Let us introduce you to the very talented designers/decorators who live and work here in stylish Southern Georgian Bay.
Helen Thomson
Company: HT Designs
Lives: Transplant from Toronto to Thornbury
Specialty: Listening to my clients and ensuring the process is enjoyable Favourite Room To Design/ Decorate: Master bedroom and washroom
Favourite Colour Scheme: White, with a splash of colour
Best Advice: Be true to yourself. Don't choose something because it is in style. Choose it because you love it!
Pet Peeves: My puppy peeing on my cow skin rug!
Lynda Nixon & Sue Conley
Company: Rustic Pear North
Lives: Wasaga Beach
Specialty: Complete makeovers
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: Master bedrooms and en suites
Favourite Colour Scheme: Black, crème, taupe and brown
Best Advice: Always give your best to everything you do.
Pet Peeves: Everything always seems so rushed. There's no time to get creative and still have a personal life. This is the nature of the business. We still love what we do.
Jacqueline Hughes
Company: J.AQUA.LINE Home & Marine Interior Design
Lives: Thornbury
Specialty: Creating balance and function in a place of dwelling, using a contemporary approach, then injecting it with elements that make it a specific dwelling suited for specific individuals
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: My favourite room to design would have to be whatever room my clients personally gravitate to most. For me, personally, this is where the heart of the design concept begins.
Favourite Colour Scheme: Warm, earthy, saturated colours with lots of layers and depth. I tend to use a lot of warm greys, warm whites, warm greens and blues with grey undertones.
Best Advice: If you are ever doing a mix of contemporary and traditional in a home and are unsure of how to do this, ask a designer! Mixing contemporary and traditional is a fine balance of scale, proportion, elements, colour and flow. Every detail has to be taken into consideration. If done right, it can look stunning.
Pet Peeves: Dark, bold colours on a wall (reds & browns) with white trim and white ceilings. Certain bold colours should always be paired with a softer, more neutral white. A good example is Benjamin Moore's "Tapestry Beige," cut to a one-quarter strength.
Marina Farrow
Company: fAd/Peaks & Rafters
Lives: Collingwood
Specialty: Making it work with the space you have
Favourite Room To Design/ Decorate: The kitchen - the heart of the house, where everything happens and everyone wants to be
Favourite Colour Scheme: I like most colour schemes, as long as they are balanced and stylish.
Best Advice: Find a designer that understands you and make time to work with him/her.
Pet Peeves: Incorrect proportion and scale, uncomfortable furniture
Jennifer Bramwell & Missy Sharp
Company: bramwell.sharp DESIGN
Lives: Both live in Collingwood
Specialty: We are a full service interior design firm creating sophisticated and comfortable interiors for our clients - from inception to completion.
Favourite Room To Design/ Decorate: From laundry room to kitchen; bathroom to great room - we love them all! We thoughtfully integrate all the disparate design elements to create a beautiful space that is functional, comfortable and livable. This is what gives a room heart and soul. A space that is enjoyed and lived in will never be static or impersonal.
Favourite Colour Scheme: We believe there are no bad colours. When selecting a colour scheme, lightness, darkness and intensity are important, as well as maintaining that close connection of an interior to its architecture and location. Harmony, balance and flow are key.
Best Advice: The mistake most people make is that they lack a general plan. They want to incorporate too many things into the design and go in too many different directions. A good designer can help clarify priorities and vision and streamline the whole process. Bringing a designer in on the project very early on will allow sufficient time to plan out all the elements.
Pet Peeves: Faddish trends that are here today, gone tomorrow. We advise a timeless, great design that is fresh, enduring and, consequently, a great investment.
Katherine Arcaro
Company: fAd/Peaks & Rafters
Lives: Collingwood
Specialty: Space planning
Favourite Room To Design/ Decorate: Unfinished basements
Favourite Colour Scheme: White, white, white!
Best Advice: When decorating, go with what you are initially drawn to. Looking at too many décor magazines can be confusing.
Pet Peeves: Disappearing trades
Meredith A. Cudney
Company: Chautauqua Designs & Interiors
Lives: In Honeywood with her husband and two children. Loving my new deck that my husband and I designed together and that he built entirely himself.
Specialty: Custom furniture; both commercial and residential. I love designing furniture, it's like making a tailored suite for your living room!
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: The living room. You can use such a variety of fabrics/textures. The grand room defines your home and sets the tone for the rooms to follow. It is where one entertains and relaxes after a day of adventures. Furthermore, it is filled with your finest furniture and your biggest budget - this always helps on the creative level.
Favourite Colour Scheme: Blacks and whites, with flourishes of colour and pattern. Magenta silk toss cushions, brilliant orange or turquoise, blue accent walls. My favourites include "Blazing Orange" by Benjamin Moore with a trendy white or "Cool Aqua" Benjamin Moore with a trendy white. Use the colour in high gloss furniture or safer as silk cushions or other accents. My favourite, favourite newish trendy colour is "Blackberry Wine," also by Benjamin Moore.
Best Advice: Follow your heart and only use a designer to help you achieve your goals. It is the designer's job to help you accomplish the look you are trying to achieve - not to have tastes of the designer pushed upon you.
