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Inside Design
CREATING THE PERFECT HOME INTERIOR
» Thursday 14 May 2009 | 5 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing ideas
and people in the Okanagan creative economy. Join us as five outstanding local interior designers and decorators from Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton discuss the origins and influences that define our unique Valley style for interior spaces and upcoming design and decor trends.
» $2 at the door. Refreshments are available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Experts Examine Contemporary Interior Design and Decor
How we dress the interiors of our residences in the Okanagan is determined by a combination of influences: unmatched natural surroundings, casual indoor-outdoor lifestyle, global and media input and our own personal tastes. Our inner spaces are also coloured by our economic times and the impetus to go green.
On Thursday, May 14th at 5 pm the ongoing weekly Okanagan Institute Express series at the Bohemian Café presents Inside Design: Creating the Perfect Home Interior. Join us as five outstanding local interior designers and decorators from Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton discuss the origins and influences that define our unique Valley style for interior spaces and upcoming design and decor trends. The moderator is Dona Sturmanis, editor and local homes journalist.
"Contemporary Okanagan interiors have really become more sophisticated and interesting in the last ten years," observes Sturmanis, "There is more light and use of natural, rustic materials."
  Tammi Berzins started Berzins Designs in 2004 with a passion to build her own design team. Carley Sawka came on board in 2007 and became partner in 2009. The Vernon-based Berzins Designs is in its fourth year of business providing Okanagan Valley developers, home owners and businesses with various design solutions. They recently travelled to Ottawa to audition for a new television program on the Women's Network.
"We are currently seeing a lot of glamorous and reflective pieces used in spaces from chrome to crystals. We have seen a lot of browns, neutrals and travertine," says Tammi.
 Graham T. Chambers was born in Vancouver, raised in Kelowna and has resided in Kelowna for the last 16 years. Chambers has watched the home interior preferences of Canadians change dramatically, having worked "hands on" in the residential home furnishing industry for over 25 years. Now the owner of his own Interior Design
business, he is also an artist, painter, glass sculptor and operates the Glass Sculpture Garden in the Mission districk of Kelowna.
Graham says, "The Okanagan is more than a place. It's the people who live there. Great interior design is about about blending those two things in perfect harmony,"
 Catherine MacArthur holds a bachelor's degree in Interior Design and a masters degree in Environmental Design (Planning). Her focus is both residential and commercial that ranges from custom furniture design to large multi-family residential and hospitality projects. Catherine has a strong interest in sustainable design practice and hopes to see a continuing awareness and demand for it in the Okanagan.
"I believe that contemporary design in the Okanagan is exemplified by simplified spaces, livability, attention to craft and detail and increasing regard for the environment." says Catherine, who is based in Penticton.
 Marnie Maclean has been in the Interior Design field for just over seven years. She studied Interior Design at the British COlumbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver and most recently ran a successful design partnership in Toronto. Birch West Interiors in Penticton is a full-service Interior Design and decorating company specializing in residential projects of all sizes.
Marnie says, "I find Okanagan interior design originates from nature ... and from the architectural details to the finishes and final touches is a true reflection of the Okanagan lifestyle."
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Inside Design: Creating the Perfect Home Interior takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 90th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007.
Express has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet and professor John Lent, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, community activist Don Elzer, dancer David LaHay, architect Jim Meiklejohn, culinary artist and writer Heidi Noble, broadcaster Marion Barschel and others from a wide range of creative fields.
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