Happy Fathers' Day!

Happy Fathers' Day to my dad :-)

Headboard or Bed?

I'm having a hard time sleeping tonight and instead of trying to sleep, I find myself surfing the web for bedroom ideas.

When we lived in the condo, we had the Ikea Malm bed in black/brown and LOVED it. I actually still love it for the price, but it doesn't work in our new bedroom (especially since we upgraded to a King sized matress when we moved). It is currently housed in our second bedroom, but will be sold eventually for something that fits a bit better.

I have always had a bit of a crush on the ever-popular Collete from Crate and Barrel. Lindsay over at Little House Blog has it and I just love love love it.

However, after realizing that there is always SOMETHING that you need to get/fix/buy once you own a home, the whole bed hunt has kind of been pushed to the side for more important items (like a garage, according to my husband!).

I came across this tonight:

It is the Arc Notched Nail Button Bed by Skyline and sold by CSN Stores. This pictures shows it in Shantung Silver, but it comes in a bunch of colours.  What do you think?

It seems like it is a good cross between the Collette and some of the curvier styles that are out there (that I think I'd tire of eventually). I had grand plans of making a headboard myself, but I know deep down I'd rather have a full bed.

Upside on this vs the Collette is that the Skyline version is made to fit with a box spring which is my preference, and it is oh, less than HALF the price of the gorgeous Collette.

Downside - the quality definitely won't be as good. The nailhead trim is actually plastic buttons or something not so great. However, for the price it sure ain't all bad, right?

If you have other suggestions on what I should get for the bedroom, let me have'em!

Good night!

If Anyone Hits Up a GTA HomeSense...

Let me know if you see any of these:

I'm looking for the $12 size (there were some bigger) but will take bigger ones if necessary. They are navy and cream.

I've tried the one on Queen Street already - although they had lots of GREAT stuff there yesterday, these boxes weren't there unfortunately.

Thanks!

If you are feeling bad...

Even if it is just because it is only Tuesday..

Decorator, I Am Not. But I Can Try, Right?

I swear the dressing room will never be finished. No seriously. That might be a promise. I know that the major items are all there (with a few exceptions i.e. lighting/rug), but how to put the little things together is really not working for me.

I tried a few things this weekend and thought I'd get your input. Extra points if readers can figure out where I got some of the items on the vanity. It is like Where's Waldo, Blogger-styles.

The lamp is temporarily on those books - will find something a little bigger and more appropriate.

Check out this little cutie though - I smile everytime I open it up!

Any guess on where the items came from? Not all are from the same place, but a bunch are from my favourite source of decor finds ;-)

If any of you observant bloggers immediately thought they had seen some of these things on another blog but couldn't quite remember where, CLICK HERE.

Remember this?  Or what about this? Take note of the comments on the lamp find - S from 8 Foot 6 literally bought it with me in mind! I swear, S is like my personal shopper/thrifter extraordinaire- she goes on thrifting expeditions and sends me pictures of items she finds that will work in the dressing room (among other great finds for the rest of the house). Seriously amazing.

I finally got to meet her on the weekend to pick up all of the great finds she'd put aside for me and I was taken on a tour of her seriously stunning, gorgeous house. Honestly - you should all be begging for a photo tour. Definitely inspiring.  If you haven't checked out her blog, go now! But don't buy the craigslist items that she posts that I want. hah

Anyways - I'm open to suggestion on what should be included/taken away/moved/adjusted. What do you think?

A Little Help from My (Blogger) Friends

I know that I usually ask you guys for advice on how to style my house or what patio furniture to buy (yes, an update is coming for that!) but today I have a different request.

I'm hoping my fellow bloggers and readers can send some good thoughts/prayers/vibes in a few directions for me.

My husband left on a week-long trip today on this:

I know, I know. I'm a bad wife for not putting my foot down and forcing him to sell the bike. But he loves it - what can I do?! (Aside from making sure the life insurance policy is ready to go). He is off on some weeklong ride with some friends to somewhere in Tennessee. My understanding is that there is a road through some mountains that bikers like. Whatever.  I made him promise me at least a call or a text message every day to ensure he is still A-OK.

He was all geared up so he'll be safe.

And off he went!

