Almost a year ago, we had a competition where proud Bemz-cover owners showed off their homes to compete for a shopping spree at Bemz. The competition, My home, my way also involved a panel of judges from among the world's best design and shelter blogs, one of whom was Leslie Webster.
Leslie has recently launched her own blog A Simple Life Afloat which chronicles her life / thoughts / whims / inspiration on and around her houseboat. Leslie was one of the founding members of Apartment Therapy San Francisco, a testament to the fact that she knows how to blog and she knows style!
Even if you don't have a houseboat, A Simple Life Afloat offers some beautiful and inspiring pictures. Well done Leslie!
Here is the second installment of "Judges' Choice", where the judges from the My home, my way: Bemz competition (now closed), let us know which of the over 100 entries published (!), they liked the most. This one is from Leslie, a founding editor of Apartment Therapy San Francisco, who has now moved onto pastures greener:
"...this was so tough!
For me, it's a tie: I really like Sofia Nilsson's green sofas -- the color's perfect for the light and airy living room. And I'm sure that Beate Terrier's cat is not the only one to appreciate her comfortable chair -- what a great, cozy reading area.
Thanks so much for allowing us to do Judges' Choices!"
It is us who are thankful Leslie, and well done to Sofia and Beate!
Following the success of the My home, my way: Bemz competition (now closed), we were talking about what worked and what we'd like to improve on for our next competition. One bit of feedback that we all agreed with was that the judges hands were a little too tied re: the final selection. There were a lot of really great entries and we'd like them to have a moment to shine too, so we asked the judges to let us know which, of the over 100 entries published (!), they liked the most.
"My personal favorite entry is Flore Vicaire’s customized sofa and pillows. I love that she made her own pillows, and they contrast so nicely with the pattern on the Bemz sofa cover. Overall the whole room is dreamy, and the Bemz sofas really provide the central inspiration for the whole look."
The judges have had a look at the three finalists' entries in the My home, my way: Bemz competition and thought that all three had done a lovely job. Here are a few excerpts:
Maria Paola Pineda of France was heralded for the dramatic improvement she made with a Bemz cover - from an old and tatty, rather unremarkable blue sofa to a stylish statement, jazzed up with colorful cushions.
Veronica Yngwe of Sweden was praised because "the color makes me smile, and I bet it's very cheerful during the cold, dark winter" and because "she dared to choose a strong color, perhaps easier to do when buying a replacement cover rather than a brand-new sofa."
But Linda Burbank of the USA brought it all home: "Love the picture and the way she managed to match the color in her painting on the wall with the furniture". "She used the color combinations so well that everything fit in perfectly well. It's a beautiful composition." "The gold is such a solid base for the other warm rich hues in her home. The floor, curtain and cabinet, seem to be differing shades of gold and that gives a level of depth to the composition. The striped cushion on the armchair is a really fine finishing touch. Love the cat too." "A great example of how to pick a color from the room - in a painting or a cushion - and by changing the chair covers pull the whole room together."
Linda has won the 5000 Swedish Crown shopping spree at Bemz. Happy Shopping Linda!
And to all the contestants who entered the My home, my way: Bemz competition, a great big THANK YOU for your beautiful pictures, for sharing your homes with us – you helped make our competition a real success.
Thank you to our wonderful judges for their input and expertise.
Through the power of votes, our readers choose which entry to the My home, my way: Bemz competition should win the monthly cushion covers. It's simple: the entry with the greatest number of votes in that month wins. With an impressive 2769 votes, Linda Burbank of the USA wins the cushion covers for March. Well done Linda!
I have already been in touch with Linda and passed on the good news. She was given two Lifestyle options from which to choose: the urban cool designer chic look of Downtown (one Josephine- Graphite Grey cover designed by famed Göta Trägårdh and one Jet Black cushion cover) or Archipelago's clean country air and open seas. Linda decided that the call of Spring was too good to resist and has chosen Archipelago's Stockholm Stripe- Cafe Latte paired with a contrasting yet complimentary Deep Navy Blue in Belgian Linen blend.
Linda is also one of the three finalists in our My home, my way: Bemz competition. The winner will be announced by the end of this week so watch this space.
