JAX does design

Lofty celebrations: The Reveal! (A PARA Paints Blog Crew project)

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:50:00 +0000

In yesterday’s blog post, I told you the “Before” story of our loft makeover. And today is the “After” – a day I’ve been looking forward to for almost twelve years! Who says I don’t have any patience? ;-)

So the story left off with Charles the orange sectional and some blue colour chips. And what colour did I decide on? The loft is primarily a home theater, so I wanted to go dark on the walls. I decided on PARA Paints Rainy Skies. The trim is Climb The Mast.

I have to admit, I had an “OH MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!” moment when the painter (a friend of ours)started rolling on the first coat. But as the old colour disappeared under Rainy Skies, I loved the transformation more and more. The dark blue went onto the walls and right up onto the vaulted ceiling – which you might think would make the room feel small, but the dark ceiling actually makes it feel like there’s no ceiling at all – it’s like you’re looking up at the night sky.

Click here to read the railing saga, complete with a fire at the paint shop!

When the painting was done, it was time to have some decorating fun! Which was a bit of a challenge, because I really couldn’t condone going out and buying new stuff when we already have so much stuff in our house. The only things I bought are the cushions and orange throw and a piece of art. And we bought a few pieces of furniture at Ikea to hold the media components. Otherwise, everything in the loft came from somewhere else in the house.

I slightly modified my plan to create a reading nook with a chaise:

And opted for a leather arm chair, cow print foot stool, and small side table. I prefer to buy original art, but the colours in this piece were perfect and for $15 at HomeSense, it was too good a deal to pass up :-)

I put my telescope in the opposite nook.

This little seating area in the corner has two more leather arm chairs, an orange ceramic drum stool (originally bought for the back patio), and a floor lamp. I couldn’t resist buying the orange bicycle cushion :-) A triptych I bought years ago from my friend & artist Matt LeBlanc will go on the wall above the chairs.

When we bought the sectional for our family room a couple of years ago, we needed to put the sofa somewhere. Of course, it ended up in our loft, the home for wayward furniture :-)

My $7.00 lamp on a craftsman desk that I bought on sale at Pier 1ages ago and never had a real use for – till now :-)

Originally, the colour scheme was going to be navy blue, orange, and purple. But I really liked the bright green on the floral cushion, and decided to add more bright green. This green & black plaid throw that I bought last summer in PEI at MacAusland’s Woolen Mills is the perfect addition :-) And it keeps me warm when I’m watching a movie!

A couple of years ago, I convinced hubby to make a metal & wood table like the Brickmaker’s tables at Restoration Hardware that are way out of my price range. My original plan was to use scraps of wood that we already had for the top, but then we found a beautiful piece of live edge spalted maple at KJP Select Hardwoods that I loved. It wasn’t quite wide enough for the metal base that hubby already made, so he added a strip of a dark African hardwood down the middle.

A few years ago, I bought four chairs and a pedestal table from Kijiji. We refinished the table and refinished & reupholstered the chairs, and now they have a new home in the loft as a games table.

Click here to read about the chair makeover and click here to read about the table makeover

Of course, you can’t have a home theater without a big-screen TV, right? Well, hubby grabbed the motto go big or go home and ran with it – he bought a projector and used Screen Goo to paint a HUGE 12’ wide screen on the wall. To hold all the components, we bought three tables at Ikea – a LACK TV bench and two LACK coffee tables – and lined them up together. The bench in the middle was shorter than the coffee tables, so hubby added pieces of oak to the bench legs to make it the same height.

Projector off:

Projector on:

With a dark colour on the walls and ceiling, you really get an experience similar to watching a movie in a theater (especially at night when there’s no sunlight in the room).

She approves ;-) (Sorry the picture is crooked, but it was too funny not to use it :-) )

It took 12 years, but our loft has finally been transformed from a big empty unfinished space into a room that’s perfect for watching movies and sports and entertaining friends. Who wants to come over on Saturday night for a game of Rock Band? ;-)

Thank you PARA Paints and Bonds Decor for providing the paint :-)

Coincidentally, Rachel at Hue recently wrote this blog post about why it’s best to paint a media room a dark colour. Rachel, I couldn’t agree more! :-)

Lofty expectations: The Before Shots (A PARA Paints Blog Crew project)

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:34:00 +0000

You could say that our loft makeover has been a work in progress for 12 years. When we moved into our house in 2001, it was an amazing but unfinished 500 sq ft empty space above the main floor. Electrical was roughed in, drywall was mudded & sanded, subfloor was installed… it was the one major undertaking that I wanted to start on right away. But stubborn hubby insisted that we wait till the mortgage was paid off. He’s very pragmatic and annoying that way ;-) I would have gone ahead and started working on it anyway, but there was one little obstacle in my way – no stairs.

