Fresh, bright and BOLD hues are full of inspiration for this coming season!

Colour your summer with these incredibly luscious shades of Orange, Pink, Blue and Pantone’s pick of the year: Emerald Green.

With Love,

Hilary xo

Somewhere Over South America

“Maybe I’ll get a decorating show,” said Hillary Clinton.

It was a few weeks before the election. Clinton was flying back from an overnight trip to Peru, talking — without any great enthusiasm — about the topic that would begin to obsess the American political world as soon as the presidential ballots had been counted: Will Hillary run in 2016?

It’s more than two months until this inauguration. But the speculation is already roaring. On Friday, Politico reported that Public Policy Polling had a new survey showing that if the Iowa caucuses were held today — there’s a terrifying thought — Clinton would get 58 percent of the vote. Joe Biden limped in with 17 percent.

Every day, people approach Hillary Clinton and tell her she has an obligation to run and give America its first woman president. “Yes, they do!” she laughs, with the trademark H.C. chortle. Being asked to run for president is a kind of side career all by itself.

Clinton gives many variations on the theme of don’t-think-so. (“Oh, I’ve ruled it out, but you know me. Everybody keeps asking me. So I keep ruling it out and being asked.”) Also a thousand different forms of beats-me. (“I have no idea what I’m going to do next.”) What she does not do is offer the kind of Shermanesque if-nominated-I-will-not-run language that would end the conversation.

Instead, she veers off into a discussion of all the things she’ll do when she’s no longer secretary of state, and there’s time. That led to a mention of her favorite television shows, which are all about house buying and home improvement.

Her top pick is “Love It or List It,” in which a couple who are unhappy with their current residence gets to look at new houses while a decorator rehabs their old place. The plot arc is always the same, and in a way, it’s sort of Clintonesque. The redecorators find termites or a leaky furnace; the house search goes awry. Everybody’s upset! But after a lot of hard work and the final commercial, there’s a happy ending.

“I find it very calming,” she said.  read entire article…

And who better to guide us to a warm, welcoming home than celebrity designer Hilary Farr? The Toronto-based expert specializes in creating inviting and functional spaces on the popular TV show ‘Love It Or List It,’ where she transforms owners’ current abodes into the dream home they’ve always wanted.

This season, the key to a nest you’ll never want to leave is bringing nature into the fold, even if you’re in a condo in the heart of a city. “We need to create a connection with the earth within those spaces,” Farr says. Check out her decor tips below:

Fabrics: The trend? “Fabrics that speak to a desire to be closer to a more user-friendly, traditional and simpler way of life,” Farr says. “The colours are muted, the fabrics tactile and understated to work with any decor. Pattern on pattern. Down-to-earth material such as linen and wool embellished with simple designs or more intricate embroidery.”

Floors: Green design is key. “Reclaimed woods that look beautiful with any design choice from, sleek modern to traditional to hard-core country!” Farr says. “The designs are available in a variety of old world layouts such as herringbone: Notice the scale has been notched up. Not your granny’s parquet! Play with this in small spaces or use it for drama in large open spaces. LEED approved is as important as how they look.”

Furniture: Farr’s pick: “A traditional wing chair, with turned legs and brass rollers, but it’s low slung with a high back and extra width. By playing with scale, the chair has a bit of edge, and will look great with any design style.”

Great lighting : ”Ramp up the light to work, or turn it way down to… fill in the blank!” Farr says. For floor lamps, table lamps or overhead fixtures, install dimmer switches, she advises.

Seating: ”Choose upholstery that makes a big statement with texture, colour and design to define the space and colour that demands attention. Peacock blue with creams and warm woods looks amazing!”

Lots of fabulous smushy, blingy colourful cushions: ”Lose a bit of useable seating area on the sofa and pile up the cushions for an intimate snuggle, or throw pillows on the floor to lounge on for an exotic casbah feel.”

Rugs: ”A rug doesn’t have to be pricey but for maximum oomph it must be sizeable and not stingy.” Farr says. “Cover the whole seating area with warm fabric rather than bare floor.”

An ottoman instead of a coffee table does double duty: ”Look for one with an interesting leg or base in reclaimed wood or warm oxidized metal, and pair it with a sophisticated fabric that compliment the colours you already have. When it’s not being perched on by a derriere, put a big tray on top of it for drinks and snacks or, just put your feet up and relax.”

