An Evening with Ivan Meade in Victoria

I'm in Victoria for a few days this week where I visited Ivan Meade with Meade Design Group The Blog at his office in downtown Victoria on Government Street. Ivan is an extremely talented interior designer AND graphic designer. And he graciously allowed me to photograph his office space which I absolutely loved!! Here's the tour!

I had to start with these little monkeys in this adorable vignette in the kitchen/espresso area.

A better view where Meade Design Group makes their espresso every morning! I loved the stunning damask wallpaper on the back wall.

And the listello tile installed even on the face of the shelf in addition to the backsplash!

This is where Ivan and his staff get to work all day. One of the homes designed by this talented group is currently on the front cover of BC Home Magazine (the same one where my article on Decorating with Yellow just appeared).

This is their boardroom. Ivan designed the large scale wallpaper and had it custom made for the accent wall.

Then on the other side, 3 shelves like this with beautiful vignettes on each one:

Look at the snail by Jonathan Adler! Ivan said they were lucky to get a few wonderful presents from friends when they had their open house!

The drapery is by Barbara Barry. The floors are original with the building.

This stunning mural was done by a local artist and is also on Meade Design Group's letterhead.

Yes their office is always this organized.

Ivan took me to dinner to an amazing french restaurant, and since I was early, we went for a little walking tour of his favourite shops before we ended up close to China Town for dinner.

This is Bruce Wilson's office in Victoria, who is also a good friend of Ivan's. He is a designer and an architect and was featured in House & Home as one of Canada's stylemakers.

We passed by his office so I took a picture of his perfect office through the window (I was a little embarrassed as it made me feel like the paparazzi but Ivan said "I get it, you're a blogger").

Bruce Wilson Canada

Thank you Ivan for a wonderful evening!

Related post:

Sexy in the City (An evening with Patricia Gray)

Why blogging is good for your Career

Color Vibe by Eileen Kathryn Boyd

This room was designed by Eileen Kathryn Boyd for the 2009 Kips Bay Show House and I found it on House Beautiful. If you have never seen her website, it’s one you shouldn’t miss!

I am on the hunt for reasonably priced art for a client and it’s hard to find, I think I need to find an artist and do a commission! There are so many talented artists out there, I just need to find some! Love the simply, contemporary piece in this room.

Also, I adore the pillows she designed. I NEVER design a room without the right toss cushions, I really feel they make or break a space and I’m always looking for new ideas for piping combinations and unique shapes!

See how the artwork has been arranged here? First the lamps were placed on the console, then the art was installed around them. Even the two bottom pieces on each side where placed based on the fact that the chair was displayed on the left. That’s why the basic rule of ‘hanging art at eye level’ is too hard for most people to follow and best left to professionals! Just hiring a designer FOR THIS TASK ALONE, will make a world of difference in your home!! If you need some new ideas, a couple great books I recommend are Decorating with Pictures:

And At Home with Pictures they are both a good resource, but if you are going to pick one out of the two, I thought this book by Paige Gilchrist was the best one:

Related posts:

Colour me Kelly Green! (A Jamie Drake Manhatten Residence)

My Interior Design Style (Another Jamie Drake Residence)

The New Hollywood Regency (A Kelly Wearstler Residence)

Kimberley Seldon on Decorating with Beige

Colour Love (Stephen Shubel Design)

John Saladino on Creating Scale

Colour me Kelly Green!

Jamie Drake is in this month’s Elle Decor so I went on his website [so beautiful] and picked my favourite, which is this Manhattan Residence decorated in kelly green, white & brown.

I have been predicting that this colour is coming back for over a year now and here it is in one if Jamie’s interiors! Greens have been yellow based for many years now so the pendulum has to swing back to the bluer greens which has certainly happened with the blue and chocolate brown combination – that blue has moved to teal which is huge in designer fabrics right now.

Jamie loves large, oversized round ottomans. They are certainly a great piece in a big living room that doesn’t cut off the other side of the room while providing extra seating.

Notice how he’s combined a fresh clean, yellowy green with the kelly. I once had a designer friend of mine say “All greens go together” and in most cases, I think she’s right.

Love these Barbara Barry inspired dining chairs (I think her circles are wider so I’m not sure if these are the same ones).

The piece that makes Kelly green (which is suspiciously close to Forest Green from the 80’s) look fresh and new is pairing it with white which is what all the designers [that use this colour] are doing.

Sexy in the City

I was lucky enough to be invited to Patricia Gray’s holiday open house in her brand new, completely renovated, swanky townhouse right downtown in my favorite section of the city [I have always wanted to see what the inside of these fabulous walk-ups look like].

I have a few sneak peaks of her place, [to be officially photographed and published very soon] I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of this little ‘tablescape’ in her fabulous modern ensuite!

There’s something so sexy about a contemporary space juxtaposed with antiques, Patricia is a master at combining the two! This is a photo from her blog showcasing her recently installed custom made banquette in her breakfast nook, antique Georgian chairs, upholstered in white leather and a contemporary Saarinen table.

Patricia Gray & Maria Killam

She had this Hermes blanket (in beige and cream) draped over a chair in her living room – Now I want one!!

I met another blogger, Michelle Morelan from A Schematic Life. The blogging world is so much fun-- because you’ve been reading their blog already--it’s an instant connection!

We met two lovely women from Lightform, Jaime Bishop and Heather Merenda.

It was a rare [for Vancouver] and wonderful snowy evening, this is a shot of the lights and snow on the tree right outside her place from her den. You can just see a corner of the fuzzy, faux fur throw on her white slipcovered sofa! Love the simple panel with the black border!

Patricia’s Christmas tree was simple but sexy, decorated with silver and red balls, and then she had placed vases of lush evergreens throughout her townhouse.

This is Patricia’s brother-in-law John who is her supplier of high-end hard window coverings which had recently been installed on all her windows!

There were many books in her fabulous library that I need to add to mine, here are some of them.

This one ‘defining Luxury’ by Jeffrey Bilhuber I just picked up last week, so stay tuned for some excerpts. It’s beautiful! Full of luxurious images with all my favourite colours!

Make sure you check out Patricia Gray’s blog, it’s a sophisticated and up-to-the-minute, intelligent blog with everything that's current in interior design today!