See that rectangular opening in the ceiling? That opening taunted me for five years. I walked by it every day, and it laughed at me and mocked me and wouldn’t let me go through it. Mean hole!

I did go up into the loft a couple of times, after I perfected my levitation skills ;-) No, actually, it required putting a long extension ladder on a basement step and climbing up the ladder and through the hole. Not fun if you’re like me and don’t like heights.

This is what the naked loft looked like:

Totally sweet space – what a bummer that we couldn’t use it!

And then the magical day arrived in 2007: Stair day! Some guys showed up at our house with the staircase all made and ready to install. It was a surprisingly easy and fast job. Well, it looked easy to me, anyway – I’m sure carrying that sucker and then putting it into place wasn’t a whole lotta fun ;-) The stair guys must’ve thought I was loony, the way I was going on and on about how excited it all was!

Weeeeehooooo!!!! The staircase is in!!!!

Next came painting the loft (BM Stone House, but that was destined to change – more on that a little further down). Given the fact that the ceiling is vaulted and the big gaping hole was still there and that I’m a klutz, we hired a painter friend to paint it for us.

Hubby and I installed the floor over the Christmas holidays in 2007. It’s heritage grade walnut in 4” wide planks and random lengths. The hardest part was figuring out the layout of the planks. Because of the variety in grain and lengths, we had to be sure to spread them out equally. It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle – but with a great big power floor nailer! Here’s the unfinished floor:

After we installed the walnut, Luigi the flooring guy sanded the floor. The planks had micro-bevels that created small grooves. We wanted the grooves removed so the floor would be smooth. Poor Luigi had a LOT of sanding to do. He said he’ll never do anything like it again!

The walnut after being sanded and finished in a clear varathane to bring out the natural colour and grain:

Luigi also stained the oak staircase:

Looking down the stairs from the loft:

And now the reason why the wall colour needed to be changed… we bought a super-comfy sectional a year after the walls were painted. It’s the Charles by Silva. He came from the manufacturer’s warehouse in Toronto. I think whoever ordered him decided they didn’t like the fabric, so he became a reject. I just had to give him a new home :-)

Charles is a handsome guy, but with the tan walls and brown floor, the whole room was just too much of the same colour family. And as it turns out, Charles the Reject inspired the entire new colour scheme for the loft :-) I started with PARA Paints Designer Indulgence – a pretty teal, not too dark but not too light.

Click here to read about the original plan.

And then after some colour suggestions from Kelly Berg at Story & Space and Dawna Jones at Dawna Jones Design, I moved towards darker blues.

Click here to read aboutr the modified plan.

So what colour did I choose? Well, I’m going to leave you hanging! Come back tomorrow to find out… :-)

Flamingo fun

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Sun, 12 May 2013 20:39:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, Mikky at To Da Loos wrote a blog post about this super-cute Springkorn shower curtain from Ikea:

I was like, Oooooh, I want it! But where would I put it? The master bathroom is getting a glass shower door and the guest bathroom is purple and not flamingoy at all. But…. I do have this Jonathan Adler TP holder, which just happens to be pink & orange & white & purple…

And the walls are ICI Purple Granite…

And I could buy some towel in Orange Flame & Fiery Pink at Target in Charleston…

Yeah, that could work!

The before was nice:

But the after is way more fun :-)

Life’s too short not to have some flamingo fun :-)

Turquoisepalooza & a PARA Paints Blog Crew project

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:33:00 +0000

I didn’t get quite as much painting done on the weekend as I hoped to – but I did manage to get he front door painted (both inside and out) and the patio table painted. And everything is turquoise!