Maria Paola Pineda of France won the monthly cushion cover set back in November 2008. She recently sent me a collection of pictures of her "new" sofa, now that her Bemz cover has arrived. The change is dramatic to say the least!
That's BEFORE!
And we are glad to see that Maria has put the cushion covers she won to good use (pictured right). There they are on her lovely leather armchair: one Static Stripe- Fuchsia cushion cover and one Real Red cushion cover - a colorful duo that work beautifully with her Unbleached Linen covers.
Maria, you've done a lovely job with your home! Thank you for sharing.
Get voting quick for the one you like most of these last entries to our My home, my way: Bemz competition! The competition ends tomorrow. After a real lull last week, we have suddenly had a dash for the finish line! I guess the reminder in our newsletter* that went out last week got people moving. *If you don't receive our newsletter but would like to, become a member at Bemz and you'll be included in the next send-out.
Jodi Brennan of Canada may be late out in entering the competition but once she set her mind to it she REALLY entered! Jodi sent in a slew of beautiful photos and numerous entries of which three have made it to It's a Cover Up.
The picture above is the first of those, and this is what Jodi had to say: Bemz helped make my home my way... By giving "me"...a slightly obsessive furniture maverick, the perfect outlet to showcase my compulsive need for change...I love, love, love, changing/rearranging my home and furniture... With Bemz I have a multitude of choices. My couch, shown here in a Bemz slipcover, is paired with cushions I made from your Bolster Striped-Eggshell Blue fabric. It all goes soooo nicely with the laid back feel of my other things... The blues, although not perfectly matched...blend together easily and make the couch look that much more comfortable. And with three kids and a naughty dog...comfort "almost" wins out over style...well almost... Thankfully I do not have to choose!
Second entry from Jodi Brennan of Canada: Bemz helped make my home my way by having the perfect beachy fabric (Bolster-Eggshell Blue) to cover my Jenny Lund chair. The fabric is laid back and adapts well to the many wet bathing-suited bottoms that sit upon it in summer weather....the colours go sooo well with the ones in my home...anything from sand to white to light blue... The chair now cozies up effortlessly, in any space or any room that I put it... Next to a white couch or a blue chair or a tan ottoman...it doesn't matter...it just "goes" with our decor, our lifestyle, our family!
And finally, entry number three from Jodi Brennan of Canada: Bemz helped make my home my way by being the "stylish glue" that holds my living room together...let me explain... by tossing some throw cushions made with Bemz fabric onto my non-Ikea sofa...and by covering the Ektorp chair beside it, in the same Classic Ruta-Eggshell Blue...I can bring a room "together" without it looking too matchy-matchy....savvy? Throw in a foot-stool in Bolster Stripe Eggshell Blue and the room becomes beautiful!! So no matter where I may move the furniture in my house (and there are numerous possibilities)...I can tie everything together and have "flow" by simply changing a slipcover and by recovering a couple of pillows! My family may not be able to sit down in the dark, without turning on a light first (to find out where the couch is now)...but the furniture sure looks good when they eventually find it!!!
Anja Weisscher of The Netherlands sent in this shot of her very busy sofa and a little ditty: Bemz helped make my home my way... By creating the perfect place to stay. Every night there is a fight who sits where. Our Bemz couch now has flair !!
These are just three of the many wonderful photos Anna Leonsson of Sweden sent in. Here's what she had to say: Bemz helped make my home my way ... Vi hoppas att Bemz ger oss en trebarnsfamilj möjlighet att få det vi drömmer om - ett nytt överdrag till vår soffa. Ända sedan vi köpte vår Karlanda-soffa har vi planerat att köpa en sommarklädsel till en varma, men mot bara ben stickiga, Ulltuna överdraget. Döm om vår förvåning när IKEA svarade att de inte sålde Karlanda modellen längre, dagen när vi väl bestämt oss!! Får man göra så, undrade jag upprört? Nja, det var förstås inte helt lyckat att modellen fanns med i det årets katalog, det höll kundtjänst med om. Den vänliga damen på IKEA informerade då om att det fanns dock en möjlighet till att köpa en mjuk sommarkostym till vår soffa... och så avslöjade hon att BEMZ fanns! I jämn följd har sedan våra barn anlänt, vilket skjutit upp inköpet. Nu känner vi oss dock mer än redo att införskaffa ett tvättbart överdrag som brunbenta sommarbarn med barfotafötter.
