Thursday, September 30, 2010

3 Key Interior Design Tips

#1 Function supersedes form. 
Are you a homebody who likes relaxing & watching tv or are you a social butterfly, preferring to entertain friends & family?  Style, furnishings and material choices come after your space planning is defined. Your home should reflect your lifestyle and be designed for maximum use by you!





#2 Don't be afraid of colour! 
Colour is a inexpensive way to bring energy and excitement to any room, transforming the mood instantly.
-If you don’t want to paint an entire room in a dramatic colour create a focal point in your room with an accent wall.
-When choosing a colour just be mindful of picking up a colour that already exists in the room in a piece of furniture, a fabric or artwork. 



#3 Layer your lighting
Each room in your home should have 2 or idealing 3 layers of light.
1. Overall/Ambient: General illumination that comes from all directions in a room
2. Task: Lighting focused on a specific area to make the completion of visual tasks easier.
3. Accent: Lighting that emphasizes an area of or an object in a room. This lighting adds to the drama or style of a room by highlighting certain aspects of a room's decor. 

Subscribe to ckyscaper. More great home design tips to come!


Monday, September 27, 2010

Habitat For Humanity Designer Gift Home now open to the public!


Habitat for Humanity received the biggest donation in their history; a nice home in a great neighbourhood. It has been renovated from top to bottom using a dream team of talented and generous Ottawa designers, corporate sponsors, professional trades people and volunteers. The sale of this professionally designed home, will help provide 10 low-income, working families in the Ottawa region with a home of their own. 

We had great fun this summer working along side many other top Ottawa designers to help realize the finished Habitat For Humanity Gift Home. We had the honour of contributing towards the colour, art, staging and furniture of the below rooms. We sourced much of the furniture through Mikaza Home and Alteriors. I sourced the original artwork through Gallery 3 and Exposure Gallery.  Thanks guys for your generosity and support!

The designer kitchen by Design First Interiors













The beautiful living room by Linda Nolan Interiors

The unique study with wood panelled walls and leather floors! by Gordon Weima

















  
The custom master bedroom and en-suite by Chuck Mills Residential Design and Development




The Gift Home will be open to the public for viewing for three consecutive weekends beginning on Sept. 24th at 12pm. Tickets are only $10.00 and are available at the door as well as at both Habitat NCR Restores.

This is such a great opportunity to get design ideas for your home renovations and give back to your community at the same time.

Here is the link to the gift home website and  how to get tickets.

http://habitatgifthome.com/news.html

Cheers, Carrie


Friday, September 24, 2010

Do you need to add "zing" to your dining room?

Is your dining room simply somewhere to grab a quick pizza or help the kids with their homework? Looking for a little panache to inspire you and make you feel excited about your home again ? Want to get the "restaurant" ambiance of subdued sophistication ?



Lighting is like the icing on the cake ! The jewellery on the body ! The garnish on the plate !




Look no further than Modern Light now open in Old Ottawa South :


This place is fabulous ! Notice the iconic "Random" Light spheres by Moooi in the top right corner :



I wish I could change my light fixtures as often as my earrings with this fabulous selection!!



Notice the inner bas-relief porcelain sculpting of this absolutely gorgeous!! glass luminaire :



And Modern Light offers great furniture by Modernica and art too.
Owner Michael Shaiken with cky design's Yvonne Potter :

Blogatchya later ! -Yvonne