HGTV - Here we come !

Our Maple Bay Project was selected to be filmed for HGTV's new TV series "TOP TEN". This show profiles their top ten picks for room categories. Our project will be featured as one of North Americas best games rooms early in May 2009.

The View from the Games Room overlooking Maple Bay

This project means a lot to me because it was a project where I designed lots of the furniture pieces myself and was designed thinking ahead of the game. The place used to be a Volleyball court yard and the planning of the space was a lot of fun. We transformed the whole space to accommodate a sensational games room, a gym, a kids bedroom and a lounge area.

My favorite pieces in Maple Bay - Chubby Birds of course

On Monday we styled the space for the filming of the show that took place on Tuesday. There is always a sense of nostalgia when you go back to a project that you designed years ago, but this project still looks as current as it did when it was first conceived.

We styled the space ourselves with a lot of planning and shopping. We also were fortunate enough to count on the help of Susan Ramsey from Ramsey and Ramsey - Flower Merchants. I am a firm believer that fresh flowers always complete the space. The talent of Susan, Reika, Barbara and Sarah was definitely evident in the end result.

The mini Calla Lily arrangement by Ramsey & Ramsey


Grass and rose arrangement

Lilies in an Itala vase and a Jonathan Adler Ceramic "Aorta"

On Tuesday HGTV sent camera man Jim and assistant Austin to shoot the space. It is amazing the amount of equipment and detail that goes into a seemingly simple shoot. Jim and Austin were courteous and professional, a real pleasure to work with. It was a crazy day but we would like to thank Jim and Austin and of course our client for being so accommodating. It meant a lot to us.

Austin and Jim setting up the Jib

Austin and the TV monitor

Jim planning a shot of the view

Keep your eye out for HGTV's new show "TOP TEN" in early May. We are really looking forward to our future career as international super star designers (lol).

To see more of the Maple Bay Project please visit our website at:

www.themeadegroup.com

MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Eye Candy of the Week

Product: Lumiere D'Asie Folding Screen
Designer: Kenzo Takada
Material: Black Laquer and Crystal
Website: Baccarat
Yummy Factor: C'est exquis !

Kenzo Takada is a Japanese fashion designer. He is also the founder of Kenzo, a world-wide brand of perfumes, skincare products and clothes. Kenzo Takada announced his retirement in 1999, leaving his assistants in charge of his fashion house. In 2005, he reappeared as a decoration designer presenting "Gokan Kobo" ("workshop of the five senses"), a brand of tableware, home objects and furniture.

Kenzo Takada

In launching his new business, Takada chose to create partnerships with established manufacturers that could handle the production of the Gokan Kobo line: Baccarat for crystal, (you can see in this entry his folding screen for example), or Niderwiller and Manufacture Nationale de Sevres for porcelain.

With a very distinctive East-meets-West vibe, Takada's own house is a marvel of calm, yet stunning, interiors. In describing what he wanted for his home, Takada said, "I didn't want anything too overwhelming or ostentatious. I wanted an oasis for both my creative time and leisure time."

Interior Design: Kenzo Takada
Photo: Joel Laiter

MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

In Conversation with Patricia Gray

Patricia Gray

Patricia Gray is an award winning, highly recognized interior designer from Vancouver, Canada, who finds time in her busy schedule to update her interior design blog almost daily! and I know how hard this is. Her blog features her inspiration, including other designers and architects that she admires not to mention sneak peeks of her stunning work. She has been published in Architectural Digest, House and Home, Style at Home, Western Living along with other notable magazines.

Iván Meade - What was your first experience with design?

Patricia Gray - When I was 5 years old I remember rearranging the furniture in the Living Room.

Laurel Residence

Photograph courtesy of Patricia Gray

Iván – A client of mine sent me a link of your blog a couple of days after I launched my own blog last November – I have to say that I still have a lot to learn . What does it mean for you to blog your ideas in design, your travel experiences and basically open your personal life to the web?

Patricia – I started Blogging basically as a personal journal to record and catalog my inspirations. I thought it would be a good forum to express myself outside of my professional practice as an Interior Designer. It has now taken on a life of its own.

Iván - What has been the best experience of being a design blogger?

Patricia – The other bloggers I have met all over the world. It is quite a network. I have made friends in Morocco, Houston, New York. My readers are from all over the world and are very sophisticated and savvy. They keep me on my toes.

Sketch by Patricia Gray

Photograph courtesy of Patricia Gray

Iván – Your interiors definitely celebrate restraint and order. To what/whom do you owe this influence?

