Storage Wars....

So apparently I have officially run out of storage space on Blogger!  Didn't know that was even a thing.  Thought the whole thing was free??

Master Bedroom Makeover : Wall Treatment

Yikes, it's been a lot longer than I expected.  Cory went back to school and I had picked up an extra part-time gig to make a little more money. When that ended I volunteered to work on a tree for the Festival of Trees which called for some late nights!  Amidst it all, I found some time to take a road trip with my mom out to Saskatchewan to visit my brother and his family.

Now that all that is done, thought I would get caught up and back in the swing of things with daily blogging.  I am on some vacation right now from work, so I am eager to get going here!

First up, I wanted to share some photos from our start to the Master Bedroom makeover!  I was so excited and went to load up the photos, but apparently "someone" deleted them from the camera card :(

Luckily, I do have some poor quality shots from my ipod! 

First up, I wanted to start with something for the huge wall behind my bed.  I went back and forth before painting an accent color, wallpapering or just using a stencil.  Since I really wanted a pattern, I figured it would be a lot less expensive and headache-inducing to just stencil.

I ordered the Casablanca AllOver Stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils and am super pleased with my order.  It included the main stencil, and individual stencil of the pattern and a top part stencil which made the job soooo much easier.


Well, it took an entire weekend to do the huge wall, but it was well worth it.  I knew I wanted it to be a little shimmery and kind of subtle, so I went with a tone on tone look.  Literally, I had the same wall color  - Antique Sterling by ICI mixed up with a glossy version.

I wasn't sure how it would turn out at first, and have to say I hated it when I first removed the stencil, but I stuck with it and once everythign started to dry, I was sooooo happy I did!

(excuse the shoddy shots...)

 

I really love the look overall.  It looks best late at night with just the nightstand lamps on, it makes it really shimmer!

 

 

I was really worried about whether or not Cory would be a fan, thank goodness he was!  Infat, he said it felt like sleeping in a fancy hotel!

 

But we also realized that the lamps just weren't going to cut it anymore.  They were not only too small, but the bright aqua color just didn't seem "sophisticated" enough for the space.

 

 

I swapped them out for these taller silver lamps I had in the offie, but just kept the white drum shades.  They look 100 times better than the other ones!

 

I was also going to get the headboard done the following weekend, but as soon as the wall was done, we realized the fabric we had, was ABSOLUTELY not going to work!  Again, way to aqua... so it is back to the drawing board.

 

Luckily, the duvet cover that I want to replace, doesn't look too bad in there for the time being.

 

For the headboard, I am thinking something in a bluey-grey, silver or even a linen color.

 

Thoughts?

 

Handmade Table Linens

My mom stopped by on the weekend to take me for dinner.  Her bithday gift for me this year was a little something for the house.

Her neighbour is a wonderful quilter who made me a small quilt a few years back.  She had me come out to the house and select some fabrics from her stash as well as look through some of the quilts she had made and select a pattern.

She surprised me with a set of table runners and placemats in some beautiful greys and blues.  It was an incredibly thoughtful gift and I absolutely love them, even though are quite a bit different than my usual style.

 

Everythng was made reversible which perfect for days when you have unexpected visitors - I can just flip it over!

 

 

Here's the reverse of the runner. 

 

My favorite part is actually the detailing on the front, especially the ombre stripes:

 

 

The gift included two runners and 2 placemats.  I wish there were 4 so I might have to see if I can get her to make a few more.

 

 

I really like them but I am too worried to get them dirty, so while I am eating on them, I have a paper towel between the placemats and my dish....  at least for now!

 

 

For an 80 year old lady, she really nailed down some pretty great fabrics for me.  This black and white one is even laced with metallic threads!

 

 

It's a great addition to the table, especially until I refinish it and no longer need to cover the scratched sections!

Last Day as a Twenty Something....

Today was officially my last day as a 20 something.   I've been ridiculously scared to turn 30 for some time now but now that it's here, I'm remarkably calm!

