lush interiors inc

New Spring Fabrics from Maxwell....

2012-02-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

COLOR 2012

2012-01-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here it is.....the color of the year.

Pantone Reveals Color of the Year for 2012:
PANTONE 17-1463 Tangerine Tango

Dance into the New Year with this vivacious and appealing reddish orange
CARLSTADT, N.J., Dec. 8, 2011 – Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT), and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced PANTONE® 17-1463 Tangerine Tango, a vivacious, enticing hue, as the color of the year for 2012.
The 2011 color of the year, PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle, encouraged us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. Tangerine Tango, a spirited reddish orange, continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.
“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

Over the past several years, orange has grown in popularity and acceptance among designers and consumers alike. A provocative attention-getter, Tangerine Tango is especially appealing in men’s and women’s fashion. Fashion designers featured in the PANTONE Fashion Color Report Spring 2012, including Tommy Hilfiger, Nanette Lepore, Cynthia Steffe by Shaun Kearney, Elie Tahari and Adrienne Vittadini, are incorporating this attractive orange into their spring collections. A fun, lively take on a traditional autumnal hue, Tangerine Tango will surely carry through to fall fashion as well.
A winner in cosmetics because of its versatility, Tangerine Tango is a bit exotic, but in a very friendly, non-threatening way. Add a sultry flair to lips, cheeks and nails with Tangerine Tango. An unexpected eye shadow color, Tangerine Tango is a complementary opposite that flatters blue or green eyes. When paired with brown eyes, it brings out an amber cast.

4th Annual Christmas All Through The House

2011-11-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

Its that time of year again. Lush interiors, along with the Calgary Design Group is decorating the historic Lougheed House in this annual fundraiser. This year, we are styling and decorating the Mission Room, which was originally used as an informal sitting room. This year you will find live entertainment, along with furnishings from Roche Bobois and original art from Jason Gogo. Runs from Nov 17-28th. Come down and see the finished room! If you need tickets, give me a call at 862 1840.

Spring Fabrics....

2011-03-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

If you are getting sick of all this cold weather and brown and white landscape, check out the new spring fabrics from one of my suppliers. These will cheer you up and add a splash of color to your home!

Hot Color Trends for 2011

2011-01-27T10:25:00.088-07:00

Benjamin Moore is our go to manufacturer for the latest in paint colors. They follow the trends and are usually on the mark when it comes to predicting the latest colors. So here's what they have to say for 2011:

What's THE hottest color for 2011?

From deep smoky wine to wildly pumped up fuchsia, purple promises to be a predominant color in home décor in 2011. So say the color experts at Benjamin Moore. "One purple to watch for in 2011 is Benjamin Moore’s Vintage Wine 2116-20," said Sonu Mathew, ASID, the company's senior interior designer. "It is an anchoring and rich hue with a deep brown base and a hint of smoky violet. Vintage Wine is the perfect foil for the latest wood finishes, leathers, linens and other textiles."

In arriving at its 2011 color palette forecast, the Benjamin Moore color team first tracked recent cultural, social, and even political conditions and how they are impacting fashion and design trends. Emerging from this analysis were three distinct style movements—Soulful, Spirited and Dreamy. These were then defined by the following Benjamin Moore colors.

Soulful:
authentic, personal, expressive, warm, welcoming

A global balance is being achieved as communications technology shrinks the oceans and miles between us, and as what once was foreign blurs into familiar. On the style front, this is visible in "ethnic glam" designs, pattern-on-pattern, map motifs and hand-worked decoration such as beading and embroidery. Colors being called out to interpret this not only include Benjamin Moore’s Vintage Wine, but also Wasabi AF-430, Amulet AF-365, Casco Bay 2051-30, Hush AF-95, and Etruscan AF-355.

Spirited:
vibrant, creative, bold, playful, energizing

The antidote to stress is anything that makes you feel happy, joyful, playful. Striking that emotional balance can be a challenge. In fashion and furnishings it’s reflected in spirited designs featuring geometrics, stripes and cubes, dots and curlicues, studded or stitched outlines of shapes and silhouettes. Riotous colors are juxtaposed with lots of gray, black and white. Colors comprising this palette are the aforementioned Royal Flush, as well as Grape Green 2027-40, Wrought Iron 2124-10, Paper Mache AF-25, Storm AF-700, and Lucerne AF-530.

