Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Living Room


This is the inspiration: It is a Living Room done by Thomas O'Brien that I find lovely. I found it on his website. It is a piece done in House & Garden May 2005 on an 1840 Conneticut Federalist-style farmhouse. You can see the whole article here. The whole house is beautiful and the grounds; breathtakingly bucolic. 
Photos from this article: Eric Boman

So the Living Room is painted in a Donald Kaufmann Green which I can envision like Farrow and Ball's Pale Powder, only this one has a lot of blue in it. Mmmm...which one?:


The whole room looks like the 2nd sample but the bottom of the wall by the fireplace looks like the blue. Agh! Blend the two?

 I can totally see doing this in my Living Room to update it, except my curtains would have to come down and at $1500+, I can see my husband cringing (or flipping out). However, I don't think I can accomplish the lightness without doing so. This takes strategy (and $$$).


Time for a pick-me-up:

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Taking time to smell the roses

I hope everyone enjoys their Valentine's Day and watching the Olympics! I'll be in gyms all weekend watching E. play basketball ... I wouldn't have it any other way!


Thursday, February 11, 2010

Elizabeth's Bedroom Upgrade

Yesterday, I did something I should have done ages ago: I took pictures of every room, nook and cranny, in my home. Once uploaded, I made my notes of what I want to do in each room. It may be a little daunting, but it gave me a map or to-do list and as a very visual person, it proved extremely helpful.
One year, at the IDS Show in Toronto, I lined up with my house photos (particularly, the new Family Room addition) for a presentation by House and Home magazine. Linda Reeves, Cobi Ladner, Marc Chalmers and a couple others were accepting photos for free advice on room solutions. Linda took on my project and drew onto my photo and made comments. So, I too, have notes on all my uploaded photos, I am going to print them and draw on them with black marker.

The first project to tackle in the move of my 13 yr old daughter's bedroom into my eldest daughter's room (away at university). Now, part of me thinks this is slightly callous, believing the room needs to stay Lucy's for when she comes home. Problem is, I am the only one who feels that way. Lucy is happily finishing her 2nd year at school and is moving into a 2nd house with her friends. Her excitement is in decorating that room and as long as she has a place to sleep when she does come home, she doesn't mind her little sister taking over her room.

So here's the inspiration:
White walls with yellow accent (2 smaller walls painted yellow) to match the toile fabric. She likes the Pottery Barn one here, but I may still make a trip to Designer Fabric Outlet in Toronto and make her duvet and pillow covers.

Ikea Expedit shelves against one yellow painted nook, so the colour shows through the back (I love the circular mirrors too):

I also want her to have a large bulletin board to organize her time better. I was inspired by this photo, only I plan to make it twice the width, to fill another short blank wall:

And finally, remove the old ceiling fan and put a funky light fixture. I like the one above or Ikea's PS Maskros that looks like a seeding dandelion:

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Lonny February!!!



I just finished browsing the new issue of Lonny and it's fabulous! I love the links and must have bookmarked a dozen! Hats off to Michelle Adams and Patrick Cline! I particularly adore Ryan Korban's apartment - again the animal prints are catching my eye! And the plexi-glass table (below) and organizers are beautiful! There is so much to look at, over and over again, in this Lonny issue.


Sunday, February 7, 2010

Happy Sunday!!!







Marimekko Bed Linens @ IDS Toronto



Weekend Projects:


How to make a Fabric Headboard:

As a part of my planning my 13 yr olds move into her sister old bedroom (Lucy is off at university), I have come across some great ideas for the bed. The above photo (and matching below) comes from a fabulously handy magazine Notebook Magazine, along with the How-To.


The other great idea was via my latest copy of Style at Home and seriously affordable to do. Railings hung from the ceiling. I have a ceiling fan light in Lucy's room that I think will get in the way, otherwise, I would have chose this options for sure. Easy and effective: