The Wonderful Willow House
The power of social media and a strong network of amazing local women never ceases to amaze me!
I follow Willow House Furnishings and Design Studio on Instagram and Facebook and have fallen in love with this store through their photos and posts. Not only is their store absolutely stunning, but so is the store's founder and proprietor, Kim! It's funny how you can 'click' with people over social media and then when you have a chance to meet them in person, that 'click' becomes even more amplified.
A few weeks ago Willow House posted that they'd be hosting a Trends in Fabric event featuring Avant Garde fabrics and I immediately RSVP'd for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I really wanted to finally meet Kim and see the beautiful store/business she'd built over the past 20 years, but I also have a 'thing' for exquisite fabrics. Looking through fabric books, feeling the various textures and weaves, seeing the mix of tones and colours and seeing how a variety of prints with work together is something I could do for hours on end.
I intentionally arrived early to the event so I had time to immerse myself in the shoppe but also so I could have a good chat with Kim. Kim's smile and magnetic personality fills the store and adds another level of amazingness to her already beautifully curated space.
As you can see from the photos, it's the kind of space that implores you to want to re-decorate, to 'spruce up' your home and make it your own through their beautiful one-of-a-kind, rustic-lux pieces. I literally could have taken home entire vignettes just as they were as they'd been styled so perfectly by Kim and her wonderful staff. I did take one piece home with me....but I'll show you that a little later in this post.
Over 40 stylish and design savvy women filled Willow House's Design Studio for the Avant Garde presentation. I'm planning on re-doing my dining chairs as well as window coverings in two of my rooms, so needless to say, I was uber inspired by all of the luxurious fabrics we were shown. It sure sounds like grey is here to stay (YEAH!) and I was so glad to see it being reinforced that it really is the 'new neutral' that works with almost every colour. The jewel tone blues and greens, the burnt oranges, the sunshine and butter yellows...the combinations are endless. I fell in love with the velvets (I'm leaning towards using velvet for my dining chairs to add texture and interest and wee bit of luxury to my space) and will likely use the chairs as a venue to introduce some colour into the space. I always have a soft spot for linens and we were told that they're now even more suitable as window covering due to the dyes that are now being used to prevent sun damage (double yeah as I am planning on using a linen based fabric for my window coverings).
The photo above shows one of my favourite fabrics of the night.....the multi tones of grey with a touch of cream and white, the stripes to add interest, how beautifully it hung...I just loved it!
After the presentation, we were treated to some scrumptious cheeses by C'est Cheese Please ......
I was in heaven!....Two of my favourite things in one space... Home Decor and Cheese. Thank you too to C'est Cheese Please for the bag of goodies we got to take home!
Thank you to Justyna Sokolowski for taking this photo!
And here we are....Kim and I chatting like old friends. To say she's one stylish lady is the understatement of the year! I'm really looking forward to growing this new friendship and to also work with her to continue to make my house my home and freshen up my space.
When I walked into the store, a certain piece immediately caught my eye. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know about my love of horses. These creatures have brought so much happiness to my life and I love how you can truly see their souls through their eyes.....
So after walking by this piece at least 15 times...stopping...looking...being drawn in.....I knew it had to come home with me....and I'm SOOO glad it did!
I woke up and walked out to my living room yesterday morning and seeing this immediately brought a smile to my face. Yet another step in making my house truly my home.
I need to extend a huge "Thank you" again to Kim and all of those involved in making the Trends in Fabric event happen. It was such a great evening for many reasons and I can't wait to get back to Willow House!!