Top 10 Movie Interiors

More Fabulous Sources of Design Inspiration

Down with Love, 1993

- a really fluffy girl movie with wonderfully re-created 1960's interiors throughout the film; we love the black, yellow, pink and white color palettes!

The Dark Knight, 2008

- New York's dark side - multiple amazing interiors especially the Mayor's gala event that the Joker crashes

The Big Lebowski, 1998

- one of my favorite actors John Turturro and architects Richard Neutra

Diamonds are Forever, 1958

- another Neutra interior

Auntie Mame, 1958

- an amazingly styled authentic 1950's film; again, we love the all white interior!

 Scarface, 1983

- Tony Montana's bathtub - almost makes us want to be a drug dealers!

Quantum of Solace, 2008

- partly designed by Italian architect/ designer Antonio Citterio, who Y met during her design internship in Milan, 1996.

What Women Want, 2000

- Mel sucks but his apartment in the movie is awesome !

Lost in Translation, 2003

- So Japanese - so Zen - what's not to love ?

I Am Love, 2009

- So Italian !!! Love the richness and classic details [not to mention Tilde's clothing]

The Cook the Thief  His Wife & Her Lover, 1989

 - another fabulous Jean Paul Gaultier project

ok so who's counting?

Other movies with fabulous interiors not included, but should be :

- American Psycho

- Babel

- Austin Powers [both films]

- Something's Gotta Give

- Single White Female

- Ghost

- Year of the Locust

- Sex in the City [first one]

Blogatchalater !

HOT Urban Capital event

Last Thursday evening we attended a celebration for the  groundbreaking of  Urban Capital's Phase II and the occupation of their Central 1 condo (on Bank and McLeod) beginning this fall.

First we took a tour of the showroom to have a look at floor plans, building models, a model kitchen, bathroom and examples of Urban Capital's finishes. 

We were impressed with Central 2's quality materials and the clean modern design of the living spaces :

 

model living room

model bathroom

 

then we moved outside for a ground breaking ceremony with Ottawa's mayor Jim Watson

Ottawa has lot's of beautiful condo loving peeps. 

UC's Central 1 condo development, which incorporated the face of Ottawa's heritage building the Metropolitan Bible church, is seen in the background.

Afterwards we took the opportunity to ask Urban Capital founder David Wex (shown here with Maureen, UC's marketing and sales dynamo) a few Questions :

cky Q1 : What sets Urban Capital apart from other Ottawa developers ?

DW A : We pride ourselves in offering the best in affordable, modern condo designs built by Taggart Construction.. UC has many innovative design features such as sliding walls, that make a UC home more flexible depending on your lifestyle or how you use your rooms for personal or social situations.

cky Q2 : What do you find the differences are between the Ottawa and Toronto condo markets?

DW A : Toronto has more of a investors' market, Ottawa requests more conservative or classic finishes but other than that our approach to meeting the needs of Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto's markets is the same. Deliver a quality product and customer service to a sophisticated market.

cky Q3 :How are you finding dealing with Ottawa's city hall administration?

DW A : So far they have been very cooperative and helpful. Respecting and maintaining the heritage church face of the Central 1 building was a challenge but we made it work.

 

Later we moved under the outdoor tent for a party featuring a DJ, drinks and delicious appetizers catered by one of our favorite Ottawa food establishments the Whales Bone , which is also located across from the new UC Central 1 condo development 

 cky designers, Carrie and Karyn trying to stay cool, literally.

Lovely Marbek engineers, Selena Fraser and Paula Claudino

It was 40 degrees out that evening so we were very impressed with the number of people who came out for this HOT event.   

Blogatchlater!

NAC's Prairie Scene Temporary Club Lounge !

At the request of the NAC, we were asked to design a funky temporary space for the artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc of Prairie Scene to hang out when not performing. Prairie Scene is an arts/ cultural festival that takes place in Ottawa every two years and that promotes the creative talents of our Manitoba and Saskatchewan friends such as director and film maker Guy Maddin :

So where do these folks hang out when not performing? Well one answer is their hotel room, however the NAC wanted to provide a space they could not only relax in with a book, but be able to grab a coffee or snack during the day, meet with other artists and festival staff and to party !

Our main inspiration was retro -  hipster tavern - geek chic such as That 70's Show, Ace Hotel, Douglas Coupland and Wayne's World.  Here are a few images which were included on the Look and Feel board we presented to the NAC for approval :

Here is a during photo of the set-up...notice the hideous carpet and wallpaper we had to work with at a local downtown hotel where the room is situated...and we could NOT attach anything to the existing walls, ceiling, etc. ! :

They liked all our ideas except for the "rural" aspect....guess the M & S are not amused with being grouped in with farmers and what not...so the appropriate adjustments were made to our design and voila - our temporary cafe/club as witnessed last Saturday night's after party for Guy Maddin's re-make of Tales from the Gimli Hospital :

 

 

Notice the billboard-type lit wall panels, bulletin board columns, retro lamps, faux trees and imitation crows.... not shown : hand printed alphabet pillows that spell out S-A-S-K-A-T-C-H-E-W-A-N-M-A-N-I-T-O-B-A

We hope you get a sense of the ambiance we created and hope that everyone had as great a time as we did.
Blogatchlater!

