AM Dolce Vita

Foyer Floor Update

2012-03-03T20:28:00.004-05:00

Thanks for your input on our foyer flooring. The decision is a "go" to get rid of those grout lines. After much consideration and weighing in pros and cons between hardwood floor extension and natural marble tiles, I've decided to go with the latter, sort of.

My search for the new foyer tile started with marbles in the white, grey and cream color families, where my comfort zone is. The first one came to my mind was the ever-popular Bianco Carrara in 24x24. To my great surprise, after visiting a few tile stores, I found out there seemed to be a city-wide shortage of Bianco Carrara tiles in that size; and for a couple of stores that still had little inventory left, they either didn't have enough (we needed almost 300 sq ft), or would sell them at a ridiculous price. I guess they all imported from similar sources.

One of the stores suggested a marble called Bianco Statuario which is like a "veinier" cousin of Bianco Carrara, and the stone is gorgeous!

Bianco Statuario

Doesn't it look fabulous in a master retreat. And that's probably why the tile should stay in a bathroom, IMO.

I moved on to investigate Crema Marfil group of marbles. Top-grade Crema Marfil can look very warm and calm at the same time. However, a clean Crema Marfil tile with very little veins and swirls would pretty much eat up my entire foyer budget. When I was in one of the stores, a different type of tile caught my eye -- a porcelain tile that looked almost identical to natural Crema Marfil but very clean! I came home to do some research, and this is what I found: "Porcelain tile is a dense material, which makes it nearly impervious to wear. Porcelain tile is also less porous and less prone to moisture or stain absorption keeping maintenance to a minimum." Sounds about just what I need for a foyer, right?

So this is what I ended up buying: a very light-colored Crema Marfil porcelain tile in 12x24. In my opinion this choice is a threefer: it has the marble look; it is low maintenance and durable; and it costs half of natural Crema Marfil.

The project starts in mid April, and I can't wait to get rid of those ugly grout lines. So, what do you think of my final tile choice?

Going Rouge

2012-02-29T19:29:00.000-05:00

No, this blog is not about spoofing Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" book (btw, do you still remember her? :-)). Rather it's literally about the color RED.

As most of you know I am a rock collector. So far I've accumulated 20 pieces of precious and semi-precious crystal specimens, and the collection is still growing.

As most of you also know, I am a chicken when it comes to intense and saturated colors like red. Recently, I've started to notice certain rooms in the house are pretty monochromatic. They can really use some pops of color.

The other night while I was watching season 2 White Collar on DVD, an episode about a stolen Myanmar pigeon blood ruby prompted me to search for a rock collection in the red color family. This is what a rough (uncut unpolished) pigeon blood ruby looks like. Isn't it a knockout?

Rough Ruby Source

Another thing I learnt from the show is that pigeon blood ruby is one of the most expensive (if not the most) ruby in the world. To add a small piece to my collection would mean thousands of dollars...not going to happen.

So I had to turn my search to less precious categories.

Rhodochrosite & Pyrite

Rose Quartz

Rose Aura Quartz

They look pretty fab right? I am going to pick up a couple of them, and will post some pictures later.

So, do you have any expensive hobbies? What do you do to curb your urge to spend?

Walk the Line

2012-02-25T21:37:00.000-05:00

Grout line that is.

I am not a big fan of wide/thick grout lines -- not only do they cheapen the overall look of a room, they also trap in and accumulate dust and dirt over time. So wherever feasible and possible, I would request to minimize the grout lines. The first step to that of course is to pick tiles with straight edges (as opposed beveled edge which requires more grout to fill the gaps).

A few years ago when our house was under construction, we opted out of tile upgrade in the foyer as it would cost us a ridiculous amount through our builder (like 10K). We chose the least ugly ones but little did we know our builder would lay the tiles this way.

Our Foyer Feb 2012

See those ginormous grout lines in the picture? They really get on my nerve.

So, I see I have two options: either to live with it, after all, we spend the least amount of time in the foyer; or to yank out all the existing tiles, and put in marble or porcelain tiles with almost no grout lines. The latter option would cost us about 5K. And money is the least of our concern...a rip-and-replace job like this is guaranteed to be very messy and dusty.

The ceramic tiles are rugged and functional for a foyer, but they don't seem to fit in the overall ambiance of my house. An open-to-the-above grand foyer like this is a key selling feature of a house.

So, what would you do if this was your foyer? Is it a good investment in your opinion?

Day and Night

2012-02-22T21:40:00.001-05:00

The other day after reading Shannon at 8foot6's blog on "Two things to help you take a better interiors photo", I played with the Exposure Compensation setting of my camera, and here's what came out. These two pictures came straight from my camera, and have not been touched up by any software.

Exposure Compensation = +0.7, ISO = 3200

Exposure Compensation = +2.0, ISO = 3200

Day and night, right? The higher EC made the room look so sunny. Love it!

Easy Breezy Apple Pie

2012-02-20T21:05:00.001-05:00

Today is the "Family Day" in Ontario, so we were finally able to get together with some friends and try out my apple pie recipe. Actually, I shouldn't take credit for this recipe...it comes handy with Pillsbury's Refrigerated Pie Crust. Seriously, you should give it at try.

The recipe calls for six Granny Smith but I opted for three Gala and three Washington for less tannin taste.

Pardon my rookie crust crimping skill. The photo was taken months ago when I debuted my first apple pie. I'd like to think I am a lot better now. :-)

How did you spend your Family Day long weekend?

An Old Picture

2012-02-16T17:39:00.002-05:00

Cough + fever + runny/stuffy nose + headache = days off blogging. It hasn't been easy to cope with a terrible cold like this while keeping up with the work intensity. I've been on antibiotics since Monday, and I think I managed to beat bronchitis by 24 hours. Consider myself lucky! Two years ago when I had similar symptoms, I waited another day before going to see my family physician. The result was non-stop coughing and asthmatic attacks for one week. I guess I learnt my lesson!

I dug up a picture of me taken a few years ago on a corporate retreat in Maui. Gazing at the picture made me realize how much I miss the ocean breeze.

So here's something I can look forward to in a few weeks. I will be doing nothing but reading on a sandy beach.

And perhaps blankly stare into the endless sea from our cruise ship balcony.

Source

And how great is that! Way to unclutter my mind. Do you have any spring vacation plan?

Design Plans and Outcomes

2012-02-13T21:47:00.001-05:00

Those that have been reading my blog for a while would know how much I love putting together design plans (aka mood boards). I thought I would summarize a few plans I've put together so far, and show you how faithful the outcomes were to them.

The Plan: Master Bedroom

The Outcome. Read more about this transformation here.

The Plan 1.0: Living Room

The Plan 2.0: Living Room

The Outcome...read more about this transformation here.

The Plan: Basement Bathroom

The Outcome...read more here.

The Plan 1.0: Home Office

The Plan 2.0: Home Office

The Outcome... read more here.

The Plan: Master Bathroom

The Outcome: we shall find out in April/May timeframe.

So, are you a big fan of the mood board exercise? Did your projects turn out mostly according to the plans?

Master Bath Shower Kit

2012-02-11T21:49:00.001-05:00

We had to cancel our trip to cottage country today due to the weather, so once again our plan has been put on hold. I am starting to wonder if this is not meant to be...on second thought, I am sure I am just overthinking it. Hopefully the weather will be clear next weekend, and we can finally go to see those cottages.

I've been searching for a shower system in preparation for our upcoming master bathroom renovation. Most of the kits I like would cost me in the range of $2,000 (too much, I know!), and I wasn't even looking for fancy features like "body jets" or "water tiles". After lunch, we decided to give a few local bath stores a try. We stumbled upon a brand called Riobel, the same one Janice @ LB30 used for her master bath. I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable their shower faucet systems are. After 45 minutes, I walked out of the store with an order for this:

Riobel Thermostatic/Pressure Balance Shower Kit

I was totally sold on its look, all brass construction, and the thermostatic mixing valve.

The kit in the showroom

So that's one major item off my list, whew. Are you like me that always research to death to get the best deal/product?

Schumacher Pillow

2012-02-09T21:42:00.001-05:00

Remember the super fab Schumacher Hothouse Flowers fabric I will use as our master bathroom roman shades? Well, since I ordered a lot more than needed, I couldn't resist the temptation to have part of it made into a body pillow for our master bedroom. This is my favourite fabric in my house right now.

And this is the master bedroom without flash. The flash version is available here.

Marina Dreams Continue

2012-02-07T21:12:00.002-05:00

Is it only Tuesday today? The week started off so exhausting that I felt like I was run over by a train, twice.

In the meanwhile, my search for a cottage continues. We've narrowed down to three, and this Saturday we are going to see them all. So far this is my second favorite, though most expensive one, after the one with huge ceiling-to-floor windows. It's a 3-bedroom 2-bath bungalow located at the shore of scenic Lake Dalrymple, just under 2 hours drive from where we live.

And this is a bird's-eye view of the cottage...isn't the location sick?

The trip has definitely given me something to look forward to. Hopefully the excitement and the anticipation will get me through a tough working week.

Disqus Comment System

2012-02-02T20:21:00.000-05:00

So I recently moved over to the popular Disqus Comment System. It has a lot of features that Blogger comment doesn't have, such as Reply, Like, sign in using multiple IDs, etc.

However, I've also noticed its downside. Of late a few comments left on my blog were NOT published for public viewing. When I login, I could see the comments through the Blogger Dashboard, and I also received alerts in the email. However, I couldn't see these comments from my blog's public domain -- that means other bloggers can't see them either. Also, I noticed the site now takes much longer to load with the Disqus plug-in.

Now I am thinking of reverting to the default Blogger comment. Are you experiencing similar problem with comments not showing up? Slow performance?

DIY Art Ikea Hack

2012-02-01T20:00:00.002-05:00

As I alluded yesterday that I have picked up painting again, and boy oh boy, my strokes are rustic. I guess it's unlike riding a bike or swimming, painting is practice-makes-perfect type of skill.

Anyhow, I thought I would start something small and gradually warm up into it. I've always wanted to try incorporating painting frame into a minimalist impressionism painting, and what other better option than start with a solid wood wide frame like Ikea Malma Mirror. So I yanked out the mirror glued onto the frame, replaced it with a piece of 4'x4' primed canvas, and secured it with a piece of cardboard and tape in the back, and I was all set.

It didn't take me much time to finish the painting (it's tiny after all), but to my surprise, I actually spent more time painting the "frame" than the canvas itself. :-) That's largely due to that I couldn't decide on the color shade I wanted the frame to be in contrast to the canvas, and whether I should use whitewashing technique. Anyhow, this is what it looks like, my first painting after hmm...a five-year break.

I haven't figured out a spot for it yet, so for now it's sitting on my living room's sofa table.

So have you rekindled any old hobbies or pick up new ones lately?

Featured on Houzz

2012-01-31T21:26:00.000-05:00

Today I received an email from Lydia, Professionals Support at Houzz that "my work was hand-picked by one of their writers for a featured Ideabook on the homepage of the site!". How cool is that?

This is my living room photo reviewed by designers behind Design Chic. The article titled "Two Sides to Black and White Art" is about a mother-daughter design team that shares their preference in modern and traditional black-and-white arts. They each illustrated how versatile bw arts can be for the space you work into.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Btw, I've picked up painting (on canvas) again, so hopefully I will have something rustic to show soon for my comeback.

