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Motel Revival

One of my favourite trends right now is old motels fixed up to take advantage of their retro cool style. They are all over the place where the young, hip hang out.

There is the Hotel San Jose is Austin, Texas, and *cough* where I happen to be at this very moment. Well, I’m actually in their adjacent coffee shop, Jo’s, to take advantage of free wifi and outdoor seating with other design types who are not in a Monday-Friday corporate job. I would take a photo of the fellas with laptops beside me, but that would be creepy, no?

Photo: www.remodelista.com

Hotel San Jose describes itself as a urban, bungalow-style hotel in the hippest neighbour in town (South Congress). Built in 1939 as an “ultra modern motor court”. The midcentury modern style translates perfectly into current aesthetics. Check out the butterfly lounge chairs at Hotel San Jose’s pool deck:

Photo: www.grahamandco.org

And the midcentury-modern pieces (left) in their common areas:

Photo: www.grahamandco.org

The Hotel San Jose has old-school manual typewriters and Polaroid cameras for guests to use. That may take the cake of hipsterism, but I love it! Bring on “Austinlandia”.

There is the Jupiter Hotel in Portland, Oregon.

Photo: www.jupiterhotel.com

“Designed with the modern urban nomad in mind, the Jupiter’s guestrooms are retro-themed and crisp in design”, as they describe on their website. (There is something about the North-West US that always leads to being an explorer.) One of my favourite things about the Jupiter Hotel is that you can choose rooms on the “bar patio side”, for party-goers, or on the “chill side”, for those in need of sleep, and of course the coffee is locally-roasted. The bar patio side opens to the Douglas Fir Lounge, which I visited the last time I was in Portland. It’s a happening place and no shortage of North-West retro style, like the log wood walls, cozy booths and dome light fixtures in the “Doug Fir” Lounge:

Photo: www.jupiterhotel.com

Vancouver’s Howard Johnson on 12th and Kingsway has serious potential for a retro transformation. They just are not there yet, sadly. Likely because of the cost of anything building-related in Vancouver (that’s a boo to Vancouver).

Photo: www.hojo.com

However, Vancouver’s Waldorf Hotel fits the bill of old hotel fixed up retro style perfectly.

Photo: www.waldorfhotel.com

The Waldorf, located in the sketchy part of town, has been transformed into a mix of clubs, bars, restaurants, a hair salon and even a hotel (this was news to me as a Vancouverite), all with a funky, hip style. My favourite is definitely the Tiki Bar, which apparently has not changed since the 50s. You can get cocktails in free coconuts with mini umbrellas. Nuff same.

Photo: www.waldorfhotel.com

I’m not going to lie, the purpose of this post was not only to comment on old motels being fixed up, but also to tell the folks at home about my travels in Austin (hi Mom!). She asked for a play-by-play so here we go: this morning I woke up early to brilliant sunshine, went for a very long jog around the lake/river/green area across the street from the place I’m staying. Currently, as you know, I am writing a blog post at Jo’s Coffee on South Congress. I am eating a giant peanut butter cookie (that’s why I do the long jogs). Notable difference from PB cookies in the North – they are melty here. Mmm…delicious.

After this writing post, I’m off to do more exploring. Next I’ll wander through some boutiques on South Congress to see if there is a dress I cannot live without. Then I’ll head downtown to check out some other shops and explore the east side of Austin before my coffee meeting at 2:00. After business is taken care of, I will hit the pool deck with a glass of bubbly and likely have a nap. Life is rough.

Talk to y’all later.

Bonnie

On moving and kitchen nooks. The two go together. Obviously.

Posted by Katie in DIY Project | Fabric | Furniture | Reupholstery - (0 Comments)

Moving. So many feelings wrapped up in that tiny verb. On the one hand, I am moving into a much bigger place in a much better location… I didn’t even know I lived in Coal Harbour until Bonnie came over to see the place and tell me. Let’s just say I am geographically-challenged and have spent too many years in East Vancouver. The building is beautiful – built in 1909 and while the inside needs some lovin’, the bones are amazing. On the other hand, however, comes that less fun part of moving. I have to somehow get all my things there and set up, in between the minor craziness of everyday life. It’s a whole new project for sure, and one that will be sure to bring on a host of new upholstery projects… and space to keep them!

One of the first projects I am tackling is building a kitchen nook. I am one of those people that tends to live in my kitchen. I hang out there. I eat there. I cook there. I hang out there. Rinse. Repeat. It also helps that my new kitchen is hilariously large (with small apartment-size appliances, weirdly). Here’s what I’m thinking of:

I really like the style of how these benches are built into the wall. I’m pretty sure I could recreate this myself, but I would want to change up the fabric for sure – I like cheery colours in a kitchen.

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chairs, corner, kitchen design, kitchen nook, nook, seating, table, vintage, vinyl

Austin, the anomaly of the South

Posted by Bonnie Wilson in For fun | Personal - (1 Comments)

I’d like to clarify a misconception, Austin Texas is not like the rest of Texas. Austin is an anomaly in the South. When we Northerners think of Texas, we think of Republicans and conservative values (I won’t name all the nasties here, but you know what I’m talking about…anti-abortion, guns, that kind of stuff). Anyways, Austin is different. The slogan “Keep Austin Weird” didn’t fall from the sky. Austin is like the Portland of the South. It’s artsy, laid-back, liberal, young, hip and an all around awesome little city.

