My Big Fat Ottawa Design Week

OK, maybe not quite as catchy as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but it definitely describes this week in my little corner of the design world :-)

Children’s Wish | Exile Island: Outsmart, Outplay, Outpledge

Last night was the second meeting of our Exile Island team Ottawa Design Network Group: One Dude Nine Girls. We’re participating in the upcoming Children’s Wish fundraiser, Exile Island. Our goal is to raise $5,000 before the big Exile Island extravaganza on May 12th. We’ll be holding a number of events between now and then, including an art auction, a jewelry auction, and 20.4.20 4 Children’s Wish day on April 2nd. I’ll be posting more details about this event as the plans come together. Keep the date in mind if you live in the Ottawa area and want to talk to an interior decorator and other members of the design industry, donate money to a great cause, and eat scrumptious cupcakes!

You can follow our team on Twitter with the hashtag #ODNGXIsle. And if you’re an artist or jewelry maker and would like to contribute an item for the auction, send me an e-mail and let me know – we’d love to have you be a part of our fundraising efforts!

 

All For Nothing? | And the winner is…

Thursday night, the episode of All For Nothing? that I participated in is finally airing. I wrote about it here, including pictures of my staging work and the 22 paintings that I hung! It was a crazy two weeks for my friend Jill and her family, but they managed to beg, barter, and bargain labour and supplies from enough people to transform their home for a mere $300 – and they increased the value of their home by $20,000! Click here to read more about Jill’s AFN experience in the Ottawa Citizen, and click here if you happen to be looking for a house to buy in Ottawa :-)

Watch All For Nothing? on the W Network at 9:00PM on Thursday to see if Jill and her husband Jeff won the battle of the renovating homeowners. I know who wins, but I’m not telling! (It’s that whole tease thing again :-)

Image from the Ottawa Citizen

Extreme Makeover: Kindness Edition | The big reveal

Friday & Saturday are the final two big days of Extreme Makeover: Kindness Edition, a project that I’ve been helping with for the last couple of months. Sonya Kinkade of Sonya Kinkade Design was asked to make over the lobby, reception area, and in-house store at The Good Companions seniors centre in downtown Ottawa as part of Kindness Week. Sonya asked me and five other Ottawa decorators to help her out. The lovely and talented ladies working on the project are:

Sonya Kinkade, Sonya Kinkade Design Maureen Coates, Modecor Donna Hargrove, dh designs Lisa Goulet, Lisa Goulet Design

Mary Anne van Gaal, Otta Decorate! Nicole Duguay, Solace Interiors And me, Kelly at JAX Decor & Design

First official planning meeting. Left to right, Lisa, Kelly, Nicole, Donna, Mary Anne

The construction crew and painters have been hard at work at the centre since last week. Furniture and accessories from a long list of donators will be arriving on Friday, when we’ll be setting up the store and putting all the pieces into place. And Saturday will be the big reveal! I’ll be posting pictures of the project next week, as well as profiles of some of our generous donators. The rest of the team will be blogging about out donators on their blogs too, so be sure to make the rounds and read about all the fabulous people and companies who embraced the spirit of Kindness Week and contributed their products and time to the project.

Click here to read more about Extreme Makeover on the Ottawa At Home web site.

HomeSense | Shopper Showdown Contest

When I uploaded a picture of my purple guest bedroom to the HomeSense Facebook page for their Shopper Showdown Contest, I had no idea that I would be one of the six finalists. OH MY FREAKIN’ GOD. On top of everything else going on this week (did I mention classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, putting together a bathroom inspiration board for Thursday, and my day job?), I have to go on a shopping spree at HomeSense with a $500 HS gift card (I know, poor me!) and then make over my bedroom before noon on Monday. I am absolutely beside myself with excitement over this! But now I need a clone. Or an assistant. Or a Mini Me!

See, I told you it’s a big fat design week! If you want to get in on the decorating fun, I’d love to help you out with your project – drop me a line and let’s talk!

.

I hope you’ll forgive me for not having the time to write a Sarah 101 round-up this week – I haven’t even had a chance to watch the episode yet! You can read all about it over at Rambling Renovators.