About Janette Ewen
Veteran stylist and trend reporter, Janette Ewen’s love of the finer things has always shaped her life. Now she’s spilling industry secrets to help you make life at home sweet. From chic décor to decadent dinner parties—living with style isn’t as expensive as you think.
Bedded Down
design insider canada
(Mar.10.10)
With a fabulous (and I mean really, really great) new bedding line at Zellers—Colin and Justin, my two favourite style and design experts, are once again proving that au current home décor, quality and over all great taste don’t need to break the bank. I chatted with the dynamic (and gorgeous) duo recently and here’s what they had to say…
Other than great new bedding is there another way to almost instantly update a bedroom?
Of course there’s another way! Change the orientation of your project room – try the bed on another wall to switch things around WITHOUT spending extra dollars. Or bring spare rooms back to life – we recently visited the LA home of a 50+ couple whose 20 something sons had long since left the nest. Their bedrooms were stuck in a time warp as if waiting for something to happen. So! We carefully weeded out the past, boxed and stored what was important and turned the two spare rooms into an ensuite bathroom and a fabulous Carrie Bradshaw style dressing room! Mom’s misery at being an empty nester was soon replaced with a brand new zest for life, the prospect of a ‘spa at home’ and loads of new closet space for… loads of new clothes. Yay!
I think your new bedding line is very chic, what makes it so special?
We like to think of our bedding at Zellers as décor in a bag. If your bedroom is bland and bare but you’re scared of wallpaper as a source of pattern (even on just one feature wall) then a well decorated bed is the logical first step into a colorful new world of decorating adventure. Trust us - pick a bedding collection like Cybernetic then select the black colour from the background and buy a matching rug. Next, layer in a couple of lamps toned to match our yellow flowers, add a piece of complimentary artwork and your room is instantly decorated. We’re thrilled that our red and black ‘Graphic Flower’ design has become a best seller; it shows that you guys are ready for some serious colour. Go Canada!
Current favorite home decor trend?
We both love the whole city meets the country idea. We never tire of mixing rough timber with smooth concrete and we adore nature inspired prints in manmade colours. The merging of natural and synthetic elements is so interesting and very 21st Century; think log cabin houses filled with gloss white acrylic furniture. OMG – we’re gonna blow! It’s like sci-fi meets the cottage! But what’ll they say in Muskoka?
What was your latest purchase for your home(s)?
We just forked out a small Scottish fortune for an oak herringbone floor for three rooms in our 1835 townhouse in Glasgow. It’s exactly the kind of flooring that would have been laid there back in the grand past of this very grand old house, so it’s fitting that history should repeat itself with our current reno being all about reinstating a lot of missing features. Tick boxes for plaster cornice, marble fireplaces and a stunning glass cupola. At the same time, though, we’re loading our Scottish hideaway with lashings of 21st Century technology like discreet sound and vision and a drop dead gorgeous Zebrano kitchen. Swoon! In our Toronto condo we’re currently installing Ciot grey marble to add the sex factor to a room that was previously beige. Talk about delusions of blandeur! It SO had to change… And for our London home we just bought a life size Dr. Who Dalek in steel and grey Bakelite. OK, so it kinda dominates the hallway in our Chelsea pied-a- terre… but it’s a real conversation point!
Any plans for more products?
We’d like to follow the example of our Matalan department store range in the UK (we do 80 products which sell in 205 branches) and introduce bathroom accessories, giftware and scented candles. We’re also planning an ‘icon’ piece that will change color direction with the seasons – we can’t say what it is at the moment, but it really is a fantastic everyday piece of personal luxury and one you’ll only be able to buy at Zellers! We’re also planning to launch furniture items such as case good, tables and chairs and possibly a wallpaper and fabric line toward the end of 2010. So loads more to come!
Colin and Justin Room Solutions Bedroom includes 1 comforter, 2 shams, 3 decor cushions, 1 sheet set. 100% cotton for $199.99 at Zellers. Styles from left to right are: Cybernetic, Torino and Graphic Flowers. To see more detail, click on the images above.