Patricia – My Professor, when I was a student in Design School, Terry Kutcher inspired in me a love for design. He was meticulous in criticizing all my designs and floor plans. I learn to edit, to be selective, and to create rooms that had a focal point and were unique.

I was also very influenced in my formative years of study by the fabulous Michael Taylor, who was at the time creating designs that were new and innovative and were totally suited to the times.

Gastown Project
Photograph courtesy of Patricia Gray

Iván – There is an European influence in your timeless interiors, they are not just beautiful and contemporary, but they are also very livable. How do you archive that?

Patricia – Part of the European influence I think comes from the time I spent studying Interior Design in Paris. It is very important for me to create spaces that are comfortable, functional, and beautiful. I make sure that when you enter a room you feel comfortable, when you sit down you have an experience with the space you are in and that you have beautiful things to feast your eyes on.

Editing is an important part of the process for me, because if you have too many things in a room, you don’t appreciate any one thing in particular. Also important in editing is the details. They have to be executed to perfection.

Gastown Project
Photograph courtesy of Patricia Gray

Iván - It’s the big installation day. What could have gone wrong did go wrong. How does Patricia Gray deal with that?

Patricia - You deal with one thing at a time. It is also important to work with a good team that are each experts in their field.

Gastown Project
Photograph courtesy of Patricia Gray

Iván – The popularity of the design shows on TV has brought interior design into homes all across our country. If you had a show, how would you educate the viewers about interior design?

Patricia - That’s a big question. Design is a process and involves many steps to get to the end. I think that a lot of the detail of this process is left out in the current shows. In a 30 minute show a home is completely finished. I think it would be educational to follow a project week by week to completion.

Laurel Residence
Photograph courtesy of Patricia Gray

Iván – A decor fad you hope never to see again?

Patricia – Well, I hoped that I would not see a revival of the 80’s, but it is upon us now. I am now really starting to appreciate it again in a fresh new way. For example the resurgence we are seeing in the use of wallpaper. I still have clients that cringe when I say the word wallpaper because they lived through it and the horrors of having to remove it from walls that were not properly prepared for it.

We go through phases in design and I think we become saturated, so we change and move on, then a new generation comes along and loves the things of the past and breathes a new life into it.

South Granville Project
Project Photograph courtesy of Patricia Gray

Iván – You recently returned from a design course in Italy, what was that experience like and what is next on your design journey ?

Patricia – I spent a month in Italy studying Contemporary Italian Architecture. It was an amazing experience. I lived in a dorm and rode a bicycle to classes in the most Beautiful Medieval walled city. The Italians have an appreciation for Design that is in their blood. It permeates everything in their lives. For my next experience I want to spend some time in Belgium. Some of the top design in the world right now is coming from this country.

Laurel Residence
Photograph courtesy of Patricia Gray

Iván - Any words of wisdom?

Patricia – Take your time to make purchase decisions for your home. Buy fewer thing of better quality. Have only things around you that you love!!

Yaletown Project
Photograph courtesy of Patricia Gray

Iván - Lastly, you have already created a stunning body of work with many mediums and styles, what would you like your legacy to be?

Patricia – That I created spaces that were memorable, stimulating to be in, and stand the test of time.

To see more work of Patricia Gray please visit:

www.patriciagrayinc.com
www.patriciagrayinc.blogspot.com

MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

The Best Geometric Fabrics

According to Wikipedia - Geometry (Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth, metria = measure) is a part of mathematics concerned with questions of size, shape, and relative position of figures and with properties of space. The earliest recorded beginnings of geometry can be traced to ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley from around 3000 BCE.

Woman teaching geometry

The theme of symmetry in geometry is nearly as old as the science of geometry itself. But the question that arises here is why geometric patterns read as contemporary or modern patterns. This movement was, in a sense, an amalgam of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Bahaus, Art Nouveau, and Futurism.

The structure of Art Deco is based on mathematical geometric shapes. It was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources. Among them were the so-called "primitive" arts of Africa, Ancient Egypt, and Aztec Mexico, as well as machine-age or streamline technology such as modern aviation, electric lighting, the radio, the ocean liner, and the skyscraper.

From Le Corbusier Five Points of Architecture to the innovative use of colorful geometric and classic patterns by David Hicks. Today we can appreciate the use of geometric fabrics to add a splash of modern sense to any space. Here is a recollection of some of my favorite geometric patterns in fabrics. I have to say that the pictures don't do justice to the quality of the textiles.

All fabrics available through Meade Design Group.