Click here for original article

British-born and bred Hilary Farr has brought her love for “Quiet Design” across the pond to HGTV’s hit show “Love It or List It.” Her friendly banter with co-host David Visentin keeps audience entertained while they enjoy watching Hilary use her design prowess to transform hopeless spaces into attractive, functional rooms. In the end, clients are able to see their home with a fresh pair of eyes and make the decision to stay or to reside elsewhere.

I’m honored to have the privilege of interviewing Hilary because there was much more  I wanted to know about the woman behind the design. For inquiring minds, like myself, I hope you enjoy this piece and become inspired by British-design royalty.

Erika Ward: Who were your early influences?

Hilary Farr: The British. They have an eccentric and endless range of architecture that requires an equally unique design savvy. The English countryside, the large country homes, the castles, the gritty areas of London, the small houses and the huge ones. I understood how colour would help lift your spirits in the endlessly grey and damp climate. I learned how to work with space that was limited, or fill space that was huge. England formed my love of, “Quiet Design”. The understated, eclectic look is still the most satisfying to me.

My mother was a big influence. She worked with antique buyers at Liberties of London and she dragged me off to auction houses and estate sales in grand old homes. By osmosis, I learned about texture, patina, and scale as items were discarded or accepted.

read more…

If home improvement is your passion, then there is a good chance that Hilary Farr is one of your favourite Canadian design experts. Farr, the “love it” portion of W Network’s Love It Or List It, makes it hard for homeowners to walk away from their home sweet homes.

Since the majority of us won’t get to have Farr heading up major renovations in our homes, our burning question for Hilary was this: What is the one home improvement that people can make to their homes that costs under $1000 and will significantly improve their quality of life and the value of their home?

“Kitchen and bathrooms are surefire rooms that will add value to a home. The suggestions that follow can come in at $1000 or less. If you are a DIY or at least a bit handy you should be able to do the work yourself, and of course, it’s important to look for good quality bargains.”

Kitchens:

Give kitchen cabinets and drawers a face lift by replacing the hardware with new knobs or handles in sleek, polished or brushed metals. Be sure to check that they will cover the existing screw holes in the cabinet doors and drawers.
Install a new backsplash. You won’t need a lot of material, so choose something that makes a big design statement and will deflect the attention from other areas of the kitchen that you cannot update. Choose a glass mosaic, or mixed material mosaic they look great, and may be able to be installed right on top of your existing one to save time and labour.
Bathrooms:

If you have a vanity that is chipped or worn, sand it down and stain or paint it. Replace the knobs and handles.
Replace towel bars and all bathroom accessories. Buy new fluffy white towels and bathmats.

Update light fixtures such as sconces.

Update faucets, especially if they look worn, but also if they look dated.

This one requires a lot of elbow grease but it’s worth it! Dirty grout looks awful but it is inevitable in a well-used older bathroom. Buy a tool specifically used to scrape out at least 1/2″ of the old grout. Clean all the surfaces and let it dry completely, and it’s ready for new grout. Choose a colour to contrast with your tile. It will look brand new and more interesting. Use a grout sealer over it once it is dry and follow the instructions as to when you can start to use the area again.
If you’re interested in auditioning for ‘Love It Or List It’, you can apply online for your chance to have Hilary help you fall in love with your home again. Or, check out Hilary’s latest design work on Love It Or List It on Mondays at 10pm ET/PT on W Network.

I get their point. It is invigorating to have an adventure. To travel to places that are unknown. To marvel at architectural wonders ancient and new. To hike through forests, to see magnificent flora and fauna, waterfalls and mountains. Visit monuments and take in fabulous museums and art galleries. Even to go through the agony and ecstasy of new food, new customs and impossible language barriers.

And then…there is just sitting in a heap for a precious 16 days.

I chose to disconnect completely from the world of television, or high stakes deals or cutting edge design. I wanted the least possible sensory input possible.

I took 5 books to read, articles to catch up on, and had good intentions about visiting the gym, (which never happened).

I hadn’t realised just how tired I was. For the first week and half I was practically unconscious and did nothing but listen to the ocean, walk a little and swim, but mostly sleep.