                         

So if you can send some safety vibes his way I'd really appreciate it!

Secondly - I won't go into too many details but my best friend could use some good thoughts today too. She got some bad news and I wish I could be there with her but I can't (she lives a good 5 hour flight away).

Anyhoo - I'd appreciate any 'help' you can give me today! Back to regular home related blogging tomorrow.

Dressing Room - Almost Complete!

The room is almost complete - just some finishing touches (i.e. light fixture, rug, storage boxes for the top shelving, jars etc for the vanity) but I thought I would show you guys some of the progress that has been made!!

Here is the closet which used to house baby clothes but has been overhauled to work for me!  I put the baskets in to hold tshirts/gym clothes/etc - basically anything that needs to be folded and won't look nice and tidy like jeans! Ideally, I would have used dark baskets for everything but the store didn't have enough so I'm testing out the mix'n'match look. What do you think? And yes, I will get a nicer laundry hamper at some point :-)

Notice the extra hangers just waiting for new clothes? :-)

Next up - here is a photo of the 'dress' section with some hooks for purses etc.  The curtains are the Ikea Henny panel drapes.  I had thought of buying fabric and making them from scratch but of course, all of the fabric I loved was astronomically priced.  $60 for two panels made a lot more sense!

And the moment I've been waiting for since moving in, here is the entire Stolmen system!!!

I can't tell you how much I LOVE it!! It is like shopping in my own closet!!!! Everything has a place and there is space for lots more!

Room for shoes...

And here is the most unfinished part of the room - the vanity wall.

The chair was a gift from my mom at Christmas but doesn't really work with the room so I think it might be moved somewhere else.  I'm also still on the fence about painting the vanity - what do you guys think? White? Navy? New hardware?

Also have a few things that will go on the vanity as well but I am on a bit of a spending hiatus :-)

Here is one last photo of the room - thanks for looking!

I've Got the Blues...

A few weeks ago I mentioned something I was lusting after, design-wise.  I had originally been thinking of a different colour, but once I received a comment from the lovely Rambling Renovators to think about a different colour, I couldn't get it out of my head!!  So this weekend, we decided to just go for it!!!

Here is the before - 

I had always thought we'd sand and re-stain the door, but it was actually in pretty terrible condition.  See below:

                        

I guess years of bad weather and lack of proper care will take its toll on a wooden door.

So off to Home Depot we went (doesn't everyone do that on a Saturday night?).

This morning we filled holes and sanded. 

We taped:

                      

I pulled out the paint - CIL exterior semi-gloss with some kind of triple weather protection (i.e. good marketing to make me choose it):

The paint was colour matched to Benjamin Moore's "Polo Blue":

And the painting began!!!

                           

                           

And here is the final product - still drying a bit and missing a few accessories, but I wanted to show you guys!!

                          

                          

                           

So now the house is full of flies (can't close the door until it dries), and we want to add a few things (new kick-plate to protect the bottom of the door) and we are thinking about maybe cleaning the mail slot/door knocker etc. Plus we need to get a new urn with some nice flowers :-)

Anyways - I LOVE the colour! It is almost black looking from the inside (just like I wanted!) but it is definitely blue from the outside. I had thought the blue was a little bright for my liking on the outside, but I think it adds a nice pop of colour!

Hubs and I are now super keen on painting other interior doors. I can't get over the transformation from the inside:

                          

                          

                          

That's all for now! Hope you had a great weekend!

I don't know what this is...

But it is pretty funny!

Is it selling rugs? Lots of my fellow Toronto bloggers are on here. Am I the last to know?

http://www.arearugs.com/blog/2010/top-25-home-renovation-and-remodeling-blogs/

So We Are Down to Two...

Hello friends, I'm back (yes, again!).

Hubby and I did a mad dash around the city to look at our patio furniture and we have narrowed it down to the following two:

1. Gluckstein #1 (from the first round)

And #2 - a mix of Ikea pieces including the Applaro drop leaf table and the Tobias chair:

We tried the Ikea Urban chair (as you can see in the background) but the white chair was already pretty grotty so we got worried.

Upside to the Ikea set is the expandability of the table (can seat 8-10) and it is wood.