Clerestory

Kravet Coture - Michael Berman
100% Viscose - 100% Linen - France

Agean
Kravet - Michael Weiss
41% Polyester, 36% Rayon, 23% Cotton - U.S.A.

Dragon Fly - Cut Velvet
Groundworks - Allegra Hicks

Infinity - Cut Velvet
Groundworks - Allegra Hicks

Domino Prints - 20797-504
Duralee Fabrics
100% Cotton

Morgan Wovens - 14867-8
Duralee Fabrics
64% Rayon 36% Polyester

Inlay
Kravet - Barbara Barry
36% Linen, 35% Cotton, 29% Silk - India



29191
Kravet - Kravet Green
100% Recycled Polyester - U.S.A.

Ropework
Kravet - Echo Home
36% Polyester ,27% Cotton ,17% Viscose, 13% Acrilic ,7% Linen
Italy

Archipelago
Kravet - Windsor Smith
100% Linen - U.S.A.

Katana
Groundworks - Kelly Wearstler
100% Linen -U.S.A.

Hexagon House Chenille - Stone
Groundworks - David Hicks
68% Rayon, 32% Cotton - U.S.A.



Mirella
Kravet - Echo Home
82% Viscose , 18% Cotton - Belgium

La Florentina
Groundworks - David Hicks
100% Linen - U.S.A.

Contemporary Geometric

G. P. & J. Baker

100% Viscose - Belgium

MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

SNAP - October 2008

We are really excited to introduce our new section called " Design-Feature " in SNAP - Victoria. Every month we will interview local designer celebrities and we will share with you their favorite pieces.

Here is our first article...

Last November I discovered a great little shop in Fan Tan Alley filled with funky and unique design pieces called Onlyhuman. The discovery quickly turned into a valuable resource for projects and I developed great friendships with the owners.

Partners in business and pleasure, Chris Rothery and Christina Stack created Onlyhuman 4 years ago, feeling that Victoria deserved an infusion of some fresh design.

Newly located at 533 Pandora Avenue in Market Square, Onlyhuman offers a varied range of furniture, lighting and ceramics from the groundbreaking Dutch companies Moooi and Droog, local lighting giants Bocci, and the playful menagerie of Jonathan as well as custom furniture designs and services.

Only Human Store

Iván -You recently became the first retailer to bring the Moooi brand to Victoria; could you please give us a little background on the company and their products?

Chris & Christina - Moooi is a Dutch design collection of furniture & lighting founded by design superstar Marcel Wanders. Moooi combines classical extravagance with modern minimalism to create unusual and stunning furniture and lighting.

Iván - You have a great light fixture featured in your store right now, the “Random Light” by Moooi. After looking at the light online I read that it is made in a very interesting way, making each one unique, could you explain the process that goes into creating one of these lights?

Chris & Christina - Hugely dramatic, light as a feather and distinctly Dutch, the Random Light (2002) by Bertjan Pot began as a modernist craft project of sorts. After attempts at knitting fibreglass as a means of creating structure, Pot turned to coiling epoxy-dipped fibreglass around a large balloon in varying patterns. Once the balloon was popped, the dramatic globe shape remained, becoming a buoyant pendant lamp for an entryway, dining room or lounge area. The light bulb is visible at the center of the globe, and when lit, creates an all over glow with minimal glare.

racy...

Iván - Your store is a great resource for custom furniture and distinctive accessories. What makes a product worthy of being sold at Onlyhuman?

Chris & Christina - Because we design as well as produce furniture, Onlyhuman strives to sell products that have a connection not only to the designer, but also the maker. Christina has written an ethnography on textile workers in Vietnam with UVic, it was this experience combined with Chris' everyday furniture making that spurred the concept of Onlyhuman. We also feel strongly about new and postmodern design, and are proud to bring these items to Victoria.

Iván - What is your store’s best selling item?, Do you have a favourite?

Chris & Christina - The "Sun Jar" (Tobias Wong, 2002) -is a solar powered mason jar lamp that has been covered in a frosted finish, contains a solar cell, rechargeable battery and LED lights. The result is a lamp that collects and stores sunshine for night-time! Cute, green, and gift priced at $45. Our favourite? Chris and I are both in love with the Smoke series - burnt chairs covered in an epoxy, iconic black furniture that rises out of the ashes of modernism.

MOOOI UNVEILING

SNAP OCTOBER

Only Human

533 Pandora Avenue.
Market Square

250.383.only (6659)

[ click here about additional stories about ONLY HUMAN ]

MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011