Big Blue... An old window becomes new

So Carrie from the Passionate Home and me are up to our old tricks again and came up with this beautiful new piece. The inspiration and starting point for this project was again centred around a beautiful old worn out window. I picked up the window from Carrie's store (http://www.thepassionatehome.com) and brought it straight to my shop where I spent the next few hours designing a piece that would compliment the over all look and feel of the window as well as designing a piece that would be functional and of course look amazing.




What I came up with was this pretty cool looking unit that has a ton of character and function to boot. I decided to paint it a "Robins egg blue" a colour I felt would just PoP in any space and draw ones attention to it immediately.



As you can also see I spent a fair bit of time distressing the unit to give it that old and worn look, kinda makes it look like it could have been pulled out of an old barn and brought back to life after years of wear and tear.

So if you like what you see and would like to take this beautiful one of a kind piece home then you have to pay Carrie a visit at The Passionate Home in Langley before this beauty is gone. Or if you have a project in mind that you would love to have built then contact me at: www.outoflinedesigns.ca for more inforation on how we can build something special for you!

Old can be new again.

I approached Carrie from The Passionate Home a while back www.thepassionatehome.com to see about possibly building some furniture for her store.
She came up with a brilliant idea to build furniture from old and reclaimed pieces.

Our first piece is based off an old window that Carrie was able to find. As soon as I saw the window I knew I was going to have fun creating something around it.
I was able to design and build a very functional cabinet around the window that not only looks good but also looks like it could have been around for the last 50 years. I painted the piece cloud white with light black rub through on all the edges.

I was able to build this unit entirely out of scrap and off cuts out of my shop
making this piece truly sustainable and one of a kind. The inside of the piece is stained a beautiful warm brown colour which works well to contrast with the white outside. I kept the original handle on the window to keep everything as unique as possible, plus the weathered handle looks so cool with the many coats of chipped paint around it.

This project has really opened my eyes to the possibilities of taking something that otherwise has come to the end of its life and turning it into something that will live on for many years to come

So if you are looking for something truly unique and a piece that will be the center of any conversation check out
http://www.thepassionatehome.com and get your hands on this beautiful piece before its gone.

Black is back.

As you can see by the lack of any new content,I have been crazy busy for the last 4 months. So its a new year and as with everything else there is always new design trends to follow. One of the trends this year is in my opinion not really very new but to some it may seem like a pretty bold and dramatic move.

I am talking about the colour black, well its not really a colour but we wont get into the details. Using black as a colour in small doses has always been the rule of thumb for any interior designer and for a very good reason. Black as Lynda Reveevs puts it " is the eyebrow on your face, the dot at the end of a sentence, the frame on a photo, the knob on a door". black has the ability to cut through, punctuate and define a space. One designer trick is to place a single black standing lamp in a room, this helps to anchor and define the space. So use a little bit of black to help define your space, got it. But wait. This years trend goes above and beyond that. Think black dishes, black lamps, black mirror frames, off-black floors and of course black furniture.
Most furniture manufactures have expanded their furniture line to include black as a finish option. Ethan Allen, Restoration hardware and even Ikea all offer a line of black furniture and furnishings.

As with any good design moderation is key. Using black is all about layers, it is an essential colour to throw into your decorating mix but don't make it the be all end all. The great thing about black is that it goes with anything. Its like that little black dress, its the chameleon colour. Do you have an old piece of furniture that you think just has to go? Paint it black, add some new hardware and you will be amazed at the results.

Black has an amazing power to visually pull together a room, it can be edgy or it can be elegant either way when all else fails this year why don't you try black.