Happy Easter

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter

Patricia Gray Inc is an award winning Interior Design firm  in Vancouver, Canada who blogs about WHAT'S HOT  in the world of Interior Design.
2010 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

Lucite and Glass Faucet

 

This is one of the prettiest faucets I have seen. It would be a thing of beauty in a Powder or Guest Bathroom. It is made from glass with lucite handles. When the faucet is opened, the water comes out from the bottom and fills the vase up to the rim. A limited edition to bring an air of poetry to the bathroom.

Design Davide Vercelli for Hego Water Design Italy

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm writing about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

Objects d' Art Ivan Meade

IVAN MEADE OBJECTS D' ART  

I was recently gifted with this extraordinary 925 Sterling Silver Object d' Art by the talented & inspired designer Ivan Meade. It is now a treasured piece in my home. Below is the story of Ivan’s inspiration for creating this piece. I love it when artists share how they came to design a piece….and how their works of art are birthed into the world of form.

 

 

Patricia Gray Inc is an award winning Interior Design firm  in Vancouver, Canada who blogs about WHAT'S HOT  in the world of Interior Design.
2010 © Patricia Gray Interior Design Blog™

Vancouver Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics start today, and as I am writing this I can hear the cheers from the crowds on the street outside my office and the hum of helicopters overhead. Exciting times. The city all a buzz and full of people from all over the world. I live and work downtown, so I will be able to walk to all the activities. I am sure a lot of you will be glued to your TV rooting for your Countries. This YouTube video is amazing. Sometimes I forget just how beautiful my city is.

Reinventing Blue

And I mean a deep, dark, luscious Blue. It is showing up in walls, fabrics, carpets and accessories. It is a blue that doesn't have green or red in it. It is almost black and is warmer than lighter blues and has more life and depth than Black. It is the deepest shade of Indigo as seen in Ikat Textiles. It is the color of the sky on a moonlit night. It is mysterious, moody, classic, timeless, calming, and refreshing. It can have a glossy finish or be totally matt. It is beautiful when contrasted with pure white. My favorite Benjamin Moore paint colors are Polo Blue, Blackberry Punch, Kensington Blue, Blue Gaspe, Hale Navy, and Old Navy. Some deep blue colors are: sapphire, azure, beryl, cerulean, cobalt, indigo, navy, royal, midnight blue, slate, steel blue, Prussian blue. 

The high gloss finish on this wall has a subtle reflectivity to it that changes at different times of the day and literally sparkles at night.

Alberto Pinto has used a deep blue in the bold geometric carpet as his only color in this wonderful Master Bedroom.

A deep and refreshing Mediterranean blue has been used on the walls at JK Capri Hotel in Italy.

A deep "French Blue" velvet for this classic chair.

 
I am in the process of designing a guest bedroom and I have chosen a deep blue silk for the curtains called Moonlight. I am putting a natural woven raffia roman shade on the window behind the curtains for some textural interest. The walls will be painted the same shade as the silk curtains: Benjamin Moore "Blue Gaspe". The Headboard is a heavy white Belgium linen. The bedding is white Egyptian cotton with an Hermes cashmere blanket in a deep charcoal color on the end of the bed. The carpet is wool and is the color of white coral. I will hang black and white "ocean" photographs that I have taken on my travels on the blue walls to finish it off.

Let me know if these deep luscious shades of blue are slated to become one of your new favorite colors?

Photo Credits from top: Dominio, Alberto Pinto, JK Capri Hotel, Jayson Home.

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm writing about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

2010 Color Reform Trends

 

ABC Carpet & Home Vintage 'over-dyed' carpets

ABC CARPET NEW YORK INTRODUCES COLOR REFORM TRENDS COLLECTION TO SALVAGE OLD RUGS

I got an interesting email from ABC Carpet & Home New York this week, that captured my interest - they (ABC Carpet & Home) is encouraging us to look on the bright side for 2010 with a their new rug collection that promises to: "escape predictability, embrace the unconventional, and help preserve our planet." This new assortment of hybrid carpets called Color Reform, transforms imperfect, vintage rugs into modern works of art. ABC Carpets are literally  “...rescuing carpets from the “rug graveyard” and giving them a new lease on life.”