In the final 5 days I started to come back to life and my exhaustion gradually lifted. I walked for miles early in the morning, then scurried into the shade of my beach cabana for the rest of the day, (see the photo- my lemon-mint-yummy drink in hand). I read 3 of my books and all the catch-up articles.

As the peace and quiet worked its magic new ideas started bubbling up from nowhere. I started sketching an idea for a garden fountain I had imagined and dreamed of in my exhausted haze. I have no idea if it will work or not, won’t know until I send it off to be fabricated.

Inspiration comes so often from doing nothing, not forcing the mind and body to keep on functioning when every fibre of your being is telling you to STOP!

But doing nothing is a lost art plus it’s a luxury with our crazy, fast paced lives. But whenever possible, doing nothing is exactly what we need.

And…I wasn’t bored for a minute.

I hope you all get a break and whatever you choose to do, you come home feeling a lot better than when you left.

by Brianne Hogan | Reprinted from PostCity.com | July 2012 issue

To stay or to go? It’s a theme that has resurfaced a number of times during interior designer and TV personality Hilary Farr’s career.

Back in 1994, when the now star of the W network’s hit TV show Love It or List It was living in Los Angeles working as a stager, Farr decided “to go” and moved to Toronto. “We had riots, earthquakes and it was getting smoggier,” says Farr. “I had decided I had enough.”

Then in 2007, when auditions were being held for Love It or List It, Farr, after a push from a friend, decided “to go” and audition.

She promptly landed the designer gig on the show. Still going strong after five seasons, her co-hosting duties have made her a household name for fans of the household renovation series, on which, coincidentally, Farr is now advocating homeowners to stay in their homes and “love it.” Her cohost, David Visentin, a realtor, encourages clients to go and “list it.”

“I think it resonates because it’s everyone’s dilemma — ‘What do we do?’ ” says Farr, referring to the huge success of the design show. “[People think], ‘I know that this house should or could work, but on the other hand, is it worth it to put money into it?’ I think that [reasoning] comes along with the insane property values.

“There’s always this fear because people are looking for the potential value of their home and terrified of making the wrong move.”

That fear probably explains why most of the homeowners featured on the series don’t hesitate to vehemently air their frustrations to Farr upon inspecting her renovations.

“It never ceases to amaze me that homeowners can get that pissed off,” she says, though she understands their misgivings. “We’re in and out in three weeks. It’s not a long-term relationship … I do empathize. It’s very different than a real renovation, and usually you would hold their hand every step of the way. It’s a shock for them the next time they see their home. It’s ripped apart, and I’m usually giving them bad news. They don’t have a lot of time to prepare and they’re on-camera. Mostly, I don’t take it personally.”

Her English roots (she grew up in London, England) might explain her keep-calm-and-carry-on demeanour, but Farr also has plenty of what she calls “practical training” to draw upon to help make those insightful decisions for her clients.

Initially interested in pursuing theatre, her first dabbling with interior design came from helping her mother hunt down unexpected pieces of art and other accessories to decorate her childhood home.

“My mother was mad for interior design,” says Farr. “I’d come home and find that she had rearranged the living room again.” Finding that interior design was actually a good segue from theatre, Farr pursued the craft.

“It started in L.A. I [decorated] a house for myself. I was also working with people who were staging for movies and TV, and that got me interested in doing that, and I worked
with them on quite a few projects.”

One house led to another house and more and more clients, and suddenly Farr had herself a successful career as an interior designer.

When she moved to Toronto in 1994, she became the first local designer to stage homes. “Staging is to create a sense of a home,” explains Farr. “It gives the buyers a sense of what could be, giving them an emotional reaction like, ‘This could be my home.’ ”

Staging in Toronto just made sense to Farr.

“The first thing I noticed here was that the houses on the market, compared to the ones in L.A., were extraordinarily interesting with lots of value. So I started buying houses, fixing them, renovating them, and that led to a huge business in staging.”

Her business was so lucrative that, when her friend suggested she audition for Love It or List It, she demurred.

“Well, first I thought [auditioning] was the dumbest idea ever, but I also had a lot of projects on the go. [My friend] pushed for it, and I ended up getting [the job].”

Farr, together with Visentin, turned out to be a casting coup for the show. Their chemistry undoubtedly is what helps make the Gemini nominated Love It or List It one of the highest-rated reality shows for HGTV.

