Bathroom demo day one is done - There is no turning back now. :)
*Huge thanks to my awesome brother (who is elegantly posing in our old bathtub on our lawn) for the manual labour help! :)
Monday, April 29, 2013
No turning back now....
Bathroom demo day one is done - There is no turning back now. :)
*Huge thanks to my awesome brother (who is elegantly posing in our old bathtub on our lawn) for the manual labour help! :)
Ma formation avec Lotta Agaton
Je suis de retour à Paris après deux weekends extrêmement inspirants à la formation stylisme de Lotta Agaton à Beckmans Akademi, Stockholm! Hier nous avons eu le privilège de mettre en scène la nouvelle collection de cartes de Therese Sennerholt dans le magnifique Delight Studios. Je n'ai pas le droit de vous montrer ces photos-là avant mercredi, alors en attendant, voici quelques photos de nature morte que j'ai créées la semaine dernière dans le cadre de notre formation.
La photo des années 50 s'intitule "De passage", alors j'ai essayé de continuer sur ce thème et cette période...
The photo from the 50's is called "Passing through", so I tried to build further on that theme and time period...
I'm back in Paris after two extremely inspiring weekends participating in Lotta Agaton's styling class at Beckmans Akademi, Stockholm! Yesterday, we had the privilege of styling Therese Sennerholt's new collection of cards in the stunning Delight Studios. I'm not allowed to show you those photos before Wednesday, so meanwhile here are some still life photos that I created last week as a step in our training.
Photo Kristofer Johnsson - retouchée par moi / edited by me
Ici j'avais envie de jouer avec des formes géométriques et des lettres...
Here I wanted to play around with geometric shapes and letters...
Photo Anna Gustafsson
La photo des années 50 s'intitule "De passage", alors j'ai essayé de continuer sur ce thème et cette période...
The photo from the 50's is called "Passing through", so I tried to build further on that theme and time period...
Photo Anna Gustafsson
Et pour celle-ci, des nuances subtiles de vert en partant de ce grand vase, un prototype de l'artiste du verre Erika Höglund. Le vase à droite vient de ma boutique en ligne.
And for this one subtle shades of green, starting with this large vase, a prototype by glass artist Erika Höglund. The vase to the right comes from my webshop.
The DIY'ers and some Outdoor Projects
My weekend was gorgeous filled with planting grass, wearing shorts, BBQ'ing with friends and some baseball. Finally, Spring has sprung.
And in honor of Spring finally rolling around here in Minnesota (even if it appears to be for only for one weekend...) I wanted to share some of my favorite Spring projects that were posted on The DIY'ers last week.
Check out these amazing DIYs from last week's link up!
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| An amazing Fire Feature at With A Blast |
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| A self-watering planter at Condo Blues |
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| A dragonfly garden stake at Purple Hues and Me |
And now it's your turn! Show off your latest DIY projects below.
The Rules? They're simple!
- Take a picture of your DIY and link it up below.
- Text link back to Home Coming or pick up The DIY'ers button from the left sidebar and include it in your post so others can get involved in The DIY'ers.
- Become a follower of Home Coming. I'd love to have you!
A Simple Way to Make Any Room More Inviting
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| Are elephants warm and fuzzy? In a certain way, yes! |
Friendly.
Lovable.
Approachable.
These are qualities that attract us to other people. So, it’s no surprise that the same qualities make a house attractive to home buyers.
Lovable.
Approachable.
These are qualities that attract us to other people. So, it’s no surprise that the same qualities make a house attractive to home buyers.
One of the best ways I know to make a room friendlier is to add reminders of nature.
Here are three ways to do just that:
Here are three ways to do just that:
And there’s another way to use nature to breathe life into a room: Animals, but not your house pets!
Here are some prime examples of how animal décor can make your home more interesting and lovable.
