Category Archives: PROJECTS

PLAYING CATCH UP- JERGENS OVERNIGHT FIX REVEAL

It has been a crazy last few weeks in the world of Lisa Canning Interiors- having just wrapped Season 5 of For Rent in my gig as the production designer plus the usual load of client work and my work over at Dabble Magazine. But now (sigh of relief) life is getting back to a more relaxed pace and I can (finally) get back to my love of blogging.

I am going to play a bit of catch up starting with the fantastic experience that was the Jergens Overnight Fix (read a bit of the background here). This 24-hour makeover for a Toronto YWCA was an amazing experience to be a part of, mainly because of the dedication, enthusiasm and tireless efforts of the 30+ volunteers who worked in shifts around the clock. There was a great camaraderie and sense of purpose among the team of mostly female, non-renovation experienced volunteers (even at 3am when delirium started to sink in for some!).

I described it to the media who attended in the morning as a labour of love- and that is so much what it was. The reveal reminded me why I love my job and my philosophy behind designing great spaces- to improve the quality of life of the people who use it.

Special thanks again to Arren Williams for connecting me to this project, Apex PR for their support and innovation towards PR, Jergens for donating the funds to make this happen, and to my partner in overnight crime contractor Christian Pavey. And much thanks to all the media who attended the breakfast and for their great posts on the event including Jennifer Flores of Rambling Renovators, Alex from Chick Advisor, Caitlin Kenny of Flare, & Elaine Song from Style At Home. Here’s a look at how it happened:

Here’s the beginning of our Allure flooring installation from The Home Depot. Christian and the volunteers adhered a contrast white strip to create some detail on the floor. This vinyl product is easy to clean and maintain, perfect for this high traffic space.

Storage became a bit of an issue while we laid the floors- here’s a peek at the hallways and the cube van outside the YWCA.

Here with Christian, still smiling at 1am.

And on to the reveal (photos courtesy of Jen from Rambling Renovators)…


And here we are at 9am, after our CP24 feature:


And a little Pure Design reunion with a visit by Julia Black of Chatelaine!

And for those of your who are curious where everything came from in this 24 Hour makeover, here is my source guide. It is amazing what can be accomplished with hard work and a lot of love in an Overnight Fix! I feel truly blessed to have been involved in this project.

Vinyl plank flooring- Allure available at the Home Depot

Wallpaper- Putkinotko by Marimekko available at Newwall

Framed purple floral images- Home Outfitters

White bi-cast leather chairs- Structube

White lattice cut side chairs- Home Outfitters

Purple ottomans- Home Outfitters

White round side tables & coffee table- IKEA

Silver vases & faux flowers- Bouclair Home

Pillows- Bouclair Home

Custom pillow fabric from Designer Fabrics

Commercial Flip Top tables from Triad Office Interiors

White dining chairs- IKEA

Hi y’all!

To my lovely blog readers:

Bad blogger award of the year goes to this busy designer (AGAIN)- but now that my amazing and crazy month working in Atlanta on HGTV’s For Rent is over, I can get back to normal and (cross our fingers) upon my return to Toronto this week more informative and design packed regular posts.

I fly home tomorrow- but here’s a quick teaser of my incredible time down south. I totally love it here- Atlanta is full of design goodness!

Gorgeous club room I used as my office in Atlanta.

Visited this place too many times for my health- dining old school diner styles at The Varsity.

An inspiring shot from the Georgia Aquarium.And this was me pretty much every day- Atlanta, I love you.

KEEPING IT NATURAL

If you have been following my tweets you know I am super excited about my newest project, Tori’s Bakeshop. This is the very first all vegan, refined sugar free, gluten free organic shop in the Toronto Beaches and I am so thrilled to help bring it to life. In keeping with Tori’s philosophy of all natural food, I have committed myself to using exclusively natural materials. That means we are using organic fabrics, recycled woods and repurposed furniture and I am staying close to home when it comes to sourcing all items to reduce my carbon footprint. In my search for materials I have come across several natural resources just in time for Earth Day.

Daisy Janie Shades of Grey fabrics have just dropped at Tonic Living. You can now visit the Tonic Living warehouse in the east end of Toronto or purchase their products on-line.

How adorable is this Mod Green Pod wallcovering? It also showed up on the March-April issue of Rue- so cute.

My children and I were invited to a baby massage workshop hosted by Weleda recently and I am hooked on their all natural products for me and my kids. I’ve been introduced to Calendula oil for it’s soothing properties.

Finally, InVu Drapery Co. is encouraging us to repurpose our own furniture by hosting a sale on upholstery and earth-family fabrics. Happy Earth Day!



MARRIAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION WAYBACK PLAYBACK

It’s wayback playback time! I started my career in television under my maiden name Lisa Santos on Season 1 of Marriage Under Construction. It was originally commissioned for HGTV Canada, and since it’s original air date in 2007, it has been repeated on Slice, DIY Network, HGTV US and more. Vanessa, the wife on Season 1 is a big time actor in New York (Damages, As The World Turns, Hair).

Not going to lie. My tastes have evolved since then. My design vocabulary has evolved since then. I don’t dumpster dive anymore (OK, only occasionally). And I don’t have as much time to DIY. But what has remained the same is my resourcefulness to spend money wisely and make a project work regardless of budget restraints.

