Posts tagged interior design

Do you spend hours thinking about what your ideal house would look like? Do you collect inspiration and then re-create it in your own space? Do you have a hard time walking past vintage stores without going in? 

We’re looking for writers/contributors/columnists to write weekly or monthly blog posts on interior design trends, DIY projects, furniture makeovers, portable decor, design ideas, features on local shops, conducting apartment tours. We’re open to new column ideas, so if you have an idea that you want to pitch, we’d be happy to hear it and give you a platform for it. 

This would be a great project for you if you’re:

-Looking for experience in online writing/social media strategy
-Want to have creative control of your own column to build your online presence
-Interested in participating in/building a new online community
-Can contribute on a weekly or monthly basis
-Willing to contribute pro bono or in exchange of reference letter 
-Have a background in writing/online media

If you’re interested, please drop us a line!

http://www.wandererspalace.com

While running some errands this morning in my neighborhood, I saw this mysterious storefront and knew I had to check out whatever was waiting at the bottom of the unmoving escalator.

Aside from an adorable second-hand store, the basement space was made up of sectioned-off interior and art installations that felt very Vogue Renting to me.

It turns out that these displays were a part of something called Petit Miracle, “providers of accredited Interior Design training to people who have experienced homelessness, the long term unemployed and vulnerable women.”

All of the displays were upcycled projects, completely creative and totally brilliant. Take a look at some of the amazing things going on in this space for some inspiration of your own.

What I love about the Petit Miracle project is the way that it helps people discover their own power through creatively managing their own space. Most think that interior design is about spending all of your money on expensive furniture, but Petit Miracle promotes a way to make something beautiful using creativity, not your wallet. This is a really inspiring project, and I thought I would share with you all as it’s in the spirit of Vogue Renting. The wall of paperback pages is a dream of mine, and I’m really impressed and enamoured with the packing box wall you can see in a few of these pictures.

Katie’s Twitter | Katie’s Blog | Katie’s Portfolio | Katie’s Columns

It’s Day 5 in our new place, and things are finally coming together. Since we’ve moved in, I haven’t left this neighborhood, which feels good but also very strange. I’ve never lived in a place where I literally don’t have to leave a 4-block radius. Grocery store? Check. Biggest mall in London? Check. Post office, amazing live music venue, 3 great pubs and a market? Check, check, check, and check. 

In between stints of job searching, I’ve been conceptualizing the look and feel (buzz words, YES!) of our new room, and since the bones of this place are so grand in scale, I’ve decided that the decor is going to be subtle in pattern, understated in color.

CHYEAH right. Since the bones of this place are so grand in scale, I’ve decided that bright and bold patterns, and rich blues, golds, and neutrals are going to make this place feel like an effortlessly shabby-chic palace. I have a few projects up my sleeve that I can’t wait to show you; one is already completed and cost me 3 pounds and about 40 minutes of work! We still have an extra bulky single bed in the room, which is delaying some of my plans, but by the end of this weekend we will hopefully have a fresh palette to work with.

I’m going to share a few mid-way photos with you guys to show you what the room is like. I didn’t stop to take photos before we rearranged the furniture (I did it in like 5 seconds flat because I had been losing sleep over it the night before we moved in!) The furniture is a bit shabby, but I’m on the case! This is the general layout we have now, with a few new pieces added in; spot the round mirror from Ikea that I couldn’t help but put up in order to add some sparkle to the room.

DAY 1:

Everything is everywhere, and for 2 people who moved halfway across the world with only 4 suitcases, it feels like we’ve accumulated a ton of stuff already.

The two huge windows in our room that overlook the street. Don’t let the beautiful rays of light fool you; we’ve barely seen the sun since the day we moved in. (Bitter much?)

DAY 2:

We visited Ikea twice in 2 days, and had every intention of having our new furniture delivered within a couple of days, but lucky for us they delivered us and the furniture directly from the store, which gave us a break from waiting for buses in the rain and a head start on constructing furniture.

Pardon the mess; we just moved in!

My favourite part of our room so far; we bought an inexpensive but large and very chic dining room table to use as a desk, and then splurged on these amazingly comfortable 60s style loungers. Zacharie has already bought a larger-than-life screen that takes up a modest (!) amount of space on the desk. 

I’m hoping that by the time I’m done with the room, the desk will be the last place I want to hang out.

As a little teaser for my first DIY project as a Londoner, I thought I would share the before photo of the dresser I hated on sight, thus creating an intense need to alter beyond recognition. Now I can’t stop looking at it and can’t wait to share with all y’all.