Master Bathroom Lighting Update

2012-01-30T20:51:00.004-05:00

Thanks for your feedback on the ceiling chandelier for my upcoming master bath reno. Over the weekend, I suddenly realized the crystal globe light reminds me of a disco ball...do you agree? Anyhow, I went ahead and ordered the Robert Abbey Bling chandelier hoping it would turn out great over the tub.

And now comes to the other lighting source in the room -- wall sconce. I know I want to put up two mirrors over vanity, so that means I will need three sconces. I've been tossing among these options.

1. Visual Comfort's Bryant Sconce: most expensive among all options, sleek and elegant.

2. Restoration Hardware's Wilshire Sconce or Robert Abbey's Muse Calliope Scone (they are the same btw): perfect size, would've been absolutely my #1 choice without the crystal accent.

Another angle of the same Wilshire or Robert Abbey sconce.

3. Eurofase Bauhaus scone: local supplier, taller (15.75"H) than I prefer, not so keen on the crystal accents.

4. Go with something I've used and already known how it's going turn out: Restoration Hardware's Lugarno sconce. It's also the cheapest among all options.

My basement bathroom

So which wall sconce do you like the most? In your bathroom reno, how do you balance between style and budget?

Master Bedroom Before and After

2012-01-28T21:31:00.000-05:00

I should feel great that I've completed yet another room makeover in my house, or..should I? Well, perhaps not. I've missed not just one, but two awesome opportunities to meet some fellow bloggers in person -- the Blogpodium on Friday due to work (aka rat race); and the Canadian Design Blogger Meetup due to mother nature (blizzard and skating rink at where I am). Regret aside, I am sure there will be more meetup opportunities, and hopefully then nothing could stop me from going again.

Since we were pretty much trapped inside, we decided to finish painting our master bedroom and wrap up the project. I would like to start by sharing a few pictures of what our master bedroom used to look like Before and During the makeover.

This is what it looked like from two years ago. I need the room to be completely dark in order to sleep and hence the ugly espresso dupioni drapes with blackout liners.

The new bedroom in the basement gave me a perfect reason to replace the bed set that we took with us from our last house.

And the new upholstered bed from Williams-Sonoma, and the Niche nightstands from West Elm arrived!

So this is our After of our master bedroom. The entire project took about two months.

The ever-popular Windsor Smith Pelagos Mist drapes with blackout liners.

West Elm Niche Nightstand/Bedside Table in White

I was hoping to find an area rug from the Elte Outlet, but unfortunately they only have ~50 patterns at 5x8 (all the rest are 6x9 or larger), nothing out of which really caught my eye. So I gave the Ikea Alvine Ruta rug a try, and I think it turned out great. Do you know how insanely cheap it is for a 5'7" x 7'10", hand-woven, 100% pure new wool rug like this?

And no master bedroom should ever go without displaying some girl's best friends, right? My daily bling-bling.

In summary, these are the things we've done to transform our master bedroom:

Ordered the Windsor Smith Pelagos fabric in Mist from the US for drapery;
Replaced the old bed set with a upholstered bed from Williams-Sonoma, and two nightstands from West Elm;
Replaced the old table lamps with two taller crystal lamps from Union Lighting;
Replaced the ceiling light with a 6-light Maria Theresa-style crystal chandelier from Union Lighting;
Painted the wall in ICI Dulux Silver Cloud;
Re-upholstered an old bench in Laura Ashley Bowlin Driftwood Fabric from InVu Drapery;
Added an Ikea Alvine Ruta Rug.

Total time spent: on and off over a 2-month period;
Total cost: too painful to recall.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and stay warm!

Picking a Chandelier for Master Bath

2012-01-27T22:31:00.004-05:00

Last night after dinner we went to Prima Lighting with the hope to pick out the master bath chandelier. To re-cap, this is the freestanding tub, and the light will hang over it.

This is the crystal ball chandelier that I worked into my design plan.

I found two different sizes in the store (pardon the lousy picture quality from my smart phone). The small one is 6-light, 16" in diameter with a $1,500 price tag. It has all the glitter and shape I want to soften my master bath, but since it's ball-shaped, the chandelier appears so much bigger. I am concerned it might be overwhelming in a relatively small room.

An associate in the store suggested this oval-shaped (or donut) crystal chandelier as an alternative to the crystal ball as it`s shorter. I don`t find anything unique about it, nor I am really crazy about the look. Do you like it?

And then there is this popular Cyan Design's Janus pendant in chrome (perhaps you remember it from February's Style at Home).

This is what it looks like in the store. It's the right size, simple, subtle and has a bit sparkle, but the downside is that it only comes in one-light and not bright enough for a 12'x13' bathroom. Plus it seems to belong more in a kitchen than a bath retreat.

And then this light caught my attention, and I wondered why. It's the Anemone light by one of my favourite designers Jonathan Adler.

I like that the shape reminds me of a rainshower head, but a all-metal construction makes it appear cold. And my lovely husband`s comment finally made me walk away from it: ``oh this? It looks like octopus attack!``

And then there`s this fabulous Robert Abbey Bling chandelier that Janice used in her own master bath.

So which one do you think will work nicely with the tub?

Marina Dreams

2012-01-23T20:14:00.000-05:00

Really, Michelle? In the middle of this year's yo-yo winter weather? Yes, indeed. Call me a dreamer, but I've been thinking of cottage, and to be more specific, buying one. Am I out of the ballpark to look for a cottage to buy now?

Anyhow, location wise, we would like it to be at most 2 hours drive from where we live, so that narrows down to: Lake Simcoe Kempenfelt Bay and Lake Scugog Kawartha Lakes areas. I kept reminding myself that this shouldn't be an impulsive purchase. Nor should it be a mental escape for the moment. Instead, like all other properties we hold, it should first be a good investment, and for this particular one, also a great year-round getaway spot.

Just a glimpse of these pictures (from an actual cottage that I am interested in) will send me back to my marina dreams. Don't you just love those giant ceiling-to-floor windows, and the lake view from the dining room?

Dock outside of the backyard

Now I just need to figure out how to drag ourselves up north to actually see a few of them. Grrr! After all, not everything can be purchased over the web, right?

So what do you think of a cottage in those two areas (pretty wide range, I know)? Is it risky to buy a cottage now mostly based on their "summer" pictures since everything around the house is likely covered in snow?

And The Winner Is...

2012-01-20T16:27:00.000-05:00

The Giveaway brought in a total of 39 comments. Though everyone likes free stuff, this contest showed what the "popular" free stuff is, and plan for future giveaways.

This is what comes out of the Random.org generator, so the winner of the Designer Trellis Pillow Cushion Covers is....Janice at LB30! Congrats!

I thank all of you that threw your names in the hat. Please stick with me, and I am sure there will be more fantastic giveaways in the near future.

Have a great weekend everyone!

My Jewel Collection

2012-01-19T20:36:00.001-05:00

Well, not quite, but definitely my type of jewel/gem collection. Before we get into that, I would like to make a note of the gradual migration of my blog to a new template, as well as the Disqus comment tool. I will write more about the designer and company behind it once it's complete. I've noticed some comments haven't been moved over yet due to some hardware issue at Disqus, but not to worry, I've imported a copy of all the comments, especially those to the Giveaway contest, so none of your entries will be missing, I promise. There should be a total of 40 comments so far, and only 33 of them have appeared on my site (I've kept a copy of the other 7 in my inbox). I will announce the winner tomorrow around 5pm.

Now back to my type of jewel collection. Last summer I picked up two Clarus glass display boxes from Crate & Barrel, and have since been adding different crystal/mineral display specimens to them. The latest additions to my jewel family are Kyanite, Citrine and Auqa Aura (do you know how awesome it looks in real thing?).

My latest crystal/mineral specimen collection

And this is "My Precious" now in my living room.

Tell me if this doesn't remind you of Jurassic Park?! :-)

That's it for today, until tomorrow...

Master Bath Design Plan

2012-01-17T19:38:00.001-05:00

There is still time to enter to win the Pair of Designer Trellis Pillow Cushion Covers giveaway. I will announce the winner this Friday.

I joined Inspire Me Heather's Project Blogging a couple of weeks ago. The goal is to gather anonymous critique and suggestions for your blog. Here is one of the comments Heather forwarded me:

"I thought her blog was absolutely beautiful. Very readable. Nice sized photos. Good-looking sidebar. The only negative I saw was that she rarely posts. If a blogger doesn't post at least 2-3 times per week, I lose interest because I feel like the "relationship" I have with that blogger has been interrupted. Just my personal feeling!"

And it hit the nail right on the head! I started blogging in May 2008 for fun, and never felt the need to commit to the frequency of posts. But, over time the blogging grows on me, and I truly love it provides me with an outlet for creative thinking, writing, sharing and gathering feedback on design projects. In short, writing and reading blogs makes me...happy! So, one of my 2012's resolutions is to blog more often, say 2-3-posts-per-week type of often. Let see how long I can keep up. :-)

Now getting into the subject this post: I've started to plan our master bathroom renovation slated for March/April timeframe. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will know how much I love the mood board, and here's another one. I find this exercise helps me visualize how the room might look like when different elements pooled together. It also helps organize the list of things I will need to buy (and for this room, it's a lo-ong list!).

Source (clockwise from the top): Bryant sconces, Restoration Hardware (RH) mirror and vanity, Sarah Richardson's Jetstream SR19 Para paint, Schumacher Hothouse in Mineral fabric (cost me an arm and a leg) and Windsor Smith Pelagos in Mist for roman shades, Eames walnut stool, Acri-tec freestanding tub from HomeDepot, Floor-mount tub faucet and rain shower faucet yet to decide where to buy from, Crystal Ball pendant from Union Lighting, Towel bar and other hardware from Rona, RH Cartright wall cabinet, Carrara tiles yet to decide where to buy from.

Do you like the mood board? Is there anything you would suggest changing/improving?

Before I go about buying pretty things, I need to first make sure our contractor would approve the new layout. It involves knocking down a wall, removing a tub and its deck, relocating vent and toilet. This is the current layout of our bathroom...what was the builder thinking when they put the shower door right behind the door? Yes, they bumped into each other every frigging time we get in and out of the shower! And the massive tub deck is a joke...not only could we not use that space, it also quickly became such an eye sore.

This is what I will show to our contractor, and hopefully they will tell me everything is doable. Fingers crossed.

To end my post with something exciting, I will be changing the layout and look of my blog, hopefully soon! :-)

French Wing Chair Makeover

2012-01-15T20:58:00.004-05:00

First of all, don't forget to enter to win my 2012 first giveaway of a Pair of Designer Trellis Pillow Cushion Covers.

Remember the vintage French Wing Chair I picked up a while ago? After tossing around many different fabric options, I finally decided to go with a cream velvet. Still, I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

Before I revealed the makeover, let's take a quick re-cap of how dated it looked before my rescue.

I think it turned out pretty awesome, do you? I especially like the fact that not only did I up-cycled a vintage chair, I also only paid a fraction of what a brand-new one would cost.

Giveaway: Pair of Designer Trellis Pillow Cushion Covers

2012-01-12T17:30:00.000-05:00

I am not a beach person, but this type of gloomy weather with wet snow really brings me down. On the upside, 30 Rock's season premiere is tonight, and I could barely wait!

