The Living Room & Dining Room

When we were shopping for a new home, one of my deal breakers was that the house had to have a formal dining room.  Not because I entertain, or cook, or have a big family, but because I love to decorate dining rooms.. hehe.
 

For some reason, they upgraded the moulding in just these 2 rooms.  Eventually, I'd love to have the molding match through out the house, but that's a long term project.  The pictures do no justice to these rooms.  They are full of sunshine and are surprising quite large.

I love the dining room that I have now, and would love to just copy and paste it into the new house.  I must find a wall for my botanical prints!!!  We'll see how it turns out!

The Family Room

Ah, the family room.  Also known as the only room in the house the kids are allowed to destroy. 
Our 4th bedroom upstairs will be the official toy room, but this will be the kids TV room.  This room is attached to the kitchen and will house our current "loft" furniture.  A couch, love seat, chair and TV.  How we are going to fit it all in that space is beyond me.  Although the room is quite large, the layout is awkward because of all the doors and the fireplace. When I try and picture this room all done up, it hurts my brain.  I have absolutely NO idea what I want this room to look like.  It's one of those spaces that will have to wait... I am sure it will speak to me one day.

A few things I love about this room...  the ceiling beams.  They are beautiful and bring a rustic feel to an other wise quite formal home.  I also love the stone fireplace with the barn beam mantle.  Unfortunately, it has a dated fireplace insert.  Did you know those things can run $2k to replace.... I found some heat resistant spray paint so I can paint the thing black.  At least give it an update.  That'll be a DIY blog entry one day!!!

You can see the double french doors which lead to a beautiful sun room.  Now, the sun room... I totally have BIG ideas for!!

The only windows in the room are the french doors, so I will have to be creative with lighting and colours to really brighten up the place.  I still have no idea... we'll see!!

DIY Burlap Bubble Wreath

I found a tutorial for a burlap bubble wreath on Pinterest and decided to repin it.  Within a  few days I had well over 200 repins.  Clearly I'm not the only one obsessed with Burlap these days!

So I decided to take a stab at it.  It took me a few days, but here is the end result.

I swiped the idea from My Heart's Desire blog.  Click on the link to find the full tutorial.

You may notice that mine has a lot more bubble to it.  I actually did 2 layers rather than just 2.  My wreath was huge and had quite a lot of gaps, so I thought making a third row would make it look more full and complete.

My next house has double doors, so I would love to attempt to make another, but it took me a lot longer than I anticipated, and there is no way my next one would look similar enough to pull of a 'pair' look!!! I have a feeling this one will find it's way to my mother-in-law's door one day!

But, overall, I am happy with the  outcome.  I love burlap and love working with it.  And all in all, this wreath cost me $6 bucks.  $2 bucks for the wreath ring (from Len's Mill Store in Port Dover), and $4 bucks for the burlap (also purchased at Lens, but Fabric Land also carries it).  I had the sunflower on hand.  This one was from HomeSense, so I am sure it was just a few dollars. 

Hope you like it as much as I do!

CAIT

Powder Room's are made for WALLPAPER!!

The one thing I seriously regret about the house we built in Waterford, was not having a powder room.  I chose 2 extra mudroom closets instead.  Because really, who uses a powder room?  Guests... oh yea, I have so many of those!!  Anyway, the only reason I regret not having a powder room, is because powder room's were made for wallpaper.. and I LOVE wallpaper.

Check out the powder room in our new Burlington house.... ready... don't laugh....

This won't last long.  The vanity is in great shape so I'll just be replacing the counter top, with a new sink and faucet.  Add a new mirror and light fixture... and ta da.  But first, I must choose the wallpaper.

I love powder rooms, becuase you can go bananas with whatever wall paper you like.  No need to worry about making the room look too small or too colourful.  It's a dinky room to begin with.  Go crazy.

My favourite site for wall paper... Graham & Brown

Here are some of my favourites.

$25/roll Monsoon Lucille: Taupe

$155/roll (eesh) Kinky Vintage: Bordeaux Bordello

$75/roll Vitality Floral: Pink

$85/roll Kelly Hoppen Tattoo: Charcoal

I also like to shop wallpaper at Lowes.  You can special order anything from Wallpaper Studio.  The best part about Wallpaper Studio, is that most wallpaper is prepasted (HUGE difference is application), you can view samples in store, and it's much cheaper.  Usually around $40-60 roll.  At that price, you can change it up every few years, and afford to do something super trendy.  Here are my fav's for my powder room....

SKU#:  LW1341261

SKU#: LW1340710

SKU#: LW1340710

 I LOVE wallpaper!!!

