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3.29.2012

Many Many Thanks!!

Recently Jenny Komeda of Little Green Notebook and Lewis & Sheron Fabrics teamed up to host a competition where the winner received a $100 credit towards fabric from Lewis & Sheron.

I was the super lucky winner you guys!!!  I was on a total high for days, and I wanted to send a big thank you out to Jenny and Sheron & Lewis Fabrics!!

I have spent almost a week perusing fabrics, and to be honest, I am stuck.  We have a ton of projects that need fabric, there are so many great choices, and I am totally torn.

Verandah or Bedroom?  Verandah or Bedroom?

Verandah


Start off right away with some light and breezy drapes, organic patterns are perfect! Bold and graphic trellis pattern for the banquet seating. Striped cushions for the banquet, bold lines and bright colours compliment the trellis.  Some fun and outrageous florals for the great vintage chairs with gold velour.
I can picture the whole thing put together already!

Or, Bedroom


Scandinavian inspired bird motif for the drapes.  Moving on to a trellis mixed with a light floral for chair upholstery and simple stripes for cushions for the chair.

The bedroom is really much more simple because we already have bedding, but the verandah holds a lot of serious potential for fun fabrics.

Decisions, decisions!

3.27.2012

Family Time

Lately, we have been making sure to spend lots of family time together on the weekends.  Just time to enjoy each other, to remind us of how much we love our little family of three (ok, ok, four including Brunswick).  Family walks and family suppers have been the big ones with the start of the spring farmer's market and the start of spring like weather.











3.22.2012

The small things

Lately I've been trying to relax a bit about life,  things aren't always easy and sometimes a whole lot of small things turn into a bunch of big things.

That was one of the best things about being on maternity leave, the ability to just sit back and relax.  I had time to really just live in the moment, and enjoy it all.  Time to cuddle with Anique on the sofa for nap, or bathtime fun, even just watching her for hours hoping to see some new and fabulous milestone.  

Being back at work (even from home) makes that kind of relaxation really hard.  You're tired, there are deadlines, clients aren't happy with their product, kiddo isn't sleeping, daycare wasn't as easy as you thought, so on and so on.  

The moment gets lost and muddled.

I realized that a couple of weeks ago.  The seas were getting rougher, the storm was building, and we all felt lost in the midst of it.  

Today I sat in the middle of my very messy kitchen and watched Anique explore, I just sat and enjoyed again.   I didn't just let the moment pass, I watched it pass and I enjoyed it pass.

I didn't worry about the dishes, or the toys, or the laundry, or the million diy projects cluttered around the house. Those can wait.

I'm going to make the effort to just enjoy more often, life is better that way.

This is one of the moments I really miss now.


3.21.2012

Dresser Redo - Part Two

It has been a long time coming, but finally one of the dressers is complete!  Mini YAY! In case you forgot what they looked like before our amazing transformation of awesomeness: Dresser Redo - Part One

Now while the dresser is done, the bedroom isn't, so it isn't quite in its natural habitat yet.  But give it time, and then we will have a full bedroom reveal!

Onto the photos!

Remember what I said about neon??

The old hardware stuck around... but with some lipstick.
As my husband stated "it definitely isn't the same dresser anymore."  Stay tuned for the upcoming tutorial and total bedroom revamp!

Also, who doesn't love a baby in sunglasses?

Super Fashion!

3.20.2012

Reclaiming Space

We all have one.  That one room in the house that is a total wasteland.  Full of odds and ends, junk and hand me downs.  The room of collection.

We all walk by that room and sigh.  We know that room could be something great.  But until it then, it stagnates.

My room greets me every time I leave my house, and every time I return to it.  It's the first room visitors see, and its an eyesore.  It's my veranda.

Bikes have taken over my veranda :(
An entire wall of windows going to waste.

The really sad part is that my veranda is awesome you guys!  It is probably the best space in my house during the spring and summer and right now it is just going to waste.

But there is hope, oh yes there is and it starts with two chairs.  I picked them up today and I am so happy!!!

I even love the gold velour!!!
The table my husband and "les boys" made in highschool.  One of my favourites!

