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Few things brighten up a room like a striking, vibrant flower arrangement. With this year’s variety of trends, including bright, lush flowers, simple, airy arrangements and eclectic vases, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to add a splash of colour to your living space. Try out this simple arrangement by Neville MacKay of My Mother’s Bloomers in Halifax.

This arrangement of flowers in a glass bowl is one that can be easily created at home and used as an attractive centrepiece for entertaining. Photo: Randal Tomada

Gather your flowers: You’ll need pale blue hydrangea macrophylla (commonly known as mophead hydrangeas), a hot pink gerber daisy and a couple of green spider mums.

Find a low bowl: You can use just about anything from a big gravy boat to a serving bowl, as long as it holds at least an inch of water.

Choose your lining: If you’ve chosen a clear container, you’ll want to line the bowl. There are plenty of options to consider: add decorative stones or aquarium gravel, or wrap foliage around the bottom of the bowl. For a fresh look, consider adding strawberries to the bottom of the bowl.

Cut the hydrangeas: You’ll need to cut these stems short, almost at the head but not quite.

Pile them up: Fill the bowl with the hydrangeas, letting them spill over the top to form a cloud-like cushion of flowers.

Cut the mums and the daisy: Using the depth of the bowl (with the hydrangeas added) as a guide, cut the stems of the other flowers so that they’re long enough to reach the water at the bottom of the bowl when added on top of the hydrangeas.

Add the daisy and mums: Embed the other flowers into the bowl of hydrangeas to add a pop of colour. Ensure they reach the water at the bottom of the bowl.

Upgrade your arrangement: Give your flowers an elegant look by layering a few strands of wire or threads on top of the arrangement. By veiling the flowers like this, you’re adding a unique element of value to the arrangement. If you want to add a more personalized feel, consider weaving a strand of your grandmother’s pearls between the petals.

Bring fresh flowers into your home this spring. Neville MacKay with My Mother’s Bloomers says flowers such as these mums, roses, hydrangeas and green spider mums can all work beautifully in a lush arrangement. Photo: Randal Tomada

Like any art form, arranging flowers takes time.

According to MacKay, hydrangeas will be gaining popularity over the next few years. “They’re reminiscent of big, luscious balls of meringue,” he says. “Who doesn’t want these voluptuous flowers in a centrepiece or a bouquet?” Lush, colourful flower arrangements and bouquets are also something Pam Goold of Goold’s Flowers in Sussex, N.B. is expecting to see a lot of this year. “We’re heading towards big, full arrangements with gerbers, hydrangeas and orchids—large flowers, bright colours,” she says.

This year will also bring the recent décor trend of simplicity into the floral world with loose, airy arrangements. “The world is so uptight, we need relaxation in our homes,” says MacKay. For a simple, elegant display, he recommends using a tall glass vase. Add just a couple inches of water and layer a few decorative stones along the bottom.

If you drop a single flower into the vase, the stones will support it and the glass will protect the flower. MacKay suggests choosing a peony (which will open up inside the vase, creating a lush, full look), a perfect rose or an orchid. “Protecting a flower under glass really elevates its quality in our minds,” says MacKay. “Whether it’s a special flower, or you just don’t want your guests to pick at it, putting it under glass is great.”

A single flower with some decorative stones at the bottom of the glass gives it extra appeal. Photo: Randal Tomada

In contrast with simple, single bloom arrangements, we’ll also be seeing a more eclectic look emerge in both décor and flowers. Everyone has a collection of mismatched glassware in the cupboard. Goold is predicting a trend toward clear vases this year, giving you the perfect opportunity to put those to use. MacKay suggests placing a variety of glasses in the centre of the table and adding a single daisy to each one.

Finally, when you’re putting together an arrangement, don’t forget to play, experiment and try something new. And be patient—like any art form, arranging flowers takes time. “You don’t have to follow some sort of recipe,” says Michael Maroun of Lotherington’s Flowers & Gifts in Sydney, N.S. “Do what you like. Do what looks good to you. Everyone has their own style. Just let yours go.”