Katie’s Twitter | Katie’s Blog | Katie’s Portfolio | Katie’s Columns

Continue Reading >

Sylvie’s Twitter | The Montreal Apartment Blog | Sylvie’s Pinterest | Sylvie’s Posts | The Montreal Apartment on Facebook

I’ve been fiddling around with our future layout, and one thing that really had me tossing and turning at night (because, yes I am that obsessive) is that the bedroom was sorta awkward. The door placements and the lack of storage really had me worried. So what do I do? Create more projects for us to do of course!

I decided that the door really needs to go. I know that every time I open the bedroom door and it hits the bed, I will have a tiny heart attack, and the frustration and rage will accumulate until it kills me. So let’s just take it off shall we!

It’s gonna be way easy, and way awesome. Some wood, some hardware and some paint…..perfection! Stay tuned for that one!

Secondly, and yet most importantly, the storage. Oh the lack of closet space. As a lady who likes clothes and shoes, it’s very impossible for me to deal with a dark, cramped and unorganized closet. Initially, I thought that a PAX unit would suffice. However, I was very perturbed this weekend while online shopping at IKEA, when I realized how expensive it would cost. Seriously, it would cost me 850$ to get something decent, and it probably wouldn’t even hold half my stuff. Not good.

So cut me to scratching my head and having a mini freak out. Until I came up with a brills plan. I’m going to cover the whole closet wall with shelves and hanging space, and cover it all up with one lovely curtain.

This is my updated layout:

Continue Reading >

Sylvie’s Twitter | The Montreal Apartment Blog | Sylvie’s Pinterest | Sylvie’s Posts | The Montreal Apartment on Facebook

As much as I love white walls, when it come to my bedroom I like a dark coocoon of delicious color.

Check out my preliminary moodboard bellow :

Continue Reading >

Sylvie’s Twitter | The Montreal Apartment Blog | Sylvie’s Pinterest | Sylvie’s Posts | The Montreal Apartment on Facebook

I’m still in the planning phases of my design process, and I’m trying to establish a mood and a direction of what I really want the place to look like. I love black and white, with lots of wood, but I also want to keep it fresh and clean. I need contrast, color and texture. A combination of neon and desert chic. The neon of course needs to be dosed correctly. Too much and it starts to look garish really fast.

I will obviously have a big black wall. I am commited to the black and I adore it. Surrounded by white and my lovely tweed like couch, it will be perfect…..but very expected. I don’t want that. So I think the neon/pastels will off set it perfectly. I decided on a sort of mint green for the front door. It will pop in the hallway, and from the bottom of the stairs it will attract you eye perfectly.

In the livingroom to spruce things up, against the black, white, tweed and vintage rosewood coffee table, I will use textiles and art to pop off the black. Like this lovely print :

Continue Reading >

Sylvie’s Twitter | The Montreal Apartment Blog | Sylvie’s Pinterest | Sylvie’s Posts | The Montreal Apartment on Facebook

In our future new place, which is on the 3rd floor, I have a staircase that needs a little lovin. It’s a little used and abused, probably like most of the staircases in Montreal. It absolutly needs some fresh paint, walls and stair treds. So now come the questions of: ”What the heck do I do to it?” At first I thought of just painting the treds black, with white walls. But then mylovely better half, who is a huge color addict, suggested something a little more “fun”. I’m going to indulge his suggestion, because I have to throw him a bone every once and a while, so he doesn’t think I’m a design nazi. Which of course I am, but we’ve only been together 2 years, so he doesn’t need to know I’m a design Nazi just yet.

So I did some scouting around for ideas, and among the very very tacky possibilities, I pick a few that could actully work!

Colored risers with white steps and walls

Wall paper risers

Continue Reading >

Sylvie’s Twitter | The Montreal Apartment Blog | Sylvie’s Pinterest | Sylvie’s Posts | The Montreal Apartment on Facebook

So I’m still in concept mode for our new place, but I thought I would share my train of thought with all of you. I have collected a series of pictures that I call “Neon Neutral” for my inspo. It’s a combo of lots of black and white but with touches of satured neon/ultra bright colors. I love how in a few of the pictures, they juxtapose the articial neon with bark or drift wood. The neon with the neutral natural. Exactly how I’m going to incorporate these neons, I’m not sure. Certainly only touches, but it’s a bold move even in little doses.

Continue Reading >

Sylvie’s Twitter | The Montreal Apartment Blog | Sylvie’s Pinterest | Sylvie’s Posts | The Montreal Apartment on Facebook