Wallpaper Obsession...

We just bought a house dating back to 1935. It is a beautiful house with healthy bones, in need of some tender loving care though, which we are more than happy to provide!

As we are just realizing what happened, we are getting house-ready. So now has officially started our quest for wallpaper inspiration, fixtures, door knobs and other good-to-start-with and affordable decorative adornments.

Here is a sample of what we stumbled upon:

* Last weekend, at the grand re-opening of the Spadina Museum, Historic House and Gardens

All photos by Christine Rochet-Jacob

* This weekend was dedicated to wallpaper ideas for the living room and/or the dining room...We therefore meticulously browsed through the internet and through our pile of World of Interiors magazines...Here are a few patterns that caught our attention.

Marlborough- Paris Grey,  by Little Greene

 Maharani collection, May 2009. By Henry Wilson for Osborne & Little

 Rose Chinoise, by Colefax and Fowler

 * We also got inspired along the way of our weekend trip that took us to a few shops on the Designers' Walk of Toronto. For your viewing pleasure, check: Cole & Son; Brunschwig & Fils

Dagobert Peche, Antinous Wallpaper; Designed 1922,  produced by Brunschwig and Fils. Neue Galerie exclusive.

* Not to forget the reference arts and crafts master, William Morris & co.

William Morris

May Morris

* And then we entered the world  of contemporary wallpaper designers like Georgia Horton, Timorous Beasties, and Neisha Crosland. Dazzling!

Oriental Orchid, by Timorous Beasties

McGegan Rose by Timorous Beasties

 

 Designs by Neisha Crosland : 

Et voilà! À suivre...

Step by step, we will build our nest!

Ryuichi Sakamoto's Out of Noise

 

Photo published in the Toronto Star on Mon Oct 25, 2010

Last Sunday, my husband and I paused the current hectic pace of our lives to immerse ourselves in a very inspiring performance by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who made a rare Toronto concert appearance at the Queen Elizabeth Centre.

He, like me, likes the music of the rain...“It was raining this morning in New York, and I was struck by the sound. So I recorded it with my little recorder because it was very beautiful. I don’t know where, but I’m sure I’ll use it in my music somehow.” (R.Sakamoto, in an interview to NOW magazine)

Read more about Sakamoto:
- in NOW magazine
- in the Toronto Star

A Saturday in Autumn

A few photos of our weekend escapade - Don Valley's Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto.

Sprezzatura at its best!

Errol Flynn

P.S: Thank you, Cédric, for sharing this great picture!

Friday's Eye Candies /Histoires sans Paroles

Photo by Cédric Roulliat

Provocative Visioning Launches Speaker Series at OCADU

 'Hylozoic ground' by Philip Beesley architects for the Canadian pavilion at la Biennale d'Architettura di Venezia 2010 ( Photo Marco Jacob)

"The Goethe-Institut Toronto, in cooperation with the Faculty of Design at OCAD University (OCADU) and the MaRS Centre, present a speaker series as part of Ecology.Design.Synergy: Green Architecture & New Ideas from Germany & Canada. The series will launch with Provocative Visioning: The Artist/Designer as Eco-Provocateur, bringing together the remarkable creative explorations of Berlin-based Friedrich von Borries and Canadian Philip Beesley, with presentation of their work and ensuing conversation, at OCADU on Thursday, October 7, 6 p.m."

Read more on OCAD's website.

See you there...

The World is Ready for Luis Jacob

FYI: The Toronto Star recently published a great article about Luis Jacob's work. 

Read the article.

France-Italy, Summer 2010: through the arcades of my memories!

Last summer, my husband and I travelled in France (Lyon-Paris) and Italy (Torino, Milano, Verona, Venezia) to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary.
For your viewing pleasure, here are a few vistas that we contemplated.
Do you recognize any of them?

L'été dernier, mon mari et moi avons voyagé en France ( Lyon-Paris) et en Italie (Turin, Milan, Vérone, Venise) pour y célébrer notre première anniversaire de mariage.
Voici un petit pêle-mêle de souvenirs en images.