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CAUTIOUSLY VENTURING FORWARD
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When this newsletter is delivered to your inbox, my readers in Canada will be at the start of the August long weekend. We can now see our loved ones and have someone else cook dinner (and do the dishes). Yay! I really feel like we are hopefully all moving forward.
I’ve had my haircut and went to a local clothing store and was able to try on clothes. Albeit masked and sanitized, but at least it is a sign of progress. As our vaccination rates grow and our cases drop, I really feel that this weekend is a cause for celebration.
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We need the connection and a break from what has become our normal. I’ve missed people; missed the carefree chatter over dinner and making plans that don’t involve staying apart or endless worrying about where everyone has been.
In the second half of summer, I hope we all get to enjoy carefree, laughter-filled days.
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We are working in a few homes at the moment where the staircase had me at hello from the moment I stepped into the client’s home.
Two of the homes are heritage homes with beautiful staircases that have been thankfully left untouched for decades. In another two homes, the stairs are not so pretty, but they have huge potential, hence the hello moment!
A key part of your home’s architecture, most stairs are seen either from the front door or pretty soon thereafter. They are a key design element and there are multiple ways to make them sing.
We’ve seen a move towards plaster walls replacing spindles on helical staircases and this is showcased beautifully at Hermes in Toronto (see the image above).
Not all of us live in a home with a grand sweeping staircase, but it still doesn’t mean that it can’t be fabulous! Below are a few of my favourite looks incorporating everything from traditional to contemporary.
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SUPPLY CHAINS & LEAD TIMES
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As we open up, our supply chains are still (sadly) playing catch up.
Product is moving, but it is moving slowly, as many items are now coming to us by boat instead of by plane. It’s a challenge, to say the least, but we have weathered this storm for the past 18 months so we will just keep on moving, or I should say, pushing forward.
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We have wonderful vendors at home and afar who are all navigating with us so we can still make our magic happen.
Thank you to all our clients, you know who you are, for your patience and understanding.
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On the plus side, this week has been an incredibly busy week at GGI with three projects being installed in one week….. something we would never normally do but everything seems to have arrived all at the same time for these projects and my clients need their furniture!
We are so excited to see it all come together – it takes days to complete as things arrive in layers.
Firstly, we start with the flooring. As everything has to sit on top of this, it goes in first. Then comes the window coverings. Our installer does not travel lightly so it's great if he can get it all installed before the furniture arrives as he tends to need a lot of floor space to spread out.
Then the big stuff – the sofas, beds and casegoods are all placed according to the scaled drawings. We know where we want everything to go but will sometimes tweak and adjust as we see it all arriving.
Then on the final day, it's art and accessories.
Only once the furniture is installed and the window coverings are hung can we safely hang the art in the right spot. Without the console, we don’t know the best height for the art; and without the draperies in place, we don’t know how much wall space we have left.
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Accessories are the pieces that make the house a home.
From photographs to bowls and baskets, these finishing touches tell our client's stories and make the space their own.
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We are working on some gorgeous new projects at the moment and loved sharing our initial drawings and sample trays with our clients last week.
We had several presentations in the studio, which was so lovely on many different levels. It's great to have people back in the studio and to share with them our concepts masked-face to masked-face instead of over Zoom.
This tray below is our initial scheme for a beautiful kitchen. It has a bit of a Scandinavian / Japanese feel and the palette, although muted, has some incredible textures and materials.
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Wishing you all a gorgeous (long) weekend!
Till this time, next month,
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Credits
Header Image 1, source unknown, GGI Pinterest Board Summer in the City
Header Image 2, Rodin Museum, Paris, David Sanger Photography, GGI Pinterest Board Styling
Header Image 3, photographer unknown, GGI Pinterest Board Summer in the City
Dining Alfresco, source unknown, GGI Pinterest Board Outdoor Entertaining
Hermes Toronto, House & Home magazine
Staircase with Bench and Wall Panelling, Vogue.co.uk, GGI Pinterest Board Staircases
Black Staircase, Historic Belgian Home Renovation by Glenn Reynaert, Photo Hendrik Biegs, DPAGES, GGI Pinterest Board Staircases
Panelled Staircase with Wrapped Bannister, De Rosee Sa, GGI Pinterest Board Staircases
White Staircase with Oak Bannister and Black Iron Spindles, Paul Bates Architects, GGI Pinterest Board Staircases
Open Floating Treads, PH House by Norm Architects, DPAGES, GGI Pinterest Board Staircases
Historic Staircase, Momenvy,co, GGI Pinterest Board Staircases
Contemporary Spiral Staircase by Steven Harris Architects, GGI Pinterest Board Staircases
Wrapped White Staircase, Starr Sanford Design, GGI Pinterest Board Staircases
Container Ship, source unknown
Stoney Lake Dining Table, Gillian Gillies Interiors, photographer Virginia Macdonald
Stoney Lake Accessories, Gillian Gillies Interiors, photographer Virginia Macdonald
GGI Kitchen Design Tray, Gillian Gillies Interiors
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