Thursday, July 1, 2010

Bedroom Details

This house is far from the way I picture it but it is still pretty to me.
I was reminded today to be content and not desire someone else's house.
It is a solid house and comfy for my family. We walk to school and to Starbucks. Really, I don't need anything more.

So here are a few details from around my bedroom that are pretty, that make me thankful.


Wednesday, June 30, 2010

About the house

Here are a few shots I love from around here...
... you might have seen them before but they make me happy so I am putting them up again.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

My fave necklace

I get this thing where I fall in love with a colour and that is it. I only like that colour and no others til I get burnt out and move on.
Usually, I will admit, it is a neutral like the brown trend I am just coming off. But now it is teal, turquoise, aqua. This little necklace is a nod to that obsession. Three strands twisted together of all the same beads in just the right shade of turquoise.The only problem is that it matches all my favorite shirts so it's not much of a contrast.
But it is my fave so I am OK with that.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Cheap Art

Yesterday I did a little post about the new sconces in the master bedroom.
But there is something else new in these pictures too - the art. I wanted something soothing, in blue tones and of course- cheap. Always cheap. So after buying canvases from Michaels, craft paint, and a bit of time blending colours I came up with these. I don't look too closely because they are not exactly how I pictured them but they are still pretty and they do the trick.
Now on to those bedside tables....

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Lights Reinvented

We have been slowly working on the master bedroom. Of all the renos and projects going on around here the bedroom is low on the list of priorities. A while back we got a great bed for free and it looks stunning. The rest of the room... well a bit boring.
One problem with the bed is how high it is. As I mentioned before we had an IKEA bed for most of the last 10 years and it was about a foot off the ground. The new bed is higher and to top it off has a mattress and box spring making it even higher.

So now I have to lift the kids into bed in the morning and lean way down to our bedside tables. The kids will get bigger so I am not worried about that, but the beside tables have to go. I don't know what we will replace them with yet, but whatever it is I think I might spray paint it blue. What do you think?
Anyway, the point of this particular post is the lights. We needed some reading lights and I was hoping for sconces. I knew, because we have recently had so much electrical work done, that they were going to be plug in sconces.

And where does one go if they want cheap lighting? IKEA. Well, they have cheap everything actually. As evidenced by the rest of our house. We looked at IKEA and decided we couldn't decide. There were lots of options, but nothing stood out. The sconces I had in mind were out of stock. So we left it. The next week we were having a garage sale and my in-laws brought over some stuff to sell. What was on top of their pile? IKEA plug in sconces!
Perfect, they just need a little something.... I actually like the wood but I don't really want other wood tones in this room as I want the bed to be the star. So, take off the glass, paint the wood/cork top, reassemble them, plug them in and voila!
Now we have reading lamps that look simple, silver and white. We have more room on our bedside tables. And with hand me down sconces and left over spray paint they were definitely the right price.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

a view from the outside

I was very seriously considering posting something for Lindsey at the Pleated Poppy for what i wore wednesday. There were two problems.

First my outfits are all the same, just different coloured t shirts with a wide assortment of 3 different pairs of jeans. I actually own 6 pairs of jeans (and 2 pairs of trouser jeans, do those count too?) but they are 3 styles each repeated twice. I am so very boring.

Oh. The second problem was that all my pics turned out something like this...
You get the idea. Must find a more inspired wardrobe and a full length mirror in a (well lit) room the kids can't get into. But feel free to go over there and see what everyone else wore.

So instead, I will do Before and After outdoor edition!

The playhouse. I am still very excited about how the side of our yard went from this...
BEFORE
to this!
AFTER
And the kids are still excited too. They are playing out there right now!


Then the front of the house...
BEFORE
AFTER

...with a painted front door, shutters removed, new window$, and a few new plants. Revising that planter is on the books for next year. I know I said that last year, but I really mean it this time. We are also talking about that giant tree in the front.

The tree is cool, but it was massacred by Hydro not that long ago and feels as if it might fall on our roof every time it's windy. We would hate to see it go but we are considering it. And as I have mentioned before the railing on the little balcony drives me crazy but it is pretty low on the list... oh well. We'll get there.

And these are really just after pics of our planters on the back deck. They came with the house and were just dirt before this stuff got planted. My hubs and kids got me the plants for Mother's Day.
The top planter is flowers and is filling in quite nicely. The bottom planter is herbs.
Can I just say that garlic chives taste good in just about anything? Well they do. If you want to test my theory feel free to come over and get some for yourself. They grow very fast.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

birthday time again

Smack dab in between my daughter turning 2 and my son turning 6 (and Mother's Day and my Mom's birthday) was my little old birthday. Happy 32 to me.
There was a pancake breakfast.
There was a gift with red bows.
There was ice cream cake with kids and grandparents before a dinner out just me and A.
Then a few weeks later an evening at the spa with my mom and sis.