Some local excitement

Yesterday afternoon I should have been studying French, finishing up my Christmas shopping or doing some laundry. Instead, I went to Ikea. And why is this exciting (according to the title of this post)? I am fortunate to live in a city that has had an Ikea for as long as I can remember. The only problem is it was SMALL. Trips to Ikea were successful if you were able to pick up half the items on your list (and of which the large items you had to drive a few minutes down the road to a second warehouse to pick up). Very frustrating. Yesterday was the soft opening (to friends and family) of the LARGEST IKEA IN CANADA - here in Ottawa! A very kind reader of ours named Erica, a kitchen designer at Ikea, sent me an invite so my husband and I went to check it out. It is HUGE - triple the size of the old store, which only had about 15 decorated showrooms, and now has 55. The restaurant holds 640 people and serves booze! Other reasons why I am excited - I finally got to see a Docksta table in person. (The old store has NEVER carried it). And about 10-15 years ago the old store decided to stop selling fabric. Now Jo doesn't have to ship me some from Australia. The store officially opens on Wednesday and I guarantee it will be insane. 

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Commute Home

We concentrate primarily on domestic interiors on Desire to Inspire. It's all about the home. Actually it's all about the room porn for the home. Every so often, though, inspiration comes muscling in from commercial designs. Commute Home is a Toronto based design firm and although what you see before you are restaurants and offices, shops and studio space I could with just a tiny bit of tweaking see these designs providing inspiration for your "not so tame" domesticated home. A little indie. A little edgy. Definitely with attitude. Urban cool. Inner city hip.

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Shipping container smarts

Clever! Lease the last remaining block in the hottest street in town but need a budget build? Need to retain existing trees because, of course, you have leased? Containers and polycarbonate sheeting. Brilliant, colourful, fun and down right funky. Retail design done with smarts. The Decameron by Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan of Studio MK27. Inteligente!

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Change of seasons

Swedish stylist and creative director Mikael Beckman has sent us his latest work for Svenskt Tenn. Love the warmth, the soft light, the sense of comfort, of cocooning, settling in with favourite things as the weather closes in. (Svenskt Tenn has opened a newly refurbished Stockholm store. Mikael says it is a must visit.) Love Mikael's concept sketches as well. The perfect way to pitch his ideas.

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Sunday shopping

How stunning are these product shots from new Australian online store Dunlin? I was so excited when Sydney and New York based architect Alexandra Bond emailed to share these gorgeous goodies. After working in New York for the last six years Alexandra and her partner Nicholas Barber are launching an Australian retail extension to their architectural interiors practice.  "Dunlin is working with brands that we have built great relationships with in New York, including Matteo, Original BTC, Davey Lighting and West Third Brand. The majority of these brands have been unavailable in Australia, and we are carrying them exclusively in conjunction with a range of home accessories under the Dunlin line." Oh be still my beating heart! Readers outside of Australia will not know how difficult it is to source great lighting online in this country. But it's not only lighting. Click on over to explore the rest of Dunlin's stylish range. I have a hankering for the Campaign Breakfast Table and the Safari Campaign Chair.