my house: the photo wall

I got so many wonderful comments about my bedroom decor post a few weeks ago that I thought I would share the rest of my house as well! I'll start with the entranceway - a skinny, long hallway that I really wasn't sure what to do with until I saw a very inspirational photo in a Pottery Barn book - a photo wall! So P. and I decided to take on this project. And while it was a much bigger {and more expensive} job than either of us anticipated, it was well worth the effort! Our photo wall is right at the entrance into our house, and has turned out to be quite a source of entertainment and conversation for anyone who steps in.

To keep it all cohesive, we chose to display mostly black and white photos in mainly black frames {Walmart, Kitchen Stuff Plus and IKEA have the cheapest black frames by the way} but I do like adding a bit of quirkiness into home decor, so we had a sense of humour when choosing the photos. We each found our scowly, awkward grade eight grad photos and hung them side-by-side. Also on the wall is my award for achieving the highest mark in my grade nine keyboard class...hee...nerdy.

There is a photo of my friend Rebecca and I at Blackbutt Nature Reserve in Australia {we both happened to be wearing black pants that day so it was perfect!}, and a picture of my mom as a hot young thang.

There are many non-goofy photos on the wall too - our favourite wedding photo, various excursions, photos of good family and friends, and travel pics. But it's the not-so-perfect photos that seem to generate the most conversation and giggles.

Like this photo of my husband as a child with a humongous mop of hair {and a not-so-big catch of the day}!

Hoping you have a wonderful weekend!

dream table

Say hello to my dream table - Restoration Hardware's Trestle Salvaged Wood Dining Table to be exact - made of roughened planks of pine reclaimed from a distillery in the UK. And not only is the wood imperfectly distressed, but the table seats 12. Oh the dinner parties that would take place on this large, grand table! Now a paper airplane carrying a cheque for $3495 just has to fly through my window and I'll be all set.

{seen in Style at Home magazine, August 2009}

easy botanical wall art

As you know, I am a sucker for botanical prints. And in addition to large vintage botanical prints, I also love the look of this symmetrical 'collection' too - it has huge impact! I recently found this great blog that features many free high-res vintage botanical prints. Hmmm...not sure if it is legal to distribute copyright images like these but ah well...get 'em while they're hot!

You might have to scroll through quite a few pages before you find a bunch of similar images. But when you do, just click on one of the images you like and it will enlarge in a new window. Then right click on it and save it to your desktop. Then you can open the file and print it. If you are familiar with any photo editing programs, you can resize the images so they are all the same size {e.g. 5" x 7"}. Buy a bunch of frames from IKEA {they seem to have the cheapest selection} and voila - you have yourself some easy peasy wall art!

painted chairs

These painted green chairs are right up my alley! A few years ago when we moved into our house, P. and I bought some lovely leather chairs for our kitchen table - they are really nice but I guess as time moves on, my taste is changing a bit and I am drawn to bright colours and cool architecture and shapes.

{I've been really bad at tracking where I'm saving my photos from lately, so unfortunately the source of this photo is unknown :(}

paint chip prints

Check out these Paint Chip Prints from Secret Leaves - they are antique images printed straight onto paint chips! Pretty nifty. And such a clever way to use old paint chips {I do have a lot of them...right Paintin' Pete?}.

console table

I finally got around to decorating my console table for Spring! I did away with the previous winter wonderland and made way for some fresh greens and yellows. Check out the beautiful forsythia! I wish they lasted forever.

time to decorate for spring!

I've mentioned that I like to decorate {and re-decorate!} the console table at the entrance to my house by season, so I think with Spring arriving on Friday, it's that time again! I am planning to re-style soon and I've decided that fresh spring greens would be nice, after my white winter wonderland display. Here are some beautiful console table displays, and an entranceway that makes me gasp every time I see it - the fresh whites and blues are amazing and what a gorgeous black door.

Stay tuned for photos of my new springy console table!

{both photos from Domino mag}

{from Wish mag}

cabin fever

Today is bright and sunny but still on the chilly side. Nevertheless, I am dreaming and planning of how to decorate my deck so that I can spend more time outside and make the most of the warm weather when it decides to arrive! I just bought a cheery red umbrella and cushions for my Pier One table and chairs, but I love the look of this deck and I'm thinking to incorporate an outdoor rug, some tall plants and lanterns. I don't have a ton of space to work with, but this looks like it could be such a cozy little sanctuary! {photo from Wish magazine}

Happy weekend my bloomers!

simple photo project

This is a wonderful photo project that was featured on Design*Sponge last week - making 'picture frames' using jars. It can't get much simpler than this! I noticed a similar article in Martha Stewart Living this month, and also I clipped this photo {below} a while back, from I'm not sure where - a similar project.

What a simple, green, and just-plain-cool idea! Instructions can be found at Photojojo.

wallpaper crush

Searching through my ever-expanding design inspiration files, I noticed a wee trend - a lot of the photos I like have used the Cole and Son "Woods" wallpaper. I'm so drawn to the rustic, natural-ness of it!

We are currently stripping the wallpaper in my dad's house {flowery 80's wallpaper that just wasn't cool} and it is pretty much a nightmare. After spending a week with my sister trying to remove wallpaper from a bathroom, I promised myself never ever to wallpaper anything! But...maybe just one wall wouldn't hurt?