ABC Carpet & Home has utilized this notion to develop the concept of Color Reform, which refers to evolutionary change through color. Each one of a kind rug was individually handcrafted by Turkish artisans in the Toros Mountains. The vintage rugs are neutralized to remove their original color and then over-dyed to create their remarkable chromatic state. The variations in the tonality of pigments result from the carpet’s original concentration of color combined with the dye application process conceived from each artist’s distinct vision.

Exotic rainbow hues range from neon pink and electric green to opulent reds and saturated yellows. The striking compositions evoke an almost translucent appearance as irregular, partially faded motifs emerge through the color, adding complexity and interest to each piece. Below is one of my favourites in the series, in a more neutral color palette, that I think you would be able to live with for many years to come and pass on to future generations.

 
ABC Carpet & Home Color Reform
Vintage 'over-dyed' carpet

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm writing about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

To Kindle or Not?

The controversy for me is to read a book on Kindle, or to hold a book in your hands? Here is what I have decided. There is a place for both. There are certain books to read on Kindle. For me they are current best sellers that I usually devour, and having read them once they are cast to a separate and less prominent position on my bookshelf. It seems a waste of paper to me to have stacks of books that I will only read once. And another advantage of Kindle is that you can have that book instantly downloaded onto your Kindle wirelessly and be reading with no wasted time (and time is a precious commodity) standing in line at the bookstore or waiting for it to arrive by mail.

The new Kindle DX comes with a larger 9.7” display and I am debating on whether to wait until they come out with a color screen. I discovered that they now have Kindle for PC & iPhone (free download). I downloaded Kindle for PC last weekend and really enjoyed the ease of reading on my laptop. You can turn the pages in a nano second, which is good for speed reading certain types of books and I liked the illuminated screen for reading at night. I have read two bestsellers on Kindle for PC : The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande & Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell – both excellent books.

But then there are books that defy the use of Kindle for me, and those are the books that I want to hold in my hands, smell the pages, turn the pages, start reading from the back of the book, explore the beautiful pictures , arrange them in alluring stacks on my coffee table, line them up as works of art on my bookshelf. There is nothing as delightful to me as owning and reading a precious first edition.

1st Edition 1940 – I Married Adventure by Osa Johnson

So what do you think – to read a book on Kindle or hold it in your hands?

Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver, Canada who blogs about WHAT'S HOT in the world of Interior Design. 2010 © Patricia Gray Interior Design Blog™

Featured Home 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

Architectural Digest's February issue has just hit the newsstands and they have done a special Travel section for the 2010 Winter Olympics and my "Gastown" Project in Vancouver is featured.

Click on above image to see entire project. To view the slide show on-line click here.

Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver, Canada who blogs about WHAT'S HOT in the world of Interior Design.

Monochrome Interiors

Monochrome is a term generally used to describe painting, drawing, design, or photography in one color or shades of one color. A monochrome object or image is one whose range of colors consists of shades of a single color or hue. I have shown a monochrome interior in shades of white, but monochrome interiors can also be in shades of green, blue, red, etc. I particularly like this Monochrome interior - Blue Fin Restaurant at the W in New York, because of the way pattern and texture were used to give interest and drama to an otherwise all white space. I haven't eaten here yet, but I want to....I wonder if the food is as good as the design?

If anyone has dined at this restaurant, please let me know.

Photo: Monochrome Interior -The Blue Fin Restaurant W New York Times Square, Interior design Yabu Pushellberg

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm writing about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

Fabrizio Plessi's Venetian Palazzo

Perfection!

Fabrizio Plessi's Venetian Palazzo

Fabrizio Plessi's Venetian Palazzo

Fabrizio Plessi's Venetian Palazzo
Interiors Magazine Photos: Paolo Utimpherger Magazine Cover: Photos Nathan Kirkman / Design Wendy Posard

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm writing about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

Diary of an Interesting Year

 

A Rendering of my Living Room given to me as a Christmas gift by Michelle Morelan.