CAIT

Drum Roll.... The Kitchen.

Here it is.  The Kitchen!
Yes, it looks dated and you kinda feel like you're in an RV, BUT I can see it's potential.  I've got BIG plans for this place, but it's going to take some time and money, so it'll happen slowly but surely.  I'm not interested in doing a gut job since the cabinetry is in great shape and I love white kitchens, but it'll need a few major fix ups in other places...

 First things first - that built in seating...bahahha....  It makes me laugh.  I'll be recovering the seating in this beautiful Richloom fabric.  It's an indoor/outdoor fabric which makes for easy clean up from the kiddies.  I'll also be doing some faux roman shades in the matching geometric print.

 

Next, I'll be replacing the knobs.  The Empire Suite Collection from Lee Valley Tools.  The sub zero fridge bugs me, but I don't want to replace it, so I think adding an appliance handle to match the cabinet knobs will update it.

Next, I'll tackle the odd corner sink.  (And replace the dishwasher to something stainless steel)

It's an expensive Corian sink, but I can't stand white sinks.  I want a nice, new, clean, unscratched stainless steel sink.  The actually make corner drop ins.  I'll get an inexpensive one to serve me until I change the counter tops.  Which BTW won't be happening until the kids are a little older.  The countertops right now are Corian which is hard and durable.  It's perfect for the kids to try and destroy.  When they are older, and a little less destructive, I'll invest in a natural stone top.  For now, I will dress up the place to try and hide the pinkish Corian!!!  Anyway, back to the sink.....

This one is from Home Depot.  I'm thinking something like this.  I like it!
When I redid the kitchen on our farm, I bought the most incredible faucet EVER.  I miss it, and I plan on forking out the dough to get another one.

I hope it fits under the cabinetry!??!

A few more pics...

Crazy ugly cook top and wall oven.  These need to go.  No one likes cooking in someone's appliances.  Yuck.

I'm liking this little nook built into the pantry.  It's a great place for my ipod dock, or.....

The Range Hood - I like how it's got that Georgian feel.  It'll look nice when I add the black iron knobs.

Let's talk long term.  See that backsplash...My Gawd... It's not bad since it's just white and quite timeless, but I don't like it!!!!  Unfortunately, They grouted the thing to last 500 years, so even if I attempt to pull it off, I'll have to re-drywall everything.  Another project that will have to wait until I replace the countertops.  Ever heard of those self adhesive  tiles.... They have been getting awesome reviews on the blogs I share.  I wonder if they'd work here???  Good temporary solution?  Meh, could be super cheapo looking

So long term.  Say good bye to that useless wet bar on the back of the built in seating.  There is a small bar fridge underneath and quite frankly, the only booze in my house is the box of wine in my fridge.  So, that'll be ripped out, the seating will be ripped out and the upper glass cabinets will be ripped out.  That will leave a huge beautiful space for an eat in kitchen. 

When we moved from the farm, my Dad and I salvaged a few antique doors from when the house was originally built.  We plan on using them to make a huge dining table.  I can't wait. 

hgtv.com

So that's it...my kitchen.
CAIT

DIY Crayon Art

Me and the kids gave the oh-so-famous-on-pinterest-crayon-art a try!  I must say, I think it turned out kinda cool.

The kids loved sorting the crayons into alike colours, and they loved holding the hairdryer to melt the wax.  Now, it's in James's room and we play eye spy with my little eye with it.  Fun!

CAIT

Main Floor Office

To the left of the front foyer is the main floor office.  I love this room and it will serve as a great place for Ryan to shut the door and take over the world.  As far as decorating it goes, I haven't given it much thought. 

I'd love to paint the wood work and maybe even wallpaper.  I'm thinking some masculine, but classic, and not too formal.  A few inspiration shots...

Black Lacquer wood work, lots of red with gold grommets and accessories.

Could be a little too formal.  But who can resist gorgeous wood work.

Love white built ins & moulding with a dark colour on top. 

Red, black and lots of natural materials like sisal and wicker.

Regardless, the room has to revolve Ryan's new John Lennon lithograph.  I'm hoping it'll fit between the built ins and be a real focal point of the room.

Stay tuned!!

CAIT

Front Foyer

Here are a few pics of the front foyer.  It's quite large and I've always wanted a house with a curvy center staircase.  The glass door leads to Ryan's office.  And the living room/dining room is through the open doorway.

Nothing major to do here, but I would love to buy a new light fixture and some sort of seating or storage for against the wall.

Urban Outfitters $649

Click Lighting and Home $515

Restoration Hardware $370 (I'd want 2!)

Pottery Barn $518

Pottery Barn $908