The outside of the front door got a fresh coat of the original colour…

And the inside got a couple of coats of a brand new colour – PARA Paints Tahitian Pearl from their new Colour Forecast Palette. Here’s a “before” close-up:

And an “after” close-up of Tahitian Pearl:

When I picked up the can of Tahitian Pearl a couple of months ago, I also got a can of Boysenberry, which I used to paint the cabinet next to the front door. I just knew the two colours would look great together! :-) And PARA’s Leek inside the cabinet finishes off my favourite colour trio – purple, turquoise, and green :-)

And then there’s the patio table – I started painting it PARA’s Lush Turquoise, but it turned out to be too light in the sunlight. Hubby suggested using the same colour as I used on the front door – either the inside or the outside colour. I decided to go with the outside colour because it’s an outdoor paint. The table was a PITA to paint, but I’m really happy with the final result :-) I can't show you the whole table yet because it’s not quite finished – I still need to get new tiles for the top. But here’s a peek…

I did get one coat of paint on the stool, but now I’m not sure what I want to do with it. I know if won’t be turquoise, though, because I don’t have any turquoise FAT Paint. Although I do have Indigo and Apple Green… hmmmm….

Getting my paint on

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:08:00 +0000

FINALLY, a warm & sunny weekend in Ottawa! And this weekend, I’m REALLY going to get some painting projects done that I’ve been thinking about for months.

1. Front door

The outside needs a freshening up with a coat of Sherwin Williams Oceanside. And the inside is getting a new colour – PARA Paints Tahitian Pearl. I love Oceanside on the outside, but it’s a bit bright on the inside.

2. Stool

This little stool has been sitting in the basement for years. I think my grandpa made it after I was born, so that makes it pretty old ;-)

I’m going to do a little something to it using FAT Paint. If you haven’t heard of FAT Paint, my friend and old blog partner Victoria started the company last year, She and her brother recently opened a shop in New Westminster selling paint and furniture – if you’re in the area, check it out :-)

3. Patio table

This project idea just came to me recently. The finish on our patio table is completely worn and faded, and it really needs some new life. It was already given a new lease on life once when wind blew the table over a few years ago and the glass top shattered. We replaced the top with tiles, which I’d already removed before I remembered I needed a “before” picture :-) Those are my furry supervisors circling the table ;-)

I’ve got this colour combo in mind…

Image via Fab.com

There are a couple of other pieces of furniture floating around the house that I might get my hands on as well – you know, when I get all these projects finished in a day and have nothing else to do ;-)

Has spring finally arrived in your corner of there world? Got any weekend projects planned?

Happy weekend!

Day one in Charleston

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:25:00 +0000

I took waaaaaaayyyyy too many pictures on our trip to South Carolina! It’s taking me forever to go through them and organize them and resize them. So far, I’ve managed to get through my April 15th folder. So, here’s what we did in South Carolina on April 15th!

My day started with a walk on the beach…

After breakfast, we drove into Charleston and picked up some info and maps at the visitor center. We parked down at the end of peninsula and spent the rest of the day walking around old Charleston and taking lots of pictures. We also got talked into going to a time-share presentation – at least we got some free tickets to out of it :-)

We started off walking along East Bay Street and admiring all the beautiful houses. I overheard a tour guide say that the houses along East Bay Street sell for around $9 to $10 million. There was one for sale at a “bargain” price of $6 million. EEK!

I love the combination of old red brick and lush greenery…

The houses in Charleston have the most beautiful gardens. Some of the gardens are hidden behind beautiful doors. I kind of have a thing for doors. And horses :-)

There are lots of beautiful & intricate ironwork gates too…

Some pretty porches…

Lovely architecture…

It took me a while to realize that the lanterns that I assumed have fake flames in them are actually REAL gas lanterns with REAL flames. Very cool, and a little bit eerie at night. They sort of transport you back to the 1800s. Many of the houses have window boxes and shutters. The crescent moon on the blue shutters below is a popular symbol in South Carolina – it’s on the state flag that was designed in 1775 by Colonel William Moultrie. He was asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety to design a flag for the South Carolina troops to use during the American Revolutionary war. Colonel Moultrie's design had the blue of the militia's uniforms and the crescent from the emblem on their caps. Click here to read more about the history behind the South Carolina state flag.

Fountains in Waterfront Park. The pineapple is a traditional symbol of welcome and hospitality throughout the south.

Our first day in Charleston was a bit grey, but the sun finally came out late in the afternoon and was joined by a beautiful blue sky…

And that was our first full day in South Carolina. I’ve just about finished going through my next set of pictures – they’ll be coming soon :-)

I have to say a huge thank you to my blog friend Kathryn at Take My Breath Away. Kathryn used to live near Charleston, and when I asked her for some suggestions for what to do there, she sent me a long list of places to go and things to do. We did almost everything she suggested, and it was all great! Thank you Kathryn for all your help!

Grits & tomatoes & hushpuppies AND a giveaway win, oh my!

