The weather may still be frigid but my thoughts are turning outward none the less. We are planning to build a big deck off the back of our house to eliminate as much grass as possible, we have poor drainage and two dogs so grass doesn't provide a nice surface in this case , in fact it is rather disgusting.

My future plans include some type of building for lounging and hanging out , a cabana , I am thinking the girls could even have sleep outs in there in the summer time, what fun.
This is the inspiration for my deck, I love the details, the railing the color , it is perfect , imagine it 12 x 18, room for seating , covered area for dining and a BBQ area, a whole new great room , just outdoors , we could have our summer breakfast and coffee out there , and if we find a great daybed afternoon naps since it gets great afternoon shade.
Ok this is way out of my league due to its size but I could certainly achieve this feeling.

I love this backyard , this would be perfect for the space I have here.

Messy messy

Anyone who has lots of kids accepts the overwhelming messes, I do , I had let's see , 2 of my own kids and 5 of not my own kids , that makes 7 plus me , and two dogs, that can stir up quite a mess, especially for my open front entrance, it is the only entrance, this is how I think it could look, no one has left , I have just hung things in the special place called CLOSET , which no one but me seems to know about it has these things called HANGERS, which still I only know of.
This is how it really looks after I have made everyone put their boots aside and hang up their coats on the appointed hooks, sometimes its hard to breath when trying to get people in and out of this messy area , but this is the space I have been given .
Dream , yes I am dreaming of a nice big entry with an adjoining mudroom , someday I will have that dream.

Popcorn is coming down.

Click on the photo for better detail I hope you can make this out, it is a bit tough to see I tried my best with editing but this is as good as it gets, I have succeeded at removing the ceiling texture well at least perfected the technique, that is a so hated by everyone on earth, it is not a fun job, obviously as you can see I have not made much progress, I first started by removing it dry with a scraper or mud knife, I thought it would be easier with a big one, well I was wrong, it is much easier to use a 3" wide knife/scraper, I spray it lightly with water, not soaking, don't want to disturb the paper underneath , and it comes off very nicely, I used a semi see through bowl to catch the majority if the stuff and very little falls else where but the area will need a vacuuming , I don't know how people live through reno's.
The curtains are at the cleaners well one panel anyway , I have been wanting to clean my kitchen drapes as they were a mess from my two dogs, and the mud and all,as well they are velvet and lined and I didn't want to ruin them so I called a cleaners yesterday to inquire about price , and I suppose he misheard me ask if they were $12.00 a panel to clean he heard $4.00 and hung up on me..... huh are you kidding me , I called him back and said "did you hang up on me?" , he said "uh no" , " I think you did , I was trying to find out pricing" I say , he abruptly says, " Just bring them in" , I think not buddy , can you believe that , I found a kind woman across town who charged twice as much , and cleans in house , I took the panel to her, we will see how they come out , there is some fading and possible pee staining on the one panel, I know yuck, if they come out well than they will stay , or perhaps I can do a treatment at the bottom to camouflage the yucky part at the hem :( I love those velvet drapes I must make them work. I am thinking if a series of bark brown ribbon rows sewn across the bottom.

Isn't this a cute cup , a milk chocolate brown with white inside , $1.00 , don't you just love Dollarama, they always have great stuff, I also got my robin's egg blue cereal bowls there for $1.00 , I love a bargain , these could be used for milk to coffee, they have no handles we drink take out coffee's with out handles, I like it much better.

This may or may not surprise you , but I love this sofa , it is pretty and comfy and my dogs could not soil it as easily as my current white one, I would love the legs done in a pale tone , as well it is great for one over night guest as the perfect daybed and it has a striped seat cushion.