My mom came in last night to take us for dinner which was nice.  I will be sharing her birthday gift tomorrow.

She left early this morning and while I was supposed to work a furniture sale today, I managed to get the day off since it was slow and I had a migraine for most of the day, which I appreciated since I got to spend the day being lazy and hanging out with Cory. 

First up, he gave me my Birthday gift early!

The first thing (which wasn't technically a bday git but a replacement) was a new ipod since he accidently threw mine out a month ago. They no longer sell the one I had, so I got a better one!  YAY! Was starting to miss my pinterest and instagramming! :)

I also got the beautiful Coach bangle I'd had my eye on:

(via my Instagram)

Love me some zebra print!

 

Plus the sweet guy threw in a little something else, just because he knew I'd like it:

 

Simply Vanilla candle was the perfect thing to add to the desk in my office tonight while I was making my calls tonight.

 

It was just a little something, but with him going back to school, we're minding our spending and he listened to exactly what I wanted!

 

We spent the rest of the day at the dog park. What a great day to prepare for ushering in 30!!

 

 

 

Re-purposing!

A couple months ago Cory stopped by a buddy's house while they were having a Garage Sale.  He was picking something up and stayed for a few beers before coming home.  When he came home, he had little gift for me!

I was BEYOND suprised as it's been quite some time since he's shown up with a present out of the blue.  At first I thought it might be one of the neat items they had for sale that he sent me pictures of, like the old steamer trunk that would have been kind of cool as a coffee table, but I think that sold.

What he did have was a cute little bath product gift basket dealio, cause "I know you like all that bath stuff..."  :)  Now, in all honesty, those baskets can be hit or miss.  A lot of the times the stuff smells awful or the quality is kinda crappy.  But I lucked out - this set was huge, smelled good AND the creams were nice and nourishing.  Plus it came with a nice nail scrub brush, the mesh poufs, cotton moisturizing gloves and all that jazz.

But of course, this post isn't about the bath products, it's about re-using the container that it all came in.  That's usually one of the best parts of these things isn't it?  They always have it all packed into something neat that you can re-use.

In my case, this three-tiered wood caddy.  I was glad to see it was something nice, bur then stared at it for a couple hours before even having an idea of where to use it.

Then I had a brilliant idea.  You see, we have a couple of these weird little nook things in the house.  The first one in the main hall where they installed a corner shelf...??  And the second in the powder room, where they decided to extend the countertops all the way across, but not the cabinets...????

We've been in the house 3 years and the only thing that had ever sat there was a little basket that I used to throw dirty handtowels and rags from the kitchen into, as a hamper of sorts instead of tossing them down the stairs in a dirty pile.

Since the caddy was a gorgeous dark wood, it would blend nicely with the flooring and cabinets and would be the perfect size to hold extra hand towels.

Admittedly, the towels, when rolled are actually a little big for some of the shelves, but I crammed them in there and love the way it looks!   Plus, it makes the little nook space look a little bit finished!

 

 

Fall Porch

Usually, I keep my fall porch pretty reserved.  There's two reasons for this:

1. I don't have a lot of fall/harvest/halloween decorations to work with.  Plus I either never seem to have much of a budget to work with this time of year, or as is the case this year.  I forget that fall stuff comes out BEFORE fall and I fail to get in on the good stuff like hay bales (if you are in Edmonton and have seen them around, please let me know ASAP - Michaels South Common is SOLD OUT !!)

2. I never really know until last minute what I want to do.

This year however, I had the Monday off and Cory was working, so I thought it would use my day wisely and create something FUN for him to come home to.


The first thing to go up is always my wreath.  I made this beauty a few years back and am still absolutely in love with it!  It's super simple but really makes me smile!