That said, we all need our picker-upper to help combat winter blues. And that's why I am doing my 2012 first giveaway -- a pair of Trellis-patterned Ikat Pillow Cushion Covers, sponsored by yours truly. They measure 12" x 20" each, perfect size as lumbar pillows. They are brand new from my pet-free and non-smoking home. I ordered them for my master bedroom's seating area, but have a change of heart now that I am re-designing the whole room. They are made of heavy-weight canvas cotton, background is natural linen/oatmeal color, and trellis pattern is printed in charcoal/dark grey.

Winner of this giveaway will be getting these...aren't they gorgeous?

Here is how you could enter to win:

1. Follow my blog by clicking "Join this site" tab on the right sidebar; those that add me to their "Blogs I love to read list"-alike on their front page get an extra entry.

2. Leave a comment to confirm the above, and share with us where you plan to use these pillows.

And that's it!

This giveaway is open to US and Canada. I will announce the winner on Friday January 20th, and contact you to arrange for shipping or delivery.

Good luck everyone!

The Chronicle of Our Dining Room Transformations

2012-01-11T21:43:00.002-05:00

You are not going to believe it but we actually purchased our current house in one visit to the sales centre, yes folks, that included signing a purchase agreement. On a sunny and warm Saturday in December 2007, out of boredom hubs and I decided to go house hunting. Our last house was a 4-bedroom 2,000 sq ft in an established neighbourhood in Richmond Hill. We really didn't need a bigger house, but we wanted one. Have you ever been to a house trapped in the 80's decor style? Well, our old house was like that, and no matter how much work (with the limited design skills I had back then) we put into it, it still didn't feel like the one.

To backtrack a little bit, that deal-sealing trip wasn't our first house hunting effort. Before that, I was searching on mls.ca (the now realtor.ca) and various builder sites, but none jumped out. I guess we did reach that tipping point when I stepped into that sales centre. Upon a quick scan, none of the models caught my eye. It must be the holiday spirit or just our luck, the sales rep Louise was extremely nice and asked what we were looking for in a new house. My first thought was...not a cookie cutter. But that's a tall order, isn't it, cookie cutter sort of comes with the territory for any new construction these days. Louise paused, turned back to his office, and brought with him a floor plan that had me always gasp in joy! It had 90% of the features from my wish list, the reason why it was in the back office was because this builder only built this model as lottery grand prize show homes! I guess someone really wanted to wrap up a quick sale before Christmas, eh?

Well, one of the downside of buying from a floor plan is that all the locations and lengths of entryways and walls are approximate. Just lookie this odd wall opening between our living room and dining room in the picture below -- I could never tell from a blueprint!

July 2009: we had a tough time with the odd layout of this supposedly dining room. If I put a long seating at the wall shown below, I wouldn't have enough room for a 8-person dining table. If the sideboard went there, then the table and the chairs would have blocked the view. Anyhow, this was what we moved into, a pretty awkward dining space that doesn't lead directly into kitchen.

Dec 2009: our dining set was delivered by Anne-Quinn Furniture just in time for the Christmas Eve dinner party. As you could tell, nothing much had been done in this room...thankfully the food and wine was good. :-)

March 2010: I must have been in over my head that I took up a not-so-novice DIY half-wall wainscoting challenge. You can read more about how it came together here. We also painted the wall in Behr Stable Hay...I shouldn't have known better from the name of the paint color that it was going to turn out very golden/yellow. Hated the wall color and must get rid of it. The 9-frame gallery wall was yet again a failed attempt to decorate that 2/3 wall.

April 2010: our sideboard arrived. Other than the wall color, it looked pretty good from this angle, IMO.

November 2010: I finally made time to re-paint the walls in Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter. It new color goes better with dark dining set, white wainscoting and blue silk drapes, don't you think? And I am happy to report that so far I haven't changed my mind yet on what we've done to the room.

You can read more about our dining room here or by clicking the Dining Room label.

The Chronicle of Our Living Room Transformations

2012-01-09T20:56:00.005-05:00

This post has also been added under the "Living Room" tab on the front page. I need to caution you before you proceed to read the rest of the blog that some old pictures are horrendous. I am still scratching my head as to how our living room ever looked like that. Anyhow, here it goes.

In July 2009, when we first moved into our newly-built house, the living room was in some serious need for character and life. The walls were white, floor was laminate, and it also warehoused the old furniture we took with us from our last house.

December 2009, to prep the living room "for show" in time for a Christmas party, I picked up some decor accessories and furniture I later parted with on CList -- the room not only looked "blah" but also was impractical: why on earth did I put an oval white silk ottoman in the middle of the room? It's so pristine that none of guests dared to sit on or use it.

June 2010, in my quench to add some vintage look to the living room, I put up a gallery wall of antique botanical prints over the fireplace. The flow appeared awkward, and the room still looked very much like a builder home.

Fast forward one year, June 2011, I came to the realization that wall panel/wainscoting could be a good way to add character and accomplish that "always there" look I've been so much going after.

We also replaced the ceiling light with the Edwardian lantern to add more vintage touch.

September 2011, the room was filled with a lot of my favorite: Windsor Smith Pelagos fabric, antique coffee table with criss-cross legs, finial urns, etc., but they were all upstaged by the masculine black cowhide sofa set. They cost us tons of stones, so to get rid of them wouldn't be rational. The only hope was to finish the basement soon so that we could retire them down there.

November 2011, a fantastic score of the Urban Barn Lumex coffee table, and the newly acquired Martha Stewart Fretwork rug seemed to have brought the room together.

December 2011 was a good month. We finished our basement, and were able to send the black cowhide sofa set down to my husband's man cave. I added two curved arm chairs upholstered in a creamy fabric (similar to the long sofa), a mirrored chest with clover cutout, and re-arranged a few pieces of furniture and accessories.

And the living room is finally "fully us". It was a painstaking process to put this room together as it was done while my design skills and tastes were evolving. It was however definitely worth the ride, and I've learnt so much from the experience.

You can read more about how our living room came together here.

Master Bedroom Update - Bedside Tables and Lamps

2012-01-08T21:14:00.001-05:00

Just before the holidays I took advantage of West Elm's 25% bedroom furniture sale, and ordered two Niche bedside tables in white. Color and scale wise, they go so much better with the new upholstered bed. While I am still debating whether to do something special to the headboard wall, I picked up two of the carved crystal lamps that are taller and more substantial than the old ones (thanks Shannon).

As you could also see from the pictures, I put up two paint color samples on the wall(Valspar Polar Star and ICI Dulux Silver Cloud). I find these two are pretty tricky colors to work with, as they can appear in different shades of blue, grey and taupe under different lightings. Therefore, I've been testing them at different spots throughout the bedroom to make sure I choose the right color.

The next steps are painting the walls, adding an area rug and some more artworks.

Hope you all had a great weekend! Isn't this weather nuts?! Yesterday it was lovely at plus 7C; overnight it snowed, and today it was -4C!

Not Just Your Mom's Shoe Store - Naturalizer

2012-01-06T21:14:00.001-05:00

Who knew? Well, I didn't. A few months ago I went fall/winter shoe shopping with my mom, and wandered into a Naturalizer store for the first time. She liked that in addition to half sizes, which most shoemakers offer these days, Naturalizer offers different shoe widths (narrow, medium, wide and extra wide), and calf widths for boots. I also took the opportunity to try out a few pairs of boots and flats, and to my great surprise, the shoes are extremely comfortable yet not at the expense of style. Mom picked up a pair of ankle boots, while I decided to wait for a sale before I tried them out.

And the sale is on now! I picked up two pairs of these leather buckle flats...aren't they gorgeous?

Naturalizer Valya Red Patent Leather Buckle Flats

Naturalizer Valya Jungle Snake Buckle Flats

The best part is that they are super comfy thanks to the N5 Comfort design. I bet I can go speed walking in these flats...well I shouldn't. Years ago I was rear-ended on highway by an SUV travelling at 120KM...imagine the BANG! Anyhow, after months of physiotherapy, ever since, I still often feel back, shoulder and neck pains. Therefore, I have been wearing comfortable shoes (e.g. Ecco) and sometimes even had to give up styles. And now I have Naturalizer! I know their shoes are not super fashionable or edgy, but for me they are just right.

I also picked up a pair of these Oxford heels...I guess certain style never goes out of date, right?

Naturalizer Ilona Oxford Heels

Naturalizer is having a 50% winter sale now with an additional 20% off. Online order is a breeze, and shipping rate is very reasonable at $5 for 1st pair and additional $2 per pair from there.

While I was in shower West Elm called to inform me that the Niche Nightstands I ordered are in so I can go pick them up...so excited. Will post some pictures later.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Gallery Wall Update (Involving a Mini Ikea Hack)

2012-01-05T18:16:00.003-05:00

Thanks for your input on the gallery wall in our master bedroom. Most of you know that besides being a neat freak, I also love symmetry in design. Therefore, I've decided to go with option 2, three frames with extra wide mats, partially also because it involves least amount of work.

Gallery frames with custom-width mat could cost a fortune, and I was determined to find a bargain since I might change my mind again in the near future. So here's what I did:

1. Went to Ikea to pick up three RIBBA frames each at 16.75 x 20.75" in size.

2. Don't like the mat color (ivory) or the width (too narrow), so I picked up three BILD FJÄLLSTA prints with extra wide (and thick) mat each at $12. Each mat measures 15.75" x 19.75", just the right size for the RIBBA frame. It has a 8x10" cutout, perfect for the artworks I have in mind. I am sure it'd cost a lot more to have similar mat custom cut in an art supply store (thanks Linds, I checked).

Ikea BILD FJÄLLSTA Picture with passepartout

3. Swapped the prints that come with the BILD FJÄLLSTA with 3 pieces of watercolor artworks we picked up from our recent San Francisco trip.
4. And voilà, I have three gallery frames with extra wide/thick mats that fit my artworks for $30 each! Pretty good deal, right?

This is what they look like now on the wall.

The room is not picture-ready yet as we are yet to paint the walls. Speaking of that, we are still deciding what to do with this headboard wall. I replaced our bed with this upholstered platform bed just before Christmas, and of course it stirred up a chain reaction to change pretty much everything else in our master bedroom.

I also took advantage of a 25% bedroom furniture sale at West Elm just before the holidays, and ordered two of this Niche Nightstand in white to replace the old ones in the above picture.

So in short, the bedroom is going to be pretty neutral (white) in color scheme. The options are between a panel wall like what Jen @ Rambling Renovators did, or just painting it and replacing the bedside lamps with taller ones to increase visual interest? What do you think?

Gallery Wall - Need Your Help

2012-01-03T20:52:00.001-05:00

As I've started our master bedroom refresh, I ran into something difficult to tackle. It almost seems like that wall in the dining room all over again, where I changed my mind on what went on it numerous times (which resulted in countless nail holes and @#%*). To avoid the same mishap, I've decided to research to death until I am 100% certain and completely satisfied before I take any action.

The wall in question in our master bedroom is this (pardon the uber ugly picture...it can only get better from here, I promise) -- the wall along the entrance facing the bed and adjacent to the ensuite. The area I get to play with is 6' (L) x 4' (H) above the two chairs.
So here are the options I came up with so far. Please vote which one you like the most. It's completely fine to be honest and tell me it's better to leave it as is and don't put up anything at all. The wall color I am thinking is Valspar's Polar Star, the same color as what we used in our basement's bedroom and bathroom pictured below.