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:37:00 +0000

My body is back from South Carolina, but my mind is still there. It was an awesome vacation that definitely ended too soon! The ocean, the history, the food, the beach, the sunshine, the food, the palmetto trees, the architecture, the food…. did I mention the food? ;-) I’m now officially addicted to shrimp & grits, fried green tomatoes, and hushpuppies. I won’t tell you how many of them all I ate! It never occurred to me to take pictures of the food – well, maybe it did, but I was too busy stuffing my face! – so here’s a little sampling via Google…

Images via The Professional Palate, Eat Good 4 Life, Pamela’s Products

Luckily, I remembered to take pictures of everything else we saw and did in SC – like the driveway to Boone Hall Plantation…

And houses in Charleston…

Once I get my {thousands!} of pictures organized and resized, I’ll write some blog posts about our trip. If you haven’t already been to SC, I highly recommend going :-)

Just before we left for SC, I found out that I won a super-awesome blog giveaway. Jessie at Mix And Chic teamed with Murals Wallpaper to give one of her blog readers a wall mural up to a value of $500. Yep, that’s FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! Holy crap! I was beyond excited when I found out that I was the winner – especially since I got my entries in just under the wire. Sometimes procrastination pays off :-) Now the hard part – which mural choose! These are just a few of my favourites…

A HUGE thank you to Jessie and Murals Wallpaper for the awesome prize! I can’t wait to get started designing a new room around one of these amazing murals!

Charleston interior designer Angie Hranowsky

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:27:00 +0000

In honour of our trip to Charleston, South Carolina next week (thank you Unshaven Mavens & Porter Airlines!), I thought it would be a great time to enjoy the work of Charleston-based interior designer Angie Hranowsky.

I discovered Angie’s work when my blog friend Vanessa at Decor Happy posted a picture of Angie’s living room on her Facebook page:

Angie’s home is featured in the April issue of Lonny Magazine. She transformed an 1850’s single house into a home for herself and her two children that’s modern, comfortable, stylish, colourful, and fun.

I love that she’s displayed her son’s and daughter’s artwork in the eating nook. I also love that she painted her kitchen lavender, and those purple chairs – an EBay find – are pretty cool :-)

Traditional Home named Angie one of the 20 Designers To Watch. Her work has been featured in Domino, House Beautiful, Metropolitan Home, and Coastal Living, as well as Lonny.

Some more of Angie’s awesome designs…

And with that, I’m signing off for the next week and a half while we enjoy some sun, sand, and scenery in and around Charleston :-) And after the snow and ice pellets we had yesterday, I’m REALLY looking forward to this:

Image via Pinterest

Time to get your Blurb on!

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:42:00 +0000

Have you ever dreamed about writing and publishing your own book? Well, here’s your chance! Blurb is offering JAX does design readers a 25% discount until midnight on Sunday, April 14th.

You can create your very own bookstore-quality book using Blurb’s creative publishing platform. It lets you design, publish, and share professional-quality books.

The new Designer Collection templates enable everyday photographers and social media users to create and publish books in less than an hour by pulling directly from your Facebook timeline, a friend's Facebook collections, or Instagram photo streams.

If you’re an interior decorator or designer, this is a great opportunity to create a portfolio of your design work to show potential clients or to casually display on your coffee table :-)

Tammy Kramer DESIGNS Portfolio

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get your Blurb on!

Promo code for 25% off: BLOG414

The fine print: Offer valid through April 14, 2013 (11:59PM local time). A 25% discount is applied toward your product total. Maximum discount is CAD $100 off product total. Valid for printed books only. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

Let there be a $7.00 light

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:12:00 +0000

Years ago, my brother off-loaded this lamp from his old dorm room on me.

I tried selling it on Kijiji last year for $10, but nobody was interested. So when I wanted a new lamp for the loft, I decided to see what I could do with this old lamp. I started off by trying out a shade that I had lying around.

Hmmmmm, not too bad, actually! But it looked a bit squat. So I took a taller harp off another lamp and put it on this lamp.

Yep, that did the trick! Now for the base – I did a bit of research and discovered that yes, you CAN paint ceramic. I already had cans of primer, purple paint, and spray gloss. I just had to pick up a can of spray adhesive to complete the lamp makeover.

I wanted to take the harp & socket off, but the base of the lamp is sealed. Taping it all off would have been a pain, so I Saran Wrapped it! Just needed to tape off the base of the socket and the plug cord.

I set up a little spray booth with a piece of cardboard and did a few light coats of primer (sorry about the blurry picture).