Pet Peeves: Muddy colours…cheap alternatives…compromises
Tricia Jeffery
Company: Dovetail Interiors, Fud Main Street Bistro and Cafe, Good Better Best
Lives: With Regan, in our French home, south of Creemore
Specialty: Stretching a dollar for the client
Favourite Room To Design/ Decorate: Kitchens or great rooms
Favourite Colour Scheme: Something different every time
Best Advice: Work with a designer who respects your time and money as much as she expects you to.
Pet Peeves: People who don't manage their time to the maximum daily
Kristie Norman
Company: Terase Art And Home
Lives: In Heathcote on the Beaver River
Specialty: Design - thinking outside of the box
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: Great rooms
Favourite Colour Scheme: Each situation requires its own unique colour concept.
Best Advice: Plan for the big picture even if you are only completing one room at a time.
Pet Peeves: Not enough hours in the day!
Lorna Gordon Brown
Company: Design Elements
Lives: My husband and I moved to the Collingwood area 25 plus years ago. We purchased a beautiful 100-acre country property on the Escarpment, which we renovated and still live in today. We have two sons who love to come back to the area from university and busy careers.
Specialty: Since I started my business 13 years ago, we have worked on every type of project - from new builds to renovations and commercial. I must say, although I love the challenge of any new project, my specialty would have to be renovations. I love breathing new life into a home that has seen better days. It is the possibility of what it could be. I can actually see the space completed and have a mental picture of the final outcome.
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: I don't have a favourite room.
Favourite Colour Scheme: I personally live with warm colours. The colours of nature - wheats, tans, rusts and browns. But in my projects, each home is different because each client has different likes and dislikes.
Best Advice: If you are decorating a room or taking on a reno, have the big picture of what you want and work back from there. I see so many people choose individual items they like, but don't see the whole picture. Each piece or finish in a room must connect (not match) with another. Gather samples of all items in the room and take time to see if and how they all fit together.
Pet Peeves: I would have to say delayed deliveries and back orders, which is no one's fault, but can delay a project and cause backlogs
Andrea Ramacieri
Company: Designs by Andrea
Lives: The Town of the Blue Mountains (Craigleith)
Specialty: I don't limit myself to one thing. I love to create. It's important to set and work within a budget so my client gets the best value for their money. It's a challenge to take nothing and turn it into a design wonder.
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: All rooms are unique and have a feel of their own. I enjoy kitchens because they are the heart of every home. I also love working on children's bedrooms because you can theme them to grow with your child.
Favourite Colour Scheme: Brown is the new black, so it would be in that family. I like mixing browns with greens, blues, sands and stone because they represent nature and all that living in this area is about. It's all about creating harmony in the home with the landscape outside.
Best Advice: Create a wish-list of features you would like to have in your home, prioritize them and think them through. If you are not sure, consult a professional. It's well worth the consultation fee. You never want to think, "Oh no, what was I thinking?"
Pet Peeves: Suppliers that do not deliver on time. This delays the project and puts all the trades behind.
Jonna Chalmers
Company: Jonna's Rustic Refinement
Lives: In a log home west of Thornbury
Specialty: Rustic interior design - Mountain Lodge, Adirondack, Rustic Tuscany and Provence
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: They are all my favourites.
Favourite Colour Scheme: Warm fall colours and pale neutrals
Best Advice: Decorate your home to be warm and cosy. Change it for summer with pale pillows, slipcovers and throws.
Pet Peeves: I won't bore you with them!
Mary Norris & Colleen Wittlin
Company: Cherché House of Design, Thornbury
Lives: In Thornbury
Specialty: We offer clients an interior design service at our shop, plus décor, accessories and furniture.
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: Every room is our favourite!
Favourite Colour Scheme: Monochromatic
Best Advice: Don't rush! Good design takes time to evolve.
Pet Peeves: Not consulting an interior designer first
Deborah Masters
Company: Masters Designs
Lives: Thornbury
Specialty: Colour consults and hand-painted finishes on furniture. Encaustic (wax) artist.
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: Any room with lovely detailing, light or that somehow connects you to the outside
Favourite Colour Scheme: All colour schemes can work, given the right combinations, but I love earth tones. My colour inspirations come from nature.
Best Advice: If you're struggling, get professional help - it will save time and money in the long run.
Pet Peeves: An impatient attitude when it comes to the creative process
Lee Wells
Company: Interior Designer and Co-proprietor of Drewhaven Town and Country, Thornbury
Lives: Thornbury, Toronto, Palm Beach
Specialty: I travel the globe searching for eclectic antiques and accessories for you and your home. I use them in my designs and they're available at Drewhaven Town and Country.
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: The dining room. It's a meeting place to share precious time with others in the ambience of warmth and style.
Favourite Colour Scheme: Reds. I just love the drama in a deep shade of red. The right lighting adds to the intrigue.
Best Advice: Hire a designer you get along with and who understands your lifestyle. The right designer will incorporate your lifestyle into the way you live.
Marylyn Joel
Company: Marylyn Joel Interior Designer
Lives: Collingwood
Specialty: Determining style and providing good bones for any space through space planning and finishing details, lighting plans, millwork drawings and custom furniture design, as required.
Favourite Room To Design/Decorate: Kitchens, bathroom, den
Favourite Colour Scheme: Timeless neutrals - a clean, crisp, comfortable, practical look
Best Advice: Start developing the overall concept prior to construction. Working it out on paper enables the design to evolve and helps identify problems prior to building. Changes after construction mean compromising on function, and it affects the budget.
Pet Peeves: Clutter - less is more!
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