So here are the options (please ignore the pictures/prints inside the frames as I am yet to decide what goes in them):

Option 1: Gallery wall with multiple frames in different sizes

Option 2: Three frames in identical size, extra wide mat

Option 3: Gallery wall with six square frames of the same size (these are the ones I took off from the dining room wall)

So which one would you prefer, if any at all? Thanks in advance.

I Am Back, and Makeovers

2012-01-02T18:11:00.001-05:00

First of all, happy new year everyone! As you may have noticed, I've been extremely quiet over the past two weeks. In addition to hosting a Christmas Eve dinner party (whew, ain't I glad that's over! Stressful it was!), hubs and I vacayed in San Francisco and Bay Area for a week. I've been since catching up reading your lovely blogs, as well as putting my head back into planning a few small decor projects.

Before the holidays, in my haste to post the basement pictures, I never got around to post some before-and-after pictures of a couple of makeovers. Anyhow, here they are.

The first up are the cane chairs I scored from KJ.

BEFORE

IN PROGRESS (spray painted with computer fabric mock-up)

AFTER

The second in line are these sad-looking rattan chairs. I remember seeing identical ones from Circa Who, so I couldn't pass such a rather easy yet high-impact up-cycle opportunity.

BEFORE

AFTER (added a seat base and cushion)

AFTER

My next re-upholstery adventure is the French Wing Chair. After much consideration, I've decided to give velvet a try so I picked up 6 meters of this cream velvet fabric. Would it turn out just as I imagined? I guess we shall see.

And that's it for today. Hope you all have a pleasant working week ahead.

Basement Before and After

2011-12-18T21:47:00.003-05:00

This weekend is the only weekend, for a little while, that we don't have any contractors around doing any renovation. Our ears and mind were at complete peace, and we were even able to sleep in a bit. For the next few months I am only going to take up a few tiny projects (mostly decorating) here and there, but nothing major like our master ensuite which is slated for next spring. Hopefully by then I will have recovered from this home reno fatigue.

Before I take you through a tour of our basement, let's recap on what it looked like before and during the renovation.

Basement Before

Basement Day 7 into renovation

And this is the after.

Staircase

Hallway leading to one large living area in Hollywood Regency Chinoiserie theme with faux bamboo mirror, Ikea Hemnes dresser in Lee Valley's BBZ ring pulls, and faux bamboo chairs.

From another angle.

Media Room, aka Anthony's Man Cave. Do you see my entrenchment everywhere? :-) The sofa set was from our living room...I can't believe we pretty much furnished this area using all our existing furniture!

And this is the built-in wall unit I mentioned yesterday. Can you believe it's based on Ikea's Billy bookcase? When I was given a quote of $10,000 for a wall unit this size, I was determined to find a cheaper alternative (and I did). I will write more about how we had it put together later.

Notice those cane chair fixer-uppers in the front? They are upholstered in Dwell Studio Bella Porte Charcoal fabric from Tonic Living.

This is from the media room overlooking the future art & craft room and the hallway. At the end of the hallway is the cold room. I've decided to keep my wine collection in it now that the temperature is perfectly regulated in here with new insulation.

Years ago I used to paint at night as a hobby to declutter my mind. After a series of three Paris paintings, I realized I needed to add a fourth -- the summer season, to complete the collection.

And this will be my future art & craft room (area). As we were preparing our basement for renovation a few months ago, I found this unfinished work piled among many of my other pieces. I am sure I intended to paint Paris in the summer...the inspiration was long gone, but I hope to pick up my hobby by completing this one.

So that's what our basement looks like now. Bedroom and bathroom were covered in last week's post here. Hope you all had a great weekend.

Living Room Complete - Take 2

2011-12-17T14:22:00.002-05:00

I was finally able to relocate the black cowhide sofa set from our living room down to the basement. There is a bit of the whole enchilada down there now with a collection of furniture we've accumulated over the years but no longer wish to use them as show pieces.

I am sure most of you know that I am a die-hard fan of Sarah Richardson, and I drool over her entire furniture collection with clean lines, slender legs and neutral fabrics, everything has Sarah's signature all over. The one chair which I am particularly in love with is Elsie Chair. I don't know how much it would cost (not cheap I guess) or where I could conveniently get it, but one thing I know for sure is that her furniture is custom made which means it takes time. With holidays only weeks away and the need to back-fill the space I just freed up, I settled for these lookalikes from a local furniture store. I am extremely happy with the fabric options, quality construction and turnaround time -- one week from the time we placed the order to our living room, one week! The price is decent but I can't say it's cheap. It's still worth the splurge especially now I have them to entertain my guests throughout the holidays.

This is what our living room looks like now. The white mirrored cabinet with clover-patterned cutout is a score from HomeSense.

We are finishing up a wall-to-wall built-in shelves in our basement this weekend. I'd do whatever it takes to stay away from those malls. Hope you all have a great weekend. The sunshine outside picks me up.

Bling Bling

2011-12-15T21:31:00.000-05:00

Today I came home to this. Isn't Christmas still 10 days away? Our master bedroom transformation is now one step closer to completion.

Pandora 6-Light Chandelier with French Cut Crystal Prisms

Bed and Bath

2011-12-14T17:52:00.000-05:00

The furnishing and decorating our newly-finished basement is nowhere near complete. But for now I will share some pictures of the WIP bathroom and bedroom.

First up is the additional guest bedroom we added in the basement. We retired our old bed down there, and replaced with an upholstered one (more to come on the bed soon). The Imperial Trellis-alike bedding set was a score from a local HomeSense.

Remember the massive 4-door closet I bragged about before? Well here it is. I might be able to fit my entire wardrobe in there!

Now comes the exciting part -- a new bathroom we also added in our basement. I realized how difficult it was to photograph an almost-all-white bathroom with a lot of reflective surfaces.

Things took an interesting turn one day after I ordered the Hutton vanity from Restoration Hardware. I found a wannabe from a local bath store for almost 50% less. It was only natural for a deal-hunter like me to cancel the RS order and picked up the cheaper one instead. I still prefer RS' design, but quality wise they are almost identical.

Things I splurged on are:

Floor tiles and accent: Bianco Carrara;
Marble vanity countertop;
Frameless floor-to-ceiling glass panels and door for the shower stall;
Labour to give the bathroom a more custom look.

Things I thrifted on are:

Vanity: well it's still not cheap;
Bathroom hardware: they are from Rona.

So that's the skinny about our new bedroom and bathroom in the basement. More pictures and updates to come soon.

Master Bedroom

2011-12-10T22:01:00.000-05:00

...is so far the most neglected room, design wise of course, in our house. I took a short break from our basement project and started to put together elements contributing to my dream master bedroom.

The first up is drapery. I ordered 12 yards of this ever-popular (and darn expensive) Windsor Smith Pelagos fabric in Mist from the States.

Overwhelmed by the excitement when it arrived, I started to cut them into panels at 108" in length each. It's not until I got to the last piece before I realized that oops, I only had about 80" left for the last panel, and that's not going to work. I phoned the fabric store and after one week of back-and-forth phone calls, they finally admitted it's their oversight and that they would ship out another 3 yards as long as I covered the shipping. If I thought that was a struggle I needed to think again -- it was only the beginning of a bigger nuisance.

The fabric was shipped by a courier with the company sounding like "OOPS". The courier somehow misplaced the correct invoice so when they showed up at my doorstep they wanted almost $100 in broker & duty before they would release the package. It was supposed to be FREE and there shouldn't be any duty or broker fee involved since I paid for the shipping in full. I had to reject the package, and of course it was sent back to their depot for re-rate. One month later, yes folks, ONE FRIGGING MONTH later I finally received my last 3-yard of fabric! This courier company appears to be such a big well greased machine yet it couldn't handle any non-standard hiccup like this efficiently.

Anyhow, back to the positive thoughts. The drapes have been made and I will share some pictures later. As usual, I can't design a room without a mood board, so here you have it, my master bedroom design plan.

Source (clockwise):

Maria Theresa Crystal Chandelier - new purchase;
Barcelona dressing table and bench - new purchase;
Antique scroll mirror and bow-front dresser - own;
Custom made upholstered bed - new purchase (existing bed is going to the basement bedroom);
Elite Custom Furniture bedside tables - own;
Crate & Barrel Vaughan chairs - own;
Trellis rug - own;
Bench custom upholstered in Bowlin Driftwood fabric - own;
Windsor Smith Pelagos drapery in mist - new purchase;
Paint: Valspar Polar Star.

I will post some Before & After pictures when I am done. Hope y'all have a great weekend.

The End Is The Beginning

2011-12-08T22:47:00.000-05:00

Well, folks, we could finally put those get-up-at-6-am-to-turn-off-heat-so-that-dust-won't-travel-through-the-house days behind us. Why? Our basement project is a wrap today, woohoo! It's the beginning for me to decorate and furnish the new space. It might still take a few days of cleaning and organizing before I could show you the After pictures, but for now, I will show you our new staircase that leads to the new basement.

For the basement staircase I used square wood spindles painted in white, different from our ground-floor flight with wrought iron posts. I want it to be less formal and more welcoming: this is the space where family are going to watch movies, drink beer and make a big mess. I think the contrast from the red oak treads in pewter stain and white risers & spindles looks pretty amazing.

Now that this massive project is done, we were able to spend some time tonight and put up the Christmas tree. We've decided the foyer is where the tree belongs this year --wouldn't it feel great to come home to a twinkly and heart-warming Christmas tree?

Basement Day 16 - The Good and The Bad

2011-12-02T19:43:00.000-05:00

Since I am in general hunky dory, I will start with the Good. The shower stall glass panel was installed, and the bathroom turned out to be exactly as I imagined (uhhmm, designed). Vanity, toilet and all other plumbing fixtures are still yet to go in.

Painting is also done, and I am glad I chose ICI Silver Cloud again.

So now let's get into the Bad, shall we? Remember earlier this week I ranted about my frustration over the flooring? Well, our contractor managed to find the "Grey Oak" through another supplier outside of the GTA. That's good right? Not quite. It turned out this supplier would charge extra 30 cents per sq ft, and guess what our contractor did? They came to ask me to cover the additional $400! I would be totally fine to pay extra for a nicer color or better quality, perhaps even so to pay for our contractor's delinquency (they didn't order the flooring early on). But to pay additional for exactly the same flooring that we were going to get as part of our pre-negotiated package is nuts. A deal is a deal, and in my opinion, our contractor should absorb the extra and get me the "Grey Oak" now that they find new stock.

As you could imagine the conversation wasn't all that pleasant, but at the end, our contractor backed down and bought the "Grey Oak" which was our top choice (and yours too). Perhaps I should get them some Starbucks to make up tomorrow?

This is what the flooring looks like in the basement bedroom. It's gradually making its way to the living area. Bedroom and bathroom are painted in Valspar Polar Star.

So that's my basement adventure today. Hope you all have a nice weekend. We are going to start our furniture hunt tomorrow.

Basement Day 13 - The Bad News

2011-11-29T19:55:00.000-05:00

It's as if my day couldn't get any worse besides being so gloomy and rainy outside. I guess a project like our basement reno isn't really a "major" one unless of course there are hiccups. Today our contractor gave us the bad news: our top two options of the flooring is out of stock until late December (which means in the new year)!

Remember I was debating between the "Oak Walnut" and "Grey Oak"? Well it turned out today that neither of them remains as an option if we still want the project done in a few days.