Dreamy:
serene, harmonious, inviting, luminous, flowing

Reality can be harsh and is best countered by a dreamy odyssey where wishes are nurtured. Translated into a design perspective, that means transparent and sheer materials, blurred decorative details and softened textures. As for the color palette, imagine Benjamin Moore hues that are pale, frosted and opalescent, such as Gray Mirage 2142-50, Genesis White 2134-70, Porcelain 2113-60, Etiquette AF-50, Kendall Charcoal HC-166 and the previously cited Smoke.

With Benjamin Moore's envision 2011 there is a color and palette for everyone. Enjoy!

More Holiday Decorating.....

2010-12-07T14:18:00.009-07:00

Christmas All Through the House

2010-12-07T11:57:00.008-07:00

Our Lougheed House event was a great success this year. For those of you who didn't make it down, here are some photos from the event. We divided the drawing room in half and decorated both sides with the same theme, but with very different budgets. The left side of the room had a budget of $60,000 and the right side had a budget of $10,000. Can you see the difference? When we were featured on Breakfast Television they actually thought the right side was the most expensive. Perhaps you will find some inspiration for your own home this holiday season. Enjoy! As always, if you have any questions, please contact me! Happy Holidays!

3rd annual Christmas all Through the House

2010-11-02T14:56:00.005-06:00

Lush Interiors, along with the Calgary Design Group is participating in the 3rd annual Lougheed House event, Christmas all Through the House.
This year we will be decorating, styling and trimming the trees in the Main Hall and Drawing Room. The theme for the event this year is "In War and Peace" and we are doing a "high/low" room in keeping with that theme. We will be splitting the room in two and decorating one side in "high style" as they would during peace time using furnishings from Eisenbergs and the other side in "low style" as they would during war time using furnishings from Pottery Barn.
The event runs from November 13-21. Hope you can make it!

Please contact us via email, facebook or twitter for more details.

fireplace facelift

2010-09-29T12:09:00.008-06:00

Just in time for fall.....a fireplace makeover. Here are before and after photos of a fireplace that I just completed work on. This living room had a fabulous 17 foot ceiling but the scale on the existing fireplace and wall sconces was all wrong. We refaced using a slate ledgestone, taking the stone all the way to the ceiling, incorporated a large mantel (for hanging stocking at christmas!) and relocated the new wall sconces. Because we changed the existing gas insert to a wood burning, we built a hearth and surrounded it with the same ledgestone and finished the top with a slate tile. The final touch was a new, brighter paint color and now these clients are ready for the winter season.

Hunter Douglas Summer Sale

2010-05-31T13:12:00.005-06:00

Hunter Douglas is having a promotion until August 31st, 2010. For every Silhouette blind purchased with PowerRise (remove control) you receive a $250 rebate. The cost of a battery operated remote system is $490, so it nets out at $249. This offer is only available with Silhouettes. Please give me a call if you have any questions on this offer. Hope you are staying warm out there!

the latest in kitchen design??

2010-05-04T17:31:00.003-06:00

Last night, my husband brought home our new iPad. What a fantastic little gadget! It was close to dinner time and after playing around with it I thought I was being so clever, sitting it on my counter and using it as a recipe book! It was fantastic and I thought it would be great to have one built into my kitchen......About 15 minutes ago, my husband showed me this site. I guess I'm not so original, but guess what I am going to incorporate into all of my kitchen designs from now on? I just need to figure out how to power it!

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/04/ipad-merges-with-kitchen-cabinet-sacrificing-portability-for-ut/

How to get rid of hard water stains

2010-04-26T11:00:00.007-06:00

I completed a bathroom renovation for a client last year and we installed a gorgeous glass shower. After about 2 weeks, she told me the hard water stains on the glass were terrible and impossible to remove. She purchased a bottle of Norwex de-scaler from me and just last week sent me this email:

... holy crap! What an awesome job!! I’ve had the bottle forever but just used it now to clean the shower – our shower looks brand new!!! Everyone in Calgary needs this stuff!!

Hope you are having a great day ...

If you haven't tried any of the Norwex cleaning products, you may want to check out their website. http://www.norwex.ca/ Their products are amazing and CHEMICAL FREE! If you would like more info or need to order anything, please email or call me.

What's HOT for spring fabrics!

