Category Archives: Decor
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Friday Finds: Garden Guilt
3May 24, 2013 by Amie M
A couple weeks ago I caved. On a supply mission to Canadian Tire, I picked up a small flat of pansies, potting soil and compost. I got to work on the front beds at our apartment. They were looking really sad, and I wanted to do some yard work on the lovely days we were having. Out went the weeds, and in went the pansies, all nicely planted into their oases of compost.
But that’s all I’m doing for the apartment. I have to make sure I don’t buy anymore plants or plant my usual vegetables out there. It’s hard, man! Really hard.
As hard as it is to stop gardening where we are now, it’s just as easy to dream about our to be yard at the house. But the part that sucks about getting it the first week of July is we won’t be able to have a vegetable garden, or do much yard work before the wedding week/end comes crashing upon our house.
But I can dream.
First things first, we will need a lawn mower. Our yard isn’t big, so a reel mower will do. I’ve cashed in all of my Aeroplan miles for Home Hardware gift cards. That will make lawn mower and small purchases much easier when we get the place.
Then I can dream about patio furniture. Paul and I both like the resin wicker sets we’ve seen in a few places. This one is from IKEA.
There is already a clothesline at the house, but I’m picture other things to hang. Like a hammock.
For the garden, when I can eventually get around to it, I plan on getting most vegetable seeds from Cubits. And labelling their location with these awesome plant stakes. The garden will be in raised beds, and done square foot style, à la Karen. But I promised Paul not to take over the front yard with a vegetable garden. He’s worried kids and neighbours might steal our tomatoes.
We also have for other areas of the yard, like rain barrels, fence up-keep, a cherry tree, and tearing down the eyesore of a giant garage.
These are just little things to help me keep dreaming of the big picture.
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House Colour Palette
2May 14, 2013 by Amie M
Paul and I have been in house planning mode. One thing we are very keen on is painting. The current owner is on a beige kick, and that will go! We would share the photos of the house from the listing, but feel it is important to maintain the current owner’s privacy.
We are also aware that our decision to paint the original wood trim will spark a lot of gasps. But once we move in and we show you what the trim is like, you will see why we want to paint it all. There are large knicks, cracks, and messy patching jobs in the high traffic areas. And the look we are going for is much more crisp and calm throughout. The colours we have chosen are all by Behr. And Home Depot is having a sale on Behr paint this week. We may just have to hit that up for the colours we are absolutely sure about.
As you enter our house (eek! our house!), the pale blue with a touch of purple hallway is very inviting. With trim in frost and eventually chair rail and wainscoting we are going for a traditional look. We want to go a little more saturated in the Living Room and Dining Room. A teal and a green will warm things up, but they are still light enough to not suck in all the light. The muted green in the kitchen will warm up the white cabinets and work well with the butcherblock counters we are planning.
The Sonata blue downstairs hallway will carry up the stairwell and into the upstairs hallway. The master bedroom will be a calm neutral grey, well accentuated with white bedding and whatever strikes us for colour pops. Paul wants a moody, musical room where his instruments are going to be the standouts. I want a cheerful craft room, a place where my yarn and fabric stashes can be on display. The bathroom currently has black and white floor tiles, a little aqua will calm the space down.
But one of the first things we are going to do to make the house ours, aside from clean, is paint the front door and put up new house numbers. We are picturing a deep teal, warm and following the colour scheme inside. Eventually we might put shutters up in the same shade.
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Friday Finds: A Colourful Winter Week
Leave a commentMarch 1, 2013 by Amie M
I’ve been away. Life. You know the drill. Paul and I are busy with some life moments and wedding preparations. More when things come along further.
This week we have seen snow upon snow upon snow. With little melting periods in between. Being a pedestrian sucks in those melty bits. Anyone who is close to me knows I abhor people who complain about winter when they live in an area with a very obvious winter. I love winter. I love the crisp white landscapes, nose hairs freezing as I walk to the bus, an evening walk outside as the snow is gently falling. I can’t stand people who complain about the cold or snow, as if it doesn’t get cold and snow every year at this time.