I was royally mad! We gave our contractor our choice over a week ago and they waited until today to order the flooring. It could have been out of stock then but at least we would find out earlier and start to look for alternatives. I wasn't going to let this one go so easily by picking something else I don't like. At the end of the day, flooring is something we will be stuck with for a while, unlike paint color. So I refused to pick anything else from the same batch, but instead sent our contractor to look for close alternatives. They phoned about an hour ago that they picked up many other samples for me to choose from tomorrow. Fingers crossed that I would find a similar replacement.

On the upside, the floor tiles in the bathroom are almost set. The mini Carrara mosaic border looks sensational. I am sure it will show better when the grout lines are filled.

Basement Day 12

2011-11-28T20:58:00.000-05:00

Day 12 into our basement project...where did all the time go? Our contractor has started to paint the walls, add casings and baseboards as well as tile the bathroom. We are still pretty pleased with how fast this project has been progressing. At this rate it should be done by early next week if not this weekend. The only thing that I am not so thrilled about is that they don't vacuum/clean up at the end of the day so there's saw dust all over the floor. I am pretty sick of having to vacuum afterwards so I was wondering if I should ask them to do it? I know they will do a complete clean sweep before they put in the hardwood floor, but shall I ask them to at least get rid of the saw dust as they go? Did your contractor clean up every day before they left?
Due to the dust previously mentioned, I have to limit my time down there, and hence the poor-quality quick picture snaps as follows.

Shower stall wall tile: 3x6 white subway + mini Carrara mosaic accent

Now Comes the Fun Part

2011-11-22T21:51:00.001-05:00

Day 7 into our basement project and our contractor has started to patch the drywalls. The patching and sanding will take at least another 3 days. Recessed lighting is (almost) in, and so is all other electrical and plumbing.

We were handed yet again another fun homework -- pick wall paint colors! I know I would want to stay in the grey spectrum: blue'ish but not baby blue, definitely no green undertone, true grey but not too cold. Our basement has pretty large windows and many potlights, but most of the time the paint still needs to look good under iridescent lighting. Easy, right? Not!

I've narrowed down to four options (for now), and here they are.

I used ICI's Silver Cloud in my kitchen, so it's a safe choice and I know exactly what I am getting. I will likely use it in all the living space and corridor.

Valspar Polar Star appears to be warm grey under various lightings, so it might be a good choice for the bedroom. It might also go nicely with the Bianco Carrara marble in the bathroom. You can see what it looks like in a room here.

ICI Universal Grey looks so much lighter and bluer in a bright bedroom Sarah Richardson designed. I will need to go to an ICI/Dulux dealer to pick up a sample and see for myself.

So what do you think? Any other paint color suggestions for a basement?

Basement Day 6 - Picking a Floor Color

2011-11-21T22:25:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it's only Monday. It's been a long and stressful day at work, and probably just as much so home front. Why? Our contractor handed us some homework today -- pick a flooring color! One would think having more options is a good thing, but not for me at this stage when my mind is being pulled in numerous directions at all times.
We have 12 color options, all of them are 13mm laminate wood floor which is a practical and economical choice for a basement. In the background is our ground floor staircase stained in Red Oak Pewter.

Color codes are from the first row left to right: Country, Oak Walnut, Grey Oak, Royal Teak, American Cherry, Royal Merbau, Wild Maple, Brazilian Oak, Golden Oak, Red Maple, Cherry, and Ebony.

My first instinct was Grey Oak (top right corner), then felt the color scheme might be too flat/cold since I would likely paint the walls in blue-ish grey tone. What do you think?

The second option is the one right next to the Grey Oak, called Oak Walnut. The color is much warmer but under iridescent light it appears very brown. So which one would you choose for a basement?

Our contractor pretty much finished hanging the drywalls today, so I could only guess the next step will be patching and sanding. They disconnected most lighting fixtures down there so pardon the poor picture quality.

Basement Day 4

2011-11-17T20:16:00.000-05:00

Today I officially joined Anthony in wearing ear plugs -- I couldn't take the noise any more. It felt like they were drilling into my head, with very vivid vibrating sensation shooting all the way from the basement! I was so going to get myself out of the house but unfortunately my meeting was rescheduled to be over the phone.

Noise aside, our contractor has made a lot of progress on Day 4. They've started to put up the drywalls. Here are some pictures.

They cut up part of the wall to open up the staircase. Notice they didn't open it all the way up -- do you think that's going to look strange? I don't believe those studs provide that much more support but it would certainly look so much nicer opened up all the way. What's your experience in this type of situation?

Staircase from another angle.

Hallway leading to washroom, bedroom and utility room.

This is the wall-to-wall closet.

Basement Day 1

2011-11-14T19:55:00.002-05:00

I won't bore you with day-by-day posts but rather show you milestones along the way. I am so glad that we went with a contractor friend we've been using for the past 10 years -- can't believe how much three of them accomplished in one day. Drywall arrives tomorrow, and experience says "dust cloud" is on our way.

This is the future media and game rooms, frames in, ceiling potlight wire rough-in.

They managed to tuck away all the air ducts to avoid bulkheads. Do you see how clean-lined the frames are so far?

This is the future bedroom with a wall-to-wall four-door closet. I can't wait to offload some junk from my master walk-in down here!

And this is the future bathroom. They broke the concrete to re-route the pipes.

I think that's enough for one day. Stay tuned for more updates.

French Wing Chair

2011-11-12T21:50:00.000-05:00

About a week ago on a cold rainy evening (again?), we drove all the way to Ajax to pick up this antique French wing chair. I couldn't believe the price tag (cheap) when I found out this mint-conditioned chair was made by Ethan Allen in the 1930's (that's right, shortly after the company was founded). Although the fabric color is less than desirable, the chair has great bone and elegant lines.

The Kelly Wing Chair at the Cross Design is almost identical to this chair, but look at the price tag ($3,295)! I however believe this is how much a chair of this craftsmanship and style should cost.

The Kelly Wing Chair from The Cross Design

Now it comes down to the re-upholstery. I could paint the frame white (though I really hope I don't talk myself into doing so just to preserve the vintage value) and use a similar grey color tone fabric. Or I could leave the frame as is, and have it upholstered in a natural/parched cotton twill/linen like this.

Or how about going all out to do something like this -- turquoise dupioni fabric with distressed white frame?

Decor Pad

So which combination do you like the most? Any other suggestions on fabrics?

7 Things About Me

2011-11-10T21:00:00.004-05:00

I have been writing interior design blogs since July 2008 in preparation for moving into our custom-built home. Three years later, I am still loving every bit of reading and writing decor blogs. Thanks to Jen at Rambling Renovators and Shannon at 8foot6 for the Versatile Blogger Award, I will follow the rule and write 7 things about myself.

I am now officially in my mid 30's (birthday was last week).
As much as I refused to be a Canadian Asian stereotype, I finished my Computer Science and Economics degrees within 4 years with minimal-to-no social life. In year 2000 when every other person I knew had an MBA, I somehow talked myself into taking the part-time program.
My job demands superior change management skills yet true to my identity I like personal things in a static state: I keep the same hairstyle for as long as I could remember; I've been working for the same company for over 10 years; and I am still good friends with all my high school buddies.
Italian is my favorite, and I am adventurous in exploring differnt cuisines. I was a Size 0 until I turned 30, but I am still pretty content with my natural weight (bigger than Size 0 of course) these days -- it stays the same for years even without dieting or working out so my bathroom scale has been collecting dust.
I am a HGTV junkie, and interior design has always been my interest. My mom keeps a very tidy and beautiful house, and it's only natural that I grew up like her. My self-proclaimed design style is vintage elegance with a dash of French Provincial. Sarah Richardson is my all-time inspiration, and so are all the fantastic bloggers out there (yes ladies..I am talking about you).
I am a value investor and a deal hunter. I almost never pay full retail price for anything these days.
Lastly, I met my wonderful husband through a shared friend 10 years ago and we've been married for 8 -- yes, that's 8 long years without kids and enough to challenge any inlaws' patience!

Now I am passing the award on to these phenomenal bloggers, in random order:

Cane Chairs Update

2011-11-07T22:13:00.000-05:00

Remember those cane chairs I snatched from KJ a few weeks ago? This past weekend the weather was cooperating (above 10 degrees), so I was finally able to spray paint them.

Here is what they look like after one coat of Rustoleum primer and two coats of glossy white.

This is the Dwell Studio Bella Porte Charcoal fabric from Tonic Living for the cushion re-upholstery (gotta get rid of that moss green right?). Janine at Tonic Living never disappoints -- I ordered the fabric online on a Friday, and it showed up at my doorstep on Tuesday.

I also ran a quick mockup of what the chair would look like with the new fabric...I think it's going to turn out great! Now I just need to send them to a upholstery shop before I can start to enjoy them.

Rug and Coffee Table

2011-11-06T17:18:00.003-05:00

Remember that Pemberley Wool Rug I wanted for my living room but has constantly been out of stock and only available in the States? Well, deprived of patience and acting on impulse, I picked up another rug that's 60% cheaper -- the Martha Stewart Fretwork Rug. The price is insane for a 8x10 rug that's made of 100% wool with soft cotton backing! Though it's not in the grey color tone that I am ever crazy about, the creamy color with subtle fretwork pattern adds visual interest to this super soft and practical area rug.

This is what our living room looks like now with the new rug in time for winter.

Notice that Urban Barn Lumex Coffee Table? I am sure you've come across this simple yet stylish coffee table many times on the various blogs, such as Jen's Rambling Renovators and Lindsay's Aubrey + Lindsay's Little House Blog. This coffee table, to me, is like falling in love with a platonic boyfriend after knowing him for years -- it takes time to get to me. Unfortunately, not all platonic boyfriends wait around forever, and same goes to this coffee table. Urban Barn discontinued it last year, and not even one store across the country has any leftover. So I turned to KJ and CL as my last straw, and I found one! I contacted the seller and they responded immediately that the table was sold pending pickup. I am not proud of what I did, but I wanted the table so badly that I offered more than what the seller asked for! And the rest is history. Hey, you hear it here first that someone actually bid more than asking price on KJ and CL!? You know eBay owns KJ for a reason right?

Here is my Urban Barn Lumex Coffee Table now the focal point of our living room.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

I am ready...

2011-10-26T18:14:00.001-04:00

To take the plunge into our basement renovation! After interviewing a couple of contractors, we've decided mid November is a good time to start finishing our basement. I like the idea of wrapping a timeframe around a project, and have all the people work towards a deadline. In this case, timeline is a no-brainer -- Christmas! Who doesn't like to get things done before Christmas and call it a wonderful year?!

The most exciting part of the basement renovation for me ought to be the bathroom. See, I wasn't just talking the talk...I actually drew up a design board again (love this exercise). And yes, I did just order the Hutton vanity from Restoration Hardware.

And after consulting with the Feng & Shui, and thanks to the honest feedback from Shannon at 8Foot6, I've decided to go with straight walls around the utility room. Toilet is also relocated as supposedly it's bad Fengshui to have it directly face the door. So here you have it, our final basement design plan that's Fengshui-blessed and also signed off by our contractor. Three more weeks to go before the project starts...can't wait!

And The Winner Is...

2011-10-22T10:55:00.000-04:00

Tracy from Fooding with JT. You've been chosen by Anne-Quinn Furniture to win the fabulous Mahogany Pedestal Side/Foyer Table. Please leave a comment with your email address to reach you.