Shameless Self Promotion !

You, our dear readers, are invited to our 1st annual 66 Muriel Street Open House party on November 25th from 5-8pm.

Come and see where we work and talk to us about our latest interior design projects, inspirations and experiences.  We promise to be on our best behavior!  - Carrie, Karyn & Yvonne

Attention All Single Guys : 5 Ways to Make Your Home Date Friendly

Well, in case you haven't figured it out by now, women [at least my friends] are highly sensitive to their surroundings. We need to feel safe and warm and comfortable in general. If you are to have a chance 'in hell' of us staying over night, you must make the minimum effort ! Here is a partial list of ways to make your pad more inviting, from an interior design point-of-view :

1] Buy a 'decent' sofa. By decent I mean something not too big - a 3 seater is ok, a sectional is optimal if you have the room. That way you can each sit on a 'section' for cozy conversation and beverage partaking :

If your living room is small, a love seat is ok if you can add a lounge chair too [there's nothing more embarrassing than sitting too close to someone you barely know!] :

Lastly, you don't have to spend a fortune, but please no scratchy nylon or sweat inducing vinyl. Something soft like us :-)

2] Consider window coverings. Does your living or dining room look out onto a public street or parking lot? If so, window coverings are a nice way to keep the nosy neighbors at bay.

Getting blinds or curtains doesn't mean you are a wuss or Martha Stewart wanna be. Notice the clean gender-neutral color, style and quality of these roman blinds. Simple and functional. Love it !!


3] Get a good floor and/or table lamp[s]. Nothing creates the right mood better than soft indirect light.
Look at how simple, elegant AND masculine this lamp is :

or you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone, i.e. a good lamp and a piece of art [see number 5] like this gorgeous piece designed by Ottawa architect Rick Shean :

4] If you have hardwood floors, shop for an area rug. If not [i.e. you have carpeting] get a coffee table. Or both.  Rugs and tables are great ways to add warmth and soften sounds in a room, thus creating more comfort. They visibly tie a room together which further creates visual comfort and coziness.

Don't be afraid of shag - there are some great affordable and highly luxurious choices out there including the Kymo brand from Alteriors :

5] Treat yourself to something special.  Buying a piece of art or beautiful object d'art says a little something about you and your softer side. Here is a great painting by cky's Carrie Colton painted in 2003 and purchased by Yvonne way before they were partners or even friends !

 And finally a really cool fruit bowl by Alessi
 

There. Now if that doesn't get the girl, you've got the wrong girl...
Blogatcha later,
Y

Welcome to the World of Modern

We love modern design! But like all things in life, there is a huge range which I'd like to share with you. Here it is broken down in the World of Modern According to Yvonne :


VINTAGE MODERN

Here's where it all began - a wonderful cozy interior by Frank Lloyd Wright. Notice the craftsman style influences and the Eames rocking chair in the corner, which must have been added way after this house was built...

And another Modern pioneer - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. His work was more austere, but still having a lot of warmth with natural materials and colors. He also designed the iconic Barcelona daybed in the foreground.

MINIMALIST MODERN

Here we can see influences of the masters, but in new modern architecture. Notice the lack of decoration and superfluous 'stuff'. Definitely a minimalist statement. And below, another minimalist statement, but much more extreme [and probably impossible to live in unless you are a monk] :

A good place for a party though !

CONTEMPORARY MODERN

Talk about night and day with the Minimalist photo above ! Still Modern, and still having the same essential color palette, but much more cozier and relaxed.

And what a great example of Contemporary Modern this is, but now more refined and sophisticated. So you can see that you can have cozy Modern space in black and white and sophisticated/formal Modern in neutral tones.!



ECLECTIC MODERN

This has got to be one of the best example of eclectic I've seen - Loft, Vintage and "Art" Modern - all made cozy and slightly knick-knacky [even though Modern is usually a tad more sparse]....this works wonderfully probably because of the huge unique windows and the small color palette.

And now a more refined and Eclectic Modern space - eclectic because they have mixed Vintage Modern with Contemporary Modern furnishings. This is probably the most popular style currently.


LOFT/ INDUSTRIAL MODERN

Last, my personal favorite, Loft Modern. This loft is owned by an artist and used as such. The furniture is clean and simple yet the space has a real livability about it. No matter what you do to the walls or floor, it will look intentional. The space welcomes experimentation which is something I just love.

This loft is fantastic too. The furniture a bit more formal [notice the Barcelona day bed in the background, in teal!] but still welcomes relaxation, openness and creativity. The great thing about lofts is that many different colors and materials will work. You can pull probably 20 colors out of the brickwork alone.

I could have gone on-and-on and listed another dozen genres of Modern [Rustic, Art, Italian, Danish]....but instead thought I'd let you explore yourself. Have fun and be cozy.

blogatcha later,
Yvonne