Dark Stripe Sail Boat

Here she is, the sweet little painting that I just could not resist from Lori's wonderful on line store,

White Flower Farmhouse. 

It is an early birthday present to me from my honey

and he was quite happy to oblige! (lets him off the hook now doesn't it)

She is titled "Dark Stripe" and the turquoise, white and charcoal is perfection to me. 

I have once again been having some up's and downs physically, frustrated by being unable to get to the changes of repainting the hall  and so the arrival of this package just lifted me up.

If you are as enamoured by her as I was then you must keep checking Lori's store to see if she will have for sale more of these little paintings created by a well known New York artist and friend of hers who allows Lori to sell them for a steal of a price as long as they are not signed by her.

(she sells her signed artwork in galleries for thousands of dollars)

Have a wonderful week!

Last Day of Vaca and hall paint colour?

I can't believe that I'm going back to work tomorrow after 10 days off.  The time sure has flown by like a blink of an eye and I find myself unsure what to do as I'm  trying to get my head around the change I made in our front hall. The stairs were previously finished and yesterday I painted the walls the same colour as the living and dining room. Please ignore the fact that the upper newel post cap has to be repaired by my honey and is not painted yet and I still have to give all the wood work a fresh coat of white paint. My idea was to paint the upper landing walls  a soft dove grey and keep that grey above the 3/4 height beadboard wallpaper I will do in the upstairs hallway eventually.

I do just love this light though, it is so perfect!

Turned off

or turned on.

Our main floor is about 800 square feet and is not an open floor plan like many homes are but all the rooms are visually connected with doorways.  I thought that the one colour would help it feel more open and airy and flow better visually.

My plan was to get a second coat on the walls today and get started on the trim but I'm not sure about my decision and really need to get some boring chores done instead. On the other hand Todd loves it and thinks it looks great. Before I started I was going to go a little darker in this blue but Todd talked me out of it. Now I'm wondering if I should have.
I also find the stairs a little heavy visually too and am considering repainting the riser white or if I keep the wall colour then I"m rethinking the stair colour.
Oh boy!!

and after I painted the hallway yesterday I got a couple of coats of paint on the picture rails Todd made and then spent a little time finally adding things I already had to our bookshelves.

and then late last night we installed the picture rails and for fun to get  a sense of how it will look I placed  some frames that still need our photos added, on them. It is going to be nice to finally have our photos out for us to see.

Maybe I will get a coat of something on the side and coffee tables, the disjointed colours bother me so much. I'm dreaming of finding a cheap garden stool for beside the love seat  but for now my antique chinese bench will do. I don't quite understand why the garden stools are all so expensive, do you?

I also am trying to find 2 white ball finial curtain rods for the here and the dining room and hang curtains to add some softness. 

I picked up the Sanela turquoise cushion covers at Ikea for an incredible 9.99 and I already had the navy and white striped one  but want to add a few more cushions still.

and I couldn't resist these toile navy and white beauties also from Ikea called Emmie Land for our bedroom for a ridiculous 5.99! I have plans to repaint this room too, something a little cozier. 

The bottom of the book cases in here and the dining room still need doors added and I need to find the right cozy darker cozy throw for the winter, oh and a carpet would be nice too.

All in time, I must be patient as funds permit things to be done but gosh it is so hard. 

Well at least I can paint, lord knows I have lots of that leftover kicking around so I think I will get busy.

And I have such good news, Emma's coat is improving on the new dog food. It is slowly getting shinier and she is itching less and thankfully falling out less. I thought I was going to lose my mind with how much hair she was losing so I'm am so relieved.

She is so funny how she just loves to lay with her head propped up on some vertical surface. Of course it is usually my white slipcovers. 

It feels like winter is just around the corner and I don't think I'm ready for it but at least we will enjoy it  in a space that we worked so hard on and that makes us feel good when we are in it.

Hall Console Transforming

Happy Wednesday to you!

 A while back I found this solid wood French Provincial console for great price as.  It is a great compact size for a piece with closed storage and I've have had it sitting in my unfinished front hall where it fits perfectly in the niche by the closet door. I had planned to remove the cane from the doors and have Todd add a panel in it's place. 

If you recall I was inspired by this almost identical piece at Home Sense for a crazy price of $400.00

so I decided to try it with my Ikea baskets from our open shelving over my washer and dryer. I love the warm grey colour of these  baskets and they are the perfect size  if I was to keep it as open storage like this. I am heading to Ikea for a day trip on tomorrow with my friend Joanne to help her design her dressing room and could pick up 6 more so I'd better decide today what the verdict is.