2009 is a great year to reflect back on, now that it is almost over. Whew, what a turbulent year - full of challenges. I am not one to buy into the doom and gloom of the economic climate (I have weathered others through the years: early 80's, early 90's, late 90's), but this year was a year of an down economic climate that has seemed to have escaped no one in the 'world.'  There is a saying that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. It is hard to see when you are in the midst of chaos, until you have come through it.....hopefully we are through it!!! One of the benefits for me was that I kept busy and was continually looking for ways to recharge and re-inspire. I was fortunate to have four wonderful trips this year to do just that. It is very important when you are working in a creative field to be continually evolving and expanding your horizons, and travel helps me to do that. I also full filled a life long dream this year and went back to school and took two Art classes in Mixed Media Painting. I subsequently turned my garage into an Art Studio and have spent many glorious days there immersed in painting.

A trip to Palm Springs in the early Spring - where I became fascinated with and wrote a Blog posting on the Mid-Century Post Modern resurgence of 'screen block.'

Palm Springs Modern Architecture and the Use of Screen Block

A trip to the Okanagan with my Dad and a visit to the The Nk'Mip Winery and Resort in Osoyoss where I was inspired by the use of Rammed Earth in Modern Architecture.

 
Rammed Earth Wall NK'MIP Winery Osoyoos

A trip to New York in September and another in December.  What can I say about New York, other than that it is one of the most exciting and visually stimulating cities in the world.  Being able to see the artwork of great masters at the MOMA, Georgia O'Keeffe at The Whitney, and Kandinsky at the Guggenheim - it just doesn't get better than that. I shopped for clients at the D & D Building, A & D Building, and the New York Design Center, explored Soho, Tribeca, the Meat Packing District, Canal Street, walked Central Park, 5th Avenue, tried the Subway, enjoyed live theatre, ate at wonderful restaurants, enjoyed the lights and shop windows all decorated for Christmas, met new friends, and connected with old friends.

 
Kandinsky at the Guggenheim / The Meatpacking district and Highline / South Pacific at The Lincoln Center 

Mixed Media Painting Classes at Emily Carr University of Art

Frottage 1  24" x 36" Mixed Media: Pastel, Acrylic, Gesso on Glassine

Experimenting with Mono Prints

 
Acrylic on Canvas

The Salton Sea 23" x 36" Mixed Media on Paper

West Coast Landscape 24" x 48" Acrylic & Mixed Media on Canvas  

Triptych in My Living Room: Be Still My Bleeding Heart 72" x 36"'
Chinese Ink on Bronze & Silver Metallic
 
Diptych in My Living Room: Koi Pond 16" x 16" Gold & Pearl Opalescence (right)

 
My painting companion - Nicole

I am very honored to be on the 'Board of Experts' for LoftLife Magazine in 2009, and to have an article published in BC Home Magazine

I wish you all a very Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2010 and may all your dreams come true!!

Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver, Canada who blogs about WHAT'S HOT  in the world of Interior Design.
2010 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

Wrapping up 2009

I always revel in the week between Christmas and New Year as a time diverge from routine, and welcome the New Year in with a change in what I usually read throughout the year, which are books on Interior Design. One of the ways I make a choices on what I want to read, is to leaf through several books and read the jacket covers or page through the book randomly to see if anything speaks to me. That is how I choose, What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. I had previously read his book, Tipping Point, and then saw him interviewed on a talk show on his third book - Outliers. While paging through his most current book, What the Dog Saw, I was immediately hooked on his article entitled: The Ketchup Conundrum. This book, What the Dog Saw, contains Malcolm Gladwell's favourite pieces that he has written over the last several years for the pages of The New Yorker. "Good writing," Gladwell says in his preface, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head."  It is a fascinating read.

