Uncle Chris's Loft

It's my last 'unofficial' day at work.  Today has been filled with me emailing all of my clients, running around and feeling a bit sad but very excited.  It's so strange to think that after next Wednesday morning I will be done work for a year.  Next week I'll only work a few hours in the morning Monday through Wednesday to train the new hire.  It will be strange to say the least...

I promised you pictures of the items we purchased for my Uncle Chris' loft.  We went to CasaLife in liberty village and went nuts.  He's a typical man - shop at one store for everything!  I have at least convinced him to look elsewhere for a rug and lighting.  :)  Hopefully I'll be able to help with those purchases before JB arrives. 

We debated about this mirror for behind the sofa, facing the windows or for the front entrance.  Haven't purchased it yet but I think it would look great in the loft.  It comes in various sizes - taller or wider. 

This sofa was purchased. 

As well as this coffee table but in a different size.  We went with a longer skinner version. 

Since my uncle hopes to sell his loft in the next year or two we decided not to put the tv on the wall but attach it to this lovely contraption.  We'll also be able to hide his speakers and iTV within the cupboards because each window comes with either the glass or mesh which looks great and is highly functional. 

The desk and chair were purchased.  We may go back for the table lamp because I love it's sleek masculine design. 

We bought two of these mirrors.  Love them!

Next week will be much easier to post.  I will have the afternoons to catch up on all the blogs I love and miss and to research my own posts.  We'll also have the baby's room almost complete.  The chair and glider have arrived.  Woo hoo!!  Now we wait for baby JB to arrive in 4 weeks.  :)

Have a great weekend.  xo

Client Project Update

It's another insane day at work.  Seriously, aren't I supposed to be slowling down and not picking up speed before maternity leave???  Luckily I love being busy and it makes the time fly by. 

On Sunday Paula and I shopped fabric samples for her living room.  We were looking for drapery and pillows.  We came away from InVu Drapery with a large selection of gorgeous fabrics.  Below is what we narrowed the selection down to.

This is the one we are going with.  The large sample will be the drapes.  The smaller samples are for pillows. 

This was another option that was seriously being considered but we like #1 more. 

This is the fabric for a large bench that will be placed in front of their fireplace.  I don't have a picture of the bench anymore.  It would fit about 6 people sitting on it back to back.  Great for entertaining!  It looks much less brown in person.

Next steps:

• Order the drapes and pillows which will take about 6-8 weeks (just like everything in Toronto)
• Find and purchase end tables
• Find and purchase cabinet
• Art work - this is in progress. 
• Accessorize
• Purchase tall plants for near the window

We hope to have this room completely purchased for by the time Jelly Bean arrives.  Then it will just be a matter of putting it all together. 

Back to work for me.  I was supposed to go to an event store opening tonight but it looks like I'll be working instead.  Boo! :(

Decor Progress at P&J's House

Morning readers!  It's another grey day in Toronto.  I think we're all going to go nuts if we don't see the sun soon.  So to cheer us up I thought I would let you in on the progress we are making at my friends P&J's house.  We are working on the decor of the family (tv) room, living room, dining room and master bedroom.  It's a big project and it's going very well! 

The family room is almost complete.  Here is a selection of what has been purchased.  All we have left to do is organize and arrange the shelving units and add accessories. 

This isn't the exact sectional but it's very similar.  Picture it without the lounge chair. 

Crate & Barrel

Urban Barn

Urban Barn

Pottery Barn

Elte

Pottery Barn

Crate & Barrel

Urban Barn

Pottery Barn

What do you think so far?  We haven't determined the accent colours but now that I see the red throw I think that could be a great idea.  I can't wait to take pictures of the finished project and share them with you.

Have a great day!! xo

Weekend Recap and Client Project Update

Good morning!!  Skip ahead if you prefer to see pictures instead of hearing about my weekend and ramblings...

Thank you to everyone who sent me such sweet and thoughtful messages after my bad day at the office on Thursday.  I'm happy to say that management realized their mistake.  They did not give us the full commission but agreed to at least half.  The reasoning makes sense.  It's the route they should have taken in the first place but that would have involved thinking ahead and sometimes that just doesn't seem possible for certain people.  It's frustrating that we had to go through the hassle and how dissapointing it was to hear they were renegging on what they originally agreed to.  However, I realize that mistakes are made and not done on purpose.  There have been changes made for next fiscal that I think will help end some of the problems.  I have no intensions of looking for work else where.  I've put in a lot of time and effort to back away now.  Not to mention there are some benefits to working where I do and I really like most of my colleagues.  We are a small office that acts like a family most of the time.  It can cause issues because of the lack of formality but it also makes most of us feel very comfortable at work and allows us to say what's on our mind (good or bad).  Now, that's done and it's a new week.  Time to start fresh. 

