I met Vanessa Sicotte a few months after becoming
addicted to Damask & Dentelle, one
of Québec's leading design blogs, which she launched in 2009. When Vanessa entered
the gallery where I work, she whipped out her iPhone and said “Let me tweet
that I’m here!” It was love at first tweet.
Once in a while, I have the
pleasure of meeting people like Vanessa, who are passionate, driven and extremely
generous with their time and knowledge. I am pleased to say that since our
first encounter, she has become host of Canal Vie’s Sauvez les Meubles, a television show which encourages viewers to
reuse and recycle when renovating or decorating their home. Read my interview
with the interior designer to find out her tips of the trade and which colour
she predicts you won’t want to live without.
What inspired you to create Damask
& Dentelle?
I got inspired to create D&D back in 2008 when I
was only a blogger writing about my décor boutiques “Coups de Coeur”. The
company came later after I saw a need for information in the industry. Damask & Dentelle's website was
launched in October 2009 and is now recognized as one of Québec’s leading
design blogs and web directory with a devoted following. As the curator of the
site I am also a design blogger and trend observer. I created Damask & Dentelle as a way to reach
out and share finds of Québec’s design boutiques, artisans and professionals to
the consumers as well as people from the design industry.
You recently started hosting Sauvez
les meubles at Canal Vie. Tell us more about this project:
Sauvez les Meubles is a new TV show airing since September,
on Québec’s Canal Vie. Its concept is adorable (hey I am a little biased)! My mandate is to decorate a room in a
couple’s home using their existing vintage furniture, hand-me-downs from family
members and thrift finds… all for less than $500. I try to suggest as many cool
DIY ideas as I can to give people the most bang for their buck and so far we’ve
had some awesome reveals.
Reduce, reuse, recycle! Check out some ideas by
clicking HERE.
Many new homeowners feel
overwhelmed when purchasing a house. What is the first thing they should focus
on?
With square footage at its peak rate in the city, one
must find creative ways to maximize storage and function without neglecting
style.
Think vertical. A great example of that is to extend your kitchen
cabinets to the ceiling to store pots and pans that you seldom use.
Mirror effect. Mirrors have a way to refract light and make a room
appear larger. I use them a lot in small places as a way to give rooms sparkle
and glamour.
Go ghost or go big. Visual clutter can really hinder a room’s
proportions. In order to counter that effect I either make great use of
translucent surfaces like Lucite and glass, or I simply use fewer but larger
pieces to furnish the room. There is nothing worse than seeing a tiny living
room with a slew of tiny spindly chair legs everywhere.
Make a statement. I am a firm believer that small rooms are the
perfect place for statements such as bold wall coverings or moody paint
colours. Since the area to cover is small, the print will not be overbearing
and yet it will give the tiny mudroom or powder room a lot of flair &
personality.
Are there any new trends that
you are excited to tell us about?
I am very much into neon right now. Maybe I was too
young to really enjoy it the first time around, but I seem to be binging on
highlighter colours. Another trend in which I am heading head first, is Kelly
Green (I actually would go as far as to say that it will be THE colour of the
year in 2013). It is a vibrant, fresh and crisp shade of green. It can be made
to nautical, preppy, eclectic or classic, and best of all… all greens go well
together. No trouble here trying to match shades of green.
Check out how Vanessa suggests you decorate with green
by clicking HERE.
What are some of the common
mistakes made by homeowners?
Not trusting their instincts and buying everything at
once, from the same place. It is better to have a void in the room than to pack
it up with things that are just fillers. The perfect piece of furniture will
eventually find its way and fill that void as if it belonged there. Also, I
often recommend to people to be mindful of the craftsmanship and provenance of
the products they buy. Cheap (and I don’t mean inexpensive here) will always be
just that… cheap.
What is a typical day like?
It starts early and often ends very late. My son calls
me before 6am every morning and then the hustle bustle begins. I usually get to
work around 8:30 and check all of my social media accounts as I rely a lot on
social media for my business. On most days I will visit a store or two and
squeeze some appointments with clients in the middle. The early evenings are
spent with the kids and then work starts again after they go to sleep. I
started my own business for the liberty it would give me, but I have to admit,
I have never worked so much in my life. Luckily, I absolutely LOVE what I do so
it makes it all better.
Name your top three songs:
Tom’s Dinner
Karma Chameleon
And Anything Ben Harper
