Houzz.com

I just discovered a cool little website loaded with pictures of homes and interior decor.  Check out Houzz.  Very cool!

Also, for all you Canadiens, Restoration Hardware is offering an extra 10% discount on purchases made Canada Day.  Have fun shopping!!

xo

What to do???

Hi dear readers. Are you still there? If so, I apologize for the lack of posts due to a serious lack of inspiration. The last month has been intense for us! There is a lot going on at work and personally. I also need to confess that with the move and all the expenses of it decorating my house seems like a daunting and expensive task. I feel like there is just so much to do but I haven't had the energy to get started. And where do I get started? Which room do I focus on? At this point I'm not sure it's just one room since I need to furnish more than just one room. I also don't want to disappoint you. I feel like there is a big expectation of me. I know I can put together a beautiful room I'm just not sure it will be as fast as everyone might hope (including me).  I also need to watch how much money I spend on items.  It's adding up very quickly!  I think I might have put this pressure on myself.  I have spent the last year pouring over magazines, researching designers and reading many wonderful blogs on design.  Each of them has given me so many ideas.  Ideas that would cost a lot of money!  I have stopped looking online over the last month in order to get back in my own head and budget.  :)  Sometimes the inspiring photos on blogs and magazines cause too many high expectations.  It's the same when you look at skinny air-brushed models on magazines and actors on TV and the big screen.  Most of the time it's unobtainable.  We need to find an element that we like and make it ours.  Easier said than done. 

At the moment, I'm trying to find various pieces for the house and pick out paint. I've made progress in purchasing a dresser for our master. I opted against purchasing the matching bedside tables at this point. I think the room will look too cramped for this and I like the look of different pieces speaking to one another in a room. It adds character. No idea when I'll find the right bedside tables but it will happen in time. We have also hired a painter to coat the hallway, stairway and upstairs hallway in a beautiful BM colour that I have yet to pick out. Haha! My lunch hour will be spent at the paint store today.

Here is the dresser. It's from GH Johnson. The floor model is completely beat up. Don't judge it's scratches because I'll be getting a fresh one. :)

I rambled on... If you're still reading, bless you! xo

Grasscloth Wall Paper

Oh how I love grasscloth wallpaper!  It adds such warmth to a room yet is very sophisticated.  Love!

Look at all the awesome clours it comes in.  I like these because they aren't too bright.  How fun would it  be to have a gold powder room?

Grey or Gray?

What's the difference between grey and gray?  I've read that 'grey' has more of a yellow undertone and 'gray' has more of a pink undertone.  The difference could just be British vs. American.  I'm not sure.  Either way, it's the colour I'm planning on using in our bedroom to cozy it up.  The room is large.  The largest bedroom I've ever had! :)

I'm loving these rooms.  Especially grey paired with gold!  Hopefully we'll test colours on the wall soon.  The room that needs to be painted the most though is the kitchen.  The colour is horrible!  One step at a time, right?

All images from Decorpad

I'm back to work today.  It was a very busy day.  Luckily my accounts are very active at the moment.  Fingers crossed that this will turn into sales! :)  

What I Plan on Doing with the House...

Morning! It's raining here in Toronto.  I had planned to go downtown but I think with this rain it would be crazy.  People can't drive in the rain.  The traffic is always INSANE!  So instead I'm going to watch movies and visit the closest HomeSense.  


This is what I want to do with my stairs (minus the bird gallery because I'm scared of birds!). I'm talking about the white risers and railings.  Do you think it will look good in my place?  The picture of my stairs is in yesterdays post.  

I would like to paint our master bedroom walls gray.  Either a darker one like this room or...

Virginia McDonald

or a lighter gray...

And I would love to wallpaper the powder room in a grass cloth like this one.  Gorgeoud colour!

Jamie Drake

Pictures of Our New House

Yesterday ended up being a rough day for me.  I didn't feel well.  All better today! :)  So without further adieu here are a few shots of our new house.  We haven't done a thing except for move in and clean.  I'm shopping for furniture today.  Wish me luck!

I love the kitchen!  Can you believe that even with all this cupboard space I still don't have enough!  Our china is still in the boxes and we don't have room for the wine glasses (more specifically they don't fit in any of the cupboards and in order to adjust the shelves we have to take the doors off! Major pain in the butt!).  We HATE the glow stick light fixture.  I'm trying to find a stainless steel range hood that won't cost us a fortune.

The blinds are faux bamboo.  HIDEOUS!!! They will be replaced with drapes at some point.  I've mapped out a table on the floor with tape.

This is the view from the dining area of the kitchen.  The living room is the most complicated room.  The only set up that works is putting a sofa in front of the window and placing two chairs across from it.  The ottoman will not be staying.  I'll purchase a square or very large round ottoman or coffee table.

This is the view from the hallway.  Do you like what I did with the place? HAHA!  Thank goodness for fold up Canadian Tire chairs.  Otherwise we would be sitting on the floor or sharing the chair I still need to recover.

