Front Hall Progess & Aspen Valley

Yesss! It was another successful weekend - I came painfully close to completing all of Friday's "to-do" list items. I knew it was an ambitious list, but in the end I just plain old ran out of time. The weekend could have used another 5 hours, or maybe I could have skipped that Sunday evening nap ;)

1) Cut to length all trim for both interior doors in front hall. Done
 
2) Paint all lengths of trim & both interior doors in front hall in Aspen Valley green. Done
 
3) Nail trim onto doors, fill nail holes & sand when dry. Done
 
4) Caulk around all trim. Done
 
5) One more coat of paint on all trim to touch up nails holes and cover caulk. Incomplete
 
6) Go through the last three years of Style at Home & House Beautiful magazines and tear out inspirational pages, recycle the leftovers. 1/2 Done, 1/2 Incomplete

As you can see by the list "check off", a good amount of progress was made on the doors in the front hall. This time I tried a new method, painting the door fronts and trim separately before attaching the trim. It seems a bit more labour intensive to paint all around the trim once it's up (meaning more brush, less roller). Regardless of my efforts to shortcut, the doors still need one more coat. Hopefully I can get around to that soon so that I can put the doorknobs back on (one of these doors leads to the guest bath). In other good news, I really, really like the look of Para's Aspen Valley green.

Hopefully I'll get through the pile of House Beautiful magazines tonight (list item #6) because the rest of this week is going to be busy. I've got a fun event happening Wednesday evening (watch for Wednesday's post), Thursday morning will be an early start for the Interior Design Show breakfast and Thursday evening I'm going to check out Indigo's Spring & Summer preview. Speaking of IDS, it's happening this weekend, January 24th & 25th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Will I see you there?

Doors of Paris

Although I saw so many Paris highlights during my recent trip, some of the most interesting features of a new city are those things which make it different from places you've seen before. While here in Toronto we are greeted by gleaming lobbies constructed of sleek glass doors and marble floors, the entrances to Paris offices and apartments lay behind the most lovely ornate doors. I think of them like snowflakes. Each entry has its own unique design, whether it's carving, fretwork, embossing or intricate handles, but no two are the exact same. 

 

 

American novelist Edith Wharton once lived behind these doors

in an apartment belonging to George Washington Vanderbilt II.

All photos by Pamela Graham for Cherish Toronto.

The Christmas Spirit Lingers

I've been walking the streets of New York so much that I think my feet are preparing to launch a revolt and separate from my body. I just don't want to miss anything, and that means walking everywhere and covering as much ground as possible!!

I'm lucky that most of the beautiful Christmas decorations are still spread throughout Manhattan, and these are some of the highlights:

Christmas Ornaments Make a Splash

Christmas at Rockefeller Center

Cartier Gets All Wrapped Up

Beautiful Lincoln Center

The Shops at Columbus Circle

Wreaths at The Plaza

Trump Tower Wreath
(Gold of course!)

Wreaths Adorn the Windows of Bergdorf Goodman

West Village Christmas Spirit

All photos by CherishToronto