And Finally...A Giveaway!!!!

I'm pretty pumped, because I was approached by a lovely representative at CSN Stores who thought that some of my readers would like to win something! And seriously...who doesn't like to win free stuff?!  I was pretty excited because for once, it is a giveaway that is open (and honestly, targeted) at my lovely Canadian readers! Everyone is able to win (yes, including you, my lone, Australian reader!) however the winner will be responsible for their own shipping/international fees for the gift.

Up for grabs? Well, this is the best part. I'm not going to pre-pick your prize - the winner will get a one-time use $40 dollar gift certificate that can be used towards literally, ANYTHING at one of their 200+ stores! Looking for some cookware for the kitchen? They've got that. What about a new lighting fixture? Yep - got that too. Even furniture is available, from coffee tables to corner tv stands.

If I were to pick something, I would probably go for 

Or this, for my friend who just had a baby girl:

Knowing my frugal nature, I'd consider this too because it is cute and comes with three pillows!:

So here are the rules for entering:

1. You have to be a follower to enter. All you have to do is click on the FOLLOW button at the bottom of the blog.

2. Comment on this post and let me know what you'd do with the $40 gift certificate.

3. That's it! Pretty easy, eh?

So let's hear it - what would you get?

Just FYI - I'm not getting anything out of this. No free gift or anything.  Only reason I jumped at the chance (other than to give a lovely reader something special!) was because I actually really love CSN Stores. When hubs and I were couch shopping, I went to some local Toronto shops and found a couch I loved. Of course, when I looked online I found it for $500 cheaper online. Where did I find it at such a steal, you might ask? CSN Sofas, of course! No joke - the couch was only 1300 or something to begin with, so $500 savings AFTER conversion and shipping was HUGE in my eyes!!

Anyways - we never ordered the couch because hubs fell in love with a leather one nearby but ever since then I've been a big fan.

So go for it - enter away and GOOD LUCK! Winner will be drawn in ONE WEEK. 

Mirror Mirror On the Wall...

Wow. Restoration Hardware. I may have a hate on for the FIVE MONTH wait you have inflicted on me for my Martine End Chairs, but lord have mercy, THESE are gorgeous!!

This one can be yours for the low, low price of $849 (US):

And get ready...

How flippin gorgeous is that mirror!!! Too bad it is over $1,000!!! Gulp! But there is no denying that it is pretty stupendous.

Another Craigslist Post

I'm not sure if you guys realize that I am a bit of a deal hunter. I almost NEVER pay full price for anything (except of course my lovely new computer - but even that I researched and waited for 5 months because there was rumour of an upgrade coming) so OF COURSE I love me some Craigslist. Remember that I'm the girl who found gallons and gallons of paint for less than half price on Craigslist. Paint! In my preferred colour! But I digress...

While Toronto Craigslist is one of the most expensive ones around (ahem...you want 200 dollars for something that would be 25 in another city - or a free curbside pick up in another?), I tend to look for items that aren't necessarily "cheap" but are better quality than I could afford new but that will likely last a long time.

Case and point - remember our tv stand? Sure it wasn't the cheapest thing on CL, but it was solid wood, in great condition, and less than what we would have paid at Ikea for a better piece.

Anyways, as I was perusing my favourite blogs, I came across this great post penned by the super Toronto blogger, Shannon at 8 foot 6. As soon as I saw the pair of classy chairs, I knew they had to be mine :-)

Hubs and I made contact, drove across town and met a lovely woman who was sadly parting with her chairs.  The cushions are in rough shape, but we would want to restuff/recover them anyways.

When I had sent the link to my mom, she thought they looked uncomfortable but I kid you not, these are surprisingly comfy! You kind of sink back into them and they have the perfect incline for your back.

We got a pretty good deal because while one of them had some work done to it (webbing under the cushion), the one on the right still had old fabric on the base of the chair that would need to be removed. Um...no problem! So we came home with two gorgeous teak chairs for less than the price of one from HomeSense. Works for me!

We are thinking of what to do with them - fabric for sure, but should we paint the wood something like this:

Photo Credit: Holly at Life in the Fun Lane

Found another few pictures via google images that are making me think painting isn't such a bad option:

We'd want something more than white on the cushion but maybe we should paint the wood? 

We are going to 'sit on it' for a while and see how the natural wood works for a while - I don't want to do anything drastic that we can't take back unless it is right!!

Anyhoo - there is my CL story for the day. Thanks to Shannon at 8 foot 6 for the tip :-)

Success!

We may not get a lot of sun, but this little guy made it!

