Saturday, January 26, 2013

Pillow Scaping

I am desparately wanting to perfect our living room of it's finishing touches and get it pulled together with the perfect mix of colour and softness. Here are some inspirational photos I found that I have fallen in love with that feel both so beachy and pretty and am considering. I am torn between more subtle as I always admire photos that have pops of colour in them and something more subdued.

I could see mixing a little coral like this with a pretty blue solid pillow that is a little deeper than the walls

or go with a stunning soft selection of strips and prints in blues, greys, creams and beige.

 Most of the pillows I find on line or see in stores that I fall for are way out of the budget so making your own is really the way to go if you sew  and lord knows I have enough inserts with the pillows I have already so I don't have to buy new ones.

                                                              
If I could, I would throw in just one or two pretty floral pillows like this one from Tonic Living but my honey is not a fan of anything floral in our home so I will have to pass on it.







and I also am hoping to check out Cobi Ladner's new line of drapery and fabrics this coming Thursday night at Michael Penney's new store in Whitby. Cobi will actuallybe there and it will be so nice to actually meet her as I have always admired her when she was Canadian House and Home magazine's editor. She seems like such a nice down to earth unpretentious person  and she has created Cobistyle a wonderfully colorful and fun home accessories and fabric line that is full of personality and charm.  

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Erevan by Pierre Frey


I have long since adored this bedroom from the 2011 Princess Margaret Show. The feature wall is a stunning wallpaper by Pierre Frey called Erevan and is perfect in red and white. It is a premium paper that I'm guessing would be like Farrow and Ball, 3 roll minimum to order and would cost hundreds of dollars but stencilling this type of pattern would be well within reach and not to hard to do.  




 I found some great stencils by Cutting Edge Stencils that would cost under $50.00 and  the beauty is you could reuse them any time you wanted to.  They have some great tutorials to watch to show you how to stencil as well.

The Nadya damask stencil is
a similar pattern but the pattern is spaced a little closer together. 


or Tali's brocade stencil could also work


but when you look at the lovely feathery branch details of the larger pattern with the smaller florets
(which the stencils don't have) I would be curious to see if it would be possible to have a custom stencil made.
It really is perfect.


Have you ever tried stencilling a wall and was it as easy it seems to be?

Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Bathroom Reno and A Unique Basement Reno



Hello!
Happy New Year! I know it's a little late for that  but it has been a pleasant break from the computer and work too.
We had an entire week off together at Christmas and chose to do nothing but visit family and friends and then just relax. I actually felt like a completely different person and had some clarity on some details I want to change in our main bathroom in the next bit and no this is not our bathroom.
It is a bathroom that Todd recently renovated along with the husband who wanted to help do some of the work. 
They are such nice people and I think they chose some really gorgeous fixtures for their bathroom.
I would kill for this tub, pure heaven to soak in. The customer thought when she bought the tub from Rona  that the wood bars could be remove from the tub as she didn't prefer them but they were not removable so she is going to paint them a dark grey.



 The customer ordered the custom glass for the shower with a well known Newmarket bath company but for some reason they had dropped the ball and a month after the order was taken they didn't even have the order placed so on Todd's recommendation ended up using Stouffville Glass and got great service. 
When the installer came to measure and then install he said that this shower was the most level and accurate shower he has measured for and his job to install was done in half the time as a result!
Nice work honey!


She also chose a beautiful stock vanity also from Rona that is a contemporary twist on a traditional style and has a stunning grey and white marble top and soft green crackle glass inserts on the doors and drawers. 



Jewelry as lighting is pretty and sparkly from Rona as well. 


You may have guessed it, this is the ladies bathroom. 
She purchased the mirrored dresser earlier and it is the perfect girly, glamourous piece for this space.


This bathroom is layers of grey from the softly textured porcelain floor tile to the soft dove grey on the walls and I think she did such a beautiful job of designing her bathroom. 


We hope she enjoys her new spa bathroom for many years to come!


This is a previous job that Todd did on a Heritage home's basement and I think it is nothing short of amazing. Maybe one day ours will look like this. The railing was made by the homeowner out of copper pipe and he also made the stairs which widen at the bottom.



Old rubble stone foundations ideally should not be insulated and drywalled over. The old floor was dug down 2 feet and Todd carried the dirt up the stairs in buckets by hand as they could not get a conveyor into the basement through the windows! He filled a 30 foot decommissioned well with all the dirt.
No one can ever say my guy is lazy.
You can see where the rubble stone ends is where the old floor was.


Then each stone was cleaned and carefully carved of it's excess mortar to reveal the individual stones and colours which creates such a stunning and dramatic statement in the space unlike any other.
Now look closely at the bottom of the stairs, stones were added to clear acrylic in the floor to look like a puddle of water at the bottom of the stairs. The homeowner has such great ideas and sense of whimsy!
(oops someone forgot to put their tool belt away)


Large boulders were left in place or strategically moved to certain places and some even had steps built around them.
Red was an accent colour and the homes signature exterior accent colour as well as the Heritage barns colour. 



A custom wine cellar was also added as well to the basement along with a new laundry area 
(not shown)

 
along with a pea gravel floor for those possible tipsy times when you accidentally drop a bottle and works like a charm!


Another large boulder left in place marks the entrance to the cozy sipping nook complete with artwork hung on the stone walls and pieces collected from the homeowners travels.


 This was a lot of hard work but I know Todd is so proud of this very unique job he shared with the homeowners and even gets to enjoy it when he is invited for a glass of wine every now and again.