EXTREME MAKEOVER - KINDNESS EDITION - SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - MATT LEBLANC

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT IS ON.....

As you know, myself and a few other Ottawa designers have been working on Extreme Makeover - Kindness Edition.  This charity event is sponsored by United Way and the Yummy Mummies Club.   The lucky recipient of this makeover is the Good Companions Center in Ottawa, Ontario.

We were tasked with redoing the entryway and the lobby to bring it from institutional to warm and inviting.    Since most of the designers on this project also have a blog, we thought we would each feature the wonderful sponsors who donated their time, labour and/or products to ensure a fabulously finished space.

So this Sponsor Spotlight post is shone on Matt Leblanc - Artist Extraordinaire!

Matt lives in Dieppe, New Brunswick, Canada.  He has been a creative person all his life and worked for many years at an advertising agency.  However, he only started offering his work to the public four years ago and he has been busy ever since.  He sells to individuals, (in fact, I have one of his beautiful pieces), businesses and interior designers across North America as well as overseas.

Matt's ability to design a unique piece of artwork based on his client's decor has been instrumental in developing his strong brand as an artist.  The piece that he has donated to Good Companions Center was customized to the space and is a main focal point.

Here's the before....

And the after!

                Lisa Goulet Design

                                Danielle Lynn Photography


Matt has devoted much of his time and energy, not to mention his artwork to various charities and fundraisers.  Matt's older sister, Madeleine LeBlanc was only five when she succumbed to cancer.  But 38 years later, her spirit inspired Matt to create 200 paintings in 6 months, with the ambitious goal of raising $25,0000 for the Tree of Hope Campaign (an annual event of the Dr. Georges-L. Dumont Hospital Foundation in Moncton).   He called his campaign, Art for Life, which achieved this amazing goal.  And then, at the Gala to celebrate his success, with some extra effort, Matt was able to bring the amount to $38,000.

Here's some photos of Matt's artwork from the Art for Life campaign:

Matt has some words of wisdom about purchasing custom artwork for your home.

1.  Choosing the correct artwork for your space.

"My clients often ask me what type of artwork should go in a certain room.  I always toss the question back to them and add a few more questions about the mood they want to set in the room.  Artwork can either be jarring to the eye and bring some energy or put the perfect touch on the room by complementing your current décor.    The choice becomes yours.  Artwork should always lift the mood of the room and a lot of time it can become the center piece that determines the entire feeling of your living space.   When I meet with clients, my goal is to determine three basic things:

1)  The size of the artwork
2)  The style which will set the mood
3)  The colors
That’s the hardest part of the job.  The rest is just creativity !!!"

2.  Should the artwork match the decor?

"I always say that my clients have to cover three things when they buy my artwork;  the size, the style and the color of their new piece.  The first two are normally the easy ones.  The colors on the other hand, make everyone nervous.   Some people stress too much about colors.  The number one question I get from clients is whether or not they should buy a piece of art to match their décor.  It seems that the simple answer would be yes but in fact, I recommend that it doesn’t. Before you panic, let me explain.

It’s good to bring in a color to match one of your accent colors in the room but I always recommend to try not to be too “matchy matchy” when it comes to choosing art.  Over time your decorating tastes will change which means that the art you choose won’t match your room anymore.  Typically you buy art for a long time so make sure that you love the piece as opposed to love that it matches your room.

You do want to make sure that the painting doesn’t totally clash with everything else that is in the room.  Art is no different from furniture and accessories.  You have to step back and ask yourself if it complements your setting.  If it looks really odd like a brand new white modern leather couch in a country room filled with wooden roosters, well then it’s probably not the right piece of art for that room."

3.  The Inspiration behind the Art

"Every artist obviously has different ways to create art.  Techniques, feelings, emotions & experience all play a role in the finished product. Painting Abstract or Modern Art is just plain fun.

I’m not the type of artist who will take a walk and get instantly inspired by something I see.  For me, it’s more the mood I’m in and the emotions I feel when I’m in front of the canvas.

My inspiration comes from: 

1. colours

2. emotions

3. music

Music’s rhythm and tempo have a big influence on my work.  I love big canvases and I love to paint with big brushes.  I’m not the best at painting small details so that’s probably why I don’t paint portraits.  I find that music can influence the quality and speed with which I apply my large paintbrush or palette knife to the canvas.  How I apply the acrylic paint will be reflected in the end result.

When creating an abstract painting, I think about three elements which are the basis of all my artwork:

1. shapes
2. forms
3. colors

For some reason, I’m a big fan of “lines”. I have many line patterns in my artwork.  It might come from my love of geometry.  I love shapes and forms and how objects are created.  I try to bring some squares, circles, lines and other shapes to my work without letting them affect the overall abstract style.  At the end of the day, abstract is considered apart from concrete existence so very often I hide those elements inside my work."

