As the mother of more than one child , you very early on realize they are all individuals , for instance my eldest is a pack rat like no other, would I love it if she was a tidy girl, well of course, but I respect that she is creative, and finds the good in found objects, this has created a decor issue for me , because I have had trouble finding enough to contain her treasures, so I set off to build a shelf to contain some of the mess! , I bought simple pine shelving material and had the improvement center cut the pieces and I simply screwed it all together , applied some simple molding and attached it with brackets and voila loads of storage, I think I might make many more , I especially like how they don't take up floor space , why didn't I think of this before?

Total cost $35.00 can't beat that .
I added these studs to this simple shelf , I measured it all out , which is very not like me , but it paid off, 2 centimeters apart.
Here is clear proof, here are the contents of my dears jacket , I decided it needed a wash , wow, my other child's coat, I did not find even one item.

Sofa feast

These are absolutely my kind of sofa's the kinds I would love right now, but my sofa's are fine and plentiful, but when our sofa's wear out and are pitiful , we would like to buy some quality sofa's, which Iwe have never had, we go for more of the basic bargain great style washable type, I still believe in slipcovers as you can see, couldn't function without them, kinda easily disposable after 10 years of vigorous use. Actually I am looking into having a slipcover made locally for a 5 year old settee that is showing too much wear , its kinda gross, and my hubby seems disgusted by it. Mitchell Gold Even though I love this color I would opt for a grey linen, or heavy cream color. It just looks so comfortable.

Dr. Pitt , funny, I know the perfect house for this sofa, its not mine but I do know of one.When I see this , although it is slip covered , and washable, knowing how long it takes to wash a complete set of slipcovers this one would surely take days.
I can't say how much I love this chair we really could use a chair like this for the front room, I however opted for another practical purchase.
This Alex II is for sure the best in the land for me boxy , slip covered, white, sheer perfection.

I would really love a chaise someday too, for my bedroom maybe , if I move my seldom used exercise machine to the basement I might even have room for one.

I will now have oh 9 years to save up for these decadent purchases which will be no where to be found.

BEFORE
AFTER: I just couldn't help myself, this color is Flik and Company Blue.
While shopping on Saturday I found these cupcake holders, perfect for lunches, I found them at William Sanoma , I have been looking for these little gems, they will be perfect for treat Fridays so that Sophie and Mason can have peanut free cupcakes and can skip the long line ups.
Because I have gone nuts with the usage of my favorite shade of robin's egg blue, I have decided to repaint the bedroom walls in Brandon Beige Benjamin Moore, a nice brown color, I think I need a more masculine hit and a cozy feel in there, I have gone a little overboard, Tumbled stone by Debbie Travis in the living room , I think that should return some balance.

Please click to enlarge and enjoy the wonders of this beautiful shop Au Lit Linens on Yonge Street in Toronto. The wall color on the left side of the room in this view was SKYLIGHT by Farrow and Ball gorgeous.

I finally went back to being a blond, I feel like me again, funny something like that , I waited so long to be a blond and now I am one, inside and out. I saw this beautiful can of hairspray and really bought it because it was pretty...!
I was shopping with my dear friend Linda, my soul sister, she came down to the area to visit family and lucky me I was just a short drive away, we got to spend many hours shopping around Toronto , unfortunately the great places that appeal to us are so scattered around we didn't get to stop as many places as we would have liked. We happened upon this little shop , where the lovely french woman sews up wonderful children's blankets , mobiles and bunting bags, I coveted her fabric storage solution, these simple boxes dressed up with this wave trim, so clever, I think that will appeal to many of my blog readers.
We stopped by Au Lit Linens as very swanky linen store , so glamorous and full of inspiration , yes, full of bargains no! In my dreams I could afford those linens. I did not see a price tag below $98.00, A lot rich for my blood.

Yummy colors, and feminine I adore the style, eye candy.

Quick upgrade

I apologize that these examples are so tiny, I couldn't get a larger example, but this look is what inspired me. I thought why not experiment with the things I already have , how can I transform a already nice chair, very easily it turned out. I hope that through my blog I have shown that it is fun to try things , not fear them , all I do is a learning experience, and mistakes happen along the way but those are opportunities.

I love this brown velvet chair it is comfy and curvy but not sloppy, but I have been noticing some great studded chairs, so why not fit this chair with some studs.