So that is where my reclamation of my veranda begins.  With two chairs.  Soon, there will be drapes, a carpet and room for my kiddo to play while Marc and I read and drink tea... or whatever two grown adults are supposed to do on a veranda.  Board games perhaps?

What room is your reclamation room?  Where do you begin to turn it around into a space that you love?

3.19.2012

Weekend Fun

In between coats of paint, we spent some serious family time wandering around the park near our house.  With the weather being so fantastic lately its hard not to take advantage of the outdoors.

Visiting the beaver
Weekend me = bad hair + no makeup
I'm looking forward to many more wonderful weekends like this coming up very very soon!

Trending: Neon

If you have been looking around the internet lately, you've probably noticed that neon is back in a big way.  But not in a 1980's MWOOOOOAR NEON kind of way.  Neon has grown up ladies and gents.  Now, we see neon being paired with neutrals, whites, grays, taupes.
Neon Toe Shoes  ©  Green Wedding Shoes: Used under Creative Commons License  
And, as many of us know, what's big in fashion is also big in home decor.  Yes, neon is making its way into the home.  But, as with clothing, there is a right way and a wrong way to use neon.  Too much neon, and people are going to think that you wear your hair in a side pony and listen to Tiffany on your tape deck.

If you want to go bright, bright but are a bit wary of a lot of neon, use it as an accent.  Try to pair it with a more subdued colour palette throughout the rest of the room.  

Neon doors are so much fun!

Or if you are feeling more adventurous, play up your whole room and colour scheme around one or two bright neon, standout pieces.  

A dark colour scheme plays up the bright of the neon.
What do you think?  Would you have fun with neon in your home?




3.18.2012

Would you like some boar?

The perfect start to a DIY morning. Pretty sure the coffee mug says it all.

Local Wild Boar Back Bacon, Pumpkin Cottage Cheese Pancakes, Fresh Strawberries, Pears and an Americano. 

3.17.2012

Farmer's Market

Anique and I went for our first Farmer's Market shopping trip of the season today.  Its still slim pickings, but I'm sure it will pick up soon.  Got some fantastic local, organic basil and tomatoes.  Plus some really good local wild boar back bacon and sausage.

Mmmmm..... I love me some local goods.

Then we went and had a little mommy/daughter brunch at the Mercury Grill.  I wish I hadn't forgotten my camera.

I did get pictures of some sprouts we bought, Anique made sure to try the arugula out right away.  I don't think she appreciated the mouthful of dirt she got.

3.15.2012

Spring is on the way!

This week was the first week of opening our house to the warmish spring air!  I always love that first day, it seems to make the house so light.

Even with the mild winter that we have had this year, I always look forward to seeing the first blades of grass.  I think I am even more excited this year since Anique is now old enough to run around in the park!!



PS. Did you see my new living room chair in the first picture?  Once our dressers are finished and moved out of the living room, we will move our "new" chair in!

3.12.2012

Dresser Redo - Part One

In the past year that we have been in our house, we have done very, very little in most rooms.  Not because we don't want to, more because we have been focusing on other things in our lives.

Our bedroom though, has become a bit of a sticking point lately.  It's ugly.  Straight up ugly.  Brown, no real storage, awful blinds.  Did I mention ugly?

We have been slowly working on our room, putting together the puzzle pieces really.  We bought an amazing bed from EQ3 that we love, a platform upholstered bento bed.  We have a gorgeous bedspread for said bed.  But everything else is really lacking.  Especially the giant black wardrobe thingy that was in the room when we moved in, it works for storage, but its so ugly it hurts.

So, we recently went shopping for dressers.  The hope was to find a couple of thrift store dressers for a decent price that we could redo into something that we love.  

Our qualifications:
- Modern Lines
- Wood
- Under $200

After only a couple of hours of shopping at thrift and antique stores we found what we wanted!  Two late mid-century styled dressers, and for the low low price of $125 for the set!  The only drawback was that they were finished with arborite, probably 1970's or so.  

But, we fell in love anyway and picked up our new dressers a few days later!




We don't love the taupe and dark brown colour scheme and the brass handles are really starting to wear.  Also, much of the arborite is starting to yellow from years of hands touching the drawers.  So, this next weekend will bring a much needed update in the form of paint!

