The Difference

Some people spread joy.

Real true joy.

I hear from you every time I post.

Yesterday I got a comment from Mr Goodwill Hunting.

One of my diy heros!

He complimented a diy I did - WHA?? Did that actually happen?

Thank you for making my day :)

Today, however, I had to deal with an issue that has been dragged on for far to long,

and it was finally resolved, but not without me losing my cool.

I'm trying very hard not to be bitter, because

and I've learned

My father worked at his grocery store seven days a week his entire life

(giving away as much food to people who needed it as he sold, 

money was really never high up on the priority list).

I respect him so much for the way he has lived his life, 

and he taught us to

and that

But most of all, really, who can put energy into holding a grudge when the world is so full of this

all images via pinterest

x








(thank you for listening, we will be back to gratuitous interior eye candy next post, promise :)

lightening love

Have you been to Anthro in the past few days?

They've lost the paper header, and sharpened up their graphics.

A little less shabby vintage and little more graphic.

I feel like the return to eighties edge is upon us.

Case in point, these one-of-a-kind quilts by Fred Shand,

(on sale now for just $750.00!!)

that have that perfect anthro balance of kitsch, artistry and 80's vintage.

Ever since I first saw them I've been dreaming of the bedroom I would put one in,

particularly this one...

it would work quite nicely with the anthro campaign bed that they style it up on,

but what else?

Perhaps a shagreen wallpaper, 

a lush overdyed carpet,

hits of black,

and a wee bit of sparkle and shine?

carpet walls

art art art art art

fabric fabric

Armchairs

Sputnik

Lightening Love.

Simplicity loves Energetic Color

Right now I am completely obsessed

 with neutral spaces that use saturated color in clever and uncommon ways,

and if this home by Kay Douglas doesn't qualify, I don't know what does.

Revelling in the contrast of fabrics, finishes and accessories chosen with such restraint-

and then bursts of joyful color, splashed about with abandon.

(Thank you, Verdigris Vie, for sharing this one - I don't usually pick up a copy of Veranda,

but perhaps it's time to start!) 

Amazing how the lack of pattern and accessories can balance out the intense energy of these hues, isn't it?

Makes me want to put away half the bits and bobs around my own place!

Hope you all had a happy thanksgiving here in the north -

we survived two days of hosting huge dinners, 

(23 lbs of raast beef, two turkeys, two spiral hams, potatoes, yams, brussel sprouts,...  you get the idea!!)

and had such a fantastic weekend visiting with our families.

Topped it all off with a fall boat ride yesterday, 

touring our muskoka coastlines and admiring the gorgeous fall colors.

It left me glowing, truly, and very grateful for all that we are blessed with.

Weekends like that are what it's all about....xo

the easiest diy art....

I promised you a post about the DIY art we made for Natasha's room,

and here it is :)

This is so incredibly simple, and you can customize it to any color scheme.

Supplies:

two canvasses (dollar store)

 neon paint (dollar store)

leftover paint from around the house

low-tack tape

ruler, black sharpie

The fast one:

First I taped off the triangle piece....

paint and remove tape....

after an hour these shapes were dry enough to repeat the process with the next layer.

Done :)

Told you it was simple, lol!

There are two really important steps to ensure crisp paint lines:

be SURE your tape is adhered well before painting to prevent bleeding, 

and remove the tape right after painting, to avoid pulling off half-dried paint later.

Second painting took a bit longer, because there is more detail and more layering...

First tape off the stripes that you want across the front,

then tape off the back layer.

Paint the back stripes, skipping some.

Remove tape and let dry.

Re-tape additional back stripes, and remove tape.

Now, if you are painting a color on the front stripes,

 wait til all the stripes dry,

then tape the front ones off  (tape on the outside of the stripe) and paint.

(sorry about the color of the pics, it was late afternoon when I started and dark when I finished!)

This is where I cheated a little!

I wasn't particularly careful with my taping and the edges were pretty rough, 

but I knew that I was going to do this last step, and they wouldn't show.

I was painting the top layer black, so I just filled in the centre of the stripes and let it all dry together.

Once it dried, I got out a sharpie and a ruler, 

and edged all my black portions and in between the colors.

(not that I'm OCD, but imperfect edges bug me...

but I'm really not type a.... well, maybe just a little!)

I added a few extra stripes in here as well...

Then we hung them, and added a quick little "take a smile" bit in between...

this is a joke between Tash and I, we're always trying to get each other to smile.

 If you'd like one just print this off..

That's it!

Kinda makes you want to try one, right?

If you do, please send me pics and I'll post them ...

We have back-to-back thanksgiving dinners this saturday and sunday -

and they're both at our house!!

21 on saturday, 17 on sunday...

needless to say I won't be blogging :)

See you monday!

Hope you all get to spend the weekend with the people you love - x

Miss N's room: the reveal

If you read monday's post,

you know we've just finished Miss N's room.

This what we started with....

you can read more about that here.

