LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an environmental building program governed by the Canadian Green Building Council (or USGBC in the USA). The program promotes and rates environmentally friendly and sustainable building practices. For more information, go to the CaGBC website: http://www.cagbc.org/index.htm

First off, I’m always impressed with how Whole Foods stacks their produce. I know that sounds weird, and I certainly am confused by how much I love it, but seriously, so simple but so elegant. They really just let their food speak for itself. This stack of peppers really caught my eye today. I love the gradation of colour on the bottom row from vibrant orange, to a mellow tone, right down to the creamy yellow on the right. I’m not sure if this was a happy accident or a studious produce guy, but it’s just gorgeous. I also love the contrast of the red peppers up top with the golden zucchini next to it.  The rich vibrant colours of the whole display just make my mouth water and beg me to get to work on something fabulous! I can picture a room full of rich cream tones and off-whites, hit with red pops of colour in all the right places.

Next, I had to grab some flowers. I can’t go to Whole Foods and NOT buy flowers! I love their sweetheart rose bouquets for $10.99. Economical and the perfect accent for any room. This week the bouquet was full of gorgeous springtime colours; whites, pinks, deep purples, yellows and oranges. The perfect colour palette for any girly room. An orange accent wall, pink and yellow bedding, a green armchair… Hmmm perhaps my bedroom needs a makeover this weeked…

Thank you Mother Nature for providing me with so much natural beauty to draw from!

Today, my eyes were opened to a whole new world. Welcome to Kyle Bunting Rugs, a hide company from just outside of Austin, Texas. This is what makes designers stop in their tracks and say WHERE CAN I PUT THAT?! Using the natural grain of the hides, they create beautiful variation in texture and pattern. And the colours! Who ever knew green cowhide would be jaw-droppingly beautiful?!

My two personal favourites are the Limelight pattern in cream, and the Rewind pattern. Both use natural colouring, letting the designer use the textures of the hide create the drama of the piece. Simply gorgeous. Kudoos to the folks at Kyle Bunting for bringing something so new and innovative to the market, you have a fan in me! Now to find a client who will let me put one in their space…

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This custom fabric company will produce what you want for $18-23/yard (easy to spend even at Fabricland, never mind a designer fabric store) with no minimum order. You can also order a swatch (8″x8″) for $5 or a “fat quarter” (21″x18″) for $11. All prices are in US dollars don’t forget. The shipping rates are currently being updated, but last year’s prices range from $2 for the swatches to $12 for 3 yards. Very reasonable! There are some pretty specific formatting requirements for sending your JPG file, but it’s very well explained and looks easy to do. They even have colour charts you can download so you can use specific tried and true Spoonflower colours. All their printing is done on broadcloth.

Okay, less technical, more fun. You can create your own fabric to print or you can purchase a pattern that’s already been submitted. Since it’s a doomy gloomy rainy day out my window, here’s a print I found in their library which I put in a half-brick

layout for an 8″x8″ swatch. Keep in mind it’s important to remember your scale. This little girl may get a bit busy if I were to upholster a whole chair with her!

If designing your own fabric in Photoshop is a bit too technically advanced for you (ie What is this “Photoshop” thing you keep mentioning?!), never fear, Spoonflower has a textile designer that can help you. This is priced on a per project basis, so your guess is as good as mine, but I think it would be worthwhile to get EXACTLY what you want if you’re not able to produce it yourself.

The long and the short of it is simply, wow, finally. From my head to broadcloth, I love it! Since I’ve just re-covered my accent cushions in my vintage t-shirt project, I don’t really have much of an excuse at the moment to order something fabulous from Spoonflower. However I DO need a headboard, so perhaps there is another upholstery project in the works and an order soon to be placed with the lovely people at Spoonflower! I’ll keep you updated as to how the process goes.

While out window shopping one day, I was struck by a thought. Old t-shirts. Cool graphics. PERFECT! Off to a local thrift shop I went! Scouring the men’s extra large t-shirt rack I found four t-shirts (two black, two purple) with the maximum price of about $3.00. Next stop, fabric shop. I had originally thought I would simply use the same t-shirt material/colour for both sides of the pillow, but the graphics of the t-shirts really stuck in my head and I thought it would be fun to play off that. Luckily I found a perfect graphic outdoor fabric on sale for $7.48/yard. Heaven! We get a lot of sunlight in our home, plus there’s a small child, so having something that’s UV and stain resistant is ideal. I bought a yard and off I went. Total investment: $20.

At home I measured my pillow forms from my previous failed attempts at accenting my sofa. I cut out the graphic portions of the t-shirts accordingly with about an inch to spare. I like my covers to be rather tight to the form. Next, I cut the back piece of the new covers from the great graphic outdoor fabric I purchased. I gave both cut pieces a quick iron since my t-shirts seemed to be exceptionally wrinkly. Pin the two pieces together, graphic sides face-to-face on the inside. Pull out your dusty sewing machine and sew around 3 sides. Continue sewing about a quarter to a half of the fourth side (remember you have to get your pillow form through the hole). Pop your new cover inside out, stuff your form in, and have a look at your handiwork. If it meets your seal of approval, handstitch that last bit of the pillow closed and admire how fabulous it looks in your room!

One of my favourite spaces was in the 5×5 area, five different spaces done up by five different designers. Castor Design went out on a limb and redesigned the interior of a 1970’s Winnebago. I think it showed the fun side of design although I’m not sure everyone really appreciated the humor of it. I, however, was enraptured with the Winnebago and feel inspired to do a little camping myself! I also have to commend Castor on their eco-friendly approach to the 5×5 project. They decided to create a space that they could use over and over after the show, rather than something that would be torn down and end up in a landfill. I’ve heard rumours that the Winnebago is parked at their restaurant, Oddfellows, and is available for private dinner parties. Tres chic!

Below are photos of the Toronto Congress Centre and Sassafraz, both spaces I walked into and immediately said “Wow! This is unexpected!”.