Nesting the Journal

modern home tour- white rock

Its Vancouver Design Week and there are some awesome events going on around town. We had a great time on thursday night at the Western Living Awards, raising a glass to our colleagues Measured Architecture for receiving the 'Architect of the Year' award. 

As well this past weekend we ventured south to check out the White Rock Modern Home Tour. Lots of inspiring work inside and out. Got us thinking how lovely it would be to live near the water…

This is the month to get re-inspired by all the amazing creators out there, making our world that much more beautiful. Looking forward to IDS West this coming week. Get out there and enjoy!

 

 

sweet little video

  

 

Landscape design is essentially a visual expression, and we've been wanting to document and share our work in a way that allows people to really experience the spaces we create. Enter our good friend Corbie, videographer extraordinaire. In under three minutes, he’s managed to capture what we think is the essence of Aloe: expressing what we do and how we do it. This sweet little video showcases some of our favourite projects to date and reminds us why we are in business for ourselves. We’re truly so proud of these designs and the video shares them in such a magical way. Thank you, Mr. Corbie Fieldwalker, for your incredible work. Check out one of our fave's he has also done for Pizza Farina! 

As summer begins to come to a close and a new season emerges, here’s hoping for the privilege of working with many more amazing families, couples, spaces, gardens, landscapes and homes for years to come. 

dwell on design la 2014

We recently enjoyed a trip down south to LA where we attended Dwell on Design. One day was spent exploring east LA on the modern home tour, and the other day was spent at the convention center- trade show. We explored the modern home tour a few years ago on the West side, and much preferred that one. Unfortunately the homes were really sprawled far apart (which made for lots of fun freeway on and off driving). The homes were also just not as impressive as we imagined them to be. Except for this one on the hill. The views of Silver Lake and the valley were pretty incredible. 

Trade shows can often be crazy tiring- especially for pregnant folk! But Dwell does it in style. much like IDS West, no sham wow dudes at this event. Pure filtered design services and products that make you inspired to change up your space. Be it landscape or interior there were so many amazing resources to explore and learn about. 

I love this combo of subtle moss inset in varied pavers. 

This is an incredible architectural precast concrete paving stone that we have been wanting to use on projects for quite a while. These narrow modular pavers come in many sizes and dimensions- made by Stepstone.

Love these colors that were dotted throughout the main center of the show. And this arrow by Bendgoods. 

Custom glossy painted plywood planter full of juicy succulents and grasses.The large landscape central courtyard was all designed by Shades of Green, a well known Landscape Architecture company based in Marin County.

I love the combo of colors and textures in the various sized custom planters. 

Fermob, from europe makes incredible landscape accessories and furniture. I especially like the color palette you can pick from. The green rod in this picture is a sleek outdoor shower. Would love to use this line on a project that required bursts of color. 

This is another fabulous line of furniture which is local to the usa- Loll, with an inherent concern for the environment and the impact of sustainable products. How ingenious is this chair with an inset for a resting wine glass.

I am currently obsessed with yellow/grey and white combo. Especially for a poolside retreat or a space with lots of light bright architectural features. This Lollygagger line (love the name) was insanely comfortable... as in, I couldn't get up. 

A row of cute custom bird houses, also by Loll. World Reclaimed was in awe. 

A sweet little modern dog water dish, also by Loll.

Glamping at its finest. The Hutte Hut aka teardrop caravan was too cute and beautiful for words. Apparently slotted to be on the cover of Sunset magazine soon!

Some other great lines we saw (but didn't get any decent shots) were:

Galanter & Jones

Stickwood

Letterdrop

Asteck Inc

Dodocase

Glass Cathedrals

Architectural Numbers

Fresh Walls

 

Happy first day of spring! Its a glorious, crisp sunny one here, and we are loving the idea of the new season ahead. This winter with the help of a grandparents sleep-over, and a few growlers of 33 acres beer, we tackled a big job in our house- painting the main living room and hallways. After alot of grey/beige debate we settled on a great color- Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. We have been in our place now almost 8 years, so it was nice to add a fresh coat of paint to the walls. But more exciting- re- hanging art and putting up some new pieces!

We have been collecting eclectic pieces over the years. We love this way of decorating, as it feels a bit more organic and more personal. Often when we are traveling we will stumble upon a print or piece that  we love. And then every time we pass it at home, we think of that place, and our trip.

Collecting art and filling your walls can often seem like a daunting task, as it can be expensive, and overwhelming on where to start. A common mistake people make is they want to fill the walls fast, and don't have much of a budget, and go too small. It is better to go slower and always go bigger than you think. It makes for better impact. There are lots of great DIY type things you can do, as well as etsy and local community college art fairs. Antique stores, garage sales, In laws basements, and museum gift shops are also great resources. And it always helps to have a great framer who is open to simply matting a basic Ikea frame and doesn't blow the bank! Here are some of the pieces in our home. 

