Happy NEW YEAR!

Since I missed Christmas, I wanted to write a Happy New Year post. Going out to everyone out there.

Hope the New Year will be full of fun, laughter, opportunities and inspiration. Plus ability and desire to get things done! (that one is for me :)

See you back here in the New Year.

Source: http://myfirstlittleplace.blogspot.com/2010/12/to-tree-or-not-to-tree.html

More Couch

If you read through the links in the previous post, you must realize that ppl who write design blogs are an obsessive bunch. So that's my excuse for posting more photos with my favourite couch.

I say: when you care, you CARE. And I C-A-R-E :)

Source: http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2010/12/30/some-favourite-living-rooms-of-2010.html

Drop everything and READ THIS

THIS and THIS and comment.

Room for Baby C - Shopping List

Whether we're ready or not, our kid will soon need a new bed. She just turned 18 months and I'm hoping that we'll get her out of her crib by the time she's 2. That gives us all of 6 months to pull off all of THIS.

I'm not going to attempt a "mood board", but here are some of the things I"m thinking for her compiled in one post (instead of being randomly talked about all over this blog).

HAVE:

Pillow Chams, Overhead Light, Mirror, Art

PLAN TO GET:

Wallpaper, Dresser, Rug, Curtains (add black and hot pink trim)

DREAM ABOUT twin bed (stealing the idea from HERE and spray painting it GLOSSY BLACK, comme ça):

Can you tell that it is New Year's resolution time? :)

THE couch

I think this is THE couch, in fabric, at a different store. I'm calling tomorrow to see if they have one in their show room. They have a ton of other yummy couches on their website... we totally need to check this store out. Thank you KIM for posting your furniture sources in Ottawa.

Source: http://www.blueprinthome.com/products/sofa.html

Happy Birthday Blog!

The first post was: Dec 24th, 2009

There are 8 followers.

So far there have been 324 posts in total.

Last month this blog was visited 2,053 times.

And during this year, this blog was visited 13,583 times.

Dear blog, you have been so good to me. Letting me vent frustrations, happiness and ideas. Thank you to all those who are reading. Thank you for your comments, encouragement and ideas.

Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/layer-cake-recipes#slide_16

Movie Watching - Sex and the City 2

Finally I’ve found the time to watch Sex and the City 2. I wrote about how I loved the still shots of Carrie+Big’s apartment before. And I’m back again to say that I love the apartment even more now that I’ve seen it in action. So much character, so much charm, so NYC and grown up and … and .. and… .
If you've been reading this blog long enough you might remember how much I raved about this chandelier. This might explain partially why I'm loving this apartment so much. To all the haters out there… all I can say is that I’m so happy the designers didn’t go with the same thing they did for Carrie’s own apartment. It was too California-beach-y. In my mind this apartment is the perfect way to combine both Carrie and Big’s, not only tastes, but personalities and a true reflection of their relationship.

PS. I too do not get the kitchen backsplash, but I don't completely hate it. I just wouldn't do it myself.

PPS. My hubby wants Big’s couch! Go figure. My man’s got style!

Source: http://www.elledecor.com/celebrity-homes/articles/stylish-interiors-sex-and-city-2

Yumm

I don't know about you, but I'm loving the prints on the wall. Four(4) wide and two(2) high. I'm craving now for wall space to work this look. Maybe the dining room...

Source: http://habituallychic.blogspot.com/2010/12/model-chic-in-madrid.html

Had to share: Baby C

Christmas for Baby C

Warning: Sweet but blurry pictures ahead.

This is what we did on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas baby girl. You're the best gift we could ever wish for.

Dream House Plan

Ok, weird post. But I thought I'd share. This house is AMAZING. Not only for the furnishings. I'm loving the floor plan even more. Keeping this for the files in case I ever win the Lottery. That reminds me, I should probably at least attempt to buy a ticket :)

1. Bathroom; 2. Storage; 3. Stairs to basement; 5. Kitchen; 6. Family room; 7.-9. Bedrooms; 10. Bathroom; 11. Dining room; 12. Great room; 13. Living room; 14. Garage; 15. Foyer; 16. Bathroom. 17. Master bedroom; 18. Den.

You can click to check out all the house photos HERE.

Window Shopping

Today, while Baby C napped, we decided to take a little stroll through the Byward Market. It has been on our wish list for a while -> to take a lazy afternoon and just walk around, visit some shops, have a long lunch, followed by coffee and some furniture shopping.

Some of our thoughts from the stroll:

(1) it was REALLY cold and windy. We practically ran from one store into the next, just to get out of the wind. We saw the above sofa at Phillip Van Leeuwen and were not too impressed. It was the runner up to THE couch. We thought we'd check it out, since THE couch is not available for viewing [ :( ]. Didn't like it, looks way worse than in the picture.