   

Another favourite way to choose a book is to ask people what is their favorite book they have read. Usually they are so enthusiastic in recounting the highlights of the book that it gets me excited to read it. The outcome of my most recent enquiry was - the New York Times Bestseller by Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog. This book is set in Paris, which immediately attracted me, but the real focus of the book is about a woman who is a concierge at a bourgeois building in a posh Parisian neighborhood. She (Renee) has a secret: she is a ferocious autodidact who furtively devours art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. Renee hides her true talents and her finest qualities from a world that she suspects cannot or will not appreciate them. It is a story about living out her life in obscurity to hide this fact about herself, and how she reconciles herself to owning her brilliance. 

Last night on Charlie Rose I watched a fascinating interview with the brilliant Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish novelist and winner of 2006 The Nobel Prize in Literature, on his new book: The Museum of Innocence. The story, which takes place in Istanbul between 1975 and today, is about obsessive passion and the great question: What is love, really?, as well as a look into the minds and culture of the Turkish society. I am off to purchase this book tomorrow to wrap up my reading for these last few day left of 2009.

What is your favourite book that you have read lately?
Please leave a comment here, and let me know.

Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who blogs about "WHAT'S HOT"
in the world of Interior Design: New and Emerging Trends, Contemporary Design, Modern Architecture and Travel,
as well as how your surroundings can enhance the world around you.
© Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™ 2009

Christmas Greeting

 

 

I got this from a friend, and I thought it might also get you in the Christmas Spirit...... Enjoy the spirit of Christmas, wherever you may be, and whoever you may be with!!! Patricia

P.S. And I add greetings to all the "beautiful men of this world."

Christmas in New York City - Art Galleries & Theatre

Christmas in New York City - Galleries & Theatre

This Christmas visit to New York I was fortunate to see the Musical, South Pacific at the Lincoln Center, and two Art Galleries; Georgia O'Keeffe at The Whitney Museum of Modern Art and Kandinsky at the Guggenheim Museum. I love theatre in New York.  There is something very special about getting dressed up and the excitement of the opening strains from the Orchestra.It was a toss up between the new play 'A Little Night Music', the latest revival of Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical with Angela Lansbury and  Catherine Zeta-Jones, or the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical 'South Pacific' at the Lincoln Center. I am happy to say that I saw South Pacific and it was as good as the concierge at my Hotel said it was. There was something soothing about hearing songs that I have grown up with and are so familiar. The theme song "Some Enchanted Evening," stayed with me for several days. Here is the YouTube version of 'Some Enchanted Evening' you can listen to.

 

  
South Pacific at Lincoln Center 

The Guggenheim Museum had a wonderful exhibit of the work of the Russian artist, Vasily Kandinsky, who was a pioneer of Abstract Art and broke new ground in painting in the first decades of the twentieth century. The Guggenheim designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was opened in 1959 and, rightly so, is claimed to be one of his most famous masterpieces. The spiraling design of the interior makes this museum one of the best venue's I have ever been in to view an art exhibit. As you walk up the spiral ramps you can view the pieces of artwork as a whole. Magnificent!!!

 

    

The view from the roof top of the Guggenheim across the reservoir & jogging trail of Central Park.

  
I want this townhouse!

 

These are two of my favourite pieces by Kandinsky from the exhibit. 
You can view the exhibit on line here.

After the exhibit we got directions to a local's favourite restaurant on E. 73rd Street where I had a most memorable lunch of Arugula salad topped with sliced roasted artichokes and topped off with large, (very large) paper fine slices of Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Yummm!!

Via Quadronno on E. 73rd Street. (left)
A Beautiful piece of street sculpture outside the restaurant. (right)

The walk back to the Hotel was in typical New York style down streets lined with beautiful townhouses all decorated for the holiday season, past apartments with uniformed concierges, among the locals walking their dogs, across streets with bumper to bumper honking taxis, and a short jaunt through Central Park.

   
Townhouses decorated for Christmas on E 73rd Street

   
Fifth Avenue

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart.

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas

From the bottom of my heart.

Patricia Gray Inc is an award winning Interior Designer firm  in Vancouver, Canada who blogs about WHAT'S HOT  in the world of Interior Design.
2010 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™