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Cheap Finds from the St. Lawrence Antique Market

Last weekend was pretty busy for us, but we managed to spend about 30 minutes at the St. Lawrence Market antique sale.  It runs every Sunday and has a pretty crazy variety of stuff. Jewellery, knick knacks, clothing, furniture - you name it and they likely have it!

We didn't find anything big, but we did pick up these beauties :-)

The large one is in better shape than the small one, but for $25 for the both, we couldn't pass it up!!

Not sure what we'll do with them - put a mirror in? Bulletin board? Paint? Not sure but I knew they were worth bringing home!

Any ideas for a neat project? We are open to suggestion!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

I May Not Have a Green Thumb

So I REALLY need that nice weather to come back. This tulip made her first appearance at Easter and has stalled ever since. Think she stands a chance or is this year done for her?
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My blogging might get a whole lot better :-)

This is totally un-house related, but I'm super excited because we just bought a BRAND NEW COMPUTER! (cue the applause!)

No seriously people - I've been using the same laptop since 2004. It has a 30 GB harddrive and 512mb of memory. In a week or less, I will be using a brand new Macbook Pro with a whopping 320 GB of harddrive space and 4GB of memory.

I am so excited - blogging from this old beater is getting...well...old. Crashing, taking so long to open a webpage that the computer thinks there is no internet connection and taking eons to upload photos - needless to say I'm pretty ecstatic about the prospect of working on a new computer and improving my blog posts!!

So get ready - bigger, better and more frequent blogging to come!

What's Going on at My Casa

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a nice weekend. I've been fighting a cold so not much DIY has been happening here but I thought I'd give everyone an update as to what we've been up to!

1. Garage Progress: we have had a few people in to quote on different parts of the garage building. We are currently waiting on a call from our tree "guy" because we are going to have to cut down a small tree in our backyard to make room for the garage. Originally, we were trying to not cut any trees down but it just didn't work. Luckily, while the tree is tall, it is small in circumference so we won't have to deal with the Toronto tree police. Can't wait to have a home for our car!

2. Hole in the Ceiling: Remember back in November when we had a small plumbing problem? Yes, well the hole in our kitchen ceiling was FINALLY fixed. Needs one more coat but I am no longer looking at exposed plumbing when I eat. An interesting side note - when our contractor friend who helped us cover the hole came by he noticed that there must have been a fire here years ago because some of the beams in the ceiling were black! Crazy!

3. Bathroom Reno: We've started getting a few people in to quote on our bathroom. Unfortunately for us, it isn't a DIY job since it involves ripping down a wall and moving loads of plumbing. Also, since it is our only bathroom, I don't think just plugging away on it evenings and weekends will get it done in a reasonable time period. A lot to do in this category - figuring out the layout is probably the first task.  We are thinking about getting a designer involved to help us out... In the meantime - does anyone have any recommendations on where to buy a bath tub? We are thinking of something free standing...

4. Purchases: While I wasn't able to find that special chair from Home Sense for our family room, but we did have some success at what we fondly refer to as the "sh&% sale" (the antique sale at St. Lawrence Market). Photos to come soon because I will need some help to decide what to do with what we bought!!

5. Dressing Room: I am spending this week and next weekend emptying out the room, sanding the walls and painting the trim. Should have the wallpaper up the weekend after that :-)

That's about it - what have you guys been up to? Anything exciting?

Darcy's Triumphant Arrival

Let the wallpapering begin!
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Pillow Suggestions And HUGE Request for Toronto Bloggers!

Happy Easter fellow bloggers!  What a lovely weekend it was for a holiday! Our tulips are starting to come out as well as some surprise flowers that are complements of the couple we bought our home from.

Anyways - I thought I would get input from the experts on some accent pillows to go with our new duvet cover (which I sadly just put on today!) - have you seen any good ones on Etsy or should I just hunt down something at HomeSense?

Speaking of HomeSense - stopped by on Friday and saw THE PERFECT CHAIR for our family room. Unfortunately it was being wrapped up for some other lucky duck who had already bought it.

I went home and called 4 other locations and while everyone knew what chair I was talking about, they'd all been sold.

So here is my plea: if you see a light grey Bergere style chair with light coloured wood trim at HomeSense - please send me a message or for the love of god, put it on hold for me :-) I would be ever so grateful!!

Looks something like this:

So please - keep your eyes peeled and please don't buy every one in the city if you do find it!

Why Buying a Home in the Fall is Great

You never know what is going to spring up :)

Happy Easter everyone!
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