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| This sparsely furnished bedroom is the perfect setting for some framed prints of English hunting scenes. Via Elle Decor |
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| I'm partial to oil paintings of horses at rest. This traditionally designed living room gets an extra shot of class from the painting. Midwest Magazine. |
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| Audubon bird prints have their place, but a contemporary photo of a bird makes for handsome framed art as well. Tod Hunter, Traditional Home |
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| DIY art using animal graphics is easy to do, and can fill wall space in a budget-staged home. Behr paints. |
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| An elephant side table is timeless and crosses all decor styles. They come in all sizes and designs. I especially like this glossy white one. Orange Beautiful. |
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| Another classic is foo dog ceramic ware. Feng Shui teaches that foo dogs offer protection. This one stands guard and lights the way. Shades of Light. |
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| Who could resist smiling at these three hugging frogs? Accessories like this can help stage bookcases and mantels with a sense of humor. |
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| Jungle animals and animals that people feel a special kinship with are especially good allies for staging your home. Example: Monkey bookends. Apartment Therapy. |
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| Almost any style of animal imaging -- if it's original -- works for home staging. Aren't these abstract cat pillows from Laurel Burch charming? |
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| Perhaps the most popular animal prints are the leopard (above) and the zebra stripe. One animal print per room is the usual rule, but you can make your own rules! |
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| These Pottery Barn drapery panels feature gorgeous bird designs, always an attractive motif for home decor. |
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| The Nester blogged about how she made this no-sew, faux fur-covered chair. I think it's fabulous. It's fake, but it looks like mink -- so Hollywood! |
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| Don't forget your outdoor spaces. This fish fountain sits on my back porch. It was easy to make, and adds a soothing sound to the backyard. . |
While researching images for this post, I stumbled on some unwise choices, like glowing turtle lamps, owl placemats, and neon flamingos. So, beware the kitchy, overused, animal accents, and instead look for either lovable or exotic motifs. Stay away from less likable animals like snakes.
No unicorns, please.
No unicorns, please.
Pigs and chickens are iffy.
Out of doors, be on guard against “slob art.”
One more caveat: don’t use real fur. If it’s fabric you’re after, velvet animal prints and faux furs are what you want.
Sometimes staged rooms become too sterile. Using wildlife images and imitations can give rooms some animal magnetism and whimsy if you do it with style.
If you need more inspiration and advice on staging your home so you can sell it, download my $5 eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast and for Top Dollar. Let me be your guide while you get your home ready for market.
Friday, April 26, 2013
I hate our grass - landscaping plans
I've been staring at our front lawn coming up with landscaping plans. I apparently can't focus on one project, I need to take on a few to drive myself (and Aubrey) crazy.
Our front yard is significantly better than when we first bought the house thanks to the amazing landscaping design of Bill Chandler (who I think is one of Toronto's top landscape designers) I met him because he worked on my parents back garden and he helped us with our front walkway both with designing and installation. Although Bill came up with a gorgeous planting plan in addition to the stairs and walkway, we only did the stone work because budget. You can see the evolution of the front of our house here.
Fast forward to today - the reason why I'm focusing on the landscaping again is because our front grass never survives. This is due to of a variety of elements- neighbours who don't weed (and therefore we get weeds no matter how much we do), too much sun, too little water.... Every Summer I curse as I'm pulling out crab grass or standing out there with a hose watering that it will be the last year I invest any money in trying to save the grass. I feel badly when it dies and everyone elses grass is so lush - be it that they have more shade, or maybe a better routine with watering? But everyone else seems to have wonderful lawns, when mine is brown and patchy. A few weeks ago I walked outside to get the mail to see that racoons had torn up our lawn looking for grubs. And that was that - No more grass.
Thankfully the new walkway is probably the most major expense out of the front landscaping makeover - and that is done so we're just looking at doing some plantings. My idea is to add some plantings that have height and I keep going back to one landscaping design I quite like from in our neighbourhood that I blogged about here. This look is kind of what I'm thinking of doing....
They trees look like serviceberry trees which we have in our backyard and LOVE (see them in this post) They have a beautiful bark colour, are branchy, produce edible berries and in the fall have the most gorgeous orange and yellow leaves. So my thought is to plant two or along the path. Perhaps three. I think it will give some height, privacy, and visual interest to our front yard.
As a side note, I'm still a fan of this walkway spotted in our neighbourhood that I think is welcoming...
Isn't it beautiful? I think it would be relatively easy to recreate however I don't think I want to get into this level of construction. But I still think these "fences" are the most beautiful thing ever. Anyhow, that is my plan. I've promised Aubrey to hold off on digging up the front lawn until after he finishes demoing the bathroom.
As I've been thinking about all of this I have realized that I think hiring a landscape designer in many cases is a great investment - they know what works well in different environments, what needs a lot of care, how plants change throughout the seasons. It's one of the reasons why I really liked Dirty Business on HGTV - they gave a great insight into that kind of thoughtful design. In our case, Bill's walkway design was something I couldn't have envisioned or implemented myself so I'm so glad we hired him to do that part.
Anyhow, that's my thoughts on the front landscaping! The next step is buying serviceberry trees and then digging up the grass. Well, after the bathroom that is. ;)
Other posts of interest:
See the evolution of the front of our house here.
