First Impressions

I was meeting with a client recently about a new home they are building and I was discussing my philosophy of the importance in creating an environment that nurtures and supports the needs and lifestyles of the occupants. There is so much more than meets the eye when designing a home. I am reminded by what I was taught by my feng shui instructor and mentor Grandmaster Professor Thomas Lin Yun: �when you enter a space it takes your body and psyche tens seconds to adjust to the space � either in a negative or a positive way.� Our homes are living and dynamic vessels that either optimally support us, or support us in a diminished capacity. Is your home all it can be?

Photo: Patricia Gray Inc; Artwork: Martha Sturdy, Tom Burrows; Photography: Roger Brooks

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm in Vancouver. Here we write about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 � Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog�

A Perfect White Geranium

To my delight and surprise this morning I found this last perfect white geranium in my garden as the nights are turning cold and crisp and we are rapidly approaching winter. It is hardy and pure.

HOMEFRONT

In pursuit of happy endings��..

I have been published this month in http://www.patriciagrayinc.com/docs/Homefront-Patricia-Gray.pdf magazine. Thank-you to Homefront�s Editor-in-Chief, Caroline Tapp-McDougall and writer, Lindsay Jackson.

Photos courtesy Natasha Duff of Meade Design Group

Click on the PDF icon to read the whole article.

5 iPad Apps for Interior Design

I got a new iPad this summer as a gift from dear clients on the completion of their home and it has changed my life and the way I do business. No longer do I have to carry around my laptop � the iPad does every thing for me and more when I am out of the office that I used to bring my laptop for. With some clever apps I have a virtual box in my hands. These are some of the iPad Apps I am using that are proving to be indispensable:

1. Dropbox is a service that lets you bring all your photos, documents, and videos with you. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad. With the Dropbox app you can take everything that matters to you on the go. It is very easy to use � you just drag the file you want to transfer into the Dropbox folder on your computer and it almost instantly shows up on your iPad. Magic! You can share folders on line by giving others access by email. I have used it recently to transfer photos and drawings to a client and my contractor. It saves sending numerous emails and you can send high resolution images seamlessly.

2. Evernote turns your iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life. From notes to ideas to snapshots to recordings, you put it all into Evernote and it instantly synchronizes between all your devices � iPad, iPhone and Mac or Windows desktop. No more having to plug your devices into each other.

3. iBooks is an Apple app that comes on your iPad. You can read books on it much like Kindle, but what I really use it for in business is downloading PDF documents such as CAD drawings, specifications, manuals etc. What makes the iPad so unique is that you can enlarge just the areas you want to see by dragging your fingers over the screen � it works like a magnifying glass. I recently downloaded the PDF of my camera & lens manual and it is now always with me.

4. Flipboard was named Apple�s iPad app of the year and rightly so. It is a fast, beautiful way to flip through the news, photos, videos and updates on social media sites. It is now my preferred way of bookmaking and browsing my favourite websites.

5. Microsoft Tag lets you instantly connect to a whole new world of information. there is not need to type long URLs, you simply scan the Tag. Microsoft Tag multicolored barcodes transform traditional marketing, such as print advertising, packaging, LDC displays etc. into live links that immediately access info, videos, and other material online.

*Best of all Dropbox, Evernote, iBooks, Flipboard and Microsoft Tag are all free iPad Apps
Check out my Post on 5 iPhone Apps for Interior Design

Please let me know what iPad Apps you have found helpful by leaving a comment here.

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm in Vancouver writing about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 � Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog�

Interior Design Russia

Well I have just been published in Interior Design magazine in Russia. We really live in a global world and it is exciting to be so connected by the internet, blogging, Facebook, Twitter and all the new and evolving forms of social media. For those of you who don�t read Russian I have included a translation to English at the bottom of this article. Click on the PDF icon. You can read the magazine here. It is very interesting to see what the design trends are in that part of the world. I think that they are very contemporary and �cutting edge.� My article starts on Page 90. Let me know what you think.