Fresh blooms

If you’re going to take the time to craft a floral arrangement, or spend the money to buy one, make sure you give it a chance to live up to its potential. For tips on making one last, we’ve gone to experts Pam Goold and Michael Maroun.

Freshen up: Make sure you keep your flowers in fresh, clean water. Every couple of days, empty and clean the vase, add fresh water and new flower preservative.

Cool down: There’s a reason that there aren’t many flowers in the desert. So it makes sense to keep your flowers away from the heater and out of your front window. Find a cool spot to display your flowers so that they don’t wither before their time.

Preserve them: Most florists provide enough packets of preservative to get you through the life span of the flowers. If you’ve cut your own, you can buy packets of preservative from your local florist. Be sure to follow directions. According to Goold, if you add too much or too little per litre of water, you might as well not use it at all.

Simply put, take care of your flower arrangements. “People have to realize that these are living things,” says Maroun. “You have to make sure that they’re watered. You have to look after them.”

Casual eclectic

A combination of bright green, grey and ivory give this door a natural but traditional look. Designed by Wendy Monaghan of Link Interiors, the design is warm and comfortable with the addition of balls of yarn on the wreath. A few limes bring out the fresh green in the rest of the look. Wendy wanted to include a bit of sparkle, too, so she added the large golden ornaments to keep the look festive. www.linkinteriors.ca

Tip: Full balls of yarn will be too heavy for the wreath. Instead, cover Styrofoam balls with one layer of yarn. Use a glue gun to keep the balls of yarn and limes in place all season. 

Casual eclectic. Design by Link Interiors. Photo: Dennis Evans

Maritime lodge

When designer Jonathan Legate was busy creating his holiday door, he was inspired by the nature around him. On the wreath he mixed holly, rosemary, Hicks Yew and English ivy, completing the look with rosehips found in a nearby park. While Legate splurged on the red lanterns, he says they were worth it because of their classic look. One new trend he did include were the owls, which he spotted at Thornbloom in Halifax. jonathanlegate.com

Tip: Scour your own backyard and neighbourhood for greenery to create a homemade wreath. And don’t be afraid to mix!

Maritime lodge. Design by Jonathan Legate. Photo: Dennis Evans

Rustic chic

Interior designer Michele Muir of Silk Purse Décor didn’t have to go far to find elements for her design. She grabbed some twigs from her yard and spray painted them white, attaching a leaf from a blue poinsettia on each twig. The driftwood wreath is attached to a wall sconce that had a candleholder. Inside are battery-operated twinkle lights. Blue ornaments and accents pop off the red door. www.silkpursedecor.com

Tip: Use interior/exterior spray paint for the twigs. Add a coat of glitter paint, or even glitter glue, on top of the base coat to give the look more sparkle.

Rustic chic. Design by Silk Purse Décor. Photo: Dennis Evans

Naturally classic

Keeping it natural is the theme of this holiday look. Designers Colin Blanchard and Kenneth McRobbie of 31 Westgate in Halifax, Nova Scotia, created the wreath with some cedar and laurel spray-painted with gold. The garland on the stair railings is also cedar and laurel. The look doesn’t overwhelm the design of the home, but complements its historic charm. McRobbie and Blanchard suggest homeowners find one element in the look that will be the main focus. For example, if your door colour is bold, keep the ribbons and other elements more subdued. 31Westgate.com

Tip: Make a garland by wrapping natural tree boughs around florist wire. It’s a cost-effective and natural looking option to those artificial garlands you purchase in stores.

Naturally classic. Design by 31 Westgate. Photo: Dennis Evans

This elegant brandy is versatile and can be enjoyed in many places, but our favourite is next to the fire!

www.jostwine.com

www.modernkaribou.ca

www.westelm.com

The aesthetic appeal of books reaches far beyond minute appreciation.

Creating beauty with books, instead of within them, is all around us; found in obvious places like bookstores and libraries, and more subtly in homes and living spaces. Now more than ever, there is a burgeoning market for using books purely for visual stimulation or “book chic.”

