lakers game, and more. We sure missed the kids though!

I don’t have time today for a lengthy post, so I thought I’d quickly share a Design To Go scheme I did for a husband and wife this fall. The husband arranged the Design To Go package as a birthday present for his wife, isn’t that a sweet thing to do??? They wanted something modern and simple, and they already had a sofa and loveseat that they wanted me to work with, and wanted to invest in some great art to fill the space. Here’s what I came up with for them {click to view larger}:

I just wanted to mention, the art piece specified in the board above is by talented local designer/artist/blogger {triple threat!} Michelle Morelan.  I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at a local design bloggers event and she is incredibley sweet and smart. Stop by her site and checkout her amazing work!

Hope you are having a wonderful day,

I’m a big believer in adding architectural detail to rooms. Great millwork painted a fresh coat of white can work miracles!

With clients I’m always looking to address the bones of the house first….creating beautiful, classic bones in a house means the rest {furnishings, decor}  is easy {ok, easier }. When there is balance and proper scale, and  architectural details are done right, you don’t need to go overboard with furnishings and decor…’cause the room is already stunning!

The past month or two one of my clients I’ve been working with has been some of our closest friends. They grew up with my husband, we travel yearly together, and our kids our the same age. They’re our best buddies . In September they moved into a beautiful home and wanted help coming up with a plan for the house. Since they see themselves living there a long time, they wanted to do it right, and invest in some small renovations and good quality furnishings that they’d love for a long long time.

Two of the areas we zeroed in on first to address were the entry and the living room fireplace {which you see the moment you walk into the entry}. Both big, grand spaces,  but the existing look just didn’t live up to it’s potential. Lucky I’m good at seeing potential

Here is the entryway when they moved in:

A look from the entry into the living room:

For the entryway {with 18′ ceiling} I wanted to break up that height a little bit, and decided that to do panelling throughout the bottom half would be a good solution. Our millwork guys have been working hard, and here are a few pictures {sorry blurry phone pics!} I snapped this weekend to show you the progress {95% done and awaiting a coat of crisp white paint!}

Gorgeous already! I’m so excited, panelling always makes me happy

For the fireplace we had many issues…..off centre UGLY track light, weird wood thing hung on it {we were told the previous owners had it built to mount 4 small paintings on above the fireplace}, ugly tile, too small gas insert. We decided it ALL had to go.

For starters we decided to switch to a larger gas insert that didn’t have any grills running across it. A cleaner, more beautiful look with way more viewing area. Given the large size of the fireplace surround, it needed it. We went with the Regency Liberty L676 {check it out here}. As shown on the manufacturers site: 

Much prettier than the old one!

My rough mockup of the new and improved fireplace {sconces will be in the polished nickel finish, not bronze as shown, and convex mirror will be solid black}:

And here is where the work is presently {can’t wait for that track light to be gone!}:

I’m headed over there now to check on progress and dropoff this new chandelier {just arrived this morning!} for installation in the entry.

Have a great day!

Suzanne Kasler

Hello all,

Whew, was that a long blog break or what? Totally not planned {or wanted} but life around here has felt like a full speed sprint. With too much to cram into too few hours {who decided we only get 24 per day anyhow??} something had to give, and “writing blog post” has gotten nixed from the “To Do” list far too many times. We won’t mention how long it’s been since my last post, shall we? No need to embarrass me further

The reason for the blog silence however, has been all good. I would never in a million years have guessed I would have such a wonderful response from people from seeing Kerrisdale Design in House & Home and Style at Home this fall. I feel awfully, incredibley, thankful.

Domino Magazine

Susanne Dimma’s Entry, Canadian House & Home

This amazing response from potential clients has been a lesson in saying “No”, however. My, how hard that one is. A timely {for me} post from uber-blogger Erin Gates of Elements of Style had this to say:

 ”When success happens quickly and all at once, it’s hard not to feel like it’s a fluke and that you have to say yes to everything and scoop up every opportunity and job because it will probably never be this way again.”

YESSS I thought when I read that line. That’s totally how I’ve felt! And yet, me quickly taking on every job that comes my way doesn’t say much about faith – in God or myself – does it? And so I’m beginning to teach myself to say no….trusting that there will be more fabulous projects, that God has even more good stuff in store, and that my business will grow, develop, and flourish in good time. Stress and overdoing things  need not enter the picture!

Lonny Magazine

Joe Mimran, Canadian House & Home

Thank you for all the kind emails and Twitter messages during my absence – they made me feel wonderful and I’m so glad to be back interacting with all of you!

I promised you all before pictures of the condo featured in House & Home, and I’m finally getting a moment to put together a post! 

SO, before my clients/friends Mark & Samantha took possession of their Vancouver condo, we got to visit {while the previous owners still lived there} and do some scouting, measurements, discuss the layout,  etc so we could get started on planning for furnishing their place. Oh yeah, and the visit presented the perfect opportunity to get some killer before pictures!

Since I know we are all suckers for a good before & after, without further adieu, here it is…..

BEFORE – Living/Dining/Kitchen

Can you spot Carys hanging out in her carseat, playing with her toes? She was only about 4 months there!

 View of Entryway

  Bedroom 

AFTER – Living/Dining/Kitchen

Office

Bedroom

Ahhh much improved I think, and {most important}, my clients love their condo now!

Hope you are all having a wonderful day. It’s gray and rainy here today {hello summer, are you gone for good?} and I’m thinking tea might be in order! Off I go to put on the kettle…

I thought today I’d share a quick peek of a project I worked on a couple months ago. A Design To Go project for lovely family, assisting them with their Kitchen, Family Room, Living Room and Dining Room. They moved into a beautiful new house and needed help furnishing and making it home….it was essentially a blank slate. They came to me for help and the Design To Go service ended up being a fantastic fit for them.  They were so thrilled with the results we have now moved on to creating the ultimate media/games/lounge space in their basement!

