Modern Bohemian: Riff on the Crate and Barrel ad for spring.

It's all about the pillows...

I love pillows…

I love their coziness, their luxurious voluptuousness and the possibilities of beauty and comfort they provide. It may have to do with the word “pillow” itself…what do you think of when you hear it? Big, soft, fluffy pillows piled on top of your bed; piles of gorgeous pillows in fabulous colours and textures on a deep-seated sofa…perfect for reading or napping on a cold, rainy day. Or perhaps it is the pillowy hug from the woman you love or the mother who held you when you were tired or sad.

Wherever you find the word “pillow” it is usually associated with comfort. I have always carried my pillow (or “pullump”, as the five-year-old Aussie kid in me says) on any trip, be it a short road trip or a fifteen hour flight across the Pacific Ocean.

As a little girl, when my dad would come home from work he would call out “get your pullump Christine, we’re going to Queensland!” Oh the heaven of it! A huge pile of pillows and blankets in the back of the van and a thousand mile drive ahead of us. Too bad I had to share it with my two little brothers - but that’s another story.

Then there was the bliss of being wrapped in the loving, pillowy bosom of my nanna when we finally arrived in Queensland and climbing into a bed that was encircled by a "romantic” mosquito net and made up in clean, white, cotton sheets and pillows. One of my daughter’s few memories of my dad includes bringing her pullump into bed with him and nanna for a morning snuggle.

I have this huge collection of of gorgeous fabric and vintage blankets that just keeps expanding; spilling off the shelves, into drawers, out of drawers; piling up in corners…

So when I asked myself the question “what do I want to do?” I thought…”I want to make pillows.” I will make beautiful pillows to make people happy.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Riff on the Crate and Barrel ad for spring.


I love this on so many levels What inspired me to do this post was a newspaper ad for Crate and Barrel in this Saturday's Vancouver Sun. It was a picture of a kitchen, or a part of a kitchen and was lovely in the classic rustic, French way with polished stone floors, white plaster wall, freestanding fittings in stainless steel and timber and lovely rustic beams. Now you can see this image a million times, a million ways, but what made it pop was the jolt of color in the middle of all the neutrals. In this case it was an indigo blue painted wooden chair and a napkin and carafe with just a touch of that same blue. Just a small amount of color but it made the image pop.... So I went looking for some more examples of this idea and here is what I found. I hope you enjoy and are inspired. Christine