So if you are looking for some beautiful artwork or just want to be inspired, please check out Matt Leblanc's website by clicking on his logo below.

My fellow decorators who also generously donated their time and who are also bloggers have also written about this makeover. Please click on their links on my side bar to read more about our fabulous sponsors.

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!  

Lisa

INEXPENSIVE ART…..

Just linked up with Maria at Colour me Happy for her link up party on inexpensive wall art. 

Click here to see my inexpensive art post and then click on Maria’s logo below to see all the other fabulous ideas at her link up party.

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!

Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at 613-762-0818.

Lisa

GOING ALL THE WAY…..

Okay, now that I’ve got you all with that title – the topic of this post is how to completely finish your rooms.

We all struggle with this, even us designers and decorators with our own homes.

However, the key is to keep making decisions and to focus on ONE ROOM AT A TIME!!!

So here’s a few key items to keep in mind when you are ready to start another project or to help you finish the one you’ve already started.

1.  Make a plan – decide on how you will be using the room and what you need to do that properly.  If it’s a family room and you will be using it to watch television and do crafts – then you need to have comfy seating for the television watching and a large table with appropriate flooring and lighting for craft time.

2.  Plan your lighting – lighting is so important to a room.  Just think how annoyed you are when you don’t have the proper lighting when you are trying to do something.  Make sure there is ambient lighting (the general lighting for a room) and the appropriate task lighting (such as table lamps for reading or pot lights set over the craft table).  Decorative lighting can be added as well for mood and ambience in the form of sconces, candles or a decorative floor or table lamp.

3.  Style and colour – this goes along with #1 in that you need to have an idea of what style you would like.  The best way to do this is with magazines - pull out pictures that you like and keep a file.  I do this with all my magazines – they are a great source of inspiration.  After you have a bunch in the file a clearer picture of your style will emerge and you can use them as your inspiration.  Colour will also show up in these photos – however, I still feel that the colour of the walls will be determined at a later stage once you have the bigger pieces decided upon.

4.  Large pieces – now is the time to invest in the larger more expensive pieces for the room.  Such as a sofa, area rug, draperies and case goods.  These are the items that you will be keeping for the long term and they form the base of your design.  This is where you usually spend the bulk of your budget and because of this I usually stick with classics and neutrals for these items.  You can however diverge from this tract, if for example you love red and fall in love with a red sofa.  GO FOR IT!  This is what will make your room, you

A note here about pattern – if the larger items that you have decided upon are all solids you may want to add some pattern either in the area rug or in a smaller upholstered chair or ottoman to give the room some pizzazz.  Otherwise I would consider adding some wallpaper to the walls instead of a solid paint colour.  The key with pattern is to ensure that the pattern sizes are not all the same – for example, if you have a large pattern on the area rug then have a smaller pattern on the ottoman.

5.  Shopping – Okay now that you’ve decided on the larger items and you know how much they cost, you can form a budget.  This will guide you as to where you can splurge and where you can save.  A great room always has some of each in it – that is what makes it interesting.  Remember to keep some money for paint and accessories (usually about 15-20% of the budget).

6.  Paint colour – this is when I usually pick the paint colour I look at all the major items purchased and the rest of the home and then decide what would be the best colour choice.  Since paint is one of the most inexpensive parts of the design process and there are so many paint colours this is the best way to go about it.  Once I know the main colour of the walls, I can then go on to the next step, accessory shopping..

7. Accessory shopping – Now that the bigger items are in place – go accessory shopping.  I do up a list of what I think I’ll need – such as: small round end table, gold framed rectangular mirror approximately 24”x12”.  This is also when I check to see if there is an abundance of one shape or another in the room.  If there are lots of square items, I then balance them out with some round smaller items and accessories.  Most decorators and designers will pick up way more accessories while shopping so that they have a choice when doing the final placement.  You just return the items that you don’t need.

8.  Keep on track – Now is when you’ll usually get distracted by other items for another room in your home.  Try and keep focused and only purchase for the one room – your budget will thank you and you’ll have one room done instead of all of them in progress.

9.  Put everything in place – if you have managed to hold off now is the time to put everything in place.  Of course, first off the room should be painted and then the larger items positioned in place. Then the smaller furniture pieces and accessories, such as artwork, mirrors and decorative pieces are added.  And Voila!! a perfectly finished space that is just like you!!

 

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!

Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at 613-762-0818.

Lisa

SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHINGS OLD…..

Okay I’ve finally done something with the vintage wallpaper samples from my cottage. Click here to read my previous post about the wallpaper sample book..