Austin, of course, has its bad flaws, but I’m not going to talk about those here. Why? Because I’m going there in less than two weeks!

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Vintage Modern Before and After

I was mildly freaking because thought I forgot to take “before” photos of this chair, but alas, I found them on another camera! Here’s the “before” pic of the chair I call Muriel, in dedication of my grandmother.

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Introducing Alison Lau

Posted by Bonnie Wilson in Custom Design Plan | Interior Design - (2 Comments)

We are pleased to announce that artist extrodinaire plus interior designer, Alison Lau, will be joining our team. Alison will be creating Custom Design Plans for Sitt clients. Alison comes to us with a Degree in Fine Arts, funky personal style and super sweet personality that makes her a dream to work with. Here is more about the lovely Alison.

Here she is. Love this photo, and that smile.

Here’s more about her.

1. Alison focused her fine arts degree on photography & printmaking and later moved onto interior design.

2. She currently works at the new CB2 store in Vancouver helping customers with furniture selection.

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A bed-building extravaganza

Posted by Katie in DIY Project | Furniture | Home Decor & Accessories | Reupholstery | Upholstery - (1 Comments)

I am on a bed-building mission. A few years ago, I moved into a new place and needed a bed. Pronto. So I picked up the Engan bed by Ikea. It did not have a great life. It squeaked, the screws continuously became loose, and the slats would fall through – even though I upgraded and purchased a set of better slats. Let’s just say it is terminally ill and will likely not make it through summer. Enough is enough.

Bye bye Engan…

So this time I am going to build a new bed. And then when it squeaks and falls apart I can look at myself in the mirror and say, “Hot damn, girl. You did that.” It really is far preferable. Right? I will own those flaws.

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bed, bedroom, building a bed, clean lines, plan, simple bed, upholstered bed, upholstery, wood, woodwork plans, woodworking

Custom Kitchen Design Plan – Paige’s Colourful Kitchen

Posted by Bonnie Wilson in Home Decor & Accessories | Interior Design - (8 Comments)

The Backstory

A small dated kitchen with limited storage for busy homeowners who have a love for food, cooking and family gatherings. The client uses the dining area just off the kitchen as her main place to relax with a cup of coffee (or glass or wine) and a crossword puzzle. Paige loves vibrant colour, modern design and dishes!

The Design Plan

The new design plan for this kitchen is a cost-effective renovation including installation of new cabinets, appliances and counter tops, while saving money by salvaging the existing flooring and keeping the layout and lighting. The bar seating area (pictured above) is not working for the client so our designer, Brianne Zugelder, recommended a new banquette seating with custom upholstery from Sitt (and who doesn’t want a banquette in their kitchen?!).

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colourful kitchen, kitchen, kitchen design

5 unconventional uses for fabric

Posted by Bonnie Wilson in DIY Project | Fabric | Interior Design - (2 Comments)

I’m a lover of fabric. I really can’t get enough of it. My apartment is filled with fabric swatches. I cruise fabric websites obsessively. It’s like Christmas when fabric arrives in the mail. You get my point – I really like fabric. With this love, I’m always looking for alternative uses for fabric to bring more fabric-joy into my life. Here are some unconventional uses for fabric that I’ve come across.

(I’m also a big fan of numbered lists, if you hadn’t noticed)

1) On the walls:

Photo: myfavoriteandmybest.com

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DIY project, Fabric

It’s all Greek to me: furniture, lighting, upholstery and some fancy hardware

Posted by Katie in Etsy | Furniture | Personal | Travel | Upholstery - (1 Comments)

At the moment, I am currently frolicking around the island of Corfu, in Greece. By frolicking, I mean walking a heck of a lot, being totally star-struck by the insane beauty of this place and, well, thinking about furniture. Oh, and sitting by the pool, wishing it was just a few degrees warmer. Sadly, despite all those years living in Ottawa, I find it hard to sit in a bikini when it is 20 degrees (68 degrees fahrenheit for all my cross-border friends). Just a bit cool for this Canadian wuss.

But see? It is beautiful. I took this on my walk yesterday.

But guess what? There is also a bunch of neat upholstery/furniture/hardware stuff to see here in Greece as well. I’m sure that all of you at some time or another have seen the infamous “Greek key” fabric, like in these lovely pillows from Etsy.

Image via Nena Von Custom Drapery & Designer Pillows

And to be fair, I have seen that print everywhere here. On my bathmat, in shops in town, on, juice boxes (okay, fine, I made that one up). It’s everywhere. At any rate, after arriving in Greece, I found a few treasures of my own – in my very own hotel room. (more…)

80's design, 80's upholstery, corfu, Corfu Holiday Palace, furniture, Greece, greek, greek key, hardware, lighting, upholster, upholstered headboard, vintage, vinyl headboard

Where to get upholstery supplies in Vancouver?

Posted by Bonnie Wilson in local | Upholstery Tools & Supplies - (2 Comments)

Photo: wikipedia.org

Aside from foam, there really isn’t much in the way of upholstery supplies in Vancouver. Dressew has dribs and drabs, but not a whole lot more than what you could find in any fabric store. The upholstery fabric selection is pretty sad too, so I wouldn’t bother making a special trip downtown. (more…)

upholstery foam, upholstery supplies, upholstery supplies in Vancouver