Showing posts with label House and Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label House and Home. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

A new beginning

I can't believe how long it has been since I've been here.  There have been so many changes, both good and bad, up and down, but all that matters is that we have come up on top and couldn't be happier! 

Spring has arrived yet I think Mother Nature needs a little nudge in the right direction.  It still feels like winter with snow flurries here and there.

I bought some flowers the other day.  I couldn't resist.  The first flowers that I have brought into our new home.

Yes, we moved!

It all happened quite suddenly but it was one of the best decisions we ever made.  We love our new life, our new neighbourhood, our new house.

I believe everything happens for a reason and this was meant to be.

Much love!

Happy Spring!

A beautiful drawing by Bella




Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Oh Alvine Kottar Ikea curtains, where art thou?

I finally found the perfect curtains for our master bedroom, or so I thought.

I got my happy dance on and was all ready to jump in the car and drive to Ikea with my start the car commercial excitement, the windows wide open and my woot woot holla'rin. I felt like that girl from the Ikea sales commercial:



then I find out...

IKEA HAS DISCONTINED THEM!

If anyone knows where I can find four Alvine Kottar curtain panels or if you have seen similar ones somewhere I'll dance and sing and shower you with joy. Um, ok, maybe my dancing and singing might take away from the joy part but I would be very grateful and thank you very much!

[Alvine Kottar curtains from Ikea]



Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Master Bedroom Mood Board

Our master bedroom is in desperate need of some freshening up. Every time I walk in the room a want to yawn, and not because it's bedtime. The room is just so ho hum. I've been looking through magazines, browsing blogs, Googling and wandering stores for ideas.

The previous owners painted almost the entire house in Hillsborough Beige by Benjamin Moore. I say almost because the bathrooms were painted another Benjamin Moore colour that I can't remember the name of at the moment. While the paint in the bathrooms is a nice colour, it's a colour that doesn't work with the fixtures except the white toilet and the white pedestal sink in the powder room. Not quite sure what they were thinking? It was actually one of the things the previous owners pointed out in a you might want to think about changing the bathroom paint colour conversations. One day we'll re-paint the entire house, including the bathrooms, but for now I'm going to work with Mr. Hillsborough because I don't mind the tone all that much. It's one of those goes with pretty much everything sort of colours.

[Hillsborough Beige by Benjamin Moore]

I've always wanted a chandelier for some added sparkle. I think it makes a room feel grand and elegant. It is the master bedroom after all. I'd also like to incorporate some of the gazillion family photos I've taken over the years. And colour! Not hello, look at me! colour but some variation to add a bit of depth because, as you can see, everything is very beige, beige, beige [yes, there is a bed sitting in the middle of the room just in case you missed it next to the beige wall, on the beige carpet, under that beige duvet].

Here's what our bedroom looks like at the moment...


The dresser was my grandmother's [there's another one beside the door to our room that houses the tv]. I remember telling my mom when I was in my early teens to never get rid of my grandmother's dark wood furniture, and she didn't. The dresser [along with the rest of my grandmother's pieces] is well loved and that's just the way I like it.


See that picnic looking basket to the left of the bedside table?


It's been there since the day we moved in because I didn't know what else to do with it. It has been the catch-all for my clothes. I was curious to see if there was anything in this basket and I found a few pregnancy magazines. My youngest was four years old this past February. To the recycling bin they go.

Remember these curtains? I never did hang them in Bella's room. I didn't think an all white curtain looked quite right in the space, and so back they went. I still love the pinched pattern look they have and so I've been coveting the duvet cover from the same collection.

And on to the mood board. It's still a work in progress but it's coming together. I found some pillows at Bouclair [I can't seem to find them on their website] in black, beige and brown to break up the white duvet and pull everything together. Hopefully I'll make my vision come alive sooner than later.

1. Ribba picture frames from Ikea 2. Akira Duvet from Bouclair
3. Heritage Aged Iron Chandelier from Home Depot
4. globe curtain rod from Google images 5. Haiku Curtains from Bouclair

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Springing Into Action

There's something about Spring that gets me giddy. My body feels lifted. I start feeling refreshed. I feel like I have a bit more energy. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Last week I got the itch to bust open my gardening books. I started looking through my magazines dreaming of rich soil, green grass and colourful plants. I bought some flowers for the little desk by the front door to help out with my urge to garden.



Spring cleaning was in full effect!

I cleaned out and organized under the laundry room and kitchen sinks.

[It's amazing how much stuff is really in there once you start to pull it all out]


[that's better!]




I purged and tidied up Luke's closet.



