And finally...the reveal!

So...after a long journey the bathroom and laundry room are complete.

First I have to say thanks to my dad. The usual deal is that he does the construction and I do the finishing, however with all that has been happening round here, he did it all from start to finish. He hates all that finicky fluffy stuff, and he hunkered down and did it for me. He wallpapered, he sanded, he painted, he even hung pictures...bless his heart...I am one lucky girl and I cannot thank him enough...it looks great!

Just in case you forgot just how bad this space was, below is a quick before,or you can have a look at the original post here,

And this is what the laundry room looks like now....wait for it....

So a recap of what happened here. There was an old laundry sink that went wall to wall where the washer and dryer now sit, and the washer and dryer were along the wall where the shelves are now. It made for a very awkward space and the sink area ended up being unusable space that just collected all the crap that  a household can create.

We removed the sink and relocated the washer and dryer to this corner...they just fit...as in perfectly, as if it was meant to be.

 I needed to accommodate for proper storage, so we put up adjustable open shelving, which works well for storage of cleaning supplies, as well as a place for us to store all our small appliances, and the every day tools. I chose open storage because I know how we live and if we had closed storage nothing would get put away :o)

I am really happy with how it turned out.

Now the bathroom...first the before shot...

Ugly tile, a blush colour sink, wall to wall mirror and a lovely fluorescent tube light.

And now it looks like this...

Here we (and by we I mean my husband and father) removed the ugly tile and put up bead board panel. A coat of a deep turquoise I had kicking around, a new sink we bought more than a year ago, a few other accessories and voila! A marked improvement I would say.

So there you have it...two steps closer to being done this house...don't ask how many more...too many to count.

Happy Monday all!

In my household of late...

Good Day everyone in blogland...oh how I am missing you. I have tried to keep abreast of what is going on out there, comment when I can but time is tight these days as many of you well know, and some things just fall to the bottom of the imaginary list...not today!

I downloaded some pictures off my camera this morning and thought I would share all that has been happening in our household of late.

The tree is up and trimmed. This is my favorite thing to do getting ready for the season ahead. Nothing starts until the tree is up for me. My husband tries to hold me off as long as he can, but this year he did a wonderful thing and surprised me with a tree... Or he would have, had I not looked at the bank account and noticed a transaction that did not make sense. Still it was a nice surprise that I totally needed. More important...he knew I needed it. I could love him for that alone.

Last week I came home to find this wonderful craft that my daughter made at school, it is her handprint on a glass ball with the fingers made into little snowmen (I'm sure you've all seen versions of this on pinterest) but it was so nice to receive it along with it's little poem about how fast she will grow up...not gonna lie, I cried...yup it was a nice gift to receive and hang on our tree.

 My tree is steeped in tradition and memory. My family growing up was not big on following the same traditions each year, there was never a right way or a wrong way to do Christmas, but the one thing we always had were our ornaments. The same ones went up every year, I always had my favorites, and I still do today. the ornaments have been passed to me, and for that I am thankful. Each year I realise just how much these simple little things mean to me. I am not one to hold onto things for sentiment, so these things that I pack away every January and dig out every December bring me great joy.

Another thing I try to do each year is to build a Gingerbread house. One year I even made my own gingerbread...only one year because ugh that was a chore, and a frustration to beat all frustrations...so now as un inspired as it is, I buy a kit. The girls and I did this one day last week, it was fun, they enjoyed and I let them...meaning I did not take over too much, try too hard to control the outcome wanting perfection, these moments were perfection enough...

 

A self portrait by Isobel...I couldn't resist :o)

So this is what has been up in my neck of the woods in my moments at home with the girls...the rest of the time I have been in the gallery where I am happy to report that people are shopping local and buying handmade.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to each of you!

2 Days until my big girl comes home...

2 More Saturdays to shop...

10 Days until the big day...

YIPEE!

Thanksgiving...the Verdict

I figured I could not leave all 6 of you hanging (yes I only have 6 followers...but I'm new so it's okay). Thanksgiving as hosted by my 21 year old daughter was fabulous!

It was a bit hectic the night we arrived and my little girls (2.5 and almost 4) did not manage to fall asleep until midnight and even then it was a fitful night sleep with me lying on the floor with them rubbing backs and cheeks to lull them back to slumber...I was tired the next day. But we woke Sunday morning to a wonderful warm day with the sun shining. Jake and Caitlin worked out the timing of the meal and that was it for us until it was time to eat.

Caitlin set a beautiful table...as you recall she said prepare to be amazed...and amazed I was...sort of. To say I was amazed would imply that I had little faith in her abilities, which is not true. I knew she would do a great job and she did.

The turkey was cooked to perfection, the ham as well, fluffy mashed potatoes, the best candied carrots I've ever had and a wonderful new addition of panko breaded asparagus spears. Yum! Of course the meal was followed by dessert which as always was sublime with her fresh apple and pumpkin pies and whipped cream and ice cream. My waistline suffered, but my palette did not.

Apart from doing the dishes I did not lift a finger all day...it was wonderful!

It was one of the nicest Thanksgivings on record and Caitlin and her boyfriend Max proved to be wonderful hosts...so much so that Jake and I would like to make it a new tradition...what do you think Cait?

Monday saw us enjoying the Kitchener Oktoberfest/Thanksgiving Day parade which was amazing and kept the girls thoroughly entertained for almost two hours (and we left before the parade was over).

After that we headed on over to St. Jacobs to explore the village this time (you may recall we loved the market). It is a lovely little village and thanks to fellow blogger Lisa Roy who mentioned in a comment on my last St. Jacobs post that the Bakery there was a must see...oh we saw...we ate and we loved! My mouth waters at the memory.

Hope your Thanksgiving (if you celebrated) was as glorious as ours was.

Aesthetically confused...

Let me first say that I love the blogging world. It has opened up so much to me that I cannot imagine why it took me so long to begin this exploration. Having said that, it has also left me confused.

Before I embarked on this blogging journey and started exploring others' blogs, I thought I had a clear vision for my home, and it's design and decor, I am after all an Interior Designer, but every day I see something else that inspires a new and utterly unpredicted direction for where I want to take my still fairly blank canvas of a home.

In my defense, I am primarily a corporate, retail, restaurant designer, that is what my background is, tho I did move to Muskoka to do cottage design...which I did but do not do anymore. Also in my defense, I am a Libra and we are notorious for being indecisive.

My choices for my home have always been a little sedate and neutral, which is strange because I love colour!

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I would love to have this in my home, and yet my kitchen is neutral as seen here. Now don't get me wrong, I love my kitchen (well if I could afford to reno it I would but all things considered...) but as hard as I try I always end up choosing neutral...and not white neutral, beige neutral. In my living room I have this Ektorp sofa from Ikea. Again I like the sofa; it was inexpensive, comfortable and slipcovered, but it is, at the end of the day, beige.

Which is why I want to add this area rug to the living room...

But cannot spend the money on it right now...so I have ordered something more along these lines...

Anyhow I digress...I am all over the map when it comes to design these days.
I love white rooms and I often say I dream in white...


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I love the simplicity of this (above), and yet I also love this (below) for it's ordered chaos and colour...


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 There is this...

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And then there is this...

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Sigh...I just don't know which direction to take...sometimes I think I over think and when I do that I get overwhelmed and then it is just easier to do nothing (and it is cheaper too).  So as I sit here doing nothing I will continue to ponder which direction to head...and hopefully after some more blog reading and more 'pinning' a trend will emerge and all will become clear...fingers crossed.