I like the concept of bringing the inside out. In this concept I created an outdoor living room for a rooftop deck, using comfortable seating, large planters for privacy and natural wood side tables.

One of the many reasons I decided join the world of interior designers and decorators is the opportunity to draw on a regular basis. During my studies in interior design, one of our teachers brought us to various public places to do quick observational sketches, as shown here. It was a lot of fun and it’s a great way to better understand perspective drawing and notice various design details in a space.

I’m happy to report that another one of my projects is featured in Je Décore magazine. In this case it was for the makeover of a teenager’s bedroom also featured on a TV show.

I was going through some old files of mine and stumbled across an old project that I figured I’d share with you. The goal was to create a concept for a restaurant located in a trendy area of the city. I came up with a minimalist concept using simple natural materials (wood, glass, concrete). Above is the bar located in the back. The bottles were to be placed behind the glass wall and lit from the back to be the focal point of the restaurant. The bar top made out of glass could also be lit. You would be able to see it from the street at night. I was quite happy the round booth echoing the shape of the bar and the custom table to go with it.

I was really into cantilevered chairs and designed stools to match. The wall behind the booth along both wall were “bare” using zebra wood veneer. I was more interested in texture than doing anything graphic. I thought it was a nice back drop to the beautiful kou chandeliers.

I thought about participating in a new local trade show (Ottawa’s Home and Design show) to have my own booth and came up with this cool concept. Using a standard 20 x 20 space, I would build a life-sized, fully furnished bachelor pad. Very often, if you want to live in the city on a relatively tight budget, you have to compromise on square footage, but it doesn’t mean that you have to compromise on style and function. It’s just a bit more challenging to furnish.

Here’s an overview of what I had in mind. Inspired by a existing condo project (360 lofts) I chose the smallest unit to create a functional space. As you can see, it’s a very small open space.

Based on the existing floor plan, one of the first changes is to replace the doors in order to gain more space.The doors to the washroom and to the laundry closet (on the side of the water heater) would be replaced by modern pocket doors (or surface sliding doors). I would also replace the entrance’s closet door and the second laundry closet door with bi-fold doors. Gidea has really nice glass pocket and bi-fold doors that are in line with this concept.

The color palette inside and outside is light and airy. The main colors are light grays and white with accents of turquoise and medium brown.

Inside the unit, there is no wardrobe so I would use the wall on the right to install a wall to wall wardrobe/entertainment unit using pieces such as the PAX wardrobe from IKEA with the sliding glass door panels. A sofa bed like the Salema sleeper sofa or the Jenna sleeper sofa from EQ3. On the side in the kitchen area I would use upper cabinets with glass doors. Smaller under counter fridge like the cool drawers from Izona. I would also bring the cabinets all the way up to the ceiling to maximize storage.

In order to maximize usage of a small space, items with dual function are essential. In this case, a sofa sleeper, a counter that doubles as a table, a wardrobe that also serves as an entertainment unit are various solutions to make the most out of a small space.

Some of my clients are great DIYers. For their projects, my work consists of coming up with a great design concept for them to execute. Even if I’m always available to guide them through, they make the final decision, so it’s always a nice surprise to see the final results because inevitably they will add their own touch to the design. Here’s an example from a couple who was redoing their little girl’s room because she was finally ready to trade her crib for her first bed.

Originally the space was dark and not very feminine. The parents wanted a room that better suited her personality.

Apart from the items that had to stay in the room (mostly the pink furniture), my color scheme came from this really cute stuffed giraffe that was in her room.

As you can see, paint makes a huge difference in the look and feel of a room. For her room, I proposed to change the color of the walls to brighten the space, and go bold on the ceiling to add personality and warmth. The walls were painted white and the ceiling fuchsia. This solution gave a very nice pink glow to the room without having to paint the walls pink. I had to consider the fact that a lot of the existing pink furniture was staying in the room, so pink walls would have been too much.

I also proposed to use a wall adhesive above the bed. I love the one they finally chose to put over the bed. I also love the customization of the curtains, where pink and orange butterflies were added on the sheer curtain. These clients really took the concept and ran with it. Apparently the little girl loves to stare at the ceiling. They did a great job.

So there has been a bit of progress in the little eating area. I’ve added two beautiful Tobias chairs and a cool KNAPPA pendant lamp, both from IKEA. I’ve been eyeing these items for a while. I was also looking at the MONACO Large Pendant Lamp from EQ3, but it requires “hardwire” installation, which is not possible in a rental. I don’t like seeing the cord hanging so I ran the cord on the ceiling towards the corner of the wall and attached it with an IKEA kit. Turned out pretty good, you can barely see the cord down the wall.

Since there wasn’t a lot of space, I decided to use transparent chairs in order to take less visual space. The lamp adds a great contrast against the wall. The shape is reminiscent of water lily.

It was an interesting lamp to put together. When I opened the box, I was a bit taken back by all the pieces. But it was easy and quick to put together. I’m always impressed at the way IKEA manages to minimize its packaging and the ingenuity it took to come up with a way to break down their items as much as possible and still make it easy for people to put together. And if I’m not mistaken, the parts are recyclable!

The next step is the table. I’ve spotted a really nice one at Zone Maison. I thinks it’s called the bar table – Lily. The one that I saw (at the store) looks very similar and it can go up or down. Ideally I’d like for it to go down from coffee table height up to table height, so that it would have a dual purpose. Again, the use of glass reduces the visual weight of the furniture and doesn’t take too much space and the highly reflective surface increases the amount of lighting in this area.