Upside to the Gluckstein set is the stackable chairs and the simple, durable look.

Hmm...I have a favourite and my husband favours the other.

Can you guess what one we each like? What is your favourite?

The Backyard May be in Shambles...

But with a birthday just passed, we are planning on celebrating with a family bbq on the weekend. Of course, we don't have a dining set out there so we are on the hunt.

Here are some options - what do you think?

#1 - Gluckstein from the Bay

Pros: Simple, chairs are stackable, can hose it down if/when it gets dirty or dusty
Cons: Chairs aren't very comfortable.

#2 Also Gluckstein from the Bay

Pros: Comfy, made of steel so should last a while, I like the pattern on the back of the chairs, chairs stack
Cons: Have to deal with cushions (taking on/off, fading etc)

#3 - from Making it Lovely and Ikea- brought to my attention by a lovely Toronto blogger:

Pros: Wood table, can be extended to seat 10, simple, chairs stack, a little more interesting
Cons: Wood fades (although hubby says we can take care of that), chairs may not be as comfortable for guests like my parents.

Anyways I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts - we are definitely open to suggestion so if you have anything else to add to the mix, let me know!

How to Install a Stolmen Closet System

Before deciding on and purchasing the Stolmen closet system from Ikea, I did a lot of research. A lot of googling (is that a word?). I thought that I had it all figured out.

I was wrong.

Anyways, in an attempt to help others who are interested in this system, I thought I'd put together a little step-by-step on how to (or how not to) install the Stolmen system.

Step 1. Research - there are quite a few photos on the web of different configurations so search around to get ideas.

Step 2. Measure.  Figure out the size of the wall/area you have to work with. Take things like baseboards into consideration.

Step 3. Configure. Make a plan of how you want it set up - do you want drawers? Hanging rods? Shelving?

Step 4. Realize that the sizes that Ikea gives you are NOT accurate. Sure they have the right measurements hidden in a special pamphlet that only an Ikea stalker like myself might find, but most people won't find that. And most Ikea sales reps don't know either. So they will sell you an entire system based on the web measurements and nothing will fit. Like seriously.  What the web says is 110cm wide is actually 117 cm once you add in the vertical poles etc.  If you are going to get Stolmen, HERE is the special assembly guide that is not so easy to find.

Step 5. Go home and measure again.  Try not to say things like "we are only 2 cms off - it's Ikea, I'm sure they aren't accurate" or "maybe we can trim the particle board shelves".

Step 6. Go to Ikea midweek when it won't be so busy. Realize that since they aren't busy midweek, they cut down on staff and there is no one to help. Let the rage start building until finally your lovely husband tracks someone down. Someone who doesn't understand the measurements. Someone who puts you into a panic saying that it is being discontinued. Thanks, Ikea lady.  Gather up all the parts and struggle through the self-checkout. Why, oh why do I want to check myself out?

Step 7. Start by putting up the vertical poles - they run floor to ceiling and use a really AMAZING itty bitty Ikea wrench to make them extend and put pressure on the ceiling to hold in place. Thanks Ikea for that one. Really made it easy on us.

Step 8. Realize that yes, being 2 cms off WILL cause a problem and NO you can't just "trim the particle board shelving" to make everything fit.

Step 9. Take the poles down. Use the itty bitty wrench to loosen them and move them to their new positions. Realize that won't work either and sit back and think again.

Step 10. Figure out a new plan and realize that I don't have enough pieces. Go back to Ikea and this time go straight to aisle ten and just buy the pieces and go...check myself out. Ugh. It is like they don't even staff the regular check out lines!

Step 11. Start again. Put up one pole. Measure. Pole two. Level. Attach one of the clothing rods to ensure they are the right distance apart. Level again.  Start to hate the level.

Step 12. Realize there is a good reason that while Ikea didn't give you the right measurements, they were right in including the little symbol of two stick people, indicating this job will take two people to put together.

Steps 13-20. Continue spacing out the poles, using the itty bitty wrench and the annoying level.  Try not to get frustrated and snap when the level tells you things are straight but your eye tells you things aren't.

Step 21. Sit back and marvel at your and your husband's handiwork.  Be grateful that you didn't even fight during the process.

More dressing room fun to come!