Roughly translated: Bemz helped make my home my way ... We hope that Bemz will give this family-of-five the opportunity to fulfill our dream - a new cover for our sofa. Ever since we bought our Karlanda sofa, we've wanted to buy a thin summer cover but warm enough for bare legs. When we finally decided to invest, imagine our surprise to find out IKEA no longer stocked the Karlanda range! Can you do that, I wondered outraged? Worse yet, they had forgotten to omit the model from that year's catalog. Fortunately, the friendly lady at IKEA informed us that there is one place we could buy a soft summer cover for our sofa... BEMZ! It's been one child after another since, which put the purchase off, but we now feel more than ready to get a washable cover in which our children's tanned legs and barefeet can curl up.
With only one week to until we see the end of our My home, my way: Bemz competition, entries are really dwindling. We still have a couple of hopefuls for this week. Vote for the one you like best and if you want to give the entries from previous weeks the once over and have your say, please click here.
Alice Castle sent in this photo of her children on their Fotö Footstool covered in Woven Whimsy- Cinnabar Red and said: Bemz helped me make my home, my way ....with this lovely cover for my Foto footstool. Unfortunately, our cat finds it irresistible, and has clawed it so badly I would now love to replace it!
And Thomas Harmon of the USA wrote in along with this photo of his Karlanda corner sofa in Chenille Graphite Grey: Bemz helped make my home my way by providing us with the ability to customize our favorite piece of furniture... our couch.
As this is the last month for entries to the My home, my way: Bemzcompetition, I've decided to jazz things up a bit vis-a-vis the monthly cushion cover prize. As is always the case, the entry that gets the most votes will win a set of cushion covers but rather than me pre-determining the prize I've decided that the winner can choose from two distinctly different, but both very current, styles.
The winner will get to decide if they want to go for the urban cool designer chic look of Downtown with one Josephine- Graphite Grey cover (pictured left) designed by famed Göta Trägårdh and one Jet Black cushion cover to help it hit home with attitude, or will they heed the onset of spring and succumb to the call of clean country air and the open seas with Archipelago's Stockholm Stripe- Cafe Latte paired with a contrasting yet complimentary Deep Navy Blue in Belgian Linen blend (pictured right). Either way, both sets are a winning combination of sophistication and style.
To see and vote on entries from the competition, please click here. To find out more about the competition and enter, please click here.
Our My home, my way: Bemz competition is really reaching it's end with only a couple of weeks to go. Help these latest entries along by voting for the one you like most below. If you want to vote on entries from previous weeks, please click here.
Anne May Abrahamsen of Norway sent in this photo and said: Bemz helped me make my home my way by having my beautiful white linen sofa!
And this from Kevin Coutu of the USA: Bemz helped make my home my way... By turning my couch from something I can live with into something I am in love with. From an eyesore with a swatch, to a cozy piece of comfort.
FellowAmerican, Linda Burbank, sent in this picture of her Jennylund armchair with a Bemz cover in Old Gold and wrote: Bemz helped make my home my way by giving me rich color choices at affordable prices.
Another entry from the USA, Ari Stern, sent in this shot and wrote: Bemz helped make my home my way ... by still making covers for my discontinued IKEA couches!
And our final entry for this week comes from Maria Israelsson of Sweden who states: Bemz hjälpte mig att göra mitt hem på mitt sätt genom att förverkliga en av mina vita drömmar! Istället för att köpa en ny soffa, kunde jag förvandla min nuvarande Ikea-soffa till en vit dröm med hjälp av ett överdrag från Bemz. Tack så mycket!
Roughly translated: Bemz helped make my home my way through the realization of one of my white dreams! With the help of a Bemz cover, I was able to turn my existing Ikea-sofa to into a white dream and avoid having to invest in a new one. Thank you very much!
(Btw, Maria has a blog dedicated to all things white called Hwita Drömmar {White Dreams} where you can see more photos of her sofa as well as lots of other beautiful things!)
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