I bought a new organizer for the shower (it's amazing how a $7 bucket from Solutions can change your life!).



While I was at Ikea last week, I bought a basket for the bar I installed in the laundry room last year to help with the countertop clutter.



Things were moving right along. I was getting stuff accomplished! And then, BAM! Today, this happened...



Yes, it snowed even though WINTER IS OFFICIALLY OVER! Cold, wet, icky snow. And it's still snowing!

So, for now I'll drink my tea, get lost in my gardening mags and dream of the gardening days to come!

[my front garden ~ 2010]


How has your first week of Spring been?

Friday, November 26, 2010

Holiday Window Shopping: HomeSense


It's that time of year again -- HomeSense is twinkling with beautiful things for the holidays!

After a quick stop into Starbucks for my Peppermint Misto, I took a moment for myself and wandered the aisles of HomeSense. I felt a sense of calm surrounded by the beauty of all that glows during the holiday season. They truly have some wonderful and unique decor for great prices.

Here are a few things I came across...



[add a little bling to your tree with these beautiful ornaments]



[add these sparkling trees to a mantle or group them together on a table as a centrepiece]

[welcome your guests with holiday table decor]

Read more about my HomeSense finds here, here, here, here and here.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

'Tis The Season

The kids are in the family room watching The Last Airbender with their friends. I'm sitting in the living room with a glass of wine while I admire my new poinsettia. I was able to put up a few decorations outside today before the chill from the wind set in. As I glance out the window, I can see the lovely glow from the lights twinkling outside in the background.


I still need to buy some inserts for the planters outside -- hopefully I can find something tomorrow.

The poinsettia was only $19.99 at Costco for a huge plant! I'm thinking of going back to grab one more for the family room. I love that they add a little shake of sparkle to dress the plant up a bit.


Even though it's chilly outside, there's something about the glow from the Christmas lights and the sparkling holiday decorations that make me feel all warm inside.

Have you started to decorate for the holidays?

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Words To Live By

I saw this wall sign and my heart instantly lit up with happiness. Words to live by! If only I had a free wall to add it to.

[from the Etsy store Signs Of Vintage]

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Freshening Up A Bedroom

Looking at Bella's bedroom one day, I decided it needed a little help -- a little rearranging and something to add a splash of colour to the room. The double bed, a hand-me-down from my grandmother, had been pushed up against the wall for long enough (she'll learn not to roll off both sides of the bed, right?). It was time for a change.

I noticed in a Bouclair flyer a few weeks ago that a Kids Collection would be coming out soon. I showed Bella her options of what could be her new bedding and daringly let my three year old pick which one she liked best.

Here are the results of a Bouclair bedding make-over. Bella and I had so much fun putting it together!

Thanks Bouclair for bringing some colour to my little girl's room!

I strolled through Bouclair and came home with this:



And ended up with this:



I had this green lamp leftover from Lucas' baby room so when Bella came into our lives, I decided to add a little sparkle, and a little pink:



I've always wanted a chandelier in a bedroom or bathroom. Bella's room was the perfect place to add a little something special to dress up the ceiling. I found this chandelier at Canadian Tire on sale for $49.99:



Who says art has to be expensive? I bought these frames from HomeSense for $10 each. I found some pictures of roses from my garden and made some prints. Voila!:



One summer, Lucas and I decided to have some fun taking silly pictures of ourselves. I framed the pictures and they now hang in the hallway upstairs. Last year, Bella and I had our own silly fun:



This Ikea Smadal bookcase was the perfect addition to house Bella's collection of books and accessories:



I've been thinking for awhile now what to put above Bella's bed, when I came across these - wall stickers. And at $12.99, who could pass up this deal! It was really simple to apply the flowers to the wall, just peel and stick. They are easy to remove too:








One happy girl!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Boo! Halloween 2010

Halloween was quite the event this year!

Lucas really got into the excitement of ghouls and goblins, even requesting the house be decked out in scary decorations. I've never been big on Halloween decorating but I seem to be getting more and more into it as well (oh, Dollarama, how I love thee). The things we do for our kids! He also discovered if you hit the townhomes, you can cover more homes faster. Oh Lucas!

This was the first year Bella made a costume request -- Hannah Montana, of course. I knew one day we would have the best of both worlds.

And I got to wear my wedding dress princess costume again.

Hope everyone else had a spooktacular Halloween!




Friday, October 22, 2010

Wall Bling

Recently, the question, "What do you have on your walls?" came up. We don't have much wall space in our house as it's fairly open concept, but I've managed to fill most of the wall space we do have.

What do you have on your walls?