I've been wondering lately if I should paint out front door?  It was actually SUPPOSSED to be painted a dark brown like our trim and garage door. But somehow that was forgotten by the builder and I didn't realize until last year when I was going over some paperwork.  We had a chocolate brown door in our last place and I loved it.  But this door has more glass.  Thoughts?

 

This skeleton in a cage found a home on the handle to the screen door.  Mostly because I broke the hook and needed something to wrap the "chains" around.

 

 

 

Next to the door, we have the little cream table that sits out there year -round.

I decided to keep the enclosed black lantern I bought this summer and was about to change our the flameless candle that melted and got all wonky in the extreme summer heat when I realized it might add to the Halloween vibe.  I threw in some fake leaves that came off a garland.

The scarecrow I've had for a couple years.  I was gonna stake him into the shrub bed, but thought he added a nice friendly touch up here.  Especially with his hand wrapped around the doorbell!

 

The skull and pumpkin were new purchases this year.

Skull -Value Village (new) - $5.99

Metal Pumpkin Tealight holder - Dollarama - $2.00

 

 

I had a couple lengths of leftover leaf garland from when I did my wreath so I just wrapped them around the railing and up the pillars for some color.

 

 

 

My newest and favorite addition this year is the basket of "harvest goodies".  The basket has been sitting in our basement stairwell for a couple years now.  I got it as a planter from my boss' wife but really wanted to tidy it up and possibly spray paint it.  I'm really glad I didn't as it adds the perfect touch here!

 

 

 

The mini pumpkins and gourds and from a box of assorted decor I bought at http://walmart.ca>Walmart years ago.  It has definitely served me well.  I threw in some natural colored raffia balls from Dollarama, some faux berry springs and some orange and gold pheasant feathers. along with some more errant leaves.

 

 

 

Taking place of a hanging pot on the hook is a strand of skull and cross bone garland.  Kinda spooky lol.

 

Last but not least is one more mini scarecrow.  I wasn't able to find any potted mums today (might be too late in the season).  But my current pots still had a few blooms hanging on, plus I thought the dead ones added to the spooky vibe, so I stuff him inside!

 

 

 

 

Lastly, an overall look at the whole shebang!

 

I'd love a little Harvest or Welcome sign to hang on the siding above the table.  I might take a look later this week for some good sales.

 

Oh and of coourse, can't forget my pumpkins.  The white one is a brand new find today at Michael's on sale. The orange one is a plug-in jack o'lantern, but I flipped him around.

 

We'll also be carving a few later this month so those will get added to the bunch!

Hope you're all having a great fall day!

 

 

 

 

Down Came the rain... of glass!

A couple weeks ago, I got a call at work from Cory (who had the week off) and the first words out of his mouth were "don't be mad...."


Sentences that start like that, never go well, so I braced myself and just went with a simple "what?"

Apparently Finley had decided to chase Greyson and ran right off the bed, smack into the 7 foot tall mirror we have leaning against the wall directly across from the bed  :(

Yup, my gorgeous, leaning mirror, custom built by my mom.

The good news was, that even though the mirror shattered into a million and one pieces, the frame remained intact.  Save for the very attractive blood smear on the back of it, from where Cory cut his hand while trying to pick everything up and get the animals outta the way.

I originally thought we'd wait a little bit before we got a new piece of mirror cut as I know they can be pretty expensive but I have been going insance these last few weeks without the mirror.  It is the only full length we have in the house and since our bathrooms are so small, we can't even get a good look.  I had taken to standing on the bed, peering into the master bath if I needed to get a good.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a good option and yesterday I sported an outfit that really should have stayed home!!

So as of tomorrow, I will be calling the glass and mirror company we use at work and getting a  new piece cut.  A girl at work used them to get the glass fronts for her new kitchen cabinets and said they were reasonable.  Plus, the installed them for her, which is good since there was a tony bit of damage to my frame.  You know, and the fact that it was homemade to begin with, so probably isn't the most sturdy construction.  haha

I can't wait!  What other "decorative" items around YOUR house have become indispensible items for you?