Lunch with Candice Olson-HGTV

Candice Olsen came to the Grand Rapids, Home and Garden Show as guest of Standale Interiors.  I bought a ticket to hear her speak, but I was also selected to have lunch with her after the presentation.

It was so much fun!

I am a big fan (but who isn't) of Candice Olsen and I love to watch her show Divine Desgin  and Design Star on HGTV

 Design Star is a competition for HGTV wantabees  to get their own show. My favorite part is the "white box challenge". Each of them gets their own white box space, with a few basic white pieces of furniture and $500.00 to spend at a local store. I love it because it is so fair, they all have exactly the same tools to work with and to see what they come up with (or don't) is just amazing!

 (Candice told me she is not participating as a judge this year, and they are taping right now for this summer show.)
 I can hardly wait!

The event started with a very informative 1 hour presentation, packed full of her best ideas. She was very easy to listen too and sometime really funny.

PS: I am wearing my Azuli Skye  necklace I bought from Holly Phillips- love it!

Like, Candice I am from Canada, it was great to hear a few eh's. (For those of you who do not know, Canadian's love to end their sentence with.... eh? No too sure why but they all do it!)

A nice lunch was  provided by Standale Interiors    Standale Interiors  carry her line of furniture,  Candice Olson Furniture Design by Norwalk Furniture).

 At lunch, Candice was so sweet, very warm and friendly. She went from table to table "speed dating" style and took time to have her picture taken and talk to everyone.

This event inspired me to give you a couple of my design tips:)

I call this my idea/love it book! For years  I have kept pictures of room, spaces and colors I that I love. Sometimes, I know exactly why I like the space, sometimes it is harder for me to define but I keep the picture anyway.  It REALLY helps you to identify what you like.

It can be an interesting  exercise to take some time and go through the book....you will discover your design style.

My second tips is paint chips. There is SO much you can do with them. ( I have to give credit, my mum is the queen of using paint chips for home decorating)

I carry my little notebook with all my household colors in it. That way when you come across a fun item or are doing some serious shopping you will know if it is the right color to match your space.

(We have all bought what we thought was the PERFECT  color match, only to get home and it is so WRONG!)

 It was a great day.  I think everyone, (including me) was ready to go home and design something!