Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Practical and Awesome or Worst Idea Ever?

I've been thinking a lot lately about changing the way we do towels in our powder room.
We moved the awful builder basic towel bar about a year ago, when we were going to wallpaper (that was postponed due to a purchasing error; possibly to be re-started this fall...) and then I decided I didn't want another bar. So I bought a cheapo towel ring, which is sitting in the cupboard cause I ended up getting a cute little stand in my suprise sample box from Princess House.
We've been using the stand ever since and while I love it, Cory apparently does not. His big hands find it awkward and he knocks it over all the time. Plus since my towels are big but folded down, they are snug on the stand and stay damp.
There's nothing nastier than drying your hands on someone else's damp towel spot. Yuck...
So I think it would be fantastic to try individual towels. We use them at work in the client washroom and I love everything about it.
1. There's nothing better than a crisp, white (dry) towel.
2. Let's be honest, this looks so chic! Plus, I have the room for it and the "discard" basket under the weird counter cut-out.
3. Yes it's more towels, but they are smaller and I would still only be doing full loads, so I don't feel wasteful.
What do you think? Is anyone doing this in their house already?
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EDITED TO ADD:   The photos above are of the client bathroom at work.  NOT our home!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Children's Items I love!!

We had the Restoration Hardware Baby & Child Catalogue delivered to work the other day and I was absolutely in love!

It was the first time I'd seen this one and couldn't believe all the amazing pieces.  While I neither have kids, nor am expecting any time soon, I couldn't help but fall in love with a few items that I think would look great in our house right now!

 These industrial baskets with numbered liners would be perfect for storage in our basment when we eventually finish it!!

I absolutely love these  ABC floor cushions. Yes, I know they're pretty kid friendly, but they'd also be pretty awesome in said basement.  Or a really expensive dog bed.... Ms. Finley would definitely love something chic like this!!

Alright, so while I would never actually pay this much for a pinboard.  But I have been searching out an antique frame at a reasonable price for a really long time to no luck.  But since I am in the process of re-doing our office, I will definitely be on the lookout for something similar to this for our space!
I'm also totally awaiting the day I have kids so I can do up a ridiculously ostentatious room like this!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Shoe Love!

We had grand plans to finish the fence and get started on landscaping the backyard this weekend.  However, as usual, since Cory had the weekend off, it rained.  Actually rain is an understatement - it poured... all weekend.  I mean, yeah this afternoon was nice, but we had so much rain Friday and Saturday that the backyard was a lake.  So, we did some shopping instead.

I only bought one thing, but I am ridiculously in love with them:


Yup, I needed a new pair for work as 3 pairs of pumps became "too tired looking" to wear to work this year.

I was actually looking for something a little less... black. But the asymetrical box detail caught my eye and there was nothing I could do about it.  They're Nine West's and were clearance at The Bay


I'm currently loving them with cuffed up jeans.  But they look good with everything so far!

I also fell in love with a gorgeous pair of Badgley Mischka pumps similar to these:

Unfortunately, on clearance, they were still $250.00 and with only 1 wedding reception to attend this summer, I just couldn't justify the purchase!  Maybe I'll keep stalking them....

Any great shoe finds lately?

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Our Outdoor Space... or at least 1 of 2 (In progress)

I guess I haven't really shared much about our outdoor space before.  I guess that's both because it's no where near finished and a little cause I am lazy  forgetful.

Actually, we essentially have 2 outdoor spaces: the upper deck and the lower patio. 
But the only space we're currently using is the upper deck.  The lower disaster space is a post for another day... and we;ll eventually get around to it when we've actually got some landscaping down there as well.

Anyhow, back to the upper deck - immediately after we moved in we placed the bbq up there (which I thought made sense since it was off the kitchen) and bought a patio set without measuring anything.
The deck was actually narrower than I thought ( we had looked at 3 different options when we built),  but since getting the set home was so difficult, I was NOT about to return it, so we made do. 
 Plus I really liked it and we got it on clearance at Walmart. 