We are going to keep the dual colour scheme, because that is part of what makes these pieces so fantastic!

Keep checking in for updates!

3.10.2012

A Night In

Anique has been going to sleep relatively painlessly as of this last week, so Marc and I decided to open a bottle of ice wine we had been saving.

Henry of Pelham Cabernet Franc.  Overall, probably one of the best ice wines I have had in a long while.  It was sweet, full, and its a nice change from the traditional white ice wine.  Coupling the ice wine with a dark chocolate lava cake would have resulted in near perfection.

Sadly we were a little short on the lava cake.

It was a nice way to wind down our night, and just enjoy the company of each other.  It is something we don't do enough anymore.

3.06.2012

Jewelry, Jewelry, Jewelry

Here's the thing that I a lot of people probably don't know about me.  I own a lot of jewelry.  I may not wear it all that often, but its always there!  And for a long time it was taking up space here or there, 4 jewelry boxes scattered about my room.

Therein lies another problem.  Jewelry out of sight = jewelry out of mind.  I would never wear what I had because I would honestly forget what I had.

The solution?  A homemade DIY jewelry holder for my bedroom.  I had fallen in love with a DIY holder on pinterest that was really simple.  A board, some fabric and old cupboard handles.  It made the most fantastic holder.  But it wasn't quite me, yet.

You see, I love colour, and presently my room is devoid of it in so many ways.  This is phase 1 of mission "Fix the Bedroom".

Ingredients:

- Ugly, cheap, "shabby chic" picture frames.
- Spray Paint
- Fabric of choice
- Batting. (Either loose batting or sheet batting will suffice.  Sheet batting will be easier to get a consistent plushness).
- Glue Gun
- Spray adhesive


Serious Kudos to my cousin Janine who was fantastic and gave me those flamingo cabinet pulls years ago, I never had a cabinet or dresser to put them on for years.  But I think this is so much better!

Sadly I didn't take progress photos, I wasn't really thinking at the time.  Next time no such mistake will be made.

I chose 3 different frames to create a sort of gallery effect.  Also if I needed more space later I can always add another frame or two in.




Walking in a winter wonderland!

This winter has been a really wonderful one in Saskatchewan this year, but has sadly been lacking in snow for much of the season.  Then there are days like the one's we have been experiencing for the last week, days that are filled with soft puffy snowflakes that float slowly to the ground.  Yet, even those days have been amazingly warm, perfect weather for taking kidlet out on the sleigh for a joyride!

So. Much. Fun!!

We enjoyed a much too short weekend visiting my inlaws and some close friends.  We all had a great time taking Anique and Brunswick out to a nearby park.

One of the other big developments for Anique is her love of sitting like a big girl in her big girl chair,  I can't stop grinning just thinking about how proud of herself she was.

PS.  Look who's walking everywhere!!!  I have hardly seen a crawl in two weeks!




It's sunny out!

The swing was not a hit

3.04.2012

Year one synopsis

I have been so lucky to be able to spend the last year just enjoying my daughter, watching her grow and change. I had intended so many times before to start up a blog, but honestly I was never sure how or when.  So, I delayed and I delayed.

That may have been a good thing, mostly because it really gave me the time to enjoy my daughter instead of wanting to document it.

Now, my year at home is over, sort of.

Now we begin another interesting journey.  Our little kiddo has grown into a walking, talking toddler.  A far cry from who she once was.

Now I go back to work, starting my own architectural design business.

Now we start working on our house with concerted effort.

Now we begin our blog.

3.02.2012

The beginning

We started off small, just the two of us. Then came the house.  After that, the puppy.  Once the puppy became a dog, well then, then we had a baby.

It's been just over a year since that last chapter began, and its been a wonderful, amazing, and totally tiring joyride.  I spent the last year just living life and enjoying as much of it as I could.  Getting to know my husband better, not to mention getting to know the new little person that had entered our lives.  Everyday was a gift, though I didn't always see it like that through sleep blurred eyes.  That year went fast, faster than everyone said it would, and now I don't just have a husband, a dog and a baby.  I have a family.