Full of thanks

This post was supposed to be written last week, in preparation for Thanksgiving, but life throws you curve balls that interfere with plans. And that was precisely the point I was going to make. It's how we deal with those curve balls that matter. I'm one of those -- an optimist, through and through. :) I can't help it. I think it stems from my teen years, which I've mentioned a bit on this blog.

Full of thanks

This post was supposed to be written last week, in preparation for Thanksgiving, but life throws you curve balls that interfere with plans. And that was precisely the point I was going to make. It's how we deal with those curve balls that matter.I'm one of those -- an optimist, through and through. :) I can't help it. I think it stems from my teen years, which I've mentioned a bit on this blog. I

A Christmas mantel, au naturale

I’m so glad you all loved the mantel inspiration photos! I was so inspired by the natural looks and all the “fluff” – I think it worked for our mantel as well. I spent much of today messing around and having fun with it. I’m so pleased with the final result, I hope you love it too! I started with natural looking pics of greenery from Big Lots – I used three at $3 each. I just laid one on each

Mama Needed

On Friday son #3 was in an ATV accident. He broke his left femur and his right tibia. Yes, that's right, two broken legs. We feel incredibly blessed that it wasn't worse! He's doing well but he needs his mama for the next few days so I'll be taking a blog break. Hope to see you soon.

Vintage Subway Signs

While sourcing large scale art for a client's family room, I came across these reproductions of New York subway signs from the early 20th century from Restoration Hardware. The original signs available online or at antique stores would add vintage charm and graphic appeal, especially if you lived near one of the streets/stations.


Restoration Hardware


Style at Home


via Desire to Inspire

Martha Stewart

Martha Angus

A Backsplash of Colour

As a follow-up to my previous post, here are some kitchens with colourful subway tiles. In contrast to neutral and classic white/off-white subway tiles, these tiles are the showstoppers of the kitchen.


Style at Home


Suzanne Kasler

House to Home

Metropolitan Home

Christmas mantels

Hello there! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a lovely day with scrumptious food – all made by moi thankyouverymuch. I done good folks. I don’t cook often, but when I do, it’s pretty darn great. (YES, you heard right Dad, I DO cook.)  :) I’m getting closer with the Christmas decor – not sure it’s going to happen by Monday, but I’m having fun with it, and that’s what matters

Keeping it Simple...Subway Tile Backsplashes

Subway tile backsplashes provide a finishing detail to a kitchen that is clean, crisp and always current. While flipping through a few old kitchen design magazines (prior t0 recycling them), I noticed that the kitchens that still looked current today were the ones that had simple, white/off-white subway tile backsplashes. Kitchens with square ceramic tile backsplashes or intricate tile details with various tiles looked dated and so 2000 and late. Below are some images to inspire you.


Living etc.

House to Home

Domino

via Decorno

House Beautiful

House Beautiful

House Beautiful

House Beautiful

Canadian House and Home

BHG

BHG

Family Room Inspiration

The room that I'm asked to decorate the most is the family room as it is the most lived-in room in the house. Here are some inspirational images from the House Beautiful site.

Winter Foyer

Style at Home

Doesn't this foyer just say winter to you? It wouldn't

feel right in the Spring, Summer or Fall. The natural

elements (winter blooms, branches, reeds) add seasonal

rustic charm. Love that door colour too. I'm not really a

faux antler or animal print kind of girl but they work with

the earthy vibe in this vignette.

Ever Grateful

At this time of Thanksgiving I want you to know that

I am ever grateful for YOU!!!
I am truly honored to be a part of your day.
Thank You!

Our holiday porch

I’ve always loved my tried and true Christmas decorating for our front porch and yard – it’s simple and elegant. (I told you how I do it back on this post.) But this year I was feeling like it needed a bit more fun…I think it’s because our son is getting older and becoming more and more obsessed with Christmas -- just like Momma. ;)So I wanted to make it a little more whimsical and

Really Thankful

Things are crazy busy here with family and the holiday but I want you to know that I care about you. I hope you don't mind a little re-post from last year. It's a quick little craft that you can make for Thanksgiving or modify it for Christmas.

I thought it might be fun to make a little sign of the season, a visual reminder of what we need to be thinking. I started with little manilla tags and then added strips of fall colored scrapbook paper to the bottom. I wanted an aged look, so I took out my craft stain and rubbed it around the edges. (You professional scrapbookers would have probably used a different product.) When I was finished, I didn't really like the look. Luckily, the stain is water based so I gently rubbed a wet towel over the entire tag to even out the stain. Now I had the aged look I was after. You could probably achieve this same look by staining the tags with tea or coffee, if you have it.
(The left side is the "after" look) I added some self adhesive scrapbook letters. I couldn't find any in black, so I bought some blue ones and spray painted them before taking them off the page. At this point, I could have used ribbon to string all the tags together to make a cute banner, but I had other plans.

I cut a piece of 6" wide wood and a piece of trim molding to the length I needed. I painted the wood black and the trim red. Once dry, I did a second coat of the opposite colors. Then I sanded both pieces to reveal the original paint. I glued the trim molding onto the wood and then used painters tape to make a straight edge for placing the tags. I adhered the tags using spray adhesive. For the final touch I nailed furniture tacks into the tag holes.

The finished sign looks like this:

Wall Art - two little birds

Isnt this just so beautiful???

Vineeta has many talents... from writing to cooking... to now this lovely wall art. I beleive its her first attempt at painting on the wall...

The room looks dreamy and beautiful... So warm and full of love... I thought the two little birds looked amazing.... What do you think??

Saturday Plans

Last Saturday we drove to a friend's beautiful, newly purchased, cabin in nearby state.

They hired us to build a mantle for the fireplace. (photographed with previous owners items)

I designed a mantle that would make the fireplace more of a focal point, something that would have a "wow" factor.

Hubby and I had a lot of fun! This was our first commissioned build and we couldn't have asked for better clients. We worked from early morning until late evening to get it done. It looks a bit odd right now, but imagine how stunning it will be with a huge black chunky framed mirror hanging in the middle surrounded by over-sized chunky candle holders or urns filled with beautiful red branches.

Sarah's House....For Sale

If you loved the home that designer Sarah Richardson bought and renovated in Season 1 of Sarah's House, it can be yours for $1.269 million. It's for sale again and is located in the Rosedale area of Toronto. The new homeowners can purchase all of the furniture and accessories for an additional price. Below are some photos from her website and the listing. (I removed the link to the listing as the house is now sold.)