Blinds are up

So, you remember the bathroom?  Egyptian hieroglyphs everywhere...  And the laundry room was possibly even worse.  Renos to both rooms have been completed for a while and my mom was kind enough to sew some lovely blinds (and pillows!) for both rooms.  They were down visiting last weekend and helped us string and hang them.  I also painted the cubby for our toiletries and just needs some baskets.  Next up is art work.

Before...

Almost done...

Here's my first attempt at figuring out a layout for the artwork I've got frames for.

House Porn - White on white on white (with pink!) edition

One of my favourite blogs, 2 by design, has a weekly whiteout feature that I absolutely adore.  Excellent taste in house porn, she has.  The following post will likely feature more than a few photos she's curated on her blog.

If I owned a cafe, it would look very similar to this.

(ristorante tuna via 2 by design)

(decorology)

(plush palate)

(this is glamorous)

(2 by design)

(windsor smith featured in veranda, via the city sage)

(my white room via apartment therapy)

(Elle Interior via Nordic Design)

(Birgitta Wolfgang Drejer in skona hem via automatism)

Eureka!

THIS is what I'm doing to my upper kitchen cabinets!

(Kiki's List via Emily A. Clark)

Hmm, strange.  This kitchen has everything I like in it but I don't really like it much at all.  I'm not sure why because all the disparate (and awesome!) elements are pulled together very well.  We have the slatted ceiling, wood floors, black and white colour scheme, white subway tile - even the pulls and an orchid.  Interesting.  Anyways, moving the uppers all the way to the ceiling and then installing shelves underneath, though, is a fantastic idea.

Design Crushes

I've had design crushes on a variety of folks over the year.  I think Tommy Smythe is amazeballs.  Like me, he hates boob lights and he loves going over budget.  And he's the designer of my favourite kitchen of all time ever.  I'd link to his webpage but he doesn't have one.  Only a twitter account...

(nest egg)

 I also flirted, like all Canadians did, with Sarah Richardson.  But, thinking back on it, the rooms she designed that I loved most?  Tommy was in on them.  Behold, my most favouritist bathroom of all time ever. 

And who was the principal designer?  I'll give you a hint...

But my first and true design crush is on Suzanne Dimma.  More specifically, her first living room.  I remember when I first saw it.  It was maybe eight or nine years ago.  I snipped it out of my copy of House and Home and filed it away in a book.    Now that she has become the editor of the magazine, all of the photos of her various residences past and present have been compiled into one gallery.  I still absolutely love this space and I think it looks as livable, inviting and fresh as it did so many years ago.

(House and Home)

She's since posted a photo of her living room from her next house. Absolutely gorgeous!

(suzanne dimma's living room on house and home)

From the rest of the photos posted, I agree with her assessment that the front entryway did not flow with the rest of the home.  But how absolutely freaking gorgeous is it?  LOVE!  As you can see, she's continued to hang pictures from iron rods.  Kind of still love that idea.

Her show, Style Dept was also a favourite.  Pretty much every room they staged caused me to swoon.  In particular, there was this one amazing bedroom featured in the episode "Flea Market Style."  Unfortunately, I can't find any photos.  Boo!

House Porn

Pretty, pretty!

(suzanne dimma's blog on house and home)

(verhext via automatism)

(shelter)

(google.com via Dear Designer on Pinterest)

The Study is Less Barren... Still Not Painted

Yesterday, we did a top to bottom scrub of the house, rearranged the furniture in the study and then picked up a few plants to keep the place from looking completely barren.  I also did an inventory of all of the artwork I have waiting for frames to do the gallery walls... 58 pieces of various sizes.  I'm off to HomeSense today to find some nice looking pots for our two trial plants (please kitties don't eat them or use them as a second bathroom like you did their predecessors) and to start the process of collecting picture frames.

As well, I'm starting the hunt for some type of window treatment.  I'm thinking floor to ceiling drapes in blue or some shade in between.  Or maybe yellow?  Not sure if I want pattern...

Here's what it all used to look like when we first after we ripped up the carpet and realized why the original floor had been covered in the first place (oh, and I had been sampling different whites...)

Here it is now, waiting for curtains and artwork...

Here's the stairwell, needing more paint.

I'm still contemplating painting the desk out black and getting an upholstered slipper chair to go with it instead of our very fun mid-century find that we're using right now.

Today Kurt's finally installing the blinds in both bathrooms.  No more towels as makeshift window coverings!  It's only been a year...  As I said, for a long time we were all reno'd out.

Edited to add:  Yay!  Found an 11x14 so Snow White and the Usual Suspects is now over the sofa.  This sofa is new.  It does not appear so.  As you can see, the cats think it's theirs.

Take your house porn outside...

Oh, but I love this.  *sigh*

(Anna Malin via decor8... see more photos here)

(decorology)

Can I do this to my half story?

I've mentioned this before.  When I'm no longer feeling completely and totally reno'd out, I really, really, really want to rip up the carpet in the half storey and then paint the whole thing out white - floors and all. 

 (desire to inspire)

But maybe a bit of black?

(desire to inspire)

House Porn

My house changes as you go from the first to the second storey.  The main floor receives very little natural light while the second floor is washed with it.  It gives both spaces a very different feel and it's been interesting trying to unify the two. 

On the main floor, I'm moving to darker, richer pops of colour on a white background:

Via the decorista

skona hem via 2 by design

(decorology)

 (Decorology)

One of my favourite kitchens of all time ever.  It's a Tommy Smyth special that was originally photographed for House and Home Magazine.

(via nest egg)

On the second floor, I always want it to feel fresh and airy and kind of like it's spring no matter the time of year:

 (Pinterest via Decorology)

 (Bright Bazaar via Simply Grove)

 (Elle Interior via Simply Grove)

(The Decorista)

(decor8)

(decorology)