I had a wonderful weekend.  Friday was a bit of a write-off after taking an allergy pill that made me feel way too medicated to do anything.  I've decided I can't take them anymore.  They make me feel light-headed and empty inside.  It's a horrible feeling.  My colleagues were making fun of me all afternoon because I could barely function.

Ryan was off on Saturday.  We met up with my mom (in town for 24 hours) and sister Meg for a bit of shopping and lunch.  It was Ryan's lucky day!  I bought him a sweet looking watch for our anniversary and a blackberry and Lulu Lemon jacket for his birthday.  After that it was time for me and the house.  We wandered around 6th floor of The Bay at Queen & Yonge.  I was very impressed with the furniture selections from Gluckstein and a few other designers.  I will do a recap of it as soon as we figure out how to take the pics off of Ryan's blackberry.

In the meantime, I want to share my shopping trip with Paula (the friend who's house I'm decorating).  We had a blast at Elte yetserday! I told Paula that if I ever were locked in the store overnight it would be the best night of my life (apart from other momentous events in my life).  I would slide into every cozy bed and have a little snuggle in all the Sferra sheets, then I would sit on every sofa and chair while analyzing and cataloging all contents of the store in my brain.  (How crazy do I sound right now?) 

Below is the Lillian August sofa and chair we picked out for the living room.  As soon as Paula saw them she fell in love.  We had a lot of fun picking out the fabric.  In the end we went with the fabric that is on the sofa and chair and picked different fabric for the pillows. 

My camera does not do justice to the fabric for each pillow.  It's stunning in person. 

This is the fabric on the chairs.

That's all for now folks.  Have a great day!! xo

Restoration Hardware Disappoints!

A few weeks ago my client and I purchased two gorgeous glass table lamps for her bedside tables.  We loved them!!  They were the perfect size and just gorgeous in the room.  Last weekend I was checking out our progress and noticed a HUGE flaw in the lamps.  The cord comes out the top of the base.  It just hangs out the back.  It looked absolutely HORRIBLE!!  I couldn't recommend she keep them. 

Look how gorgeous they are here.  This is what I wanted. 

This is what we got instead.  Notice the cord hanging out the back of the lamp on the left?  It's only slightly noticeable in this picture.  In person against the paint in her room it looks ridiculously obvious!!  RH what are you thinking?  I understand what you were going for with the look of the clear solid glass but please understand that a cord dangling out the back looks much worse then running it through the centre of the base. 

Luckily we saw a few gorgeous lamps at ELTE.  I can't wait to go back.  :) 

Has anyone else noticed and been irritated by this lamp detail?

Shopping in the US is so much cheaper than in Canada!

Happy Monday!! 

I cannot believe the weekend is over.  This mornings alarm went off to early.  It was cruel and unexpected.  :(  The weekend was great!  I took it easy with Ryan on Friday.  Saturday I shopped all day long with Paula & Jory for their home.  We hit up the very busy Designer Fabrics.  Sarah didn't grace us with her presence but we did come away with very good fabric options for their tufted headboard.  After refueling at Starbucks (seriously, what would I do without that place?!?!) I discovered my new FAVOURITE HOME STORE, ELTE.  As soon as I walked in the doors my heart beat soared.  I was in heaven.  :)  We fell for a coach.  Unfortunately it doesn't come in fabric that works with the already painted living room.  Yes, we are working a bit backwards.  I came into the picture after the paint was selected. 

Ok... I'm terrible at weekend recap or any story for that matter.  I go into way too many details and don't know where to stop.  So, I'm going to just get to the point of my post.  While shopping at ELTE we spotted the most gorgeous chandelier ever!!  Paula and I loved it.  The price we did not love.  Lucky for us it was featured in Cococozy post this morning.  Layla Grace in California sells it for $300 less than ELTE.  I absolutely love when I find a better deal in the US than in Toronto!!  (Can you sense my sarcasm???)  Why does everything in Canada cost so much more than the US?  Our taxes destroy our deals.  I sounds pist off but I'm honestly ecastatic that I found the Arteriors Home Shell Chandelier for a better price.  We can have it delivered to my Aunts house in Virgina and she can bring it up at Christmas.  Autn Karen, how does that sound?

Have a great day!!