In June when hubby and I went to Vermont I coerced him into checking out some antique stores and a salvage yard.  I love to be inspired by the many different and unique items in those kind of stores – sort of like treasure hunting.  Anyways, I did find some treasures – three old skeleton keys and two antique iron trivets.  

One trivet has a “M” initial for “Mom” and the other has two hearts back to back.  I thought they were so cute even though hubby said “What are you going to do with those?”  And even though I said that I had no idea – he knows me well enough to know that I would eventually find some way to use them.

Well, my next stop was Ikea to pick up some of their Ribba shadow boxes.

I thought I would rummage through my fabric remnant pile or use some scrapbooking paper to back the keys and trivets.  But then I got to thinking about the vintage wallpaper samples I had and I decided to go through and see which one I could use as a background.  Well I decided on this one:

Subtle but with enough of a pattern that it shows up and it would really showcase the black iron of the keys and the trivets. 

I did actually feel a twinge while I was cutting the page out of the book but I did it!! The paper is quite fragile so I made sure that the utility knife was good and sharp and I got it done without too much trouble.

Here they are in progress.  I glued the wallpaper to the back of the frame and then hot glued the trivets and keys in place on the wallpaper.  Hopefully the hot glue is strong enough to hold everything in place – I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough if it isn’t!!

I placed the matting on top and fit everything back into the frame and voila!

I think they look great and I’ve put them on the small wall in my entrance way.

I know, I know I still haven’t gotten around to painting those closet doors or the powder room door black yet!  But it will happen, probably in the fall, when life gets back to normal.

I think they are the perfect way to say “Welcome!" 

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!

Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at 613-762-0818.

Lisa

LATEST COTTAGE TREASURE UNVEILED!!

Okay, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer.  This is the latest in my posts about the little treasures my cottage revealed. 

As I mentioned before, when we purchased our cottage six years ago it came with some furnishings and a completely packed bunkie! 

After many trailer loads to the dump there were a few things that I’ve kept because I thought they were interesting and that they may have some value. 

Well this is one of the treasures we found -

 

A wallpaper sample book from Empire Wallpapers Limited (a Sunworthy company) called Studio Masterpieces.  As you can see the cover has some mildew damage as it has been stored in that unheated bunkie for who knows how long.  And I have to admit it is a little smelly.  There have been a few protests about it’s odour since I brought it home….

The previous owner’s used the book as a place to press leaves and flowers and there were tons of them still in the book when I found it.  Luckily that didn’t seem to do much damage to the pages inside.  

As there was no date anywhere on the book I did some digging and found out that this book is from the 1940’s (twenty years older than what I originally thought).

Here’s some of the beautiful designs:

This one is called Dinner Date here’s the description of it that they included below.

Some more floral patterns. 

 

 And some leaves in different colourwaves…..

  This one is called the Canadian Sportsman – the description follows below.

This one is called Pillement Chinese.

This one is called Williamsburg. 

There’s even some ones called Moderne.

 

This whimsical one is called Old MacDonald.

  And this one – Scarlet Pimpernel – of course!

These wallpaper samples are all painted and I was thinking of framing some of the images or perhaps framing them inside wall mouldings as a feature.  Though, I have to admit I feel a little apprehensive about actually cutting them out of the book.

What do you think I should do with them?

I hope you are all enjoying your summer I certainly have been and I’ll be taking some time off so this will be my last post for a little while.  Have a great weekend!  Cheers!

 

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!

Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at      613-762-0818.

Lisa

YET ANOTHER TREASURE….

Okay, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer about the little painting in my previous blog.

Well this little painting was found in the bunkie with a broken frame and glass and I thought it was so lovely that I had it looked at by an antique dealer.

Here’s an up close shot:

Well, it was deemed an original watercolour in very good condition. The colours are quite vivid with very little damage considering it was kept in an unheated bunkie for at least 10 years. It is dated 1871 and has an original signature of E. Batt or Bait.  The antique expert said it was done by an amateur painter, probably a woman and that it was likely painted on site but that the people in it were probably added in.

I just thought it was so charming that I had to get it professionally framed with archival glass and matting, and then I brought it home. 

I’d love to know where exactly it was painted – the dealer thought maybe eastern Canada.  Does anyone recognize the landscape in the painting?

There are still a couple of other items there that I haven’t gotten too.  One, I pulled out a few weekends ago while my friend and fellow decorator and blogger, Sonya Kinkade was up at the cottage with me.  Well, she was practically ready to arm wrestle me for it, so stay tuned for another post about yet another treasure from the cottage…….

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!

Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at       613-762-0818. 

Lisa