It all began with a brilliant azure box Natasha found while we were out shopping one day.

She decided on a blue and white scheme.

Since she has a very dark grey leather chair, and LARGE tv in there, I suggested hits of black as well.

Done.

We (that means I, lol) painted the black walls white -

used Behr paint plus primer in Falling Snow, for the first coat.

It covered incredibly well, but the color was far too warm for a west facing room,

and the range of whites is really limited with this brand (are you listening, Behr?!!).

So, we layered 2 coats of Martha's pure white 

(no tint, straight out of the can - how's that for easy?!!) on top.

That's it, three coats, not too painful after all...

If you are looking for brilliant white walls, this is your paint -

the result was a very bright, slightly clinical space.

We color matched the box into a behr ultra base, as well.

(it's close to Brilliant Sea 520B-6)

This would do for the old cork board we planned to rescue from storage,

the existing mirror she used over her dresser, and a new long wall mirror.

We painted out a wire branch sculpture for an art/jewellry display....

Now, the palette was dynamic, 

but it needed warmth, and no ordinary canary or watermelon would do -

 so enter the fluorescents!

Yup, fluorescents.

Tash's idea :)

She's only this age once, why not let her have a little fun?

We upgraded a vintage dress form, and painted out some frames and canvasses

(I'll post more about the DIY art process tomorrow - SUPER easy)

Would you like to see how it all came together?

the view from the door...

Miss N headquarters - which is NEVER this tidy :)

We added a little zebra to the newly painted bulletin board -

looks like it's painted on, but it's actually a really heavy wrapping paper, shh, don't tell...

Ikea frames - 3 for $5.

With this price point and arrangement,

she can add to this wall whenever she likes.

Rocks and crystals.

It's a fascination, and she finds them EVERYWHERE :)

We corralled the largest and prettiest into lucite trays for display.

The bed.

Dressed with a new duvet and pillows (perfect for a constant "texter").

Framed out with our DIY art and a funny little printout that has sentimental value.

Are you wondering where all the teen "stuff" is?

Well, the dresser holds heaps of bits and bobs...

but what about the umpteen posters?

One is waiting to be hung behind the door...

and the rest live here....

Let's just keep those closed, shall we?!

That's it, the big reveal...

hope you like it, 

Miss N is over the moon, and that will do for me - x

Miss N's room...a dummy project :)

Way back when I posted about Tasha's room...

it had black walls (previous owners) and she wanted to keep them,

so we found a way to make it work.

Well, it turns out the best way to get your child over wanting a black room is to just let them have it!

This spring, she asked me if we could paint her room,

because it was too dark :)

Of course, hon - what color would you like?

White.

umm.... white?!! Are you sure?

Yup.

To make a long story short,

we painted the walls, painted out a few accessories we already had,

and added a few new bits for a super fresh new look.

There's been a lot of little projects in the space,

like her jewelry display.

Today thought you may like to see another.

Tash chose a color scheme based on a box we found at homesense,

and I'll show you that later this week.

The palette we were working with was azure blue, black and white.

It felt a bit cold, though, and for a teen, needed an injection of fun.

That's where the fluorescent came in!

It's been sneaking into Miss N's wardrobe, so why not her room?

Last spring we went out "junktiquing" together, and lo and behold,

there it was - a dress dummy.

Tash negotiated a price of $5.00 (she's gooood!)

and into the truck she went,

in all her crumbling glory.

At this point, I'm thinking, "who need's a fancy restoration hardware version?"

When we got home, a closer look revealed she needed some work.

The fabric cover went out,

then we decided to give her a "neckotomy",

I sawed off the uneven bit with my favourite fancy tool,

an old steak knife :)

Then realized the top needed to be smoothed and hardened, 

because it was still crumbling.

Another very technical solution, hot glue!

I heaped on copious amounts, then spread it all over, like icing a cake...

Voila, finished neck.

A coat of BIN spray primer, and we thought we'd be good to paint.

The problem was that the entire form had texture, and not in a good way -

and it was still fairly fragile.

It needed a coat of something to harden it and create a better surface.

Since it had texture, why not go with more texture?

Out came the modge podge, and some tissue paper.

(I have to admit, at this point, the restoration hardware version was starting to look like more of a bargain!)

A coat modge podge, then tissue layered on top, working in the folds folds and creases.

Perfect. Sigh.

From there we needed a stand.... and this girl was surprisingly heavy.

I had planned to use a coat stand but could find one that had the right size pole and was sturdy enough.

So a wooden dowel, painted black, was placed into an old umbrella stand, also painted black.

I used pipe insulation to fill the gap between the dowel and stand.

Stand done.

Then the fun part,

Lily (as Tash has named her) got her color.

Fluorescent pink!

A pretty dramatic transformation....

Yesterday we finished another art project for the room, and today I'm hanging it all,

cross your fingers for some sun tomorrow so I can get you pics... 

happy monday!