Lookie What I Scored Today -- Cane Chairs

2011-10-19T21:29:00.000-04:00

Friday is fast approaching so don't forget to enter to win the fabulous Mahogany Pedestal Table Free Giveaway sponsored by Anne-Quinn Furniture.

I spotted these cane chairs on KJ after dinner, and knew I had to have them...tonight! It was rainy and cold outside, and Anthony knows how much I hate rain (yes, I would prefer snow to rain, any day!), so he figured I must really love them.

Why? Check out what Janice did with hers and you will know why. A hour and a half later, these babies are now sitting in my house. After I fix them up, they will be my library chairs in the basement. They are in mint condition as is, and even the seat cushions are new (but what' with the green corduroy...erhh).

This is what they could look like with a spray paint job and new upholstery:

Or this

Source

Or this

Source

Or even this?

Source

The fabric + paint options are unlimited and I am always so thrilled to have scored such a versatile yet super comfy piece of furniture (or two).

To Pouf or Not To Pouf

2011-10-18T21:37:00.002-04:00

First thing first, don't forget to enter to win the fabulous Mahogany Pedestal Table Free Giveaway sponsored by Anne-Quinn Furniture.

Of late some decor accents from the 70's glam design era have caught my attention: faux bamboo, geometric patterns, gold-leaf bombe chest, tufted velvet chairs, etcetera, etcetera. I was instantaneously hooked when I saw the use of a Moroccan Pouf in these pictures.

Source

Source unknown

Source

As you could see, this little fellow is so versatile that it can be worked into so many different decor styles: elegant/glam, French Provincial/causal, and even contemporary!

This is a close-up look of this Moroccan Pouf in Silver Leather. It comes in many other colors as well. I've already had a few too many ottomans in my house, but I really want one of these. Would you add a Pouf to your living room? Bedroom? Is it too casual to be in a formal living room? Which color would you pick?

Source

Basement Design Plan 2.0

2011-10-16T15:30:00.011-04:00

I've incorporated thoughtful comments from Shannon and Daniel into this V2.0. Changes I've made are:

Enlarge the bathroom to 8' x 10';
Inside the bathroom add a featured tiled area -- is it an overkill in a basement bath? I really want to venture it. I am thinking of plain Carrara tiles with chevron mosaic featured area.
Diagonal wall around furnace to eliminate awkward corners (thanks Daniel!).
Add an open wine rack and bring forward the cold room door (thanks Daniel!).
Add built-in shelf and cabinets along the living room wall as pictured.

So what do you all think?

Don't forget to leave your comment and enter to win the fabulous Mahogany Pedestal Table Free Giveaway!

Finishing the Basement

2011-10-15T16:24:00.003-04:00

After much deliberation, we've decided to finish our basement first before we renovate our master bath. As much as I am dying to have an elegant master retreat like Janice's, the practical thing for us to do is to reclaim the massive living space downstairs -- our basement is frigging 1,500 sq ft in size.

Here is a quick design plan I threw together. What do you think? Anything you'd change to maximize the liveable space? Bigger bathroom maybe? We are interviewing a few contractors so I will post some good (and professional) ones when I have them.

And if you know me, you will guess the next thing I am going to do after I finalize the structural plan is to compile a mood board (love this exercise, it's like my fantasy world). I will post updates as I have them.

Btw, don't forget to leave your comment and enter for the fabulous Mahogany Pedestal Table Free Giveaway!

Free Mahogany Pedestal Table Giveaway

2011-10-13T11:12:00.003-04:00

This is not the first time I mentioned about Anne-Quinn Furniture on my blog. For those that are new to this site, Anne-Quinn (AQ hereafter) is a family-owned Toronto-based company offering custom built, quality solid mahogany/teak furniture at very affordable price. In fact when I first worked with AQ back in early 2009, the then Christine’s Custom Furniture, it was hard to believe I could get such substantial pieces of solid mahogany furniture for what I paid!

Christine and Brian, the young couple/entrepreneurs behind the AQ Furniture, are offering this exclusive Thank-you Giveaway to my blog readers because you are awesome.

This giveaway features a Pedestal Side or Foyer Table made of Solid Mahogany valued at $250! The table is 24” in diameter, and 26” in height. If you win, you are getting exactly the table featured in the pictures below.

Here are the simple steps to enter the draw:

Visit Anne-Quinn's web site at www.anne-quinn.com, and come back to my blog to leave a comment on:

What is your favourite piece of furniture from the web site and why?
What other ideas you have for custom-built furniture (e.g. your initials embossed on a chair back, slots for adults’ book and kids’ books built right into a nightstand, etc.).

And that's it! Told you it's simple! :-)

I would really like to gather at least 20 comments in return for AQ’s generous offer, so please spread your word and let’s bump up the comment count. Random draw will take place on Friday October 21st, and the winner will be announced on my blog the same day.

Unfortunately due to the size of this giveaway, we have to limit the entries from GTA/Ontario. But if you live outside of GTA and could pick up the table in person, please throw your name in the hat as well. Brian from Anne-Quinn will contact the winner to arrange for the pickup or delivery of this fabulous pedestal table.

Good luck everyone!

Home Office Before and After

2011-10-06T21:06:00.007-04:00

Two months ago while flowers were blooming, birds were chirping and grass was growing at an insane speed outside of the house, I realized if I had to work indoors most of the day, I needed to be in a room that's not as dark and messy as my home office. Acting on impulse, I quickly drew up a mood board (which was shortly upgraded to 2.0) to revitalize the room. Though it's pretty much a wiping-the-slate-clean type of transformation (replaced every single piece of furniture and fixture), this project turns out to be quite painless and enjoyable.

So here are before-and-after pictures from different corners of the room. You can click on the image to enlarge.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Sources:

From Ikea: Ikea's office furniture rocks!

Billy bookcase x 3 in white with custom crown moulding;
Micke desks x 2;
Rast dresser hacked in library chest style;
Malm 4-drawer dresser in white;
Ribba photo ledge in white.

Bergère chair: a family gift.
Ikat drapery fabric from Tonic Living, sewing by yours truly.
Antique Windsor comb-back chairs x 3 spray painted in Krylon Satin White. Chair pad fabric from Etsy.
Ceiling light fixture: Semi-flush white organza/linen double shades by Z-Lite.
Lantern: Bowring.
Framed art prints on the wall: "Noon I" and "Noon II" by Caroline Gold from Allposters.ca.

Random Scores

2011-10-05T20:35:00.001-04:00

I drove by a Value Village today on my way back from a meeting in Hamilton. Here are a few things I picked up:

Mayell England Crystal Sugar Ball Silver Basket

This adorable quail is added to my ever-growing birdie figurine collection.

White Porcelain Quail

White Porcelain Quail in Living Room

An antique watercolor illustration of someone's house. I will likely silver/gold-leaf it.

I am so behind the schedule this year that I haven't put out any Halloween decor or shopped for the Thanksgiving dinner. I am seriously thinking of giving that Butterball and oven a break and eat out in a restaurant. What are you folks doing for Thanksgiving?

Ikea Rast Hack #2

2011-09-28T18:12:00.000-04:00

I've been looking for a side table or chest that's compact yet offers storage for a little corner in my home office. Nothing else seems to fit the bill except for the Ikea Rast dresser, so it's a no-brainer that I need to hack it yet again. It didn't take long before I figured out what I wanted it to look like this time -- it's for a home office so "library chest" it is!

After painting it in white, I picked up some antique bronze label pulls from Etsy, and inserted six cheesy labels in nostalgic typewriter font representing six known tastes: Kokumi, Umami, Bitter, Sweet, Salty and Sour. I am hilarious, right?

The dresser went from this:

To this:

I am still debating whether I should add decorative brass corners for a more industrial look, but this clean look will stay for a while until I make up my mind.

Living Room Complete

2011-09-24T22:47:00.001-04:00

I've been working on re-decorating our living room on and off for the past five months. I don't think I can be entirely content with the outcome until I move the TV down to the basement (when it's finished), and get rid of those masculine black cowhide club chairs. A formal living room, in my view, should have more elegant seating like this and this. After all, if hub could claim his man cave in the basement, I certainly deserve my Petit Trianon.

So here are some latest pictures of my living room. The only thing missing is this Pemberley Grey Rug that's forever on back order. It's probably about time for me to look for an alternative.

Living Room

Living Room with Lighting

Living Room from a different angle

Birds Nest Coral Close-up

A few weeks ago Grandma surprised me with this gift -- blue and white porcelain vase from Qing Dynasty. I think it works nicely with the rest of the decor in the room.

Sources:

Textured Dupioni Silk Curtains in Robin Egg from Halfpricedrapes.

Mirror over mantle: Lighting Palace.
White porcelain urn with finials: Urban Barn.

Black cowhide club chairs and sofa: Coja Leather.

Cream fabric tufted sofa with curved arms: custom made by Zooma Designs.
Antique architectural prints: Allposters.ca; Frames from Michaels.

Antique coffee table with criss-cross legs: circa 1890.

Windsor Smith Pelagos Pillows: SanMarino on Etsy.

Sofa table with marble top: Domus Decor.
Criss-cross side table with antique mirror finish top: some boutique in Paris.
Oval ottoman: Skyline Furniture.

Geometric throw, lacquered black and blue boxes: HomeSense.

Edwardian Lantern in Chrome: HomeSense.

Photo Ledge and A Last Glimpse of Summer

2011-09-19T20:09:00.000-04:00

After much debate over a gallery wall vs. photo ledge, I've decided to go with the latter for the reason of less commitment (only 4 nail holes in the wall), and a more laidback appeal. This is what it looks like still in progress.

I spent the majority of my childhood on an island city in the Pacific ocean. Nostalgically, anything from the sea has a soft spot in my heart. The purple coral branch fossils in the two vintage glass display boxes are every rare. It takes the purple coral 25 years to grow 1.5 inches, and therefore it is now a protected species. This corner has become my emotional escape in my home office.

I am almost done with the home office except for some finishing touch to yet another Ikea Rast hack, and framing the Caroline Gold's posters (when they arrive in the mail). Am I too crazy to like industrial chic decor like this or this for the Ikea Rast chest (well that's the look I am going for)?

12 Hours: My ER Déjà vu

2011-09-11T18:05:00.007-04:00

My last bid for the Canadian healthcare emergency service was two and half years ago when a chicken bone cut through my esophagus. The 7-hour wait time made me swear that unless, God forbid, I was dying, I would never go back to ER again.

Unfortunately this time it was hub's turn. He is an extremely healthy person that rarely gets sick. As a healthcare professional, he actually knows how to take care of himself (the joke is most of them don't. An example is that they give patients annual physical but never bother to take one themselves).

Here is an hour-by-hour replay of the events from this past Thursday.

3:30pm
I was on a long phone conversation with an important client. Anthony barged into my office (which he's never done before): "I am going to see our family physician." I had no time to react nor could I before he closed the door and disappeared.

4:30pm
He called me on his way home to tell me that he had Tinnitus in his right ear. Our family doctor believed the Eustachian tube was blocked, and asked him to take some OTC decongestant. After he got home he immediately took a Sudafed, and things started to go downhill from there (unrelated to Sudafed just to be fair).

He started to feel the room spinning, couldn't hold himself steady, and minutes later, he had his first projectile vomiting.

Not long after I helped him lie down before he threw up again and again for four times.

