February 17, 2012 by admin
Well guys, it’s been another crazy, busy week and it’s not over yet! Looking forward to a loooong weekend for Family Day and appreciating all that I’ve got. Here’s a little moment from our house this morning (roses from Valentine’s Day) on a little writing desk in our den. Hope they brighten up your morning like they did mine.
Category Affordable Style, Around The House, Details, Details! | Tags: | 5 Comments
December 3, 2011 by admin
Another quick post – it’s been a busy week! I just wanted to share a couple shots of my favourite quilt. I’ve always loved quilts and last summer Sara and I scored big, finding this beauty for $20 at the Aberfoyle Antique Market.
Can you believe we got this for $20!?!? I just absolutely love the faded colours, the vintage patterns and prints and the honey-comb shaped quilting pieces. It’s just the quintessential old farm-house-type quilt and I love it. I always see and notice new colour combos on it and get inspired again and again. Every time I look at it, or snuggle under it, I just smile, knowing how perfectly ‘us’ it is (and how cheaply we bought it!).
Hope you like it too!
Category Details, Details! | Tags: | 9 Comments
November 18, 2011 by admin
If you’ve ever scrutinized the images I created as a Style Editor at House & Home, you’ll likely know I love bottles. I think their shapely gorgeousness fits into almost any space. They take serious rooms down a notch, they add whimsical mystery to something that’s just a little too new, and they bring colour, sparkle and life any and everywhere. Best of all they’re cheap and easy to find!
Most of these were a gift from my cousin-in-law Scott and they’re a prized collection for me and Sara. We’ve moved them around the house but for now, they’re a green glass tableau atop an old wooden dresser. When the light hits them just right, it’s pure magic. Thanks Scott!
Category Around The House, Details, Details! | Tags: | 3 Comments
November 4, 2011 by admin
Oh my gosh this weekend couldn’t come fast enough! I am so exhausted and looking forward to some R&R. For me that usually means curling up (hopefully with a good new decor mag) and enjoying the sunlight in my house. I tend to leave and return home in the dark these days so sunlight in my living room is a novelty!
Here’s a pretty detail of a gorgeous vintage wing chair in my den/office.
This chair was an AMAZING find two summers ago in Maine. The original chintz floral fabric is perfectly faded and tattered (cuts the sweetness in my opinion) and I love the tarnished nail head detail. I also LOVE love LOVE the painted ball and claw feet – so regal but in a shabby time-worn way. The whole thing sits on jute carpet with a ‘sea glass’ painted wall and apple green slub silk drape.
Aren’t those colours lovely? The silk drapes actually came with the house and I decided to keep ‘em. The sea glass wall was an attempt to create a slightly quirky palette so things didn’t match too perfectly.
Near by my fav old wing chair is another Maine antique – this handsome old chest with marble top. Yes, we lugged it all the way back across international borders!
And piled on top? Lots and lots of magazine inspiration. The old oil painting I bought for a song on Queen West in Toronto a couple of years back. I just love the muddy green colour and gold frame. And the distressed, mellow old marble has such soul.
Just a few of the beautiful details I’ll be enjoying at home after a long hard week of work. Hope your weekend proves to be just as inspirational!
Category Affordable Style, Around The House, Details, Details! | Tags: | 3 Comments
October 18, 2011 by admin
I love a good hefty lamp. I love lots of different kinds of lamps, but there’s something about big, squat, ceramic lamps that just looks right to me. I love this one – a Ralph Lauren design – for it’s mellow glaze, wooden base and tapered shade. This sort of shade has been sort of ‘out’ for a while but is big again, especially with serious decorators.
This little spot is in my living room and features my fav lamp of the moment. It’s sat upon the piano my grandparents bought for my mom as a child (she was a musical wunderkind) and I learned on it as well. The walls are Farr0w & Ball’s Pale Powder (one my go-to hues) and on the wall is an old map from my dad’s Newfoundlander father and is a fun nautical reference. The big shell is from an estate sale and the shells inside are just another part of my collection! As the weather cools, I’ll likely switch them out for some other object or collection. That’s part of the fun!
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October 5, 2011 by admin
Before it gets too far into the fall season, I thought I’d share my love of sea shells. I like to collect them on vacation, at thrift shops and even craft stores. Here are a couple detail shots of one area with shells in my home. I house this collection in a slouchy African basket I got from Angus & Company in Toronto. The rug beneath is Dash & Albert.
Just love the colours, shapes, and texture of sea shells.
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September 29, 2011 by admin
This is the first in a new series of posts I’m going to try out for a while.
I’m a big believer in the idea that it’s the details that really make a huge difference when it comes to loving your home. I won’t deny that taking care of the big picture is important and that’s usually how a room design begins, but if you’re lucky enough to get to that point where you pay attention to those little details – to create those special little moments – that’s the sweet spot.
It’s those little moments that really make you smile as you sink into your comfiest chair or that extra special view when you look through your window into the garden. So often when I sit quietly in our house I smile from ear to ear when I notice the details.
Here’s the first picture that inspired this blog series. A beautiful tableaux with inexpensive blue and white vases just the right size for holding single garden roses. The antique wooden box was a keepsake from Maine this past summer and the gilt mirror is from Maine the summer before. I love how the mirror reflects the room beyond, like an Old Master painting and the watery, soothing wall colour in the background is still my favourite.
Here’s hoping you enjoy the details in your home.
Category Details, Details! | Tags: | 7 Comments