This is the ugly hallway.  It's full of stuff and is the worst shade of yellow.  I don't know what the last owners were thinking!

I was thinking of painting the risers white.  What do you think?  My real estate agent thinks it's better to leave it.

Ah, our master suite with the king size bed.  We LOVE!  Lot's of decorating to do and purchasing of furniture but we'll get there slowly.

And finally the linen closet.  I love this closet!  In our rental everything was kept in boxes or bins.

I'm on holiday this week.  Today I plan on heading downtown for a little furniture shopping (or a lot) and then I have a pedicure.  Life is good!  Have a great day!

xo

I'm back!

Hello!  Thank you for staying with me over the last few weeks while I packed up our rental, moved in with the in-laws and then moved into our first house.  It has been a very crazy time for Ryan and I.  We moved out of the rental May 31st.  The 10 days with my in-laws went faster than we anticipated.  I think I spent most of the time driving to and from work.  Some days would take me over 2 hours to get home!!  I thought I would die from the drive by the last day.  It was very annoying.  The drive from our new house is not as bad.  It will seem like a breeze compared to the last two weeks.

We moved into our new house last Wednesday.  I have been off work since then to settle us in, clean and pick out paint colours.  We had one painter come in and quote us on the living room, kitchen, front hallway, stairway and upstairs hallway.  The quote: $2,300!!!  Too expensive for these first time home owners.  I'm going to have them quote just the hallway as it has a double height ceiling and is a bit complicated for us.  We can handle the rest of the house on our own room by room.

Do you think my quote is a little high for 900 square feet?  If you're in Toronto please recommend painters.

I'm sure your dying to see the house, once Ryan returns from work with the camera I can download the photos and show you (late this afternoon).  I need to shop for a lot of furniture starting this week.  We need living room furniture as we sold our previous furniture from the rental, a dresser and bedside tables for the master suite and a dining table to go with the cain back dining chairs I bought from Craig's List.  I'm also dying to put in a garden out front and build the fence out back.  Luckily our neighbors want to build the fence as well which saves us from doing it alone.  Yeah!!! :)

For now, I will leave you with this gorgeous open and sunny living room.  I love the blue lamp and the cain back sofas!

Have a great day!! xo
 

VACATION

Hello my loyal readers.  I'm sorry for posting so little in the last month.  Life has been turned upside down with the move, work got crazy and personally I'm exhausted.  We move into the new house tomorrow.  I'm going to take this week off and then I'll be back next week with pictures of our house and other posts with a lot of juicy photos. 

Thanks for sticking with me.  xo

Miele S2 Launch Event

I was lucky enough to receive an invite to the very exclusive launch of Miele's S2 Vacuum launch at Royal Conservatory. Dr. Markus Miele himself was there to introduce the product. I briefly chatted with him before his speech. He is a very quiet and reserved man on a mission to offer consumers high quality products. He's very involved in the design, power and function. Miele (pronounce it like there is an 'a' a the end - rhymes with Sheila) has been a family owned business for 111 years. They have always stood for one thing, Immer Besser. Forever Better.


All of their current vacuum models were on display for us to test out. S2 joins a long line of high end vacuums with exceptional suction. The S2 is 19 inches long, and very lightweight, weighing in at just over 12 pounds with all accessories and attachments. It's ideal for rugs, carpets, drapes or hard floors. It's also guaranteed to trap 99.9% of dust particles. How do you like that for clean?! Did I mention the ergonomic handle and that it starts under $400? With those two facts and the S2's light weight make vacuuming much easier for a 5' 2'' girl like me. I love the white one pictured below.

Personally I was in awe of the event! I stood next to so many VIP designers such as Samantha Pynn from HGTV and the House & Home editor Suzanne Dimma and staff. I felt very privileged and very shy all of a sudden. Honestly, for a new home owner this was perfect timing. I can't wait to test out the S2 when it is delivered (they were so kind in offering me one). Thanks Kelly & Miele!

You can find yours at Sears or any Miele store. 

Luxurious Chairs with a lot of choice

I know I've been M.I.A since last week. The weekend was busy with family events, packing and spending some time in bed since I got sick. Moving out went well. Ryan and his buddy Josh did most of the heavy lifting while I took out the small, lighter objects (pillows... haha!). We started at 9am and finished by 11am. The day ended by relaxing at the in-laws. It's very peaceful where they live. I hate the hour and a half commute home but love the peace and quiet up there. It's a nice transition to the new house.  

Since I've been busy with life I haven't had much of an opportunity to sit at the computer and browse for inspiration. I received an email from Serena & Lily this morning reminding me of their awesome furniture and thought it was the perfect post. They have one of the best selections of fun fabrics and quality furniture. You simply choose the style of seat (chair, ottoman, bench), pick out the fabric from a variety of modern and classic swatches and then choose the finishing’s and watch it come to life on their online store. It's so much fun to dream up different designs.

I'll be back tomorrow with a recap on the launch party for Miele's newest vacuum that I attended last week.  It was awesome! 

Have a great day! xo