(2) EQ3 PLUS is offered in store only and the selection is not that great. Thank you, I'm comfortable buying online.

(3) We were surprised at how much we liked this sofa in the store. They had one in leather (which we are not considering, it looks weird). It was super comfortable for both of us and the lines were funky/clean enough that we BOTH liked it.

(4) I was even more impressed with the chair below. WOW. Mainly because its like a 1+1/2 a chair. Yummy. I could just imagine curling up with Baby C in that chair and reading some fairy tales while hubby had the fire going with some twinkle lights around the fireplace. My only wish is to change up the wooden legs for some chrome-y sparkle.
(5) Lastly, we were also really impressed with this sofa, again EQ3. They actually have just a 3-seater. And its pretty fabulous. And comfortable. Something else to think about.
(6) ZONE has some great sales on. The pendant below we saw for $135! 40% off. But decided that it was too much chrome for us. We're so in love with how the KNAPPA pendant lamp is looking in the dining room, that it is very hard to find a worthy replacement. [the image is from Mikaza Home, because ZONE does not have it listed on their website]
(7) And finally, we came to a very obvious to us conclusion = we are just not ready to buy more stuff. I'm not sure if our tastes are going through a transition, or if we just have too much on our minds, or if the right things just have not come across our way... But we did not experience any "wow" moments (like with the rugs). I think we are just not ready. As much a we want to have this house turn into a home. Things take time. And we're finally coming to terms with that.

Better Late Than NEVER

I didn't get around to putting up my Christmas wreaths until about two days ago. First, the little one below needed to be assembled; and second, the large one at the bottom needed to have nice silver sprinkles added.

So, the first one is what we have over the fireplace. I just used a few branches from Michael's for a simple but sparkl-y arrangement.

The wreath below was a gift from my parents three Christmases ago. Right now I feel like its on steroids. It's all that minimalism through reading too many blogs talking. I really like this wreath for being traditional, but with a subtle twist. The large brown flowers make the wreath look more unique and not too Christmas-y. BUT they also made the whole arrangement too dark, without subtle definition for interest. So this year, I decided to add a bit of sparkle to the brown to lighten the feel a bit.

And this is what it looks like. I put it on the inside of the door for two specific reasons: (1) I always hit the wreath as I walk out the door if its hanging on the outside (am I the only one??); (2) its pretty and makes my hallway look nice (and right now the outside of the house is the least of my worries).

So there, its never too late to have some Christmas sparkle around the house.

Thinking ahead towards painting the Family Room

Just yesterday I was speaking with one of my friends about what reno-decorating project was next. To tell you the truth, right now, I don't want to do anything. Even think about doing anything around the house. I just want to get through the holidays in one piece.

But lovely images like the one above, inevitably inspire me. Love love love the image. Which makes me think about my own fireplace dilemma. As I wrote here, I hate my fireplace mantel (check it out HERE). I've been thinking of removing it completely... But I"m worried that we might need a professional to come in and fix up the drywall ('cause we are really bad at doing that). And paying for repairing drywall is not an eligible reno expense. He he he.

So... why not paint the whole wall with the mantel the same colour? You know, it might work. The only thing is...

(there's always a BUT). The only thing is... I was hoping to do a stensil of some kind to highlight the fireplace. And I'm wondering if that really defeats my purpose. Here I'm trying to make the mantel disappear. But since I"m not going to stencil the mantel, stenciling the fireplace will, inadvertently, bring out the mantel.

Decisions, decisions... Option #1 (easy) - paint the whole thing one colour. Option #2 (hard) - take down the mantel + stencil the fireplace. Option #3 - take it easy for now and leave the family room in peace.

PS. For the family room, the wall colour is much lighter than in the living room. And the room itself is very bright during the day. So it would make total sense to paint mantel the same colour as the wall. It will be very close to the above image, almost all white. You know, I think I'm getting pretty pumped up for this :) Maybe there will be painting in the near future (I mean, like February, don't get any crazy ideas).

Source: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/inspiration/best-of-fireplaces-mantle-decorhouse-tours-2010-135450

Organizing Living Room Open Shelving

Warning: Crappy pictures taken an night. Some with the flash! some without.

Open shelving = evil. Open shelving + toys = nightmare. Welcome to my house. Watch what you step on!
After a bit of time, this is what we have now. Name of the game = working with what you've got.

And this is what I have in the dinNing room.

Reading Books

THIS post is exactly how I feel about reading books. It should be my New Year's resolutions to dedicate 1 hr a week to READING, not just flipping through pages.

And a nice inspiration image for the family room.

Kitchen backsplash

Going straight into my inspiration folder. This is so lovely!

Source: http://madebygirl.blogspot.com/2010/12/kitchen-backsplash-is-done-nicelyvia.html