6:00pm
That's it, we are going to the emergency. I rushed him to a community hospital nearby, waited in line for 15 minutes to get to the Triage, and another 15 minutes to complete the registration. We were given a red file folder which meant high priority case. Not bad at all so far. We then moved to a room filled with 10+ more patients, sat there and waited for an ER doctor.

7:45pm
A nurse called our name, and we were led to a curtained area by an ER doctor. The doctor, without looking into his ear or checking his eye movement, told us that Anthony's symptoms were very typical Ménière's Disease. It could be temporary or chronic but there's no way to be sure (yes, he actually told us that. What I learnt later on was that Ménière's is a diagnosis of exclusion). The doc gave us a prescription and a referral to an ENT specialist, and by 8pm we were on our way back home.

The world in hub's eyes that night

8:00-11:30pm
The projectile vomiting continued, and there's no sign indicating that he was going to get better on his own. My brother-in-law D (works in Internal Medicine of that hospital) and mother-in-law L (was a Cardiac OR nurse before she retired) earlier suggested that we went to a downtown teaching hospital where they are better equipped with skills and technologies to help us. An ENT resident might also be on call there that night.

11:45pm
Hub was exhausted and wanted to lie still to avoid vomiting. I was able to convince him to give the downtown hospital a try. 404/DVP was never so sane to me, and it only took us 30 minutes to get there.

Triage and Registration was fast, but the nurse did drop a nuclear bomb on me: "oh, I am sure the doctor would want to order a CT scan to rule out stroke or anything else worse." The word stroke had me frozen for a few seconds. 30 minutes later hub was given a bed at the Rapid Assessment Area to rest.

1:00am
We waited for the ER doctor to come.

2:00am
We waited for the ER doctor to come.

I had no where to sit or lie down, so I went to an empty waiting area and dragged a chair myself next to hub's bed.

3:00am
We waited for the ER doctor to come.

4:00am
We waited for the ER doctor to come.

My neck, shoulders and back were killing me. I went outside the room to hunt down the doc. The ER doctor was nice enough to explain to me that he was the only one working the ER that night, and after he stitched up a patient's chin he would come over.

Contrary to the community hospital which considered hub's condition severe, this prestigious downtown hospital gets the most complicated and urgent cases such as heart attacks, strokes, gunshot woulds, etc. Understandably, we were not on the priority list to receive treatment. As much as my in-laws wanted to help us, they are also very ethical and chose not to influence the process. I've watched enough legal dramas such as The Practice and Boston Legal to see how much it sucked for those that were pushed down on the list due to lack of influence or ability to jump the line, so we wouldn't do it.

4:30am
Hallelujah, the ER doctor showed up! He looked into hub's ear, checked his eye movement, prescribed 500ml normal saline and Gravol IV, and ordered a CT scan -- basically everything that the ER doc at the community hospital didn't do for us!

5:30am
The IV dripped on, and hub was wheeled into the CT room.

6:30am
The ER doctor popped in, and shared the good news that hub's CT scan was negative -- no acute intracranial mass, hemorrhage, infarct or fractures! In layman's terms, that meant they ruled out stroke and brain tumour.

7:30am
Crap! The street parking outside of the ER ends at 7:30am. The ER doctor suggested that I moved the car to the front entrance and put the emergency break on. For the first time in my life, I felt so legit to park next to numerous "Fire Route No Parking" signs!

8:30am
We were given a referral to the ENT Resident Clinic inside the same hospital, and discharged from the ER.

9:30am
My eyes still tried to get used to the morning sunlight. Flashbacks of IV drips (yes, hub was sleeping and I had nothing to do but to stare at the drips) still lingered around. But fortunately, we were once again done with our wait at the ER, and hub received the most thorough diagnosis we hoped for. The even better news is that his condition continued to improve slowly.

I will spare you my ranting on Canada's healthcare systems. Instead, you could read my hub's more rational version on the similar subject here about "Why the wait?"

I hope everyone has had a better week than I did.

Flying Pig

2011-09-05T22:22:00.005-04:00

Each year we took a couple of trips down to Niagara wineries to load up our annual wine supply. We also strolled down the streets in the village, and that's when I first came across these hand-made glass flying pigs. As I was debating how many (colors) to buy (so hard, love them all but not so much the $75 per price tag!), I realized it was almost 4pm and we absolutely had to rush to the highway back home before we sat in traffic again. So I left empty-handed, and regretted that I didn't even take down who made them.

Yesterday I spent half a day at a Spa that I frequent for the past eight years. Maybe the facial cleared up my sinuses (from ragweed pollen allergy), or maybe it was meant to be, I spotted these flying pigs from a fashion boutique that I must have passed by countless times outside of the spa. I couldn't let them go again so I picked up two.

That's when I also found out every single of these glass flying pigs is kiln fired, mouth blown, hand shaped by Christina Mayr of Three Crow Glass from Saint-Michel-des-Saints of Quebec City. Each one is unique and signed by Christina. To live up to the "flying pig" name, each piece comes with a loop on the back, so you can actually hang them and they will "fly" like wind chimes. There are also unlimited color combinations to choose from.

Aren't they adorable? They are new additions to my newly refreshed home office.

I also scored these vintage glass display boxes from the same store. I used silicone chalking to seal the bottom so they are now ready for my beach-themed displays.

Home Office Progress Part II

2011-09-03T21:01:00.000-04:00

Long weekend has finally come, and Anthony and I eventually got around to assemble the new bookcases. We have put away books and things from tens of boxes, and there are still tons of them in the basement waiting to be sorted out. I love the thrill of a grand reveal, but to live (work) in the same room being renovated drives me bunkers I tell ya.

So here is the home office progress part II. The color combination from the "Chungking Express" poster (an Amélie-alike romantic cliché) seems to work in the space, but I could only find one movie poster that looks so nice (and from a movie I actually like). I need a second one on the other side of the window wall. Yes, in addition to being a neat freak, I also a lover of symmetry.

Click on the image to enlarge

So I "returned" the movie poster to hub's home office (we each gets a room in our house as our office. His is next on my list to refresh.), and picked up these art prints by Caroline Gold titled Noon I and II. I saw Caroline's work at an art gallery before, and love the serenity she conveys through her use of colors.

And this is the white Billy Bookcases we put together. I think I am going to add crown moulding and baseboard to dress them up.

This is a not so pretty corner of the office. A wall gallery will go up on this wall. I am yet to find a library/lounge chair that's small yet comfortable enough to sink in for a long read (or phone call). Any suggestions?

Here is a list of things that still need to be done before this project can be wrapped up:

Change the lighting fixture (still searching);
Take stuff out of the basement and fill the bookcases;
Possibly add moulding to the bookcases for a more integrated look;
Put up a gallery wall;
Find a comfortable armchair that's upholstered in white, cream or light grey;
Finish a couple of beach-themed display boxes.

As you could see the room still requires several finishing touches, but thankfully the most painful parts (aka painting, assemble furniture) are over.
Have a great long weekend everyone!

Home Office Progress

2011-08-31T23:27:00.001-04:00

The drapery fabric I ordered from Tonic Living turned out great: placed the order on a Saturday and the package showed up on Tuesday. Janine at Tonic Living rocks!

Well, the picture says it all: other than the drapes, everything else is a big mess. The room has been in Light French Grey, and though we used a very low VOC Para paint, the smell still assaults my sinuses. More updates to come shortly.

Rock Collection in Clarus Glass Display Boxes

2011-08-24T19:59:00.000-04:00

A few months ago I picked up these Clarus Glass Display Boxes from Crate and Barrel, and have since been filling them with some of my favorite rocks/crystal geodes. So far the collection is consisted of nine pieces and it's still growing. I am so glad that now I have a mini Smithsonian in our house, and it makes a great conversation piece.

(click on images to enlarge)

This is what they look like in the Clarus Display Boxes, still has room to grow.

Home Office Project Update

2011-08-22T22:33:00.000-04:00

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I am finally posting something "done" instead of putting up another fancy design board to show my "to-do".

So I ordered this Ikat Dot Grey in 100% Cotton Twill from Tonic Living as drapery fabric. This is a very inexpensive yet high impact piece for the home office -- since I've chickened out of a bold-color wall, I will need to add some patterns to the room to avoid the yawn.

And in addition to "something blue" typically as part of my theme, I've also taken up a "something borrowed" this time. Inspired by Lindsay from Aubrey+Lindsay's Little House Blog, I took an Ikea Rast dresser from this:

to this:

Click on the image to enlarge

I am pretty happy with the outcome considering this is my first-ever Ikea hack. Thank you Lindsay for the idea!

My old bookcases will be gone this weekend so we can finally paint the walls. Tons of new furniture still needs to be ordered, delivered and put together. Fingers crossed that everything will go as planned in the next few weeks.

I hate to finish my post with bad news but I was deeply saddened by Jack Layton's passing. He was Canada's greatest fighter for small guys and yet he lost his own against cancer. There is no other charismatic political leader in sight in the near future, and for that, Canada should mourn. RIP...Jack Layton.

Home Office Design Plan 2.0

2011-08-15T23:32:00.001-04:00

Thanks for those that voted "Go Bold" theme for my upcoming home office project...I was so close to pull the trigger until...I realized the Ikea Expedit bookcase wouldn't work in the space. Dimension aside (too big to have two flanked the window as originally planned), for those that know me, you will understand that I am too much of an organized freak to display even orderly arranged books and items on open shelves -- they have to go behind closed doors.

To refresh your memory, this is the design board 1.0:

And here's my second attempt of a design plan for my home office, only this time it actually has factored in my personality and habits.

Click on the image to enlarge

Sources:

Bowring Evora lantern.
Ikea Malm 4-Drawer dresser.
Gallery wall over accent chair (a.k.a. the reading area).
Billy bookcase x 3.
Dwell Studio cushions by Tonic Living.
CB2 Filing Cabinet (double duty as a printer stand).
Semikolon boxes.
2 x Ikea Micke desks in white: love the extra desk surface once I put them back-to-back.
Antique Windsor chairs (still debating whether to paint them in white).
Jonathan Adler Parker ceiling light in Polished Nickel.
Sweet William Teal drapes by Tonic Living (still debating whether to go with a pair of plain white drapes with ribbon trims. Any thoughts?)
And last but not the least, the Light French Gray paint color-matched in Para paint (sorry Sarah).

I know this plan is so safe that it borderlines boring, but I also following my heart and hopefully my "signature" of a design theme: go neutral with something that's hard to change (e.g. wall colors), anchor the space with a couple of substantial pieces of furniture, and go freestyle with accents. Oh and always have "something blue"!

Picking a Ceiling Light for the Home Office

2011-08-12T21:34:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I decided to revitalize my home office. You can view the design plan here, and I've since made some minor changes to the storage.

With this design board in mind, I am now ready to pick a ceiling light. I probably spend more time in this room than any others so it has to be very functional. Here are a few facts that prevent me from going wild on ideas.

Our second floor ceiling is only 8.5 feet, so pendant or ceiling mount is pretty much the only way to go without constantly bumping my head against it when I stand up.
The ceiling fixture has to be bright enough (but not glaring) and casts no shadow what-so-ever. Therefore, that rules out crystal, capiz shell, feather or any other funky chandeliers along the line.
Minimalism and industrial styles might work the best in a clean-lined workspace.

So here are a few options I am thinking. Which one(s) do you like the most?