Book chic is an inexpensive way to add interest to your home design. There are a number of ways to display books, including by colour, size or texture. Display them on a shelf or a coffee table. Photo: Kelly Lawson

Newfoundland-based interior designer Sara Kirby incorporates books into every room that she designs. “It’s an inexpensive, easy way to bring interest,” she says. Similarly, Saint John-based interior designer Judith Mackin believes that “books are more than just one form of art,” and even suggests that sometimes, precedent can be taken for “beauty over functionality.”  Mackin has used books for multiple purposes, including flat ones as placemats for dinner settings to framed music books as wall décor. Her own house, now under construction, is flanked by an 18-foot-high bookshelf, with strip lighting to highlight her favourite sections, and shelves of different heights for each genre.

Decorating with books can be easy to do with a smaller area, adding character and utility to a space.

Grouping by size or genre is just one option for a bookcase. Kirby has a preference for taking the dust jackets off books to group by colour. “I love exposing the spine,” she says. For those who prefer a haphazard appearance, she suggests letting your bookshelf grow wild. Books can be “stacked horizontally, vertically, with spines facing in or out.” Kirby also loves using items from her own travels to add visual interest to bookshelves. Her most recent additions are two sets of antique bronze andirons from a trip to the south of France, to be used as bookends and holders. “Books have impact on their own,” she says, “but I like to mix things in.”

Top a stack of your favourite titles with other décor items, such as sculpture or pottery. Photo: Sara Kirby/Mod & Stanley

Using books to create interest is both imaginative and inexpensive. Kirby explains how she uses books more frequently within budgetary confines. “It probably goes back to my residence days, using them as inexpensive furniture,” she explains. She once created a bed platform for a university couple with their abundance of leftover textbooks.

Mackin prefers to expose a book’s interior, oftentimes leaving one of her husband’s poetry books open in a cookbook holder throughout the house, or pulling words or poems from books and splashing them on a wall. This “fontography” (a term coined by Mackin herself) adds character and creativity to a room at little expense, having words thrown up the stairs or throughout a room.

Alongside exceptional thriftiness, decorating with books can be easy to do with a smaller area, adding character and utility to a space. One of Kirby’s favourite concepts is knocking out the sides of a staircase and having incrementally growing bookshelves underneath. “It’s a bit messy to do,” she laughs, “but so worth it.”

Often, designers will take care to specifically tailor to an individual’s likes and needs when decorating with books. Kirby cites a specific client who was a Nancy Drew fan, so she placed some older editions in framed shadow boxes on the walls. Displaying books is no longer just for the coffee table. “[Books] say a lot about you as a person,” says Mackin. The only room in her house that doesn’t have a book in it is the laundry room. “It shows what your interests are, but it’s not so obtrusive,” Kirby adds. “This way, if you’re into downhill skiing, you don’t have to have boots and skis plastered to the wall.”

Sometimes books can even be dissolved for décor, their bits and pieces individually brilliant and useful. Mackin recalls an art exhibit by designer Piero Lissoni, in which the covers were torn off of hundreds of secondhand books and scattered throughout a room and shelf. The variety of colour from aged books, size, and even script created an absolutely stunning visual spectacle, a spectrum of yellowing age and varying direction. Similarly, Kirby discusses a designer who once created a bed headboard out of just old hardcovers. These simple ideas with readily available materials are ideal for blossoming DIYers, and for those who simply want to be surrounded by their favourite books at all times.

The pages inside books can also offer inspiration for décor, too. Remove the pages that include some of the best passages and frame them. Photo: Hemmings House Pictures

For those who worry about books being unused, it’s impossible for a book to sit stagnant, unappreciated, or even destroyed. They are always a part of something, a piece of history. Local librarian David Hansen understands that some books can sit untouched for extended periods of time, but it doesn’t depreciate their value. For this, he creates displays, “digestible little chunks” of literature to create intrigue within specific genres and styles of writing, just as he places the children’s books a mere foot off the floor. “It’s really easy to display books,” he says. “We want to inject some added value. We want people to read.” We can conclude, perhaps, that literature is primary; beauty is serendipitous.

