I fell for the fabric the second I laid my eyes on it. It's called Soo Locks from Beacon Hill at the Robert Allen showroom. It's a wonderful watercolour landscape pattern with all of my most favourite colours. It was a big inspiration for a recent decorating project. Can't wait for you to see it...

Um, guess that's it for now...

-

In the more daring department I also kinda dig this one.

It's the home of Louise Clelland and is painted Brinjal. If you've been visiting here since way back, you might remember my affection for Brinjal, which was kindled after a visit to Paris. I've been thinking of Brinjal again. I hope to use it for an upcoming story in House & Home.

You should go to Farrow & Ball and vote. And if you are planning to paint your door this spring I think you will find their step-by-step guide invaluable.

And speaking of exterior paint. I've been mulling over in my head the idea of painting the brick of our Toronto bungalow in a deep warm grey colour. I don't know if it will happen -- seems a long shot given everything else that is so much more pressing than painting the house. But I really loved the results when Arren Williams did it. The makeover appeared in House & Home a few years back, but it's also up on the web site here.

Arren used Railings, also a Farrow & Ball colour. I think it looks fantastic -- and the new windows are beautiful! I don't think I'd go quite as dark as he did. Perhaps this:

Down Pipe 

It doesn't seem that much lighter here, but when you put the two together it is much lighter. Hmmm, maybe. But the real question is - could I do it myself? I think except for the chimney I actually could. It's a small house. We'll see.

PS, April 9 was my 3 year blog anniversary. Happy belated anniversary to me.

Just a few days after this adventure I found myself in the Primavera showroom in Toronto (the place is a total dream, BTW) at a presentation by none other than Scalamandré pres Steven Stolman.

Urfortch, I did not win the cute-as-pie Zebras brolly door prize that day, but here's a shot I took of the iconic Zebras fabric at the presentation:

I used to be a total yellow-hater. Now it's all love, baby. I pulled a sample of the wallpaper and held on for a while, considering installing it in my dining area. But I can't do it. I'll have to content myself with liking this from afar. It's simply not right for my home. Sometimes it's so hard to say no. But I digress...

So, back to my story, a couple months after that lovely day at Primavera I spotted the DwellStudio booth at the New York Gift Show:

Here's another look at those little fellas on the sofa:

Right beside this image of the cushions on the DwellStudio site is an invitation to "Read about our design inspiration on the Studio Blog" So I did that and, well, to me there appears to be a gaping omission in the story of the "inspiration" for this pillow design. Check it out for yourself here then pop back.

Discuss.

Porter Airlines begins flights from Toronto's Billy Bishop airport to Washington-Dulles airport on Apr. 16. And they are currently 50% off. Praise be.

Two:

This man is opening a store. Though I guess don't book your flight yet, looks like there's a bit of work to be done to the building before doors open. Read about it in the Washington Post. 

Meanwhile, here's a litte taste of his vision to tide you over:

Interior design by Darryl Carter. Photos by Simon Upton. Produced by Anita Sarsidi for ELLE Decor

photo: tim leyes

Hello friends, I know what I'll be doing this evening at 8pm - will def be tuning in to HGTV here in Toronto. Mercifully I'm assured there won't be any deck wars or parties being planned by bored rich housewives or melodramatic confessionals by homeowners who got duped by some evil substandard tradesperson. Instead it'll be my old pal Samantha Pynn and her merry band of cottage makeover experts bringing the pretty to the wilds of cottage country for season 2 of Summer Home. The commercials have me hooked already (as did season 1, which was hosted by Karen Sealy). And so clever of HGTV to air this show just as we are brushing off the winter cobwebs and dreaming of warm day vacay spots.

Sam and I first worked together years ago as we schlepped and styled our hearts out to make pretty pictures. Things I know about Sam include: She will break into song or dance at any moment - but especially the particularly stressful ones. She throws an excellent surprise birthday pancake party with portable burners in an office boardroom with a sprinkler system. She likes pink. She is a juice fanatic. She is a mixologist who can psychoanalyse you by your drink order.

I caught up with Sam recently and hit her with a few Qs to get to the soul of her cottaging self (partly because I know Sam as a city girl through and through, so I wanted some insight into this new side of Sam).

Margot: What is your Tim Hortons order?

Samantha: Peppermint Tea. You know that back in the day on location shoots I would eat all those donut balls otherwise known as Timbits, but I am cursed with gluten-intolerance.