Then I sprayed a few light coats of purple and finished it off with a few light coats of the clear gloss. It was still drying when I took this picture, but the final finish looks just like the original ceramic finish.

Now what to do with the lamp shade... I wanted something more fun that plain white. I had bought this funky purple leopard print fabric from JoAnn a few years ago for a project that I never got around to doing (typical!).

There was just enough to cover the shade. Now, if I was a patient and meticulous person, I would have cut the fabric to the right shape and size to fit the shade with minimal overhang. But I’m more of a just-get-in-there-and-do-it kind of person, so I took the lampshade outside and went crazy with the spray adhesive and the unwieldy piece of fabric. I don’t have pictured of this step, because my fingers were covered with glue and I didn’t think it would be a good idea to touch my camera with gluey fingers. But after lots of positioning and re-positioning and a few bad words, I managed to get the shade covered. There are some bubbles here and there and the seam where the end of the fabric meet is pretty rough, but it’s easy enough to hide it in the back :-)

And here’s how the lamp turned out.

And the total cost – about $7.00 for the can of spray adhesive with a 40% off coupon at Michaels. Not too bad for a boring old unwanted dorm room lamp :-)

To Etsy or not to Etsy

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:12:00 +0000

I’ve been putting my craft room to good use lately and creating some new foil paintings…

“Eruption”

“Purple Hydrangeas”

“Purple Petals”

I also have quite a few in-progress paintings, and a huge canvas that’s prepped and just waiting for some paint – it’s the biggest painting I’ve tried so far and it’s just a little bit intimidating!

So now that I’ve created quite a few paintings (probably between 40-50), I’m thinking of maybe opening an Etsy shop and selling a few before they totally take over my house! It’ll suck if none of my paintings sell, but I guess I won’t know if I don’t try, right?

If you’ve had experience selling on Etsy, I’d love to hear about – both the good and the bad!

Master bathroom reno progress

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:08:00 +0000

It’s been a long time since my last master bathroom update. That’s because there was nothing much to show you! Not that things weren’t happening, but there really wasn’t much of anything to get excited about – unless reconfiguring the plumbing and electrical rocks your world ;-) But now that the plumbing & electrical are done, it FINALLY looks like some actual progress is being made. WOOT!

So here’s a quick look at what’s been going on over the last six months. Hubby ripped out the floor and walls and re-routed the plumbing. The shower, toilet, and vanity are going in different places than the originals, so there was a lot of new plumbing to do, as well as filling in some holes in the subfloor. The room looked like this for almost five months. Not a pretty view to wake up to every morning!

It was a big week when the drywall finally went up! {There’s Stanley, the site foreman :-) }

Cement board installed in the shower {waterproofing is almost done now}.

Drywall mudded & sanded.

I was so excited to try out the colour I selected for the ceiling, PARA Paints Peaks & Valleys. It’s a beautiful light grey with a hint of bluey-green, but it turned out to he lighter than I wanted.

So I went back to my PARA fan deck and decided to try out Tribeca Square. It’s absolutely PERFECT! The exact blue that I was looking for :-)

I love Tribeca Square so much, I decided to use it inside the linen closet as well.

I was trying to choose between a few light greys for the walls, and then I had an Ah-Ha moment – why not use Peaks & Valleys on the walls? Love it with Tribeca Square :-)

I just painted one coat on the ceiling and walls for now – the second coats will go on once all the work that could potentially require touch-ups is done. It saved a bit of work because I didn’t have to cut in, and I was so anxious to see how the colours looked, I didn’t want to wait!

I’m so loving how the tiles look with the wall colour…

I primed and painted one coat of PARA Jo Jo Whitewash on the crown moulding, and hubby installed it a few days ago.

And that’s where stand at the moment. Still do do… install in-floor heating, prep floor for tiling, tile floor, get glass cut for shower, tile shower, install shower drain, install shower glass and door, paint and re-install door & window trim, paint and install baseboard, install toilet and tub, install faucets, build & paint vanity, hang chandeliers, hang mirror and install wall sconces, source Super White quartzite for the vanity and shelf beside the tub… UGH! Still so many things that need to be done – hopefully it won’t be another six months!

Happy long weekend & Happy Easter!

Gator in the house!

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Meet our new foster dog, Gator! He travelled over 800 miles in 1-1/2 days, all the way form Kentucky to Ottawa. He got to our house just before midnight on Saturday, and it didn’t take him long to make himself right at home :-)

He has the most amazing colouring and markings. He’s like a big furry vanilla chocolate caramel ice cream sundae!