Here are a few Season 1 photos and you can read about the project on my old blog, here. If you have found my blog because of an old re-run, thank you so much for stopping by! I am so thankful for the opportunity the show gave me, it really was the jump start to my career in interiors.

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I AM A BLOGGER-SLACKER

I must confess- I am a blogger slacker. As much as I love my blog, I find there are always periods where other things take precedence. I think it’s the perfectionist in me that gets in the way from more frequent updates. The same way I fuss over how many inches to move a picture on a wall, or fluff the same pillow 5 times, I edit my posts. I am concerned with writing thoughtful, quality posts. To me, quality posts are ones that educate, inform, and give a behind the scenes look at the things my business does. And when I’m busy, my brain is not always inclined to writing eloquent posts of substance.

So today I am going to play catch up:

At the end of February two great projects began with fantastic clients. The above photo is a before shot from one of them- my loft project in the Toronto Beaches. It has soaring windows and ceilings but very 905 finishes (no offense to those of you in the 905 area code, but this tile choice is far too boring for this space).

So we have removed the offensive tile and built a new more contemporary mantle.

And we threw up a little barn board. I am dying to share the finished pics but I will leave you in suspense. It is breathtaking. This project is currently in the home stretch stage- can’t wait to style it for photos.

Speaking of style- Dabble is the newest on-line style fix. It’s an on-line magazine created by the fabulous Kimberley Seldon. I’m so thrilled to be a contributor to this publication- here I am with fellow design contributors Christine De Costa and Nyla Free.

I must share meeting Kimberley for the first time was similar to how I felt when I met Marilyn Denis for the first time. I grew up watching CityLine religiously, and would watch with bright eyes as these stylemakers would showcase their beautiful spaces. Now I am friendly with many of them- totally surreal.

In order to write about great design I have to shop the market- and an event I never miss in Toronto is the One of A Kind Show. Above is a fantastic bag by Brooklyn based Arza Design. I took home yet another Hilary Cosgrove owl for my son, and an owl music box toy to add to our now growing nest by mimi.

Lastly, I’m so thrilled to be working on a new project: Tori’s Bakeshop- a vegan, refined sugar free, gluten free, organic bakery in Toronto’s Beaches. In keeping with the philosophy of the bakery, the design and design process will be as natural as possible- and I’ll be sharig the whole process on my blog and on twitter. Very clever hashtag pending.

WANT A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK AT MY DESIGN WORLD?

Thanks to the stylish team at KnotPR (I absolutely love their dynamic media release format) I have a facebook page for Lisa Canning Interiors. How will this differ from my blog? It will give you a behind the scenes look at how my projects come to fruition through daily photos. I’ll take you along the showrooms I visit, the samples I borrow, the sales I score and the more than occasional long lunch and shoe shopping pit stops. Taking projects from conception to finished product is always a fun ride and I’m so happy to have you along.

A special thanks to the folks down south at lifehacker for featuring my design of the Knot PR office today on their site. Lifehacker provides tips and downloads for getting things done and I’m so humbled to be included as one of their featured office spaces. Click here for the full Knot PR office tour.

JOSH WILDER HOME TOUR

This Toronto condo project wrapped right before I gave birth to my daughter. Josh hired my team to help him finish off his downtown condo- and I am thrilled with the results.
After weeks of waiting these walnut chairs to arrive (via Roomy Interiors) on a crate from Italy (a slow moving crate), they paired perfectly with the table we sourced from Visitor Parking.

I adore how the black lacquered top reflects the custom piece we commissioned from RLS Studios. The artist took one of Josh’s own photos and used her encaustic technique to create a custom piece for his dining area. Fantastic.

Josh, a sports television producer, wanted the space to feel modern (hence the E27 pendant from Design Within Reach) but with rustic elements (hence the use of woods like the shelving designed by me and built by the team at Sound Contracting).
In the bedroom, the DWR pendant and recessed lighting illuminate a modern giclee print with a high gloss resin finish by Ian Busher. Keeping it simple we styled the storage area around the bed with black vases, frames and flameless candles from HomeSense.

This project was a pleasure to work on- hilarious, fantastic client and an awesome space to help transform. Photos by Tanja Tiziana.

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KNOT PR OFFICE

If you have been following my blog you know the events that lead up to the completion of the Knot PR office were in a word, dramatic insane painful momentous. Just before welcoming our baby girl into the world I finished off this stylish office, belonging to the incredibly stylish Tatiana Read.

The office began as a pretty boring box, situated amidst the cacophony of downtown traffic and neighbouring offices:

To control the chaos that comes with running a flourishing PR firm, we commissioned Ian Busher of Sound Contracting Inc. to build a desk I designed:

The result: an office where every square inch of available space is used to its maximum potential, with style and substance that reflect its owner.

Photos by Tanja Tiziana.

Shopping list:

Custom desk & storage unit designed by Lisa Canning Interiors, constructed by Ian Busher of Sound Contracting Inc.

Corian tabletop in pearl grey

Wall colour Benjamin Moore Cloud White, desk colour Benjamin Moore Graphite Grey

White lacquered trays, magazine files, West Elm

Marilyn Illustrations, Tatiana’s own

Fashion Illustration cards, Danielle Meder

Organizational tray (used as monitor stand), magnet strip, Neat

Eames style chairs, Design Republic

IKEA Pax unit

Eames Hang It All Coat rack