The other side

Well here is the other side of my bedroom , I suppose I never show it due to my machine , which I NEED and do use and which is never a clothes hanger, it is not so decorative, and if I loved it to the basement cold yucky storage filled and unfinished there would be no help for me. So it stays.
but this is how the room looks, it is still in transition , with the wall color swatches a blob of brown here a blob or brown there , this is how I do it , its gonna be painted anyway, and it encourages me to just do it. Usually.
I like it all with the exception of the wall color which I am just simply bored of.
I love this light , when I bought it it was white with pink and green painted flowers and leaves, yuck, I glued these little mirrors into the centers of the flowers after being inspired while visiting a furniture store , and seeing lighting done in this way but very pricey. I am wondering if my side table should be painted and if so what , perhaps I should wait until I get that walls done. Although there are a few hits of the medium wood tone, in the pine chest , the match stick blinds and now the table, I would love to see dark dark wood floors in here in the future.

Spring is here in spirit, only.

I have been bitten by the spring cleaning bug, I have cleaned closets , re-caulked the tub which failed and I don't know why as I followed all the directions, bummer, moved around lots of things for instance my bedroom, it is still in flux, and organized my magazines, cleaned windows , even listed things on Craig's list and sold one item immediately last night what fun. This is a family piece from my father's side I believe, I have always loved it and my mother was kind enough to give it too me a few years back, and I brought it out into the room after it was in my closet , it looks so lovely here with my accessories I think , this is right across from my elliptical machine where I have been sweating up a storm lately , to no result, of course, my husband changed his diet a tad and looses 5 pounds, I work out for 3 weeks and eat much more healthy options and I gain weight , what !

I also brought up this table that I refinished 8 years ago to use for my side table, I like it , and it is the perfect spot to put the dogs cage. I want to paint it because I don't like the color, or maybe I will stain it darker , or paint it , any suggestions will be accepted and appreciated. The walls will be changing soon either all to the brown or all deep grey still undecided. As well the chair will be sprayed black .

Look at my little girl , she wanted to have the same cut as her big sis, this was her first visit to the hair dresser , its not exactly hard to cut hair straight after all, so I have always done it , but not the layering I will leave that to the professionals. She loves it , she looks so big , what a deal $9.00.

You can surely spring for this lovely example of a shell encrusted mirror , this is much more gentile , but at a whopping $599.00 I like mine better. I should say that this is a combined effort , Sophie has been a big help for this project. Thanks Sophie.

I made this mirror frame some time ago and removed the mirror glued to the wall and affixed it to the frame , it was an ok job, but I have always wondered how it would look with shells glued all over in abundance , I have a lot of shells all around the house and pebbles, so a few weeks ado I started this project off by framing out the corners and edges in a pattern , as a base, and bought some more shells on sale from Michael's.
Click on the photo for a more in depth look, more is more in this case.

Growing so much.

Today .

I can't believe how grown she looks with her new do , I could tell she wasn't sure during the cutting , and not until the styling was finished and she put her glasses on , she just smiled so big, she is loving her hair, flipping it around, wow, she will we 10 very soon , she has grown into a young lady , well at times anyway other times total tomboy. That is a little chick painting on her face from a farm trip we took today .

Yesterday

Easter egg hunt after a hay ride into the feild, a chilly hay ride.

We had fun . The treats were peanut free too. Bonus!

Easter treats and sweets

Happy Easter

I really put no thought into Easter this year , I can blame it on the weather , it is early this year and it feels far from Eastery to me. But here we are this morning all home from work and school, and we dug out the few Easter things we have , including this bunny in a basket made of fake flowers, I like it , but I totally forgot it was there. And of course eggs , I mixed each one up to give them a new approach . I also forgot I had made these little chandelier decor bits.

I love these little bags I made for Sophie's first Easter, I made them from a soft felt , they are 5 years old and they still look new. This is from when I liked sewing things. I stitched in their initials.

