Textile Designer: Kathryn Ireland

Kathryn Ireland has been featured in top magazines as well as appearances on several network shows. Raised in London and Scotland, her designs were influenced by the feel for comfort, home and family. Her newest collections were inspired by a trip to India. These collections are on 100% linen and feature bright hand prints. Her fabric line is distributed in top U.S. showrooms as well as her namesake showroom in London. We are showing her multiple collections so you can see her distinct range of talent! Contact us for more information on these beautiful fabrics! Above: Ireland's Woven Collection featuring eleven different fabrics.
The Batik Collection - One of my favorites for the subtle patterns and colors. Featuring 6 different fabrics.
Above: Featuring the Quilt Collection that includes seven different fabrics in multiple colors.
Above: The Toile Collection that features six different fabrics in multiple colors.
Kathryn Ireland's Outdoor Collection above featuring three different fabrics. Below are her newest fabrics inspired by her travels to India.
Casablanca Collection - 10 colorways available on 100% linen.
Fez Palm Collection - 4 colorways available on 100% linen.
Moroccan Stripe Collection - 4 colorways available on 100% linen.
Sufi Suzani Collection - 4 colorways available on 100% linen.


Tangier Collection - 13 colors available on 100% linen.
All the fabrics are "To the Trade". Contact us for more information. Thanks to Kathryn Ireland for the beautiful fabrics and photos!

couldn't stop at just one!

We've shared the tahiti chair in photos but until you see the before, it is hard to imagine the transformation and loving attention involved in our repurposing process. Take a look at what we started with ...

Twig Furniture - Side Tables

Twig style furniture is being made in many different mediums. As you see here, we are showing designer pieces in concrete, iron, steel, cast resin and natural wood. Perfect as a special addition to just about any interior, and many can be used indoors or outdoors. Contact us if you need more information on the pieces shown. Above: Iron Twig Table - From Hickory White Furniture's Anthology Collection. The table comes with the dark marble top seen here or light travertine.
Sculpted Table - Steel framework is covered with concrete and sculpted to look like tree branches. Only comes in finish shown and is 18" diameter.
Twig Occasional Table from Baker Furniture. Made of steel with a hand applied bronze patina and a smokey glass top, 24" diameter.
Vincent Side Table - Comes in five finishes, antique gray is shown. The table is made of cast resin and is 18" diameter. From Oly Studio (To the trade).
Kaffa Coffee Tree Table - Made from recycled coffee tree limbs that have been boiled and sealed with a clear finish. The top is smokey glass and is 20" square. Check our site: http://www.TheDesignerInsider.com.
Rocco Table from Oly Studio. It comes in white or black and is 30" diameter.

before & after ...

a picture is worth a thousand words ... two thousand, coming right up! Here's an example of a recent repurposing project ... this is our passion, we have many great pieces in the store or you can come by to discuss one of your own!

Mignonne Décor featured in SF Apartment Therapy!

We were delighted to have SF's Apartment Therapy visit our shop and feature an article concerning our new location. Some great photos of our new digs were included ,,, and a discussion of our furniture design and repurposing services.

Just CLICK HERE to read the article!

Thanks for the support, we appreciated the great response!

Duralee's New Lacquered Furniture!

Duralee has introduced a new lacquered furniture line in wonderful colors. We are showing you a few of their items including side tables, cocktail tables and console tables. Contact us or your designer for more information. Above: Side tables and cocktail table in "Espresso Lacquer". I love the above lamps too!!
"Mango Lacquer" on modern side table.
"White Lacquer" on modern side table.
"Papaya Lacquer" on modern side table.
"White Lacquer" on console table and cocktail table.
Thanks to Duralee for the wonderful photos of their new furniture!

Duralee Furniture Generates The Buzz!

Duralee generated "the buzz" at market in the spring. They introduced new furniture collections and highlighted them with gorgeous fabrics in magenta, papaya and espresso. Their two new collections, Owners Select and Cavalier Furniture, showed the designers and visiting publications that Duralee is a leader in the market! Ask your designer about using Duralee fabrics or just email us for more information. Above: The new Columbia Sofa!
The Cavalier Wing Chair display. More pink!
The pink Occasional Chair display!
Spotlight on the Manhatten Chair!
Thanks to Duralee for the bright and colorful photos!

Kravet: Barclay Butera's New Products! Custom Rugs!