I am still struggling with the hallway colour, to find just the right shade and won't give this a final coat of paint until I decide what that is but for now I'm liking it white.

It's a grey, raining day and I am happy to be home doing whatever my heart pleases!

Have a great day!

Original Turner Prints for sale

Good morning and Happy Tuesday!

I am gearing up for my day and thought I would share these perfect condition amazing original Turner prints I just posted this morning on Kijiji for sale for $135.00. I really do love them and I have really been torn over parting with them but the incredible cream and soft taupe original wood frames just don't go with all the white I have incorporated in our home and painting them will devalue them. 

Here are the details of my listing.

Presented here is a Wonderful Rare Mint Set of TWO Gorgeous Signed TURNER Original Vintage Airbrush Prints in their Original Vintage Wood Frames featuring Large Lilies and Chrysanthemum in the Sensational Colors of Blue, Cream, Taupe and Brown.
Both have Glorious Colors and are a nice size at 20 1/2 x 18 1/2 for the large and 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 for the small. They utilize the popular Airbrush Technique of the Forties Era with their Sought After Floral Themes seen in Vintage Barkcloth Designs. One Print features Magnificent Lilies while the Second Print features a Chrysanthemum Flower! The copyrighted Turner Signature is on the lower right of each Turner print.

The Original Wood Frames are EXQUISITE! in Soft Ivory and Medium Taupe Brown each being intricately Detailed and Raised in Relief!

If you live near Newmarket, Uxbridge, Sutton, Stouffville or Port Perry and would like to purchase them please let me know.

I have been doing well selling items on kijiji to raise a little cash

and can't tell you how excited I am as I anxiously await a little something, my very first purchase from the incredible
White Flower Farmhouse
I have always been such a big admirer of Lori's wonderful shop and am so happy that she will ship to Canada and I can't wait to share it with you.

Have a great day!

Wonderful Fall

Fall has officially arrived, the furnace was turned on for the first time and the trees will soon be in all their glorious colours. 

We are enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend with chilly temps but the sun is shining between little shower sprinkles here and there. 

We have been  sleeping in, eating things we shouldn't, taking long walks, watching movies and just doing much of nothing else.

I am finally on vacation and am looking forward to spending some much needed time recharging here at home.

We have celebrated with friends this weekend and will do a full family Thanksgiving dinner when my mom returns home from her visit with my sister and her family in Calgary.

 I hope they are having a great time and wish everyone a  

 truly wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sea steps

Hello everyone. I hope life is treating you well.

We have been having an interesting time. You see this little girl has kept me so busy as she has developed a serious shedding, itching and dry coat issue along with coming into heat again 3 months sooner and as a result the entire floor in the house need cleaning and vacuuming each and every day. I feel so badly seeing her scratching and uncomfortable. She doesn't have fleas and so we think it's a food reaction.

We have been trying different foods for her to see if that helps and currently have her on a venison and sweet potato formula. It apparently takes 6 weeks on just one food, no treats to see if it works for her.

Fingers crossed it works!

I did manage to get the built-ins painted but haven't added any decoration or books to them yet.

Just a cute little painting by my mom that I adore.
And just in case you are wondering, I do plan to paint the side tables and stain a deeper amber colour or paint the coffee table as their current wood tones do not go with the blinds.
I just swoon when the sun pours in here.

and finally, FINALLY we have our fireplace back in place. The copper gas line had to be replaced with flexible tubing.

YAY!!!!!!

Todd added new top shelf pieces and of course it is my job to paint them and then give everything a fresh coat of paint. He spent a good part of the day yesterday removing all the metal surround and giving it a fresh coat of black paint and cleaned the glass. 

I didn't feel so hot on Sunday and spent the day just mulling over our front hall transformation. 

I looked over all the cans of leftover paint in the basement, tried yet another few on the wall and kept defaulting to a white hallway but Todd just wouldn't have it. Then I came across a can of acrylic porch floor paint in Tonic Water by Sico and realized that I need to paint the stairs!

With what energy I had a scrubbed and sanded and spot primed  the stairs in hopes that I would feel good enough the next day to get them  painted and I did.

I hand painted the first coat but in hind site could have rolled them but here they are with one coat.

I did get a second coat on them. I had started off taping them off but that was just to much work and just took my time and I think they turned out pretty good.

Now I can paint my walls a warm cream which makes both me and Todd happy and will look great with the pop of stairs. I want to add a stencil to the riser in white to break it up a little. You can also see the temporary stained plywood we put down where we will one day do tile and I think it is a great solution for now. 

I did get them finished but now I have to get the walls done along with a fresh coat on all the trim and I promise I will share once it is all done and I have my fingers crossed this one won't drag on!