Mason organized a little craft first thing this morning .
HAPPY EASTER

GE Profile it is

I have been waiting for 2 years now to buy a Jenn Air and I have almost completely ruled it out in favour for this model, the Jenn Air although pretty doesn't have ample freezer space , I don't want less space just better location that's all, the baskets for the freezer seemed flimsy and annoying , so I can imagine in the future they would be rather regretful. So we looked at all the models , my two girls and I , and we really love the french door style, as the space is tight here and a big door could hit the island, and it has the large spaces inside that I fell in love with . The bottom pull out tray and super convenient shelves , one simply slides under it self to allow for taller items, wow I love that . It is 25 cu ft so it has lots of room, and although Sophie will have a little bit of trouble getting to the stuff inside she is growing like a weed, this is why we opted to a regular fridge while our kids were young , I love that they have been able to help themselves to things, I can't imagine the alternative , annoying. the slide out tray at the bottom would be perfect for my big trays of cupcakes. It is really a cool fridge.

They had the most beautiful fridge marked down by $1000. and electrolux side by side , it really is the prettiest fridge out there and what a deal , the best part is that it is stainless all around , no black or grey sides , stainless , so for all of us with side exposed fridges it would solve that color difference problem , I am going to box mine in and attach my chalk board with a hidden hinge so I can made a slim cavity for my swiffer and mop. I know enough about the appliance choices. Sorry I have been dreaming of a new fridge for so long how could I not be excited.

Why would I need to replace my fridge , after all it is 9 mere years old, that's not old , we have all been to homes where the beige fridge or green fridge has been for decades , yes, but it seems things just aren't what they used to be.

This is an example of one of the issues we have been dealing with , freezing in the fridge part , annoying and damaging to food, we have already replaced the thermostat , the seals are very pathetic and the hinges are breaking , it is not only faulty but it is an eye sore, it has a texture of I suppose leather , yuck , oh my.

But I am happy to say that a new fridge is in my future , its not like a fridge is a fluffy piece of decor it is the one appliance that runs day and night , I want an efficient one a big one and a bottom freezer model, and because of our tight space maybe a french door model, I don't want the door to hit the island, oh I can't wait to not have to bend down to reach the food.

So is you have a fridge that you would recommend as far a brand , as I have a Kenmore and I would not buy a fridge from them or a vacuum for that matter , I have narrowed it down to Jenn Air and GE , I have heard bad things about LG , if you have any bad experience or good experience with a brand of fridge please share it with me . I am not looking high end , so those brands are out.

Thank you in advance.

New Pottery Barn Shopping Incentive

I just had to put together some of these wonderful inspirational images, I love the graphic quality of the black and white. www.potterybarn.com
Nothing is wrong with this room . White walls and sofa perfect.
I am crazy for this huge A and the green trunk.
I am in love with this tailored sofa, and the two small tables.
Look , look painted floors I love painted floors.

Enough about my beam already I promise

Its done, finished, finito , it adds much more than I had thought , the ceiling had been this very vast bland space , the larges thing in the room, half smooth half crumbly, hate those textured ceilings. My husband so loves what it does to the room,I just love adding details and personality to a home , they really come bare bones for the lat 50 or so years.

I will still add bead board to the ceiling and paint it glossy white.
I know many of you have the cottage cheese ceilings, first of all if you are building a house , opt for the smooth the cost is not all that much and it is money well spent. In my 5 year old home it comes off very easily , in fact I have scraped some of it off already but it is an awful mess the stuff gets in your eyes , lots of vacuuming is needed, it awful stuff, but I will get it all off a little at a time.
These are a few of my favorite things, my newest nail gun , great for trim projects, its cordless and that makes it great , its heavy which usually isn't a problem,it is inexpensive, but the depth gauge isn't all its cracked up to be, however compared to the old hammer and nails, try holding a big piece of trim and a nail and hammer and get it all just right , challenging to say the least , so in my books I love this , I wanted to do without a compressor. Canadian Tire.
This brand filler is superb, its easy to use , fills big or small holes, it dries quickly , I love it , use it on trim or walls.
This super cheap caulking is best , easy to use cheap and my friend, I should buy it by the case. The beam used one hole tube to close the variations in the ceiling and beam as well as around the brackets and trim and all the seams, you need need need to use this stuff to make it all look great.