Doesn’t he have the coolest face?

Wonder what they’re talking about…

Gator is such a loveable boy. He likes to give kisses, and when he wags his tail, his whole back end wiggles back & forth :-) He’s just an all-around great dog, and I’m just a little bit tempted to keep him…

Ummmm, Spring, where did you go?!

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:18:00 +0000

OK, who stole Spring? Seriously. I want Spring back. If you have Spring, I’m coming after you. Until I find you, I’ll have to enjoy Spring vicariously through these pretty rooms…

Image via Midwest Living

Image via House Beautiful | Design by Pat Healing of HB Home

Image via decor8 | Design by Kelley Proxmire

Image via The Wicker House

Image via Midwest Living

Image via House of Turquoise | Design by Marianne Jones | Photo by Beth Singer

Image via House Beautiful | Design by Krista Ewart

Image via House Beautiful | Design by Mona Ross Berman

Image via Color Sizzle on Facebook

Spring, please come back! I miss you!

The Brizo Talo: Art for the kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 19:01:00 +0000

I may have mentioned once or twice {or 58 times} that I’m a big fan of Brizo. They design some of the most beautiful kitchen and bathroom faucets…

Brizo has also been very open end eager to work with design bloggers. As I very excitedly told you in this blog post, Brizo has very generously provided all of the faucets for our master bathroom makeover {progress update coming soon!}

And a few years ago, Brizo offered me any faucet of my choice to use and review. It was a hard decision to make, but in the end it came down to three requirements – gooseneck style, single-lever pull-down, and the Venetian Bronze finish. The Talo was the perfect choice :-) From Brizo’s web site:

Classic. Fresh.

Floral.

blossoming innovation

Inspired by the bluebell flower's distinctive silhouette, Talo is Brizo's first traditional pull-down faucet. This unique form is married to a wealth of advanced features, including a 2-Button, 4-Function spray wand, MagneDock Technology®, and Brizo's exclusive SmartTouch Technology®, which allows water activation with just a light touch.

Can you see the inspiration from the bluebell?

Image via all hd wallpapers

My Talo faucet doesn’t have the SmartTouch technology, but when you’re replacing a 1975 Pinto with a brand new free Ferrari, it’s no biggie if it doesn’t have every bell and whistle!

The lines and finish of the faucet and matching soap dispenser are beautiful – like pieces of art for the kitchen.

The soap dispenser is the biggest & heaviest soap dispenser I’ve ever seen!! It looks like a mini-faucet :-)

The Venetian Bronze finish has strands of copper throughout the metal.

My favourite feature of the Talo faucet is that if I select the sprayer option, it stays on the sprayer option after I turn it off. So next time I turn it on, I get the sprayer. Our old faucet always reverted back to the regular flow after I turned it off, which was annoying because I like to use the sprayer the majority of the time.

The water flow is a lot more powerful than it was with the old faucet. In fact, our two previous kitchen faucets had pretty weak water flow. I had just assumed it was because the water had a long way to go from the water tank to the faucet.

The MagneLock Technology keeps the pull-down spout firmly in place. When the spout is about here:

It literally gets sucked right back into place.

We’ve been using our Talo faucet day in and day out for three years now, and it’s standing up beautifully to the daily wear and tear. No leaks, no drips, not even a scratch! I can’t wait to get the Virage faucets installed in our master bathroom – I know I’m going to love them as much as I love my Talo faucet :-)

Ummmm… is it weird to be in love with a faucet!?

Cead Mile Failte!

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:58:00 +0000

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’m in a green mood today…

Image via Tumblr

Image via Conundrum

Image via Tommy’s Paint Pot

Click here to check out 25 ideas for the ultimate St. Patrick’s Day party, including this cute yarn wreath…

And these super-cute shamrock cupcakes…

Do you have a St. Patrick’s Day tradition? I always make Irish Soda Bread.

Image via Simply Recipes

For each petal on the shamrock.
This brings a wish your way
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks,
May your heart be as light as a song,
May each day bring you bright, happy hours,
That stay with you all the year long.

May the sun shine, all day long,
everything go right, and nothing wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you,
and may all the wishes you wish come true!

Turquoise bedroom mystery solved!

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:50:00 +0000

Two years ago, I posted a picture of this turquoise bedroom here on JAX does design:

I had no information about the room and no source for the picture, but I wanted to share it anyway because it’s a pretty awesome room. And my readers agree – Just because: Gorgeous turquoise bedroom is one of the most popular posts on my blog, and I get more questions about this bedroom than anything else I’ve blogged about.