See Bill's planting guide for us
Bill Chandler Landscape Design
DIY Weekend Projects
With Spring finally rolling around here in the midwest, it's about time I find a few pairs of shorts that fit me. And this tutorial from Refinery 29 shows how to make some perfectly cut Jorts.
I stumbled across this amazing idea for storing some of the odds and ends that you gather while on vacation. Create adorable travel memory boxes that look awesome on your bookcase! I'm definately doing this...as soon as the Hubster makes the boxes for me that is....
Lastly, I really need a place to put all of my shit. I'm pretty good at having a 'place' for everything, but there are always odds and ends like sunglasses and watches that tend to wander around the house. Here, Ali shows how simple this DIY really is.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Chevron Love
Have you all noticed the chevron trend making it's way from fashion into our homes? I'm pretty impressed with all of the amazing chevron home products out there - and if you can't find what you're looking for, it's an easy pattern to DIY!
Do any of you have chevron incorporated into your home?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Do any of you have chevron incorporated into your home?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
PH5 Contemporary
J'aime beaucoup quand on donne un nouveau souffle aux grands classiques design, par exemple en introduisant des couleurs plus contemporaines. Le dernier exemple en date est la suspension PH5, dessinée par le danois Poul Henningsen en 1958. Louis Poulsen a récemment lancé la collection Contemporary, où l'on retrouve PH5 dans quatre nouveaux coloris, y compris rose pale, gris foncé et vert khaki.
I really like it when great design classics are given a new breath of life, by introducing new contemporary colours for example. The latest example of this is the PH5 pendant, designed by Danish Poul Henningsen in 1958. Louis Poulsen recently launched the Contemporary collection with PH5 in four new colours, including pale pink, dark grey and army green.
Via Husligheter with thanks.
I really like it when great design classics are given a new breath of life, by introducing new contemporary colours for example. The latest example of this is the PH5 pendant, designed by Danish Poul Henningsen in 1958. Louis Poulsen recently launched the Contemporary collection with PH5 in four new colours, including pale pink, dark grey and army green.
Via Husligheter with thanks.
Source Louis Poulsen
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Printing on Kraft Bags
It was so addictive to print these bags that I printed up some other bags using stamp designs I've made for customers to show how a stamp (or clipart) would work. Anyhow, this post is nothing more than to show you some shots I took today - Hopefully it may inspire you for some loot bag projects or just fun lunch bags. Cheers to Cottage Hill for the grand idea and to The Graphics Fairy for the free images for personal projects.
Kraft bags available here
*Ps., My shop is closed for the next two weeks because of the upcoming bathroom reno. Eeek!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
etsy finds
I still love to shop on Etsy even though it has grown so huge that it sometimes is pretty daunting to find the cool little shops. I often browse people's favourites to find neat new items, so I always love doing posts like this. So anyhow, here are some of the newest items I've added to my favourites lately.
Top Row / Necklaces / Bowls / Vintage Pull Toy / Middle Row / Octopus Coat Rack / Mouse / Gold Ring / Bottom Row / Lionel Ritchie Milk Container / Green Tartan Pillow
Ok - so HOW CUTE is that little mouse? And that Lionel Ritchie Milk container!? It appears to have sold since I favoured it but maybe more will be added.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Parmmätargatan 22
Encore un autre superbe appartement en vente par Fantastic Frank: la lumière, la sérénité des lieux, le mur d'art dans le salon... parfait!
Yet another amazing flat for sale by Fantastic Frank: the light, the peaceful atmosphere, the art wall in the livingroom... perfect!
Source Fantastic Frank
The DIY'ers and some new shoes
Well, the weather prevented us from doing any real Home DIY's again this weekend so I crossed another fun clothing DIY off the list instead.
I've recently been eying these tribal print wedges from Jessica Simpson, when I realized that I could DIY this pretty darn easily. So I whipped out my Sharpies and had another DIY done in less than an hour.
I started with some old Banana Republic wedges that I haven't worn in a couple of years. They were actually in the pile for Goodwill, but with a little reinvention, it's like they're new again!
And then out came the Sharpies.
Look at how cute they turned out! Now I just need some warm weather to wear them in.
And now it's your turn! Show off your latest DIY projects below.
The Rules? They're simple!
- Take a picture of your DIY and link it up below.
- Text link back to Home Coming or pick up The DIY'ers button from the left sidebar and include it in your post so others can get involved in The DIY'ers.
- Become a follower of Home Coming. I'd love to have you!