A book that has been read and enjoyed, dropped in the bathtub, read by flashlight or cried over has served its purpose. Whether a book is sitting lonely, elevating a floor lamp or propping open a window, it can still make a beautiful statement.

“I visit New Brunswick twice a year and it’s there I get the inspiration for what I am doing,” Chase says. Now living in Toronto where he is an artist-in-residence at the Harbourfront Centre, Chase is also inspired by urban settings. His glasswork can also mirror the tall buildings that surround him. The result is artwork that is fiery and contemporary, but which still includes elements and processes, such as corrosion and erosion, found in nature.

Chase studied woodworking at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. Glass art was a minor, but one that he found himself immersed in, largely because glass is “unpredictable” and the final piece is often a surprise.

“Glass will do what it wants to do,” Chase says.

Chase’s work can be found at galleries in British Columbia, Toronto, Montreal and his home province of New Brunswick. Chase has plans to open his own studio on the East Coast.

nchasedesigns.ca

When we were working on the fall issue of East Coast Living, I wanted to include more work from Atlantic Canadian artists, especially in the Home Currents and Last Look section of the magazine.

So one night I sat down at my laptop and starting searching particular keywords such as “potters,” “artists” and “painters” along with the names of each province in Atlantic Canada. What I found were lists of artists too numerous to mention here. I also couldn’t fit a mention of them all in East Coast Living.

While we may be able to incorporate a lot of their work in the magazine, what I also plan to do is tell you more about these artists via this blog. We’ll call it East Coast Living’s Artist in Residence. I have two artists whose work I’d like to share with you today. They are both featured in the fall issue of East Coast Living.

The first artist I found was Nick Chase. He was born and raised in Sackville, N.B., but currently lives in Toronto where he works as an artist-in-residence at the Harbourfront Centre. Nick’s medium is glass, and what I love about his work is that it’s very contemporary looking, but still includes elements of nature. He told me most of his work was inspired by the outdoors, especially in his home province of New Brunswick. Leaves and sticks are engraved in glasswork that really look quite urban. He also incorporates other themes such as zippers into his work. Nick has dreams of opening a gallery on the East Coast. Let’s hope he can make that happen. Check out more works here http://nchasedesigns.ca/.

The other artist I spoke with for the fall issue was Newfoundland artist Dominique Hurley, whose paintings really just popped off the page. The colours are fabulous; bright shades of reds, purples, green and yellow, with some of her work featuring vibrant gemstones or her own photography.

When I spoke with Dominique, I learned about her process and what inspires her (usually a particular feeling or emotion and nature). And as I suspected, she loves colour. We feature one of her works in the fall issue, but you can find more on our Facebook page or at her website here:

http://dominiquehurley.livejournal.com

If you know of any artists whose work you’d love to see on this blog on in East Coast Living, drop me a line at srent@metroguide.ca.

Suzanne

Evandra Panych grew up in a community outside Sao Paulo, Brazil, in a house her parents painted every year. No colour was off limits. “I think the house was orange at one point,” she recalls.

That annual ritual inspired Panych, now an interior designer with her own business, to love and appreciate colour. She gives design advice to her family who still live in Brazil, but now her focus is on her own new home in Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia. And colour is playing a big role. “I always think green because you always see green outside in the summer,” she says. “And blue, of course, because of the water. Those colours are timeless…It can work in any space.” She loves other colours, too, especially orange, which is popping up in design and décor this season.

Evandra’s sketch of her plan for her summer patio space. Colour, texture and natural products are all key elements in her design.

Her current focus is decorating her outdoor space, a two-level deck and pool area. “We’re deck lovers,” Panych says. “It’s the room we use the most.”

She’s already sketched a design for her deck. Its sitting area includes a love seat, two chairs, a table and a chimenea (a small, freestanding fireplace with a round body and vertical vent). A barbecue sits in one corner.