Unfortunately, I’ve never had any answers – till now! This morning I was doing a search for blue ceilings on Houzz, and guess what room popped up? Yep, the famous turquoise bedroom! So for everyone who has asked, please direct all questions about this bedroom to Margaret Donaldson Interiors in Charleston, South Carolina :-)

I spy some glass fishing floats on the bookcase :-)

Large-scale artwork makes such a great statement in a room.

The inspiration for the room’s design was the duvet cover. The pattern was abstracted and interpreted for the ceiling detail.

I love it when a good mystery is solved – Holmes & Watson, eat your hearts out! ;-)

Amazing architecture: Head in the clouds

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:55:00 +0000

This is a 1950’s double-fronted Edwardian house in a small suburb of Melbourne, Australia.

This is the entry into the house.

Nothing too crazy so far, right? Well, this is the kitchen.

And this is what really makes this 1950’s Edwardian not your typical 1950’s Edwardian!

How freakin’ cool is that?! The Cloud House was designed by McBride Charles Ryan. The house was designed in three parts:

The original front facade respects the character of the area and fits in with other houses in the neighbourhood.
The funky red kitchen “box” bridges the original front of the house with the new cloud extrusion at the back.
The cloud extrusion is a unique, fun, and whimsical surprise that makes this home truly one-of-a-kind!

I love how the strips of wood on the ceiling, walls, and floor create the effect of sunlight shining through a cloud.

Check out the McBride Charles Ryan website to read all about the Cloud House and see lots more pictures.

Is there a one-of-a-kind house in your neighbourhood?

These are a few of my favourite things

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 03:10:00 +0000

Ocean mural

It may not be everyone’s taste, but I’m really diggin’ the ocean mural in this dining room. The next best thing to eating breakfast on the beach :-)

Image via Pinterest

The Block All Stars – Mark & Duncan’s kid’s bedroom

Love this fun & colourful kid’s bedroom designed by Mark & Duncan on The Block AllStars. The hanging bed is genius, the Finding Nemo shark mural is so cool {yes, two murals in one blog post!}, and the dog butt hooks are adorable!

Images via The Block Shop

Dancing Nana

I hope I have moves like this when I’m her age – I know I’ll have the potty mouth :-)

Stompin’ Tom Connors

One of the greatest Canadian icons. Ever. Stompin’ Tom, you’ll be missed…

Stan the Man

Our foster dog Stanley is one big fluffy furball :-) Doesn’t he have the most amazing blue eyes? If you want to make him yours, contact Catahoula Rescue Ontario.

Spring

Come on spring, get here soon! We’ve had it with winter!

Image via Collage of Life

And one more favourite thing – the weekend! Have a good one!

A little zinc-i-fication

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Zinc is hot. I did a search for “zinc” on the Restoration Hardware website, and 232 matches popped up. With crazy-high prices. But never fear – you can create your very own faux zinc for a fraction of the cost of the real thing. And it’s really easy.

After reading a bunch of tutorials for varying methods, I decided to go with the easiest one, mainly because I already had the supplies I needed. {Check out my Crafty Stuff pinboard for lots of examples of faux zinc.}

Are you ready for one of the easiest faux techniques ever? OK, here we go…

You’ll need:

Black acrylic paint {I used FolkArt in Licorice}
Metallic paint in silver {I used DecorArt Elegant Finish Metallic Paint in Shimmering Silver}
Paint brush & pouncing brush
Clear paste wax & a rag
Something to paint :-)

This white ceramic jar was in one of the swag bags I picked up at IDS12 in January. The finish is rough & unfinished, which made it the perfect candidate to zinc-ify.

I totally forgot to take an in-progress shot, but it’s really simple – I just painted the jar black with my acrylic paint. When the paint was dry, I lightly rubbed on the silver paint with a pouncing brush.

After the silver coat dried, I rubbed on some clear paste wax, buffed it, and voila… faux zinc! It’s kind of hard to see the sheen in the picture, but it’s soft & subtle.

I used the same technique on this plastic bird that I picked up at the Dollar Store.

I did the exact same thing, painting it black…

…and then rubbing on the silver metallic paint, followed by some wax and buffing.

I didn’t apply wax to the base – can you see that the finish on the jar and the bird is a bit softer than on the base of the bird?

I used the same technique on a white frame from HomeSense {the other frames are getting the chalk paint treatment}.