This is a small vignette I did in our bedroom above the dresser. I originally wanted to get a bunch of old photos from both sides of the fam and blow them up and frame them. But that idea sat in the closet for about a year, till one day I realized some washi tape and the simple images themselves, raw on the wall looked just as good, if not better. Less forced and more natural. I love waking up to this in the morning, putting on jewelry and thinking about the amazing history and family we have. 

Our most recent purchase (our christmas gift to each other). We've never bought art online before, but we love this photographer- Max Wagner- and new it would be perfect. Its called County Line, and its a shot of surfers waiting for the wave. It was so fun to receive months later in the mail and frame.

This is an old print drawer that we got in portland at a salvage yard. We use it to hold little nature finds and bits in Lucie's room. 

This is a wall in Lucie's room that used to be her changing table area, and is now her bed nook. It's always challenging to think of something to decorate a wall above kids heads that isn't dangerous. I got the idea to get dollar store butterflies and paint them neon green, from a really neat installation Kelly Deck did at one of her show homes. The lil swimmer mobile is paper and is from Hatch- a cute little boutique at the end of our street. 

This is another really special piece by a local artist, client and sweet friend of ours Fei Disbrow. 

This is a cluster of prints in our main living room. I love the bright cheerful colors. These prints were all very reasonable and easy to frame. 

This is a fun vintage aluminum sign that we found at Napiers Antiques in Langley. And the funny thing is Myers was actually a garden hose company back in the day. Pretty fitting for us gardeners!

This is a vintage window that we got at a garage sale. It sits above our mantel piece and makes it really easy to swap out the mantle with different vignettes based on the season!

This is also a real inexpensive piece- it was a hand towel that I found in the sale bin at Anthropologie one year. I love hits of yellow, especially in the kitchen. 

This is a print of paper airplanes by Emilie Madil that Owen got for me at A Walrus art show as a gift when we moved in. It reminds me to travel, and also how much I love our neighbourhood and the great stores and communities that are created here. 

This is a bit of an unconventional print that we got in little italy in NYC. It is actually a rifler's target. Fitting for the hunter history in the family!

This is one of my favourite prints that we got in LA. We have it right in the hall and it is the first thing you see when you walk in the front door. A great message to remind us to be at peace with things at the end of a stressful/long tiring day. 

a new year

Happy new year! Did everyone survive the holidays? This year the holidays sometimes were pretty full on. So we were happy to turn the page, press refresh and start a new year ahead. Somewhere between the life you have and the life you want, lies the quite seed of potential!

Each year on new years days, O and I head to a beach and write 3 words on rocks and toss them into the ocean. Not necessarily resolutions, but more things we hope to focus on for the year. My words were:

Inspiration

I feel really inspired to get back into learning more. Both on the work front and home front. So much of my inspiration for my life comes from travel. I grew up with parents who allowed me the fortune to apprecaite this gift. And while it is hard to often carve out this time (and money), I realize how much it informs me in who I am and what I do. To more trips learning and exploring new places in this world.

Slow Down

Having a kid, a career and trying to balance the "good life" can often be a lot. I find myself constantly searching out how to "slow down" and "be in the moment". Does anyone else notice how much we multitask in our day? I resolve to turn off work mode and be more present as a mom, a wife, a friend and a daughter to all the important people around me. 

Collaboration:

One of the most positive things to come out of 2013 for me, was the realization that the areas I enjoy most about being self employed is the possibility and honor to be able to collaborate with like minded people. For Aloe I really want to focus our energy on being a part of the community and collaborating with all the amazing talent out there.

What will 2014 hold for you?

palm springs entrances

While I was down in palm springs a few weeks ago, I got the lovely pleasure of landing a design consultation with a client in Vancouver who has a home also down south. The project got me inspired to drive around the local neighbourhood and photograph other front entrances. The rancher-bungalow-mid century modern- california style home is really our dream to one day design slash live in. Here are a few amazingly simple front spaces. Full of white, with the contrast of green & blue architectural plantings, expanse of angular hardscape, paired with the play-fullness of decorative cinder walls. Really looking forward to pulling inspiration from these homes.

 

 

house tour- seattle rancher

I am really excited to launch a new feature on nesting journal- house tours. We have so many friends that have such amazing homes with great design sense. So I am keen to share some of these over the next few months. First one up- our cousins place in seattle washington. We always love our visits here. 