Barclay Butera is a unique designer that is inspired by fashion and travel. He has partnered with Kravet to bring you his first collection of fabrics and rugs sold through their showroom. These designs shown are not fabric but beautiful rug designs from his new collection! The rugs are available in 12 standard sizes and are available in New Zealand worsted wool, all viscose, wool and viscose blend. You can order the rugs in the hand tufted style, Indo or Sino. Above: Garden Leaf.
Gentleman's Houndstooth
Desert Damask
Mountain Plaid

Mountain Tiger
Urban Stripe

Asian Bamboo

All of the designs above are sold through Kravet for Barclay Butera. Contact us for more information.

let the anticipation begin!

you can start to get excited now ... Johnelle just booked her ticket for France in September ... and she's bringing an extra suitcase ... empty!!!

let the treasure hunting begin ...

Design Ideas: Transitional Interiors

Why is this room beautiful? Womack Interiors has decorated this bedroom with traditional elements with a contemporary edge. When looking through magazines, look over the whole settings and determine what makes the rooms so wonderful. Above, the room has an 18th century commode, vintage Murano glass lamps, a sleek tufted headboard, crisp new linens in white and a sunshine yellow, contemporary fabric for the drapes and contemporary art over the bed. The combinations makes this a room you want to visit! Thanks to Cheryl Womack and Atlanta Homes Magazine for this beautiful room!

Wall inspiration

When I'm flicking through a magazine the last thing I normally spend time on is looking at the ads. Ads, especially in house magazines are particularly bland and dull, I think. Nothing to inspire or get excited about.

But this advertisement made me stop. It is from furniture and electrical store Harvey Norman (big in Australia, but not usually my style). What really caught my eye in this image (below) is the wall art. If you click on the picture you can see a much larger image.

Ok, so the picture I've scanned in isn't great quality, but I love the wall art they have created with natural cast offs. It appears to me that they've taken what looks like an off cut from a palm tree - correct me if I'm wrong - that you can often buy these days from florists specialising in modern designs.

It looks like they've hammered in a couple of nails in to the wall and balanced the palm frond/leaf thing on them.

I've looked closely at what is in the palm leaves and decided they are some sort of sculptures made from cuttlefish bones. They seem to be wired together. Obviously I pored over this picture for ages!

Do you think I'm right? Have you ever seen anything like this before? I wonder if it would get stinky...

I tried googling cuttlefish bone art and cuttlefish bone scultpure and nothing came up that looked remotely like this.

Anyway, it took my fancy and I think it is a fabulous and innovative way to decorate your wall. Go Harvey Norman!

Best wishes,

Designer Upholstery: Furniture Built With Care!

A furniture adventure began in 1987 when two partners started The Charles Stewart Company. They were inspired to being exclusive suppliers of high quality custom upholstery for interior designers. Their long days and hours paid off and they now are the owners of a company of more than 100 employees, serving designers throughout the United States. They build all the furniture from scratch which helps to maintain the flexibility to meet their clients needs. Below we are showcasing some of their most popular designs. Contact us for more information on this wonderful furniture! Above: Hollywood Sofa - Fabric or Leather - Three lengths: 80" or 72" or 56" x 35"high x 35"deep.

Alpenglow Contemporary Chair - 41"high x 31"wide x 32"deep.
Solitude Headboard - 58"high x 60"wide x 3"deep.
Loveland Sofa - 80"wide (also loveseat size) x 38"high x 37"deep.
Contour Back Bar Stool - 44"high x 20"wide x 22"deep.
Roll Back Lounger - 38"high x 37"wide x 39"deep.

The problem with open plan living

It seems like open plan living has well and truly taken hold. And why not - it has so many benefits, the best one being that the cook is not stuck slaving over a hot stove on their own. With open plan, the cook doesn't miss out.

But - and this is a big but - open plan living does have its drawbacks! This I know - having lived in open plan spaces all my adult life. One major drawback is noise - it's very difficult to run a mixmaster or fry some food without someone complaining and turning the tv up several notches - which is my pet hate!

But even worse - there's no where to hide the mess! Have a few people over for dinner, and there's bound to be a few pots and pans lying about. Particularly with the current trend to put sinks out facing towards the dining area - you see this ALL the time in Australia now. Take this example below - where the sink is right out there on show. Beautiful now, while it's clean and clutter free, but not so much when the benchtop is full of dirty dishes! The clean freak in me cringes!

So this is why I love this kitchen below. It has a bench with a high return on it, which normally screams '80s naff. But here I think it looks stylish and it hides all the kitchen mess. I think the gorgeous stone helps.

Or if you don't like the high return style - here's a good idea below - leave the bench entirely free of sinks or stovetop and tuck the sink in an incongruous spot AND make the sink very wide and deep like this gorgeous butlers style sink, to hide as many dirty dishes in there until you get a chance to tidy up completely.

My poor little blog has been rather neglected lately. Life has been getting in the way. And I haven't been visiting all my favourite blogs either!

Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things soon.

Best wishes,