Décor etc.: Candice Olson On INTIMATE GATHERINGS

Hi Girlfriends, "One of North America's most well-known interior designers, Candice Olson, studied interior design at Ryerson University in Toronto. She worked with some of Canada's top interior design firms before opening her own residential and commercial design practice, Candice Olson Design, 1994. In the Fall 2002, she made her television debut with Divine Design, which is now one of the top-rated shows on cable television."

Imagine the "Before" picture being your own home.......as you can see, sparse furnishings make this large combination Living Room and Dining Room unwelcoming.

Candice Olson: "THIS ROOM SHOULD HAVE BEEN PARTY CENTRAL....with generous space for conversation and dining, it easily could accommodate a large crowd. But the sparse furnishings and bland color scheme made it feel cavernous and stark. The goal here is to make this space live up to its potential, to be both grand and intimate.....and personal."

Candice Olson: "To establish intimacy, I started with the shell of the room: Out went the broadloom carpeting, and in its place we installed dark, prefinished hardwood flooring. To shrink the room visually, I chose a metallic-blue striated finish for the walls. Dark floors and dark walls accented by crisp white woodwork successfully evoke a formal look that also feels warm and inviting"

Gwen: I love the color scheme and it introduces a rich mix of chocolate brown, blue, bronze and teal.

Denise: The new fabrics play up the scheme very nicely too-!! From the luxurious bronze draperies at the windows to the two blue upholstered French dining chair with that deep bronze glaze on the wood frames is very refreshing.

Gwen: And, these fabrics repeat themselves on throw pillows in the living room. Plus, the dark oval cocktail table with a stylish pendant fixture hung low over the table draws the eye to the center of the conversational grouping too.