2010-04-13T10:34:00.009-06:00

Every season the fabric manufacturers attend the largest international textile shows in the world to search for the newest trends in color, texture, and design for interior décor. They look for innovative fabrics from around the world to compare and decipher key directional messages and bring relevant and unique looks back to North America. The following is a compilation of the most important trends from the fall interior textile show in Europe and fashion shows from Milan, London, Paris, and New York.
Overall, there was an optimistic vibe pulsing throughout each show, portrayed by bright pops of color, and the predominant use of luxurious textiles. Shiny velvets and textured linens continue to steal each show with a prevailing theme of modern elegance and casual luxury. Every design house seemed to focus on re-inventing classic textiles with modern color palettes and touches of sophisticated shine; essentially confirming past "trends" as established and accepted fashion and décor.

COLORS

Color palettes focused on modern neutrals with accents of intense saturated colors.
Modern neutrals encompass a new spectrum of chameleon like tones. These versatile tones adapt to existing surroundings; acting as often as color as they do neutral. For example: pearlized ivory, cosmetic beige, taupe, and a broad spectrum of gray.
Gray has established itself as a basic neutral and the most important color right now.
Metallic tones of platinum, gold, bronze, and copper were featured often as a neutral base to layers of texture and color.
Yellow was featured as the "it" color for 2010, but signs already point toward yellowish acid green tones for 2011.
Navy and teal blue continue to stand out, while hints of cobalt created a buzz, suggesting this to be another emerging and cutting edge color.
Apple Green remains the most popular and overall accepted tone of green, however vibrant emerald greens continues to show up, making a bold statement; especially when paired with canary yellow or cobalt blue.

FABRICS

Velvet
Past forecasting reports portrayed velvet as a growing "trend" fabric; however, this classic and luxurious textile absolutely dominated the shows this season, proving importance and acceptance in the mainstream market.
Most notable:
-Shiny velvet continues to lead the way.
-Cut out and embossed designs continue to gain momentum and look super stylish in bright contemporary colors.
-Pattern direction emphasized modern nature themes.
*Oversized floral designs and stylized chrysanthemum motifs were the hottest looks featured.
*Bold sketch-like designs of tree branches and vines looked the most contemporary.
*Geometric designs such as squares and circles competed for first place.
*Keep your eyes on "retro" Greek key and lattice patterns that continue to gain popularity.
Linen
In stark contrast to the lush, sumptuous looks of velvet, the simplistic, pure look of linen equally dominated each show. With an industry focused on elegant but casual luxury, there was an emphasis put towards showing off the classic sophistication of linen. Modern looks balanced a natural, understated design aesthetic, with more complex weave structures, glitzy novelty yarns, and intricate surface detail.
Highlighted linen looks:
-Chunky woven textures and fine crisp weaves dominated in solid natural and neutral colors.
-Crewel-like embroideries, flock patterns, and metallic prints stood out adding excitement to neutral backgrounds.
-Glitz and shine, added using topical glazes, or metallic yarns created a chic look that received the most accolades and attention within the industry.
-Color palettes concentrated around natural "linen" colors and soft neutrals that included gray.

UP & COMING
Sheer fabrics have been a main feature in decor; grabbing attention with sophisticated sparkle and sheen.
Emerging "sheer" trends:
-Contemporary "mesh" and cut-out "peek-a-boo" patterns were the trendiest new looks.
-Layers upon layers of sheers creating unstructured silhouettes looked sultry and lush.
Satin is on the cutting edge, gaining popularity in the fashion and high end interior design markets. The slight sheen, supple hand, and elegant drape have made satin the newest "trend" fabric on the fashion runways in Milan and Paris for spring/summer 2010. It has been proven that interior decor follows fashion trends within 2-3 years, so keep your eyes peeled for this look to carry over.

I have the latest in all of these fabrics. Call me at 862 1840 if you would like to see any of them!

Grand Gallery Spring Sale

2010-04-05T07:33:00.007-06:00

One of my suppliers is having a spring sale...the real advantage for you is that they sell to trade only, so its a good opportunity for you to see their products if you haven't already been there with me. They are opening their showroom to the public for this event only. Looks like there could be some good finds.....

http://www.grandgalleryimports.com/

Sale is for one day only.....Saturday, April 24th from 10am to 4pm
Up to 80% off regular prices on one of a kind, discontinued and floor models