For Panych, the deck is the perfect place to experiment with design and colour. “I like to be more adventurous with colour because you only spend part of the year out there,” she says.

Looking to replace the plastic birdhouse currently on her patio, Evandra has her eye on these charming birdhouses from Attica Furnishings in Halifax. Photo by Rachael Shrum

Her accents include colourful and textured outdoor pillows, with some in orange and others in patterns and mixes of bright yellow, orange, blue and red. Vases in orange, blue and green add other hits of colour. She chose outdoor dinnerware in a pattern of blue, green and cream.

Colourful, textured pillows will refresh any space, indoors or out. On a search for ideas to enliven her deck, Halifax decorator Evandra Panych loves these patchwork pillows from Wicker Emporium. Photo by Rachael Shrum

It’s these elements that stand out in the design. “Sometimes when it comes to accessories, I like to go beyond my comfort zone,” Panych says. She plans on including other details such as lanterns, candles and a green birdfeeder—she wants to replace the plastic feeder currently on her deck.

Buying just a few new pillows is a simple and inexpensive way to brighten up your outdoor space. These pillows from Pier 1 are in a summery blue-and-green palette.

Nancy Lopes, owner at Cottage Industry Furniture and Home Décor in Charlottetown, says people are putting more thought into their patios and decks. “It’s really a three-season room,” she says, noting that homeowners often screen in decks and patios so they can get more use from the spaces.

Extending patio season means adjusting furniture and design choices. Gone are the inexpensive plastic patio sets that last one summer. Homeowners are investing in durable outdoor furniture that will withstand the elements.

Rugs, too, are weather resistant and often manufactured from polypropylene. It’s not as soft on the feet as an indoor rug, but it’s low-maintenance and can withstand heat, cold and rain.

Choosing an outdoor rug in a vibrant colour or pattern can be an easy change for those on a budget. “An outdoor rug would freshen up a patio space for sure,” Lopes says.

“When it comes to accessories, I like to go beyond my comfort zone”

Candles, outdoor lamps and lanterns can be other quick fixes for deck décor. But ditch the patio lanterns. For a more modern way to light up your outdoor space, consider outdoor floor lamps. These have polycarbonate shades that can withstand the elements and you can control the lights with a remote.

Evandra lounges in the outdoor Swingasan chair from Pier 1. It even has a handy magazine rack on the side where you can stow your most recent copy of East Coast Living. Photo by Rachael Shrum

Lopes says her summer stock is certainly colourful, with orange leading the charge. If you are looking to play with colour but worry about going overboard, buy furniture in a more neutral tone. You can be bolder with your accessories in the space. Bright blues, hot pinks, sunshine yellows and fire reds are big this season.

“You can’t go wrong with orange if your sofa is a colour like cream, beige or even charcoal,” Lopes says. More traditional neutrals, such as navy, are always staples.

Colour is not the only factor Panych takes into account with her designs. Brazilians, she says, also like to feature plants and natural materials in their spaces. Her deck plan includes a natural wicker basket to hold the logs for the chimenea, a bamboo tray and baskets made of coconut fibre for hanging flowers.

Another Brazilian touch is having a playful element in the space, giving it a sense of humour. That could mean adding a whimsical piece of art or a colourful plate in an otherwise traditional looking room. In her kitchen, Panych plans on hanging a colourful plate with a bird motif, a gift from her mother.

Whimsical glass lanterns from Pier 1 can light up any outdoor space. Photo by Rachael Shrum

Panych is always in design mode and often brainstorms about transforming the dreariest places. Several years ago when her son was in the hospital for cancer treatment, she spent hours thinking of fun ways to redesign his clinical looking room. It was a way for her to find fun in a difficult situation. Her son is now eight and cancer free.

For Panych, design and décor is not just about creating a colourful space—it’s also therapeutic. “When I design something and people say, ‘Wow,’ you can see the difference it makes in someone’s life,” she says.