Arren Williams Design Lab

Have nothing in your house...

Arren — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:32:49 +0000

Before you freak, I'm not suggesting you chuck everything out and live a minimalist (and rather dull) life. No, it's the first part of my fave William Morris quote - more on that here - and the subject of illustrator James Brown's latest work, a poster printed for the V&A museum in the UK. My sister managed to catch up with James recently to interview him for her blog Blink London, so if you'd like to learn more click here. He's quite the interesting chap, having designed prints for both Levis and Louis Vuitton. Oh, and I've also included another of my faves, his Hats print, which I would love to have hanging on my wall sometime. To get your hands on one of James' prints, check out his General Pattern Print Shop.

Cool, calm and Nordic

Arren — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:29:52 +0000

As my grandmother used to remind me, "Horses sweat, men perspire and women glow." Well, right about now I'm possibly a bit more on the horse side of things, since I'm in-studio with the fantastic Canadian Family crew shooting a Holiday feature in 33C (or 91F). Believe me, this late-summer heat and humidity just slightly takes the shine of getting into the Holiday spirit.

Muuto's collection of furniture, lighting and accessories is, thankfully, the epitome of cool, calm and collected Scandi style. That cluster of E27 socket lamps is super cool, and their The Dots wall-mount hooks look lovely and random in the second shot. In Toronto, check out Muuto at Hollace Cluny.

Is it #1, or #2?

Arren — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:39:42 +0000

I'm having a table lamp dilemma. Last week, while sourcing vintage suitcases for a book cover shoot (not an easy task, I might add) I came across a crazy cheap - and fantastically lovely - table lamp at Goodwill. Then, about an hour later, I scored a brand spanking new never used vintage drum shade at the Sally Ann. Talk about kismet! I have a home for it, but it means I'll have to say buh-bye to a great lamp I already have.

Okay, so first up is the one that's been sitting pretty on that side table for quite a while. The base and silk shade are from Restoration Hardware. Next is the vintage lamp and shade I just couldn't say no to. The base was $10 and the shade $4, while the Resto lamp probably came in at a slightly pricier $300, or so. Which should stay and which should go?

Feeling jammy

Arren — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:18:29 +0000

Jam and bread, now that's comfort food. Who even needs butter or, dare I say, marge, when you can score a fresh bakery loaf, rip it apart and dollop a lovely spoon of jam on top? Heaven. Today I'm all over Jamie Oliver's new line of Jme Jams. The packaging, designed by Pearlfisher, is brilliantly simple (loving the scratchy scrawly writing) and you get the feeling - intentional I'm sure - that these are just about the closest thing to home made that you can get your hands on. The Raspberry and Apple Plum are available now from Williams Sonoma, while the Strawberry and Apricot (there's also a Lemon Curd) will have to be shoved in a suitcase and flown home from a trip to the UK.

Not all white

Arren — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:58:01 +0000

While running around like a crazy person this week - hunting down just about every lemonade pitcher in the city for a shoot - I had a slow-motion oh, what's that moment while shopping at The Bay. This is Arabesque, a porcelain dinnerware service designed by Niels Refsgaard for Dansk and inspired by a mix of Japanese and Greek hand-painted pottery. I don't know about you, but I'm just loving the fact that it's not plain old white (and that I could throw it in with my all-white dishes and it would look FANTASTIC). Oh, and for more on the classic colour combo of blue and white click here.

OMG, it's Wednesday?

Arren — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:25:34 +0000

I have entirely lost track of time, mainly because it's been wall-to-wall crazy busy for me with work on projects that run the gamut from breakfast cereal to romance novels. Seriously. So I thought I'd share one of the recent styling projects I worked on with HomeSense, a shoot for a home office (I am jonesing for that metal cabinet) and a dorm room (L.O.V.E. that kooky lamp). HomeSense popped some of the behind the scenes shots on Facebook, so click here if you'd like to take a look at how the magic happens, and then head over here to their online Design Your Digs contest to design your very own office or dorm space for the chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree! Oh, and a major shout out to the team I worked with on the shoot - Mamone & Partners, photographer Nina Teixeira, stylist Malcolm Patterson and of course the whole HomeSense crew.

Take one old lamp {before & after}

Arren — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:17:54 +0000

Oh my, what wonders a can of white spray paint can do. Not rocket science I know, but I spotted this shiny brass lamp at Goodwill for $10 and saw its potential. The shade was completely un-salvagable (buckled and oddy stained) so that was tossed. I taped up and bagged the cord as well as the socket, and screwed the little loop finial into a spare piece of cardboard, then set up an impromptu spray booth in the back yard (a cardboard box, actually). A few careful coats of matte white spray paint later and the lamp and finial were looking fantastic. The final touch was a chocolate brown silk lampshade that I've had sitting around for ages from Restoration Hardware (tho' you can find great ready-to-go shades at both HomeSense and Pottery Barn too). Oh, and if these pics look a little familiar, that's because this project showed up in Canadian Family! [Image 2: Colleen Nicholson]

Guest blog / Julia Black: Hot and dry

Arren — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:39:32 +0000

Julia Black: Summer may be coming to an end but as I’m sure you are well aware, mother nature isn’t submitting to the calendar. The heat is continuing, and I'm on the hunt for ways to cool off. So, in preparation for what may very well be one of our longest and warmest summers I have been looking for ways to shake up that beach/cottage/pool must-have - The beach towel! Fresco is an extraordinary towel company, and my current fave. The California family-run and family-crafted luxury towel firm offers more than simple beach towels, they are works of art that layer old-world textile motifs with trending patchwork, washed and boho colour blends. The designs illustrate the whole Gemini duality in design, mixing flashy fluoro colours and hippy tie-dye with some serious historical Damasks, Moroccan influences and Chinoiserie patterns. Their plush 100% Turkish cotton towels are available to order in a whole mess of fantastic colours in both bath or beach sizes (bags and pillows are also in the line). For me, a self-professed eclectic chick (and a Gemini!), I have a passion for both décor and fashion. I love to blend a mix of styles and periods and find myself always challenged in balancing contrasting styles, and having things look good! Thankfully, Fresco has answered my desire for always wanting a bit of both ;)

To read more posts from Julia click here, to check out her cool blog click here, and click here to see her new Get Fresh online videos for CTV!

Bright light, bright light

Arren — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:47:54 +0000

Today I was going to blog about Jimmy Choo boss-lady Tamara Mellon's swanky NYC apartment that was recently featured in Harper's Bazaar, but then had a last minute crisis about it. The place, designed by Martyn Lawrence-Bullard (who I quite admire), is, errr, perhaps a bit too over the top. Take a look here, over on Made By Girl, and let me know what you think. Is it just me, or is the combo of those snake photographs and a McDonald's meal just a bit icky?

Instead I'm going with this super fantastic new bulb designed by Eric Therner. Eric is a young Swedish designer who had the bright idea to create a 2000 hour 15 watt halogen light that's inside a diamond faceted glass bulb. If you ask me, I think it brings a whole new glam twist to the bare lightbulb trend. [Images: Jesper Lindstrom]

Time for a Picknick

Arren — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:53:22 +0000

Oh, there's something about Swedish design work from the 50's and 60's that just gets to me, so I couldn't be happier to tell you that Picknick, a classic fresh and summery pattern from 1954, has been re-intro'd. Designed by Marianne Westman, the now 80+ year old designer who was also behind the classic Mon Amie dishware pattern (which has just been re-released by Rörstrand), Picknick is back on the shelves courtesy of Almedahls and - if you fancy grabbing some for yourself - is available online through the fine folks at Huset.