Sunday, October 20, 2013

Work In Progress: Front Entry


There is paint on the front door!! Coral paint!! To be precise, this lovely shade is PARA Paints' Ooh Long Tea*. And since I am bound by the rules of condominium living, let me be clear: the paint is strictly on the interior of the front door. With no natural light and a door previously painted dark brown the front entry felt a bit gloomy, so I decided that a light colour would be best to brighten up the space. Now it feels much more welcoming.



I knew I wanted to highlight the coral in the Persian rug at the front entrance, so choosing the colour was the easy part. The tricky part was painting around all of the door hardware - I'm not bad with a roller, but I'm terrible with a brush. A few touch ups may be required :(

I gathered my Nate Berkus pineapple & Jill Rosenwald vase to assemble a coordinating vignette on the tiny entry table. Did you know that the pineapple is an emblem of welcome & hospitality? The fern is a new addition and hopefully will survive in the low light conditions.


  
By the way, this is where the gold leaf quatrefoil mirrors ended up after I discovered that they wouldn't fit above the bedside tables in the master bedroom. The mirrors also do a great job of making the small entry seem brighter & bigger than it truly is. I'm still mulling over the possibility of adding a fun wallpaper to this area, but until I find just the right pattern that idea is on hold. What do you think so far?



*Thank you to PARA Paints for supplying the paint for this project!!

Monday, October 7, 2013

Up & Coming

There are projects in the works, my friends!!

For starters, there will be colour going up on the doors & walls. I've been in the new condo for nearly 11 months and with the exception of the guest bedroom & the master bedroom, the builder beige walls remain untouched. For the inside of the front door I've chosen a lovely coral, "Ooh Long Tea" from PARA Paints, which will add a fun hit of colour to the entry foyer. The colour was pulled from the front entry rug which I purchased on ebay. Since the entrance sets the tone for the rest of the home, I want to make this area bright and lively. I'm super excited to get this paint project rolling!!


Sunday, October 6, 2013

So September Happened...

"Where does the time go?"

As I age (gracefully, of course), I find myself uttering that phrase more and more. Where has the past month gone? I was sure that after Labour Day I would get back to blogging on a regular basis, and yet here it is October 6th and I'm still lacking posts. I don't pressure myself to create "scheduled posts" or have an "editorial calendar" like some bloggers do, but I do want to keep in touch with everyone who still pops in here looking for an update. Hopefully things will get rolling again now that I have a few fun projects on the horizon!

No excuses, but... September was a busy month. I spent several weekend shifts at work, packing and preparing to move our office & warehouse to a new location. In between all the work I managed to squeeze in some fun stuff. According to my Instagram feed, here is what I did in September:

Enjoyed the TIFF screening of Violette at The Elgin Theatre on Yonge Street.


Celebrated my 43rd birthday with family at El Catrin in The Distillery District.


Toured the Princess Margaret Showhome in Oakville with interior design by Brian Gluckstein. It's so gorgeous!! Have you bought your ticket yet?


Hung out on the set of Canada's Handyman Challenge with Bryan Baeumler, Mike Holmes, Scott McGillivray, Paul Lafrance & Jenn Robertson. Season 3 is coming to HGTV Canada early in 2014.


Attended Blogpodium, a fun and super inspirational conference for bloggers. I had such an amazing time catching up with old friends and meeting new people:


Purchased this stunning wool & silk Ardabil rug at auction. I was so tempted to keep it, but it's for the new office.


Discovered that Ritchies is another great resource for antique rugs. This hand knotted 11' wool runner was an absolute bargain that I couldn't pass up.


Whipped up these sweet little baskets to hold markers and notebooks using fabrics from Tonic Living. I love the fun colour combos! 


So...what have you been up to?