It is quite a transformation, a more masculine look, a strong look, I had planned to do a little around the feet, but it just took off , I liked it all over,so far I have used 178 studs, I need some more to finish the back and far side edges, but that will cost a mere $6.00 so it is quite an affordable update.

Freebie

This is a little bookcase that I drove past one day , it was in the garbage, it was brown, ok its cheap, but solid the only issue were its wobbly legs, which I removed and replaced with these nice solid ones from Home Depot of course, many coats of paint later and a little varnish and it is now a useful piece and I think it is quite cute. Total cost $52.00 for legs and attachements for legs.

Top 10 projects from 2007

I am following along with Linda to list the top 10 projects I have completed this past year, first would have to be the tiling in the girls bathroom.

I would have to also say that the enormous task of spraying the dining room chairs two hades of white made a huge difference to me and adding this bench transformed my dining room into one of my favorite room.

Finally adding this planter box and the beadboard to the front window makes my home a little bit different from the others on the street.
Adding fun stripes to this formerly dark green cabinet makes me happy every time I enter that room.
Using this old door and transforming it into a very useful chalk board has been a great addition to the kitchen.

This has to be my favourite thing , my wood floors, installed and stained and distressed , they are just what I had wanted for this area, I am so glad I decided to take the risk and try something new, it paid off.
Finishing all the re-build of the door casings in the house was such a big upgrade to the houses over all appearance. I still have the bedrooms to transform , but that will come.
Building this custom hood cover to add a feature to the kitchen , that is one I am very happy I did, and was one of the quickest and easiest , not one problem occurred while building that .
Finding this shutter for a song and getting that up adds a bit of architecture that spot needed.
Putting in the hammock that I have always wanted was perhaps the most useful thing we did this year, I must thank my husband for digging the very deep holes by hand in the heat , it was a grueling job, I look forward to finding a new hammock for the upcoming season.



What will 2008 hold in store, painting , remodeling the powder room, more casing work, a deck, building a cabana???I hope, starting the basement framing ??? the master closet, yes that for sure , but I have lots of time to get these things done, of course I will keep you posted on my progress.

Shopping blitz

Chatelet Home on Queen http://www.chatelethome.com/
Designer fabrics on Queen http://www.designerfabrics.ca/

Flik and Company and Forest and Company on Queen http://www.flikandcompany.com/

Au Lit Fine Linens among others on Yonge http://www.aulitfinelinens.com/

Ok , Linda from Restyled Home is coming to town , so I thought it fitting to do a post to show her where we could go for some girl fun. Oh we could bring our Sophie's and have a girls date.

These are a few of my Favorite things.

You either love them or hate them, if you hate them then you have never tried them , because if you have you would surly agree uggs or http://www.emuridge.com/ are the most wonderful foot wear around.

I hate socks , don't wear them very often at all , and "uggs" make this easy to do , you can't wear socks in these boots.
I need to get another pair actually , I have loved my to near death. It's funny that these warm and soft boots hail from Australia ??? how did that happen, I am sure they rarely are in need of cozy footwear??
So enjoy the eye candy , and tell me if you agree, or what is your unusual addiction.

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together, well I wish I could say this one was planned, of course I picked these knobs they were very planned. From www.leevalleytools.com octagon.
These were chosen first from www.potterybarn.com, octagon , same room the kitchen.

I decided that I needed to purchase a new heftier curtain rod for my sliding door drapes, the paint was wearing off the rod and damaging the velvet drapes, as well it was a bit flimsy and the rings were falling apart on occassion , the rod was showing quite a bit of wear in the 5 years we have had it. I fell in love with this Levelor rod at Home Depot , and brought it home for a quick switch up, not realizing I was again repeating a design in my room, an octagon, the finials are very like old door knobs, I adore them , the look goes so well with the school house lights and it very sturdy. I love suprises like that , its like fate.
I have been using my new mixer , I made this delectable carrot cake with cream cheese frosting,

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=bcf0cf06cd80f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy_kw=carrot%20cake&rsc=header_2 here is the link to the recipe, it is full of healthy ingredients, like 4 carrots, and lemon zest, and golden raisins, I skip the nuts of course, I can't imagine a crunch being appropriate in the moist and lovely cake.

I have been adding lots of fruits and veggies as part of my new years changes, these are a daily treat, soy milk, banana and this one has frozen mango, sometimes berries. Yumm.