Sarah Richardson Design Tips
This cute pic has nothing to do with today's post :)Lucky me, I had the chance to hear Sarah Richardson speak live and in person yesterday. And I got a free Tassimo at the event, so I was doubly lucky! Sarah was as down to earth, fun and engaging as she is on her shows. During the talk, Sarah mentioned her thoughts on design which I wanted to share with you all:
- Sarah thinks more traditional kitchens (of which she is a huge fan) are making a comeback. Think stained kitchen cabinetry with rich woods like crotch mahogany and panelled doors.
- Consider getting kitchen cabinet doors professionally sprayed instead of repainting them yourself. (She uses a sprayer in Toronto who charges a reasonable $20/door)
- Incorporate storage in every room you decorate or renovate
- Design to suit the architecture of your house. You don't want to go ultra modern if your space has traditional bones
- Populate your space with things that have meaning and pull back on the current "display culture", where you buy things just for the sake of having them
- Open concept spaces don't have to be one colour! You can change the colour any place where two walls meet, like in a corner.
- When designing a dining room, look for inspiration in your dishware
- Paint your crown moulding in a chalky white, so that your ceiling colour (painted something other than white) pops
- Wallpaper is still "in". Sarah loves grasscloth for texture
- Pull the colour that is least used in your furnishings as your accent colour. Look at your carpet or wallpaper and use the least prevalent colour for accents, to provide subtle hits around the room
And for all you Sarah fans, she has a few more shows coming soon to HGTV Canada:
- A Christmas special on Nov.29th. This show was filmed at her own house.
- Sarah's House 3 (its a farm!) in March 2010
- A new show called Sarah 101 which I mentioned in this post. She's currently casting for 13 homes in the Greater Toronto Area and is looking specifically right now for bedrooms and children's rooms. The show is a "back to basics" focused on DIY, decorating on the cheap, and the ABC's of good design. Sounds like another winning show to me!
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