Catching Up!

I really cannot believe just how long it has been since I've posted and am hoping that I can get some sort of normality back. You see, my root canal situation has dragged on with swelling in my lymph glands and face remaining even after the root canal is finished and as a result have been to even more appointments on my days off trying to find out why it is like that.

In between all that we have celebrated Mother's day, Father's day, Todd's 50th birthday and my sisters Karen's birthday and we also managed to participate in our town's community garage sale a couple of weekends ago and the day was nothing but spectacular and a success.  Here is the front porch loaded with our wares the day before. Many people commented on how nice our items were and I got a chuckle when one lady even said, you could have your own store! 

I had a blast with my mom who came up for the day and brought some of her paintings and even sold two which was the first for her and has now inspired her to think about selling them on a regular basis.

Way to go Mom!

We didn't sell these quality set of chairs but that is ok as we have plans to transform them into something even better and then sell them.

antique table 

vintage iron stool

new mirror

I still have the above items for sale and have posted them on kijiji.

Another weekend we spent giving my Dad's bedroom a makeover for Father's day. My Mom, my sister Karen, my nephews girlfriend Laura and I had a blast and worked so fast and efficiently to get this done in one day. Dad is a typical guy who didn't think that the state of his bedroom had an effect on him but boy was he wrong. He had boxes and many unused items and laundry piled up all on the far side of the room.  We had to do this on a tight budget and since he has bad allergies we focused our money on the important things, new pillows, pillow protectors, mattress protector, linens and a light duvet. As well he had just one small and not very appealing lamp on his night stand and so we bought these nice brushed nickel lamps and I added lamp shades that I didn't end up selling in the garage sale along with a few black framed pictures. Yes, I'm aware that the middle picture is up too high, my sister was directing me and I shouldn't have listened to her!

I'm not too worried about it though because Mom is going to paint this stunning picture that we spotted when we were out shopping for the bedding and will hang over the bed in place of them. 

The far side of the room before we started was a jumble of boxes and a large trunk in front of the love seat and you couldn't even get to the windows to open them.  We moved the trunk to the opposite side of the room, moved the love seat under the window and the dresser to the corner and added a faux tree from the guest room as well as a little coffee table. Mom brought in a new "old" radio that sounds great and placed it in the opposite corner on a filing cabinet she covered with a table cloth.   We polished the windows sparkling clean and opened them up so the breeze blew in, turned up the tunes and thought, wow, what a difference. I also sprayed a $15.00 Goodwill lantern brushed nickel and Todd hung it yesterday. Once mom gets the painting done I will show you the room again.The best was when my dad came in and we saw his face light up.
He never asks for anything ever and so it made us all feel so good to give him a nice space for himself that is also a healthy space that will no doubt help him breathe and sleep easier.  

I just love a large old world clock like this one and have been keeping my eyes open for one every time I go to Home Sense.

and brought this one home which really is a stunner but thought it might be too heavy and dark since it would be sitting beside our large dark TV. Now if the TV could only be white! 

Why the heck are they black anyway? Can someone tell me that?

I told Todd I was going to spray paint it white LOL!

I try to not beat myself up over what does not get done but am not successful sometimes. 
One of those things is our coffee table.  I designed  the legs too small and as a result the table wobbles a bit and so we have deliberated over how to change it. Then I spotted an incredible coffee table in a recent issue of Canadian House and Home magazine in the gorgeous living room of one of the owner's of the upscale Muskoka Living store in Muskoka. We may do larger square legs or may go with nice chunky turned legs like their coffee table.
Their living room had an uncanny likeness to ours, it had the same coffered and beadboard ceiling with a white ceiling fan, symmetrical built-ins, white slipcovered furniture and a soft pallette of colours.
Unfortunately I left my magazine at my Mom and Dad's yesterday so I can't show you but you can check out the room here as well as the rest of the house and other gorgeous homes they have designed for clients.
It really is the epitome of great cottage living.
Muskoka Living

and it may stay like this for a while because.....

 Todd got to work on the last room in our house that needs a renovation. He has gutted the room to the studs and wants to take down the plaster ceiling which I think is unnecessary as it is in good shape and of very strong plaster and would only need a light skim coat to even out the texture. I love old plaster and if I could would have it over drywall any day but insulating our home is a priority.

It may take a while as he is so busy with his own business but that is ok. Summer is here and life is too short to not try and enjoy it. 

I have yet to take some vacation time this year with all our kitchen promotions we have been running. It has been so busy and great at work but I am looking forward to a rest soon and am anxious to finish up some little projects around the house.

I hope you are enjoying a truly wonderful summer so far!