I guess I miss how Tobans embrace the winter, and use as a measure of strength. Heck, I used to wear mini skirts to high school, in heels, in -25C. And drive a truck with no heat to school.
I also love how winter inspires me to nest and dream in my house, to start thinking of ways to make the inside a colourful retreat from the stark outdoors, or make me want to wear more colours. It also makes me want to share in more moments of laughter and love with the people in my life.
Sherry and John of Young House Love released their line of Benjamin Moore paint colours today. And oh my, I am in love with a lot of them! In true $herdog and John style, all the colours work well with each other, making it easy to pick a wall colour and go with any of the others for accents. I am picturing a Crisp Linen kitchen, cabinets and walls, with Artichoke Hearts and Balsam accessories. Or a Whisper bathroom, with Calypso Blue and Hearthstone accents.
I am in love with these shoes. But these ones may be better.
And this price for two colourful Pyrex dishes isn’t too bad. Scratch that, I am guilty of willing to pay almost anything for good colourful Pyrex. Do you like Pyrex? I love Pyrex. And milk glass. And depression glass. And old silver.
I know most people may have already seen this. Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscar interview. Please watch the full video, not the shortened ones, as the full one actually has an intelligent question being asked of her. Why is it most female actors are asked about their hair, make-up, peaking, and tripping, but never about the content of the movies they are in, or about the impact their work can make. The first question in this video is fantastic, and J-Law’s answer is spot on. The interview’s intelligence (from the media side) goes down from there. But her quick wit and dry responses help her keep above where the media is trying to pull her down to.
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Friday Finds – July 20, 2012
1July 20, 2012 by Amie M
I’ve been on a fabric kick lately. There are really some gorgeous ones out there that are begging to made into something fantastic.
This pomegranate would be lovely when done boldly as upholstery for boudoir chair. Or something with less of a visual draw in a table tray as the backing. I love the tropical feel to this print. It shines a happiness light in your face, I think it’s called the sun?
I’ve been considering venturing into the realm of big people garment sewing. You know upscaling the baby dresses I recently made. And there is a Sew-Along (or two) for a lovely dress by Colette Patterns. Macaron is a two fabric lovely, and this fabric is a contender for the body of the dress. I’m leaning towards a pale blue or a cream for the second colour.
In imagining a quilt for a certain baby in my life, I came across this lovely fabric line. Oops-A-Daisy by Keiki for Moda is adorable, not too childlike, and just a little bit of precious.
Or I can always up the cute, and purchase the line of Storyboek by Birch Organics. I love the little windmills, and the teeny fishies. Definitely not too girlie, yet still wonderfully soft.I have some plans on the go, don’t I? I wonder when I will get to them! After that t-word is done I should make a dent in the little ideas floating around upstairs.
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Machu Picchu in Our Living Room
1July 17, 2012 by Amie M
We’ve been dragging our butts like dogs with worms, as Dad would say. We have been back from our wonderful Peruvian adventure (we really did that?) for coming on 3 months now. There are still some loose ends to take care to further encase our time in the Andes in our memories, and our home.
We shopped around for a good deal on printing Paul’s best shot of Machu Picchu, and finally pulled the trigger on getting it. Simply Color Lab is who we went with, and we got an amazing deal. Your first order is 50% off, and they have insanely low shipping rates. So for regular 217$, we got a humongous canvas print for 108.
And this thing is huge. Coming in at a whopping 2′ x 3′, it dwarfs our old Kinkakuji photo that was on the mantle before.
It is a jawdropper. All our friends who have visited since we hung this bad boy up (which was a hot half a minute after it showed up) have stared at it, mouths agape. My response has been “Yep, I take good photos, don’t I?”**Disclaimer: I did not take this photo. All the awesome photos I publish are really Paul’s. Seriously, they are. The lower quality, shakey ones are me. Unless Paul is in it, then I probably took that one, too, under careful supervision of using his camera.
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