WHERE: Seattle, Washington

WHO: Drew & Donnianne Noble with their two little ones Ellie (4) & Jude (1+) 

STYLE: Mid century modern meets westcoast meets crafty times

LOW DOWN: As their family slowly grew they knew they needed more space... and then they came across their dream home. A sweet rancher on a large property on the outskirts of Seattle in the town of Bothell. The house is located at the end of a cul-de-sac which faces onto farm land with a beautiful white picket fence that sparkles when the sun hits it in the early evening. Currently it is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom and can easily be converted to an addition down the line. Being a rancher, it is one level and lends itself to that 'inside/outside' style of living. They are slowly acquiring mid century modern furniture pieces on craiglist and at garage sales when they come across them, But like any home it is a work in progress, and like all of us on a budget, a creative space that is always evolving based on the latest inspiration found on pintrest. What I love about this home is the amount of space, the flow of rooms and the playful quality of timeless pieces. And, the homeowner's are pretty damn rad. DIY-ers at the heart of it, with sweet pitter patter footprints of kiddies running wild. The way a home should be. 

The fam.

The house.

The entryway spot.

Milk delivery from a local farm.

The dreamy bathroom that opens onto the backyard. Bath+ fresh country air= bliss. 

Love the floor tiles and the stool- a recent garage sale find.

Mini kiddie table.

Retro kitchen green collection. For now the kitchen reno is a few years away. But I love that they took some of the shelve doors off to create these little vignettes. 

Kids art work around the house. Along with this sweet little interview. I love that her daughter thinks her mom is 21!

A plate collection as art. 

The master bedroom. 

The end.

aloe's web gets a refresh

It has been a long time in the works. Years of saying "we really need to update" and then one day, we finally got our act together and did it. We are really happy to have a refreshed new look at Aloe. The major changes were the copy- thanks to miss andrea at heavy petal. And then some graphic elements in services, and finally a more refined and selective portfolio. Just in time for our busy season. Head on over to aloe designs. Let us know what you think. Easy to navigate? Too much white space? Give it to us. We want the goods! Here's a few screen shots.

 

the genius that is gherry

Just spent a quick few days down in so cal with my lil lady lucie and my dad, visiting some fam and friends. It felt so good to have the sun on our backs and toes free from the constraints of woolly socks and boots. Although the trip was quick and not as chill as times past (15 month old + trying to walk + clingy mamasville = very little time to me self!) it was still so nice to get away.

We mainly just strolled through neighbourhoods in venice and santa monica, ate yummy meals (meyer lemons are in season!), and hung with fam. But we did get to one site that was breathtaking. Frank Gherry's Disney Concert Hall. Next time your in LA it's definitely worth a visit. And if you cant get there this documentary on him is also fascinating.

on the waterfront

South False Creek also known as the Olympic Village is one of my new favourite walking destinations. Not only does it have an amazing view of the city, the mountains and the water- it has a beautifully designed community center, some forward thinking architecture and some amazing park spaces... not to mention the commitment to building sustainably. Here are some shots of this cool hood about 15 mins from our door! Vancouver- on a sunny winter day you make me remember why we love in such a dynamic city.

antique-ing

So is anyone hooked on the show american pickers? K so there is no question about it. Simply put- they are serious dorks. But come on- so fun to watch all the great old finds that come their way in middle america farm land. In lieu of our current obsession with this show, I thought I would share with you some of our favourite places to go pickin or antique-ing round here.

GARAGE SALES:

or "sailin" (as our aunty c likes to call it) are really the ultimate best places to score old goods. The seller has no overhead, usually wants to get rid of the goods that day, bargaining is free rain, which = mega scores at a fraction of the cost. The key is to get there early, get in and out and move onto the next and if you come across an estate sale- you've hit the motherload. A little secret- the best g sales are south of the border. I go every time we visit our cousins in seattle, and blown away by the finds.

USED BUILDING SUPPLY STORES:

The best one near vancouver is Jacks Used Building Supply. We often check this out when doing a "salvage design" garden projects for clients who want some vintage feel to their landscape. Finding old sink basins for planters, old signage to conceal a sight line, and old farmhouse lighting for a patio space.

Another good salvage store is the Restore. These are nationwide, but the two week like best are in Bellingham and Ballard WA. The one in ballard has a friendly cat named Ferdinand and some crafty staff who arrange the vintage items with such pride.

 VINTAGE YARDS:

I dont even know if this is the right term. Maybe, self proclaimed "Horders". These are the peops you see on American Pickers. The sentimental folk, who have an insane collection of goods, claim to be open for business, but then when you try to offer them a price for an item, they hold onto it like they never had any intention to sell in the first place. And rightfully so. They are really just collectors who want to invite you in, tell you the stories of the yee old days and then let you be on your way. Bless them. Nevertheless, worth a stop, and if your lucky, you may get to buy some gem after all. Granny and Grumpas is the best known secret in the valley. If you have an afternoon, head out to this farm yard of vintage goodness. Grumpa is slow & grumpy and granny is pretty much 100% deaf. They yell and bicker at one another, but love the company. Its quite a treat.