You can get the full scoop on Design To Go HERE, but essentially it provides clients with a gameplan for creating a beautiful space – concept board, floor plans, elevations, samples, spec sheets on each product, and most importantly the master shopping list that tells you where to get every item! Anyhow, here’s a peek at a concept board of the Family Room I did for the “Smith” family {click for a larger version}:

I hope all my fellow Canadians enjoyed the long weekend {we sure did!}. Back tomorrow,

__________________________________

Need assistance creating a space you LOVE coming home to? Visit our Services page for more info or contact us for a detailed quote.

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…working away, enjoying the sunshine from my “summer office” {aka the back porch…gotta love laptops!} And of course, I’ll be back with a post for you all!

Talk soon,

PS have you entered the giveaway yet? You could win a gorgeous pair of Kelly Wearstler Imperial Trellis pillows! Click HERE to enter.

poster from Made by Girl

The biggest event during the week was a photo shoot on Tuesday with Janis Nicolay {fab photographer and a blogger to boot!}. SO. MUCH.FUN. Halfway through the day this was my Facebook status:

I have to admit I was terribly nervous the day before…I scurried around {poor kiddies in tow} picking up supplies for styling the rooms, while I anxiously worried about how they would turn out. Would I get good enough shots for my new website? Would I have enough time to get downtown {where the first condo was} to style/setup before Janis arrived to do photos??? Would I then have enough time to pack up, get to the second location, style/setup, take photos etc before the homeowner got back??? And, at the last minute (we are talking Monday evening here folks) I decided that the second condo needed an accessories switch-up in order to make it feel different enough from some of the other projects I’ll be showing on my site. That sent me running around for some blue and white and green Hamptons -esque accessories {I’d gotten a bee in my bonnet and had these colours stuck in my head} to add the spring freshness I was looking for…

Luckily I hit the jackpot at Bombay (never usually go there) with some gorgeous plates and accessories in classic blue and white patterns. But still some blue cushion covers was on my list. As usual, I had imagined the perfect pillows in my head but they didn’t exist in real life. My last stop {with fingers crossed} was popping in to our new Winner’s to check out their home section. Come on blue pillows!!!

No blue pillows to be found, though I did get momentarily sidetracked by some items for decorating our deck. {“focus Karla, focus, you can come back another time….BLUE PILLOWS BLUE PILLOWS”}.

Just as I was admitting defeat, I walked past the section where they displayed pashminas and scarves. Hmmmm scarves are essentially just fabric, right??? {Can you see where I was going with this…?}

{ok, there is a slight resemblance, but this is NOT me… though to be 100% honest I did consider pasting my face over hers for this post. I have countless pictures of me with a dorky grin that would work for doing a little cut/paste job}

Aha! a whole rack of BLUE scarves. Lovely! I grabbed a selection and headed for the cash register, where the very observant clerk commented “you must really like blue”. Yup, I’m a bit blue obsessed today

Home I went, all prepared to sew up some pillow covers quickly on my machine. BUT, after getting the kiddies to bed {which somehow took longer than usual}, getting them all packed up for Grandma to look after them for the day, and doing a quick clean {our house was a neglected mess}, I was totally not feeling the sewing energy anymore.

Then I remembered a little trick I’d seen Lynda Reeves do on her show before. She suggested wrapping your pillow form with fabric and duct taping it at the back to see how pillow covers in a new fabric would look in your room. Lynda, you are a genius! I rummaged through Jeff’s tool box and found the duct tape, Yee-haw, and set to work wrapping the scarves around feather pillow forms and carefully duct taping them at the back. At this point {as is usually the case when I’m doing something wacky} Jeff walked in and gave me The Look. Of course I immediately I said “I saw Lynda do it before” which quelled any comments he’d normally make. Even Jeff respects LYNDA.

Anyhow, the pillows were finished with their temporary “outfits” {relax people, they are getting made into real, beautifully sewn, sergd, zippered pillows, I’m not that kooky} and I was thrilled with the colour and pattern. Yay Winners!

Tuesday morning went fabulously, traffic was great, got parked, up to the condo and setup in record time {room to spare for sitting down and drinking a nice big coffee}. It helped having my “design props mobile” aka my Phil and Ted’s double stroller. It happened to be in the trunk and I made good use of it, loading it with buckets of flowers and other goodies for styling for the photos, and enabling me to avoid too many trips up and down the elevator.  Here’s my handy helper parked in the bathroom {which we weren’t photographing} :

hmmm definitely not as glamorous as having a posse of assistants to carry things, but it gets the job done

Once Janis arrived and we started shooting {ok SHE started  and I watched/directed} I fully relaxed and had a great time, even sneaking a picture of the photographer taking a picture {golly, wouldn’t you know it, I take one of my WORST pictures when photographing a professional photographer!}

After wrapping up downtown, I packed up and headed over to location numero deux to setup and have a quick lunch. I have to tell you that Janis did comment on the beautiful blue cushions on the sofa , at which point I DID have to confess my dirty little duct tape pillow secret. I loved Janis even more when she thought that was both hilarious and brilliant, and called me a “true stylist” for thinking that trick up. {If you are reading this Lynda, I want to emphasize that I gave you full credit for the resourceful idea}.

All in all, it was a great day getting to know Janis {who is both talented and very cool, sweet, and lovely}, getting some wonderful shots of a couple of projects, and having a little mommy time sans children! Since I’ve blabbered enough for one post I’ll save the details of the rest of the weeks highlights for later, but will leave you with a favorite shot from each of the condos we did on Tuesday…

{Contemporary & Feminine}

{Fresh, Crisp & Classic}