Margot Austin

Libeco Clément collectionI hereby declare my full and complete 24/7/365 love of linen. The affair deepens afresh every year around this time. Summer is made for linen. Soft and cool to wear. Sophisticated but relaxed. Luxurious. Durable. Earthy and earth-friendly. Pressed or rumbled -- I just adore it. My fave sources for linen products are Libeco Home Stores and The Linen Way. Libeco is a a Belgian company and they have the MOST beautiful linens for the table, the kitchen, the bed -- and to wear (and the duffle bags are so Great Gatsby chic!). The Linen Way is a wholesale source, but you can find their products at many retailers across North America. The lady who runs the company with her son -- well, they are just lovely lovely people. I like to give lovely people my business and I try to promote them as much as possible!

Also on my linen source list are Fog, Matteo and Rawganique. John and Juli at Mjölk sell Fog in Toronto. I don't need to tell you how great their store is -- I'm sure you already know. But here's a fun link to the story of their recent trip to Japan when the met the founder of Fog, Yumiko Sekine. Charming! Now, back to Rawganique. I have a major beef with them -- their site is HIDEOUS! Check it out here. Someone needs to save them from their preachy selves. Couldn't they store all their text-heavy eco-messaging behind a hot link? And is it against the tree-hugger code to celebrate beauty? I assure you, the products they sell -- the linen and hemp bedding specifically -- are devastatingly gorgeous but you'd be hard-pressed to know that looking at the site. So sad and such a missed opportunity.

I love to collect new and antique table and kitchen linens. On my current want list is linen bedding. I'd like to mix linen and hemp bedding for my place in Tweed -- if I can find some that I can afford! Last time I was at Muji in NYC they had some and I didn't buy it - drat! Hope they still have it when I'm back in Sept. Or maybe I'll call...Meanwhile, enjoy my little love letter to linen.

And one final heartbreak -- so sad that IKEA has discontinued the Aina drapery panels in pure linen. Truly one of my most favourite IKEA products of all time. A pox on them for doing so -- I mean, just look at the lovely way they flow and puddle hanging from my DIY four-poster!

sources: 1-5: Libeco. 6, 7, 13: Linen Way. 8: Matteo. 9. Bemz. 10, 11: Fog. 12: Pi'lo. 14: styling: me. photo: donna griffith.

I'm painting the trim at my place in Tweed , Ont. And when I say "I'm painting." I really mean that I am doing the painting. No professional painter, no help from hubs (I think he would if I'd let him, but I'm not letting...trust me, it wouldn't be good for our marriage.) The house is not huge, just a 3 bedroom red brick number with all the normal rooms. But oh my, there is  A LOT of trim. I did a calculation on the weekend. I will be painting 58, yes 58 pieces of corner block moulding -- each block takes 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint -- as does all the linear footage of trim that runs between all 58 blocks, plus I am painting some of the walls, too. I'm quite thrilled with the results so far, so thought I'd share some befores and durings. For the After shots, you'll have to check out a future issue of STYLE AT HOME. This is a BIG project. I'll keep you posted.

I took this before shot just post-Christmas (hence the evergreen swag on the newel post). It creeps me out to think how long I lived with this looking this way...

As you can tell from the chaos of this shot, I took it just after finishing painting -- guess I should've moved the lamp and ladder. oops. There is much to do still in the stairway area: paint risers to match spindles, paint treads, handrail and newel post in Farrow & Ball Railings in full gloss (yum), new stair runner, new lighting, hang art along far stairway wall, whitewash floor...

YIKES, I disliked the stained trim around the front window so much I tried to hide it behind these feeble curtains. And I chose a nasty golden wall colour just 'cause it blended with the trim stain -- proof positive that you should NEVER decorate around something you don't like in hopes of making it look better. Won't work. You will still dislike. Lesson learned.

Oh, hello pretty stained glass window with yellow. I did not even notice you before because of the ugliness surrounding and obscuring your beauty. I'm inspired by your colour and I promise your next dressing will be much more flattering. I'm working on that now...(ps sorry again for not moving the lamp + don't have photoshop).

Here's the magic potion I am using on the trim: Farrow & Ball Eco Finishes Estate Eggshell in the colour Pointing. The stuff is like thick cream and has just the right look of age to it -- perfect for my 100-year-old home. And yet, as you can see, the effect is light and bright. Oh, actually, just realized, I used the same colour in full gloss on the panelled stair wall and balusters -- that finish is perfect because the gloss really picks up the light coming in the front door. I decided to use Farrow & Ball because my kitchen already had trim painted in this colour. I know people in design go on and on about maintaining flow -- and this is a prime example. Before, when you walked from the kitchen into the living and dining rooms, you felt like you were entering a different home. Now there is flow. Flow is nice and peaceful. I quite like it. I painted the walls in the living room (see above) in the same colour, Pointing, in a flat finish: Estate Emulsion. The hallway walls are Farrow & Ball's Lime White -- they've been the same for years and I still like it. Love the mixing of whites.

And in case you are wondering, yes, I will be using some of the new STYLE AT HOME paint colours that I worked on for Beauti-Tone. I'm in the process now of choosing one for the mudroom walls -- that will be the most incredible makeover...can't wait to tell you more about it....and there's plenty more.

You might think glamour girl design maven Barbara Barry would be as ill at ease in the country as Ava Gabor in Green Acres. You'd be mistaken. She designed this interior in the wilds of Wyoming. It ran in an issue of Veranda mag and I've been returning to it time and again for inspiration. I love the way she embraces the country vernacular and breathes fresh new life into it. I think she has achieved something like "Luxe elegant country minmalism. " Have a look and see what you think.

PS I have a big beef with the Veranda web site coverage -- couldn't find the photographer credit! Such a shame because the photos - lighting and composition - are spectacular.