My studio is usually a mishmash of fabric and projects and things to do and well, if we’re being honest, a tumbleweed or two of thread. And that’s always prevented me from putting anything on my studio floor – rugs collect thread like nobody’s business.

But my feet. They are cold! So this studio around I decided to treat myself to a Flor rug I’ve been keeping an eye on for ages. It’s made of 100% recycled fibers and feels like fuzzy felt. No pile means no collecting thread bits! So far it’s one of my favourite purchases for the new place.

flor dots make this entire process extremely easy. just stick them to a corner and go!

setup and layout. it’s worth noting that you’re actually supposed to move the furniture OUT of the way.

work in progress.

finished product! ignore the horrendous ikea stool. it’s being replaced shortly by one of these. MUCH NICER.

Since we’ve moved to montreal, we’ve had lots and lots of guests. And most of those guests sleep in our guest bed, which until now, has been a tried& true IKEA futon monster that can be comfy when we add enough layers, but is about 100 miles from stylish.

After yesterday’s move, I dutifully set it up again in anticipation of our next visitors, and of course, its daily use as my “sit around with a laptop and my coffee” sofa, and…

…

I couldn’t do it. I HATE that futon.

So I sold it instead  (kijiji in this city is like magic).

But now I need a new sofabed slash office sofa. And it’s down to two major contenders – unless something else comes along. And I can’t decide. This is where you come in – what do YOU think?

This one:

or this one:

Other suggestions? Ideas? We have sworn off IKEA as a house rule. The only criteria are:

• easily convertible
• no wider than 80″
• no wider than 37″ when in seated position
• at least 47″ wide when used as a bed

The 2010-2011 brochure (cover), originally uploaded by nac-cna.

My working world before the NAC was virtually paperless. Three years ago, my proud marketing moments would have been related to email campaigns, website launches, new product awards, giant tradeshow booths.

I would never have guessed that my latest proud moments would involve yanking packing tape off of box tops to inhale the sickly-sweet smell of straight-from-the-press brochures, having conversations with subscribers who keep the annual catalog as a coffee table book, or making happy the musician who just can’t believe that a photo of themselves could be so lovely. But now I have many. Including this one, my very last.

Hello, 10-11 NAC Orchestra season. I hope you are a great one.

(For the print junkies: 56-pages, bilingual tumble, bonus front cover flap, and more fact-checking than one might care to think about).

[Photo: Dwayne Brown; Fantastic Design Ideas, Execution and Keeping Me Sane: Banfield Seguin]