M: Name your Top 5 road tripping tunes (I'm hoping for some Gloria Gaynor)

S: Well maybe not Gloria Gaynor, but you know that I love Laura Branigan's
"Gloria", as well as Kenny Rogers "Coward of the Country", Olivia Newton-John
"If You Love Me", Billy Idol "Dancing with Myself" and Neil Diamond "Forever in
Blue Jeans" Those are the big repeat offenders - but I have thousands of songs on my iPod.

I do have new music too. My brother is cool so he fills my iPod with Lana del
Ray, Little Dragon and Lykke Li.

M: Which one are you most likely to belt out in the car while driving north?

S: I honestly sing all of them. I mean all of them by myself like a big nerd.

M: Favourite Card game?

S: Go Fish!

M: Best Board game?

S: Scrabble - but I never play seriously.

M: Jet ski, canoe, or high speed power boat?

S: Dock

M: Favourite dockside beverage?

S: Green vegetable juice.

M: Sunrise or sunset?

S: Sunset. I'm not a morning person!

M: How does the whole process work for doing a makeover for the show?

S: I always ask the homeowners to pull together an inspiration file so I can determine their style. Next, I visit the space with my team and just start blurting out everything that's in my head. I can usually stand in a space and know where it's going within the first five minutes. We pull together a floor plan. Next, my team of talented design and construction experts starts working on the space. Seriously, it's an army of people working at warp speed. We have thousands of meetings, and emails and texts. It's so much work, but the reveal "the moment of truth" is always worth it.

M: What's a behind the scenes secret you can share?

S: Behind the scenes it's hard work and pure silliness! Colin Hunter our
contractor is an absolute crazy pants.

I've never met Colin but I do know some of the other amazing team members Sam worked with, including Malcolm Patterson, Joel Bray, Lauren Flanagan, Laura Fowler and the team at RTR Media. All the best in the biz. For a video peek behind the scenes, check out the You Tube channel (and don't miss the restaurant takeover episode):

So, check out HGTV.ca to find out what time Summer Home will be on in your area. Or join me for the Twitter play by play in the Eastern time zone - 8pm!

Take a moment to look at this screen capture of some of the latest offerings from Banana Republic. Have you fallen asleep or turned into your mother yet? What is up? La Banane used to be one of my regulars. I could always find something to love. But oh my goodness this stuff is just awful, the colours, the cut, the styling: wrongo. And Lord knows I love my Janie Bryant and having a Twitter chat with her was a highlight, but that Mad Men collection - not much better than what's here. Thought these folks were stepping up their game given the J. Crew invasion of Canada and the Joe Fresh invasion of Manhattan. This is not a game that looks stepped up. Joe Fresh on the other hand is KILLING IT!

So, prob shopping my closet or Joe for something to wear for a little TV thing coming up. Camera-friendly garb is a challenge for me - I keep trying but have never mastered it. Then there's the mani issue...oh, and prepping the actual content of the segment.

Amazing what a couple of coloured glass panels can do to liven up an otherwise total snorfest of a building.

I would totally be spinning around town on one of these sweet rides! Gives one a bit of an idea for a bright spray-painted makeover for an old style cruiser...

This room please. Green is my favourite.

Or maybe yellow.

Would be a total no-brainer to design a bathroom like this. Pure white fixtures, tile and towels, plus bright accessories. Done and done.

Good morning. Admittedly it would be brutally hard to resist the urge to steal a couple of these sets. Like, really really hard. But I'm sure they have a shop there where you could buy them :-)

I'd strategize a day of antiquing and eating moules frites here before hopping on one of the aforementioned bicyclettes.

Again, you would def want to nick these, but they wouldn't fit in the suitcase anyway. The whole place has the vibe of a graphic design college dorm - but that's what I like about it. 

On the bright side, since Brussels is not in my near future, perhaps some of these might be:

The new Pantone cosmetics line which launched recently at Sephora.

Or this little lovely for my phone in my signature colour: 354.

I hope you have a bright and colourful week. Check back, I have a couple of other ideas to share in the coming days.

all hotel photos: The Pantone Hotel.

So, just outside Toronto the other day, these people went to work and on the "to do" list was saving a woman who became trapped in her car UNDER an 18-wheeler. 

A friend of ours is an Ob-Gyn. A recent work day for her involved delivering 11 babies, including 6 C-sections.

I am in awe. Let's give thanks. That's all for today.