I'm not 100% about where I got the above photos, although the 3rd one down is from Blueprint, and the 4th from Wish magazine {recognize it?}. Below is a pic of my bro-in-law at a restaurant on College Street where we went to celebrate my husband's birthday in January. The restaurant had recently been made over...check out the paramedic, my cute baby niece, and the wallpaper behind them!

loving target

The world is definitely getting smaller and so many of my favourite stores from the US have made their way to Canada in the past year - Crate and Barrel {yum}, West Elm {double yum}, and soon Anthropologie {yummiest of all!}. But...for all of these lovely stores that have finally arrived, the one I wish would leap across the border the most is Target - or 'Tar-jay' as said with a snotty French accent. That place is unbelievable! It's a Walmart with soooo much more style. On the strange popcorn machine purchasing adventure in Buffalo with Shayna Bloomer last summer, we stopped into Target and I picked up a kick-ass cobalt blue sweater, some beautiful little white dishes, and some other cool houseware items...I just can't leave that place empty-handed.

Here are some funky finds from one of my favourite stores - seriously!



1. Orla Kiely Stoneware Canister
2. Abstract Print Upholstered Chair
3. Floral Print Chaise
4. Clybourn Loft Floral Print Chair

oh anthro

Yet another inspirational photo from the beautiful Anthropologie...can't wait until their Spring opening in Toronto. My once-in-a-while trips to NYC, or browsing their store online just doesn't cut it.
Have a great weekend and hopefully my blogs will be a little more inspired next week!

a cowboy office...

...for my sister Melanie who has chalkboard envy and who is already planning the decor for her new house. The chair is a bit scary {wouldn't want to be impaled on one of those horns!} but I'm digging the huge magnetic chalkboard wall and the birch wallpaper. Yum!
{from Wish magazine, another great magazine that has gone the way of Blueprint, Domino, and Home Companion magazines...too sad}.

bedroom inspiration

Would you believe...we still haven't finished our bedroom yet?! Our weekends keep getting eaten up with various to-dos, but hopefully {hopefully!} in the next few weekends we will be able to buckle down and finish it off. Here are some more bedrooms inspiration pics that I've been looking at {I know, some are not bedrooms but I was checking them out for colour inspiration!}.

the images:
1. Domino magazine {RIP...sniff...}. This photo actually looks A LOT like our petite bedroom, and we even have the same two IKEA dressers in brown/black!
2. Living Etc. magazine
3. Living Etc. magazine
4. Pottery Barn
5. Dwell Studio
6. Domino magazine

diy wall art

Love this idea for creating wall art from diyideas.com!

purty table inspiration

Whenever I have friends over for dinner, I try my best to make my dining table look as pretty as possible. But table setting is a lot harder than it might seem...it really is an art! I always worry that nothing matches, or that everything matches too much, and I make a mental note that I need a new tablecloth, new serving plates, new, new new! I do realize that I'm a perfectionist, and I also know that having a dinner party doesn't necessarily need to be a fancy affair. But I just can't help the need in me to make everything look pretty {doesn't a meal just taste a lot better if it also looks good? Or perhaps subconsciously I'm trying to disguise my sub-par cooking skills?}. So I have found a bunch of tabletops that have provided me with some inspiration...they all are fairly simple and non-stuffy, and don't necessarily require an onslaught of new stuff, although maybe a bit of craftiness. Hopefully they inspire you too! Have a wonderful weekend...

from Blueprint magazine {may it RIP}

from Quick and Easy Decorating by Better Homes and Gardens

from Home Base Collections

from Darling Dexter

From Real Simple magazine

from Canadian House and Home magazine

{unsure of the source of this pic unfortunately}

from Martha Stewart {love the painted cans used as vases!}

my house: the photo wall

A few summers ago, my husband and I decided to take on a home project. And just not any project...a HUGE take-all-week, pain-in-the-butt home project. And while it was a much bigger {and more expensive} job than either of us anticipated, it was well worth the effort! Our photo wall is right at the entrance into our house, and has turned out to be quite a source of entertainment and conversation for anyone who steps in.

We chose to display mostly black and white photos in mainly black frames {Walmart, Kitchen Stuff Plus and IKEA have the cheapest black frames} but I do like adding a bit of quirkiness into home decor, so we had a sense of humour when choosing the photos. We each found our individual, awkward grade eight grad photos, equally scowly and grade eight-like, and hung them side-by-side. Also on the wall is my award for achieving the highest mark in my grade nine keyboard class...haha...nerdy.

There is a photo of my friend Rebecca and I at Blackbutt Nature Reserve in Australia {we both happened to be wearing black pants that day}, and a Photoshopped picture of me 'motorcycling' around Paris {I hope to replace this with a real photo of motorcycling around Paris one day soon!}.


There are many non-goofy photos on the wall too - our favourite wedding photo, various excursions, photos of dear family and friends, and travel pics. But it's the not-so-perfect photos that seem to generate the most conversation.

Like this photo of my husband as a child with a humongous head of hair {and his not-so-big catch of the day}!