Jenn Hannotte on 7 Vignettes

When clever ways of showcasing new talent emerge with new technologies and apps, I get excited. At the start of this year, the very clever Jen Bishop of Interiors Addict out of Australia launched a contest called 7 Vignettes on Instagram, the popular photo-sharing social media app.

Here's the deal: a couple of weeks prior to the 1st of a month, she posts a list of seven broad concepts— "Layered," "Soft," "White," etc. Then, each day, for seven days, you create and post a vignette using that day's theme. Last month, the contest logged over 15,000 images and is growing all the time. If you don't want to join in on the fun, searching the #7vignettes hashtag is a great place for inspiration, and will lead you to many talented creative people from all over the world.

Check out some of last month's winners for the concepts of Ceramic, Dining, Colourful and Timber. Get all the details here!

Contributor Jenn Hannotte is the principal of Hannotte Interiors.

Putting the Flea Back Into The Junction

We here at Covet Garden love the Junction Flea (full disclosure, one of our co-founders has a table there) all year-round, but frankly we are so glad that it's moving back outdoors for their May 12th extravaganza. Here are three reasons why:

1. More and bigger spaces. More space means more stuff. The Great Hall was great, but sometimes felt a little claustrophobic. We like free-range shopping!

2. We also like making a day of a trip to the Junction. While you can easily spend hours examining well-selected treasure both handmade and vintage, checking out local restaurants, galleries and shops only adds to the adventure.

3. Good eats! One of our favourite things about the Flea is all of the artisinal food and drink. There's nothing like starting a day at the Flea at the Manual Labour Coffee's trailer, interspersed with some frozen ice pops, a nice sandwich for lunch and whatever new and wonderous treats the vendors at the Flea will come up with this month.

And if you can't make it out this month, you can always check out Flea co-founders Paul Mercer and Micah Lenahan's new venture, Thank You. It's a jewel box of a boutique at 1080 Queen St. W. (at Dovercourt  across from the Great Hall). Its mix of carefully chosen vintage goods and new handmade artifacts such as silk screened posters and greeting cards is full of the spirit of the Junction Flea.

Good Fourtou

[Designer Brian McCarthy's bathroom from House Beautiful's April 2013 issue]

We came across this image of a whimsical, art-filled home in last month's issue of House Beautiful. We were instantly inspired by the unconventional use of art in the space — especially the mix of classical furniture and antiques mixe with the modern photo-based art. Further digging on the internet turned up more amazing work from Belgian artist Jean Francois Fourtou, the artist who created two of the pieces shown above.

[Fourtou's giraffe sculpture in desiner Ora Ito's home via here]

Of course, the life-sized animal pieces he constructs out of paper reminded us of the presence of animals in Morgan and Christopher's apartment from this month's Covet Garden. Taxidermy may not be your thing, but how amazing are these giraffes in the spaces here? Fourtou's pieces are all about memories of childhood and trying to recover lost pieces of your past in your environment. We certainly remember thinking that a magical creature might be around every corner when we were young and love the idea of recapturing that feeling in our homes now!

[Fourtou's home and atelier in Marrakech]

Issue 34 is Now Live!

[cover image Ashley Capp]

This month, Covet Garden is super psyched to take you inside of Morgan and Christopher's College Street apartment. Not only does it house the couple's many cool and colourful collections (Contemprary art! Needlepoint! Anatomical models!), it is also home to the The Contemporary Zoological Conservatory. That's right, Morgan and Christopher have a museum right in the middle of their abode.

As always, we have cool DIY and drink projects plus fashion and décor ideas inspired by Morgan and Christopher's distinctive style. Not to steal the spotlight from this dynamic duo, this issue also contains an important announcement about Covet Garden's future plans to take over the world! Read on for more details and have a happy May!

People in Your Neighbourhood: Baloochi Rugs

The Beach has a new destination for magical carpets. Baloochi Rugs, located at 2220a Queen Street West, offers a whole new world of amazing floor coverings. The shop is the creation of Hamid Ageorlo (he's Persian, just like the rugs!) and Kim Zagar. The couple are longtime collectors and have amassed a unique selection of hand-knotted, tribal and vintage Persian rugs.

They decided to turn their passion into a profession and started looking for the perfect storefront, which the found in the Beach. "We found this really nice space, with high ceilings at an affordable rent," says Kim. The neighbourhood happily welcomed the new addition. Even though the store opened with little fanfare, the gorgeous gallery of unique tapestries has drawn in curious residents and savvy decorators alike.

As fans of the artform ourselves, we can't gush enough about the Persian and Middle Eastern weaving arts. We also know that these carpets have the reputation of being unaffordable and high maintenance. Which is another thing we love about Baloochi: Hamid and Kim will not only share their knowledge of the real value of a well-made carpet, but also how affordable and resilient they can be.

They also have a sharp eye for design. The store itself is uncluttered and clean to best show off the rich colours of the kilims and other rugs. There's also an amazing selection of patterns—from bright bold geometrics to complex Tree of Life designs. We were very tempted to curl up and have a little sleep on top of a pile of carpets, that's how cozy the space is.

If you're in the neighbourhood, drop by and say hi! If not, Hamid and Kim also post new arrivals and rug lore on their Facebook page.

Another fan of Persian rugs is Dennis Reid whose space we featured in Issue 3. Check it out for more inspiration!