“There’s a genuine deep affection between us and a really good, genuine, healthy competition,” Farr says of her relationship with Visentin.

“What you see is what you get. We do bicker. We are exact opposites. We adore each other. We make each other laugh a lot.”

When asked how many “love its” there are to “list its,” Farr isn’t sure of an exact score, but does assert, “I’m definitely in the lead.”

However, she does admit to being consistently surprised when it comes to the homeowners’ final decision whether to love it or list it.

“You really don’t know. We don’t know. We know when you see it. Sometimes I’m surprised when they love it, and conversely, when I think I did a spectacular job, and they still decide to list it.”

Perhaps what’s not surprising is Farr’s favourite part of the show: the much-anticipated reveal of her strenuous renovation.

“Nothing beats that. Whether with the show or my clients, it’s just wonderful to see that.”

And so where does Farr shop when it comes to creating those spectacular transformations?

Elte (80 Ronald Ave.) is “always a go-to place,” says Farr, who also enjoys working with local artists and “rooting around” the stores on Yonge Street, like L’Atelier (1224 Yonge St.).

Another favourite store of the Yonge and St. Clair resident is Boo Boo and Lefty (1198 Yonge St.), which, Farr says, carries “simply lovely and livable pieces that work perfectly
with my design aesthetic.”

When it comes to decorating your home, Farr’s advice: “Try not to think about the potential value of your home and think about what you love and how you need your home to function and that’s how you need to decorate it.”

And if that style solution from Farr doesn’t cut it for you, don’t fret: she has a product line launching in October and a book is in the works.

I knew I wanted it to be…. The Most Fabulous Dreamy Day that would be a favourite memory for the bride and her guests.

Understated elegance that reflected the bride’s personality; nothing flashy or garish.

I had ordered a variety of h’ors d’oeuvres and lots of bubbly, but I needed something extra special that was visually heart stopping.

Luckily, I found Izabela and Stephanie and their company, SWEET TABLE.

The Bride’s colours were purple, mauve and silver.

Together we worked on the shades of purple and mauve and spent lots of time figuring out how to put together all the elements to get to what was in my head that I couldn’t express in baking terms. I knew I wanted it to be a little bit old-world with the soft colours of Spring.

We worked together on all the fine details to make a table that was exactly what I had imagined.

Then there were the little extra touches such as, embossed take -home boxes for guests to pack up cupcakes and goodies to share (or for midnight snacks)!

I wanted to have gifts for each guest to have as a reminder of the day. I didn’t want something that would be put in a drawer and then forgotten.

We came up with home- made soap bars using the same, mauve and purple colours infused with essential oil of either, Lavender or Wisteria with rose petals inside.

The soaps were wrapped with a custom made label with the bride’s initial on it, S for Sylvia.

As these long lasting soaps are used, their scent will fill the room and the memories of that day will come flooding back.

It was a beautiful day for so many reasons. The bride surrounded by women who loved her. Lots of laughter and lots of fun while I enjoyed watching the beauty of the table gradually deconstruct itself as the guests gradually took things off it one by one.

And just a side note: I would have been OK with it just being beautiful but, it was also, Delicious!

I had no idea what to expect. Was this going to be a stuffy British/Canadian Diplomatic evening of dullness? The answer was NO!

The event was held at The Gardiner Museum, Toronto, which I just happen to love.

The lighthearted fun started before I even went through the doors, with a British street performance group, The Chipolatas, who enchanted passersby and guests with their blend of, circus, hip hop and cheekiness.

Through the doors, up to the atrium and a tall glass of Pimms, was waiting which is the official clue that Summer has arrived, no matter how the weather behaves.

Lots of delicious canapés. Lots of chat time. I met a fascinating group of British, Canadian,and Scots from all walks of life.

With Rosy Edeh, Host of Entertainment Tonight, Canada, and a lovely lady I met, who told me she came to Canada for a “ visit” over 30 years ago, and is still here!

Everyone was in a good mood, not an ounce of stuffy diplomacy in sight!

The speeches were thankfully short, genuinely amusing and informative. I hadn’t realised how much Canadian investment was in Britain ( Lots!)

Nor had I realised that the Para Olympics was born in Canada.

I wore my brand new Comme des Garcon red dress which I love. I also allowed myself to be talked into wearing red lipstick, which I don’t love so much, won’t be wearing that again in a hurry.