These last few images are from a trip I took two summers ago with my dad to Cooperstown NYC. We came across this neat old town, just in the outskirts. Met this wild guy, who was a true american collector. He even gave me an old dairy bottle to take back as a momento for our time back east.That's my dad below, peaking to see if anyone is home?

nesting gets a rebrand

A long time coming, but we finally did it! With lots of great input and help we present " the new and improved nesting journal". Ok, so there are a few small kinks that we are still working out, but for the most part, done. Some really beautifully designed blogs that inspired us for change:

bloesom kids, bookhou, canelle et vanille, follow studio, poppytalk.

Below is an image of where the creative process began. For all our design projects we start at the inspiration board. Being the super duper magazine collector that I am we had loads of inspiration images to pull from.

It is always a fun journey to re-brand and so interesting being on the client end of things. We wanted to keep the site still feeling like a journal blog and less like a website blog (if that makes sense). The challenge was how to keep it simple, with lots of white space, slightly pastel and girlie but still fit into our overall business brand with aloe. Without getting too descriptive and design geeky I will say simply this: We love it!

Thanks to the new domestic for some creative stylin, the font king mr matt kilburn & the techy master chris smith at aloe designs. Nice work team. Without your crafty skills it wouldn't have happened.

Tell us what you think. What works, what doesn't. We'd love your feedback.

stylish blogger award recipient

A huge thanks to a new blogger friend in oz stilelement who selected us as one of 8 blogs to receive this award. I feel honoured especially as our posts have been so few and far between and nesting is currently going through a rebrand.

I dont quite know the origin of this award but here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who awarded you and link back
2. Share seven things about yourself
3. Award up to 10 stylish bloggers and contact them to let them know

7 Things About Me:

1. I miss sleeping in. In fact, I miss sleep in general... now that I am a mama.
2. I love spending hours in old bookstores. I love the smell of old pages and buying endless amounts of books that I probably don't need. Boooo to the kindle.
3. I am most defintely, undiniably a summer gal. Sunshine all day every day. I think I may be better suited to live in california.
4. Homelessness sends shivers to my core.
5. I love what I do for a living, but could handle winning the lottery and traveling a far.
6. I think my husband is super dreamy and my little girl is the cutest kid I have ever laid eyes on.
7. My dream is to one day have a house with a pool.

8 Stylish Blogs:

1. Pinecone Camp- a recent new friend in the hood who has mad foto skills.
2. Bookhou At Home- inspired by this husband and wife duo and what they manage to create.
3. A Day In the Country- ummm a bit envious of this life in the country. Not too mention missing goat jam with a cup of good tea makes my, sometimes rough, mornings just that much better.
4. Blosem Kids- euro style is just soo damn cool.
5. Poppytalk- awesome marketplace for all things handmade and local.
6. Shim & Sons- love the eternal white space and endless cute uber stylish crafty ideas for those with kiddies.
7. 3191- inspiring simple and elegant photography.
8. The Sartoralist- amazing street photography and keeps me on my toes for fashion stuff.

when work is fun

In lieu of all this rain, I thought I would go back to a time better known as summer! A time, when, for a week we got hired to put together a show suite for sale. Projects like this, although hours are often long, end up being so fun and satisfying. Mango Design contracted us to help outfit a penthouse at the new centro building- pulling together interior furnishings and an outdoor patio space. Although Aloe's focus is on exteriors it was great fun to work with Mango on the interior side of design too. The look was fresh, contemporary and westcoast. Our goal was to source as much locally or sustainably designed items as we could. So we supported some of our favourite local talents: Provide, Inform Interiors, Bacci, Atlast Pots, Southlands Nursery, Arleigh Wood, Gailan Ngan and Kermodi. The end product sold in a day. Thanks Mango for the fun creative job, heres hoping for some more of these!

living room

reading nook

 

office studio

 

wholly pillows from provide

bedroom nook

 

master bedroom

 

kitchen

 

dining nook

 

view from kitchen patio

 

kitchen patio

 

central courtyard patio

our studio

We thought we would share with you the fresh space that we work in. It took us a while to find a shared work studio, with our good pal Tanya at Mango Designs (wicked interior design company), but when we came across this gem, we jumped on it. Think dwell magazine meets the eeeeast syde. It has been over a year now, and we still love it. There is something undeniably good about loving the space you create in. Especially when you are in a creative discipline like design. We joke about the 'hood' and all its randomness, but now we feel part of the community, even if it is predominantly, well industrial. On glorious days like today, february- vancouver- winter, sitting with the door open, we bask in the sunshine. Visitors welcome and tea is always on at 3:00... most days.