Dara has been voted off the island, (I know I know… not an island but close enough, lol)!  After 5 years of having my business on the Sunshine Coast, I have decided to close the doors.  Don’t worry this is not the end to my fabulous designs, but just the beginning.  I started this business right after we moved to the coast from Alberta, out of necessity not because I just couldn’t wait to run my own business.  It has been great, I have learned a lot, met a ton of fantastic people and had MANY fabulous clients.  Over the past year or so running the business has really taken it’s toll on me, I started feeling like my creativity was being squashed by the constant struggle of keeping the business going.  I am a designer and that is really ALL I want to do.  SO…. I have taken a position at “Beyond Beige” in North Vancouver!  ********These are cheers of delight, I can not wait to start working with this wonderfully, fantastic, enthusiastic, insanely creative team!

I want to say thank you to all the fabulous people I have met here, worked with and became great friends with!  I especially want to thank all the ladies from my “Exceptional Women’s Network”, I couldn’t have made it past year 3 with out you all!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you to my fabulous Kate Rowland for working with me and for being the best assistant I could have ever asked for.  Please don’t stop your dream of being a designer Katie, you have it so go for it!!!

So the next chapter in my life starts Monday!  Please come see me and check out “Beyond Beige” and the “Living Lab” for ALL your design and decor needs!

www.beyondbeige.com

www.thelivinglab.ca

Dance into the New Year with this Vivacious and Appealing Reddish Orange

The 2011 color of the year, PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle, encouraged us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. Tangerine Tango, a spirited reddish orange, continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.

“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

Over the past several years, orange has grown in popularity and acceptance among designers and consumers alike. A provocative attention-getter, Tangerine Tango is especially appealing in men’s and women’s fashion. Fashion designers featured in the PANTONE Fashion Color Report Spring 2012, including Tommy Hilfiger, Nanette Lepore, Cynthia Steffe by Shaun Kearney, Elie Tahari and Adrienne Vittadini, are incorporating this attractive orange into their spring collections. A fun, lively take on a traditional autumnal hue, Tangerine Tango will surely carry through to fall fashion as well.

A winner in cosmetics because of its versatility, Tangerine Tango is a bit exotic, but in a very friendly, non-threatening way. Add a sultry flair to lips, cheeks and nails with Tangerine Tango. An unexpected eye shadow color, Tangerine Tango is a complementary opposite that flatters blue or green eyes. When paired with brown eyes, it brings out an amber cast.

Energize interior spaces with Tangerine Tango patterned home accessories. Pillows, bedspreads and tabletop accessories in this high-impact hue add spice to any room. Or incorporate Tangerine Tango appliances and personal electronics for an unexpected pop of color. Looking for an inexpensive way to perk up your home? Paint a wall in Tangerine Tango for a dynamic burst of energy in the kitchen, entryway or hallway.

My number 1 decor rule for the holidays is……….There are NO rules!!!!!!    The holidays are all about what we love and that is how we should decorate our homes.  So don’t hold back bring out all the funny and hilarious decorations that you love and giver!  Don’t worry about what the hottest trends are, the most popular colors or what anyone else will think, because really who cares!  One month to show how much you love the holidays, bring out the kids crafts and strew them all over the house.  Hang popcorn on the tree, put chotchkies all over the room, display decorative balls on every open surface.  Your home, your holiday, go crazy and do whatever you want!

November is my absolute least favourite time of year for decor magazines, they are all about decorating for the holidays, blah blah blah, I can barely get through one.  I don’t ever want to read about how someone else thinks I should celebrate this festive time of year!

 Make it look like Christmas has exploded all over your house!

This is the one time of year that you have free rein to bring in the reindeer

Hang STUFF from the windows, the ceiling, the railing, lol, anywhere you want. 

Invite all your favorite Christmas Gnomes over!

Wear your most favorite ridiculously hilarious sweater with pride!

 Hang your Christmas tree from the ceiling, if that floats your boat!

Seriously…..lol, show how much you love this time of year!

And of course the beautiful and designery way to decorate for Christmas.

The point being, Christmas is to bring true happiness and joy to everyone, dec your house out in all that you truly love!

Nominate someone you know that is in desperate need of an unbelievable bathroom makeover!  This is fabulous group of amazing companies on the Sunshine Coast, giving back to our community!  Don’t delay the deadline is July 29th.

Enter to win!

Fill out the form below to enter. See below for rules.

Contest Rules

Nominate a friend, neighbour or family member in need of a bathroom makeover that would otherwise not be able to renovate by submitting this form along with a secretly taken photo or video of the bathroom in need of the makeover.

Questions/need more info?

Phone: (604) 885-6763

• Winner will receive a complete bathroom makeover designed by Dara Wyton Design.
• Services and supplies from Coast Kitchens & Baths Showroom/Sun Coast Plumbing & Heating Ltd., Firefly Lighting, Apex Granite, Mathew Keiver Painting and Custom Carpet & Interiors.
• Contest will run until July 29^th, 2011.
• Winner will be selected by a panel of judges consisting of the businesses donating to the bathroom makeover.

Powder rooms offer a small canvas for big interior design ideas. Being the smallest room in the house doesn’t mean the powder room deserves less attention, in fact, it should get as much as the kitchen or the master bedroom. You can create an experience for your guests by making the powder a luxurious and fabulous little getaway. Take a look at how the interior designers below interpreted their visions of the powder room.

1 Apartment Therapy

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San Francisco interior designer, Jay Jeffers designed this gorgeous powder bath with an exotic Asian feel. Who wouldn’t want to escape to this amazing space for a little Zen?

2 Interior Home 86

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This ultra feminine décor makes a lovely place for guests to primp with the mirrored sink cabinet, gold gilt antique mirror and sweet pink wallpaper.

3 House Beautiful

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Lawremce Rizkowsky designed this amazing powder room for his client’s Malibu home. The shell encrusted bombe chest is the result of the original design intentions for the home— comfortable and casual with a little funky thrown in.

4 Custom Made

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This beautifully subtle powder design comes from Perfect Design Cabinetworks in North Carolina. The powder room vanity is the handiwork of local artisans. The ornate and lovely sconces on either side of the oval mirror provide the perfect mood lighting for this understated powder.

5 Simplified Bee

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Velvet & Linen’s Brooke Giannetti designed this eclectic powder room for her home. The marble basin and wall mount faucet along with the wire basket give the room a certain Tuscan farmhouse feel.

6 Simplified Bee

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Kendall Wilkinson, a San Francisco interior designer, gave this powder one amazing up do. The Hollywood glamour of the mirrored vanity and the opulence of the Venetian mirror create a luxurious experience for homeowner and guest alike.

7 Elle Décor

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Interior designer Tom Scheerer used a Chinese trellis pattern on the walls and accompanied it with an Asian style dressing table doubling as a sink vanity. The ceramic stool mimics the wallpaper and adds a modern touch to the room.

8 Braitman Design

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The tile, vessel sink and soap dish in this very Zen powder bath are all handmade. The vessel sink literally glows from its own luminous nature and perfectly placed lighting.

Joanna is a writer for Design Shuffle, where you can find top tier interior design ideas from around the world – from New York Interior Designers, to Los Angeles Interior Designers, and more.  (They’re a fabulous website geared towards promoting interior designers and their work.) Check out the latest at Design Shuffle!

The photos are in, take a look at our completed project!  Great photos, thank you Ingeborg Suzanne for another fabulous job!