A swift little before and after

While I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off rustling up pieces for my space at IDS10 I realized that I needed a chair. Not just any chair, but one that felt vintage and cool, yet was bathroom appropriate. So, I headed to Mieda Design - the upholstery shop I always use - and talked my friend Dan into swiftly re-doing one of his own chairs for the space. That grubby old orange chair below had been sitting looking sorry for itself on the shelf for oh, nearly 10 years, and Dan had never gotten around to re-doing it. The original foam upholstery had totally died (and was turning to dust), so it was high time for a makeover. I needed vinyl to make the chair feel like a fit for the bathroom space, so we plunked for a Maxwell Fabrics number in a glossy and slightly crinkled antiqued metallic silver. Dan sprayed out the teak base in a basic black (yes, horror-of-horrors, lol, but if you ask me, I think it looks great) and managed to get the chair redone in under a week. Anyways, take a look below at the before and after shots. And the chair? After its stint at IDS10 it's now sitting pretty in Dan's living room.

Guest blog / Julia Black: On the runway, in the garden

Julia Black: What do you get when superstar designers from the worlds of fashion and outdoor furniture collide? The answer: You get the latest collection of outdoor furniture from Andrew Richard Designs gussied up with fabrics inspired by Bustle, the renowned Canadian sportswear label designed by Shawn Hewson and Ruth Promislow. Bustle's Muskoka-ready collection first made it’s appearance at LG Fashion Week back in October '09, but the official launch of the outdoor fabrics was celebrated at IDS10. Having caught up with Andrew Bockner of ARD, he reminded me that even though we (at that point) were only in mid-January, there’s really no reason why we can’t start gearing up and getting excited for summertime fashions and oh-so-stylish outdoor furniture a-la Andrew Richard Designs. The Cottage Style line of outdoor fabrics brings a dose of preppy fashion to the outdoors with watery blues and coral-coloured plaids, polo-esque stripes, and sailor-blue solids. Okay, now where's the sun? [Image 1: George Pimentel]

To read more posts from Julia click here, and to check out her cool blog click here.