I really love the detail on the backs of the chairs.  The cushions are neutral, which we like, but sometimes I think it's all too "beige" out there and I need some brightly colored toss cushions on the chairs.  It has six chairs, but only 4 fit comfortably around the table.  We also love the rectangular umbrella, which is perfect for the space!


The other two chairs were perfect for creating a little sitting area:

I also added a little round wicker table with glass top.  It's vintage, handed down from my mom.  I had originally sprayed it glossy black 3 years ago but the "elements" of a Canadian winter have taken their toll and I kind of like the natural look.

This spring, after buying a new(er) bbq, Cory decided he was going to keep the bbq downstairs.  I told him it could stay until we get the lower space finished.....sometime next year most likely. 
That left this corner free:

I'm thinking I might try and move the sitting area to the corner or maybe find a few more matching chairs to add some extra seating since we always seem to be bringing kitchen chairs outside when we entertain.

It looks really squashed here, but it's actually perfect.

The one area I am not too keen on is this:


Our neighbours house is set further back on the lot than ours which means that we have a full-on view of our deck.  Plus, sometimes their three kids are strange (and don't appear to have any toys... so sometimes they stare at us out there, or even into our house for that matter....

So obviously, I'd like to add a little privacy.  I don't want to add a lattice screen or anything here, but I think it might be nice to add a tall cedar in the corner.  I mean, there's already a huge empty pot there.
Well actually, that's a smaller pot (full of last summer's dead plants) sitting inside the opening of the large blue pot!

We've been keeping the babygate at the top of the stairs cause the animals like to hang out on the deck with us sometimes.  But there is nothing better than a little color in that otherwise bland space.  Especially when this is what the stairs are currently looking down onto:

Yuck, not much to look at!  But hopefully we'll made some headway on the lower level this weekend!!

A surprise Project completion and a lot more work to go....

I mentioned the other day that Cory was suddenly productive...without even being asked.  Well, actually I have been asking for almost an entire year, when I got this as a Birthday gift from my mom:

Yup, it's nothing fancy nor really all that exciting, but it's UP!!

It took a couple hours over 2 nights after work, but with only 5 minutes of assistance from myself, Cory got this thing mounted all on his own!

Considering that he doesn't have much handy-man experience and that the ceiling in the garage is very high... I'm pretty proud of him!

Now that the opener is installed, we just need to clean it up a bit and clear out some of the crap and finish some of the projects currently taking up valubale floor space!


Here's a sneak peek at what I'm talking about:

The workbench area isn't TOO bad... but I think it could use a lot more work.

This wall (or actually the floor in front of it) is the biggest culprit.  There are furniture pieces waiting to be worked on.  Camping gear that doesn't have a home, a couple bikes, lots of gardening tools, garbage and random landscaping blocks and the like that need to be re-located.

The floor to ceiling shelving that extends the entire other wall is fantastic.  But again, as the garage is Cory's area, it needs a little help.

I'll be tackling the garage this weekend while the guys get the rest of the fence up.  Hopefully, we'll be able to fit the SUV in there by the time I am finished!!



Monday, July 4, 2011

An epic fail... But packed with goodness all the same!

The past (long) weekend was great! Full of friends, some family and fun. Yet, despite trying to put some effort in, I took not one photo. That's right, not even a shoddy cell phone snap. Whoops!

While I'm totally sad that I'll have nothing to document this little slice of life. But I'm not beating myself up over it- cause it means I was living in the moment and experiencing!

A quick run down: Friday was spent at the lakehouse, where I stayed til Saturday afternoon. Saturday evening, a little shindig at J and A's place for their 2 year Wedding Anniversary. Sunday we started some prep work for an upcoming garage sale and had dinner with Cory's sister and her husband. Good times!

In other news, someone has been productive around our house and it isn't me! I'll share a peek at the newest addition to our casa tonight!

I'm gonna get started on a table re-finish this week as well. I don't know where it'll end up, but I know it has to leave the spot in the garage it's sat for almost 2 years...
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Friday, July 1, 2011

Happy Canada Day!

I'm on the road headed to the lake house for a great day with friends. We'll be back in the city tomorrow night for a party though.

In the meantime I'm looking forward to this:
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