A. Donut-shaped Glass Light

B. Ikea Brasa

C. Ikea Fillsta

D. Industrial Metal Pendant Light

E. Fabric Shade with Crystal Finial

In one of my previous posts I had mentioned that there'd be another giveaway by a local furniture company. It's still on but due to summer vacations and hence short of response, the furniture company has decided to postpone it until Sept/Oct time frame.

Take Two: Before and After: Two-Tier End Table

2011-08-11T18:01:00.000-04:00

This is what the end table looked like when I first picked it up.

This is what it looked like up to a few weeks ago: after a few coats of Krylon Pewter Gray spray paint. It appeared darker and more blue than I wanted, so I had to change it.

Click on the image to enlarge

This is what the Take Two of the end table transformation: after another few coats of Krylon Satin White, and some craft paper insert.

Click on the image to enlarge

And this is the "craft paper" I used for the insert. No, it's not prepasted wallpaper -- rather it's more like a wallpaper-sized giant sticker. All I did was to peel off the backing, and stick onto clean and smooth surface. I did use squeegee to push out air bubbles.

What do you all think? Do you like the first or the second transformation better?

New Additions To Our Family

2011-08-06T18:36:00.002-04:00

Hoot hoot...we took these adorable owl statues home from Lowes today. The cutest thing about these owls is that no matter which angle we look at them, even from our master bedroom window on the second floor, they appear they are looking right back at us. That puts a smile on my face all the time.

Hurry if you are still looking for outdoor decoration because most retailers have clearance sale now. You snooze, you lose...well, I guess you can wait until next year.

Click on the image to enlarge

Next Project...Home Office

2011-08-05T21:54:00.006-04:00

It was a rough day for stock investors when TSX decided to paint the entire market red. US is likely going into a double dip, and maybe it's finally time to abandon the "Keep Calm and Spend More" motto. I've gone through the following phases seeing our portfolios bleed throughout the day:

At 4pm I decided to move on, and make myself productive by redesigning my home office. Oh btw, I work out of my home office when I don't have client meetings. A sweet gig you might say, to be able to work from home. Very true except that I work 10+ hours a day when I am at home so it's extremely challenging to find the time when I don't need the room (perhaps Christmas?). Anyhow, this refresh project is going to be a slow and painful one (don't they all) and requires some serious project and time management skills.

Here is what I am thinking for my new home office:

(click on image to enlarge)

Sources:

Ikea Expedit bookcase with drawers and doors
Sweet William Teal roman shade by Tonic Living
Ikea Micke Desk
Pottery Barn Harrison task lamp
An old bentwood chair
Semikolon storage boxes
Bella Porte pillows by Tonic Living
Ikea Billy bookcase with doors
Accent chair and ottoman

Now comes the fun part...picking a paint color (or two)! At the beginning I vowed to myself that I was going to go BOLD and full of DRAMA for my home office, so I picked out this charcoal color by my favourite designer Sarah Richardson in Tarnish. Gutsy, right? Plus it'd look phenomenal with all white furniture.

A few hours later I started to have second thoughts: what if I don't like it? It'd be a ginormous pain to paint over in a lighter color then. That's when I picked another two much lighter shades in grayish blue: BM Eternity and BM Metropolitan.

So what do you think? High impact but risky move, or timeless and classic in my favourite color spectrum?

Remember to check back on Monday for another fantastic giveaway sponsored by a local furniture company. Have a great weekend everyone.

And the Winner is...

2011-08-05T17:15:00.000-04:00

Thanks for those that have completed the survey. The winner for the $200 Ottoman Tray from Trays for Ottomans is....#14. Please email me your contact information to pass to Dave at Trays for Ottomans to make you this fabulous tray.

For those that didn't win this time, come back to the blog next week as I will list another fantastic giveaway!

Enter to Win

2011-08-04T10:19:00.002-04:00

Just a quick reminder to enter your name if you are interested in the $200 Ottoman Tray giveaway by Trays for Ottomans. I will run the random draw tomorrow at 5pm EDT, and announce the winner shortly after.

Good luck everyone!

Note: I wasn't paid or perked for hosting this giveaway. I do this as my appreciation to my awesome blog followers and those that happen to stop in.

Color Me Happy - Blue

2011-07-29T23:12:00.002-04:00

Maybe it's summer, maybe it's age. Lately I've become very sensitive to colors, and how they seem to immediately change my mood. I plan to run a series of "Color Me Happy" to highlight a few color families that are eye pleasing.

First and foremost is one of my favorite colors - blue. How many shades of blue can you name?

(click on the image to enlarge)

1. Purple blue bouquet; 2. Tiffany Blue close to Robin's Egg; 3. House Beautiful Blue cover in Cerulean Blue; 4. Need I say this is Turquoise Beach? 5. The Royal Blue Sapphire Ring; 6. Grey Blue/Azure Chinoiserie Wallpaper by de Gournay; 7. Sophie Cook's Aqua Pod Vase; 8. de Gournay's wallpaper again and Domino book's cover in Beryl Blue; 9. Vintage Blossom in Dove Blue.

Before and After: Two-Tier End Table

2011-07-29T15:28:00.002-04:00

I picked up this end table when I was at Salvation Army Thrift Store a few weeks ago. It has such great bones that I couldn't pass on without making it mine for $16: solid wood, steady construction and almost no nicks or dents. The only complaint is this yellowish brown puke stain.

After one coat of primer, it's already looking better.

After a couple of coats of Krylon Spray Paint in Pewter Grey, this is what it looks like now. It turned out blue-r than I prefer, but it also casts different shades of grey under different lighting.
(click on the image to enlarge)

And this is the end table now in our master bedroom. It has tons of space for books, and my only wish is not to relive college days when I reached for the table by pushing through piles and piles of books.

Have a great long weekend everyone! And remember to enter your names for the $200 ottoman tray draw.

FREE Giveaway: $200 Ottoman Tray.

2011-07-25T19:35:00.003-04:00

I have been a casual blogger (and an enthusiastic reader) since July 2008. Truth be told, I didn't even know how to enable the "Followers" until some recent guidance from Janice at Life Begins at Thirty.

Looking back, I have reviewed and commented on many decor/furnishing companies I dealt with, and gave them fair share of exposure. I am a strong supporter and believer of local small, family-owned business, and favour these hard-working and skilled entrepreneurs.

My first ever FREE giveaway comes from a skillful woodworker Dave MacGillivray at Trays for Ottomans valued at $200! I didn't know by chance I actually reviewed one of his woodworking projects before on my site under The Pursuit of Happiness (in Bargain Hunting). Dave is the master behind this incredible piece of French console table: would you please look at those legs?!

Of late Dave and his wife Pam came up with a niche to make wood trays for ottomans. They offer standard designs and sizes, or you can customize a tray to fit your furniture and needs. You can even hand Dave your own drawing and he will make it for you! Here are the varieties you can pick in addition to shapes and dimensions:

Solid hard wood: Oak, Maple, or Cherry, etc.
Stains;
Handles;
Designs;
Dimensions.

Here Is the Process to Enter the Draw:

Become a follower to my blog (Follower tab is now enabled in the right side panel);
Visit Dave's web site at http://www.traysforottomans.com/amsurvey.php to complete a simple and short survey;
Come back to this blog, and leave a comment to confirm your completion of the survey;
And that's it!

Random draw will take place on Friday August 5th, and the winner will be announced on my blog the same day. Dave will contact the winner to make their tray valued at over $200! Good luck everyone!

Note: I wasn't paid or perked for hosting this giveaway. I do this as my appreciation to my awesome blog followers and those that happen to stop in.

Front Yard

2011-07-23T15:05:00.000-04:00

Other than adding carriage hardware to our garage doors, we are pretty much done with our front porch landscaping. A dash of rain last night and plenty of sunshine invite our Sharon of Rose Hibiscus bushes to blossom vigorously. The blue stain flowers steal my breath away.

(click on the image to enlarge)

It's Raining, and Surprise on Monday!

2011-07-22T22:43:00.001-04:00

Yes, finally! Tomorrow I am hoping to wake up to a greener lawn and more Blue Sharon of Rose blossoms. That's right, check out these Hibiscus we planted a few weeks ago. Aren't these blue flowers gorgeous? Pardon the picture quality as it's taken from my BB.

Have a great weekend everyone, and check back in for some surprise on my blog on Monday! :-)

Boxes, Candle Holders and Pillow

2011-07-20T17:13:00.001-04:00

At the risk of "over-accessorizing" my living room, I've decided to give my thrifty hunt adventure a rest. Who knew Salvation Army and Value Village can be as addictive as HomeSense?

Anyhoo, here are a few things I picked up over the past few weeks:

Lacquer Keepsake Box in Robbin Egg (love the chinoiserie chrome hardware): from HomeSense at $19.99, perfect for stowing away remote controllers.

More Lacquer Keepsake Boxes in Black, from HomSense at $19.99 each.

Remember those vintage marble eggs from Salvation Army for $14.99 a set? I found these vintage brass candlestick holders (~$12 for all of them) to display them, and I like how it turns out.

If there's a deal out there, I will find it (or so according to my husband). Truth be told, these days I almost never make (or stick to) any impulsive purchase. Perhaps we will soon hear some research reveals, in addition to love, pain, money and cocaine, "saving" lights up the same area of brain. :-D

If you are looking for pillows in designer fabric without breaking an arm and a leg, look no further than SanMarino shop on Etsy by very talented and super nice Robert Campbell. This Windsor Smith Pelagos pillow is from the shop, and I went back to order another one as soon as I received it in the mail.

And that is all, two blogs in a day, what's wrong with me? Hope you all stay cool and hydrated. This heat is just brutal.

Backyard

2011-07-20T15:42:00.004-04:00

Our backyard hardscaping was completed just in time for my lovely cousin's visit last week. So far we were able to host one BBQ party due to the extreme heat -- I surely feel for those back ribs on the grill I tell ya.

First thing first, here's a quick recap of what my backyard looked like a few weeks ago -- where did all the darn rain go now?

And this is what it looks like (yes, I know our lawn looks depressing):

(Click on the image to enlarge)

Sources:

Unilock Brussels Block Sandstone pavers and Limestone border;
Unilock Brussels Block Sandstone and Limestone retaining wall;
Lowe's Garden Treasure 8' x 8' Gazebo;
Suncast 7' x 7' Resin Storage Building/Shed;
Ikea Tarno Folding Table;
Canadian Tire Hudson Patio Set.

Front Yard Sneak Peek

2011-07-08T21:57:00.000-04:00

The landscaping project is still underway, but thankfully the big mess has now moved to the backyard. Tomorrow we are adding some flagstones into the grass and large decorative rocks. Here is a sneak peek of our front yard as of today. We have Neon Blue Spruce as the focal point, then two Blue Satin Rose of Sharon Hibiscus bushes on each side to flank the Spruce, then Blue Rug Juniper as ground cover. Do you guys have any idea how breathtakingly stunning Blue Rose of Sharon looks when it blossoms? I saw some pictures online and can't wait to see it in person. It should be any day now.

(click on the image to enlarge)

Who would know an outdoor project could be so stressful and exhausting? Control freak you might call me, but if I want the project to turn out exactly (well almost) the way I designed, I'd better keep a close eye on the daily progress. There will always be deviation and you just can't rely on your contractor to guess your mind, right?

Enough excitement for a day. Another busy week awaits next week, so we'd better get some much needed rest this weekend and recharge our energy. More landscaping pictures to follow.