Here’s the completed faux zinc frame with paint chip art that I whipped up in a few minutes so I wouldn’t be showing you a naked frame ;-)

Rubbing the paste wax onto the frame wiped off some of the finish, so the frame is waxless. I just gently buffed it with the same rag I used to apply the wax to the other pieces to up the sheen factor just a bit.

The great thing about creating faux zinc is that you really can’t screw it up. If you put on too much silver paint, just go over it with more black paint and do it again. If rubbing on the wax rubs off the paint, add more paint {speaking from experience!}. Seeing as you want an imperfect/uneven finish, you don’t have to be precise – more black here and more silver there gives the effect that you want, so don’t worry about spreading the silver paint evenly. See the colour variations in this close-up?

And that’s really all there is to it! I’m going to try out a couple of other faux zinc techniques – I have a plan in mind to make over an oak coffee table that we have with old wood boards and the faux zinc technique. The Brickmaker’s Table from Restoration Hardware is the inspiration:

For a detailed video tutorial of a different faux zinc technique, check out Jami’s night stand project over at Freckled Laundry. She did an amazing job!

Are you inspired to zinc-ify something in your house?

Linking up to…

Avocado love

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:04:00 +0000

Remember the avocado green that was so popular in the ‘70s?

Image vie The Brady Bunch Blog

Uh, yeah, OK, so that’s totally NOT the avocado love I’m talking about! I’m talking about those silky smooth green fruits that are packed with all sorts of nutritional goodness.

Avocados are high in fat, but it’s mostly healthier monounsaturated fat. They also have lots of potassium, B vitamins, vitamin E, and vitamin K. And we couldn’t make guacamole without them!

Image via Simply Recipes

But why stop at guacamole? Avocados are popping up in places you wouldn’t expect them. I made Giada de Laurentiis’s Choclate-Avocado Mousse on the weekend, and it was AH-MA-ZING! So creamy and chocolaty and decadent!

I also whipped up a batch of avocado & oatmeal cookies last week, and I’ve got this recipe for Dark Chocolate Avocado Cookies pinned and ready to try next.

When I’m bored of eating regular salads for supper, I make a Mozzarella, Tomato, and Avocado salad similar to this one from Val So Cal.

It’s so fast and easy – cut up an avocado and some cherry tomatoes. throw in some bocconcini and a chopped green onion, add some basil & oregano (dried is fine), salt & pepper, olive oil, the juice form half a lemon or lime juice, and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Yummy food and good for you too – what’s not to love about avocado! Oh yeah….

Image via No Pattern Required

What’s your favourite avocado recipe?

Happy weekend!

Sweet purple dreams ~ A guest bedroom makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:32:00 +0000

We used to have a guest bedroom on the main floor and another one in the basement. Neither room was particularly functional – the furniture layout in the upstairs bedroom room was awkward. The only wall where the bed fit properly was the wall with the main door, so there was no proper focal point walking into the room. The basement bedroom was small, but the layout was pretty good and it was nicely decorated. But nobody ever wanted to sleep in it – maybe it was the unfinished ceiling looming above them while they were lying in bed ;-)

When we had the hardwood floors refinished a few years ago, we had to empty out all the rooms on the main floor. It was the perfect time to do some rearranging – so the office moved down to the basement and the guest bedroom moved up to the main floor.

This is the only picture I can find of the upstairs room before it was converted from an office into a bedroom:

Yes, that’s a wolf wallpaper border. Yes, I’m the one who put it up. Yes, I knew what I was doing! Hey, come on – it isn’t THAT bad!!! Is it?!?! OK, I guess it is :-)

I decided to start fresh with a new colour scheme when I found a couple of beaded purple cushions at HomeSense that I absolutely HAD to have. They inspired the colour scheme for the room.

Trying out different cushion and sham combos and a bed skirt – only the purple cushions and the comforter stayed.

I re-used all the furniture that was in the bedroom in the basement. It’s just cheapo stuff from Loblaws. But it looks good and doesn’t get much wear and tear, so it’s fine for a guest bedroom. I just changed the knobs from stainless steel to glass (from Lee Valley) to add some glam.

Hubby and I made the upholstered bed a few years ago.

We updated it for the new guest bedroom with leftover chocolate brown velvet from the headboard in the master bedroom. The fabric for the original headboard cost $4.00. The whole headboard cost about $80 to make. The base of the bed is an old platform from a waterbed – reduce, reuse, recycle!

I finally decided on an ICI Dulux gray called Veil for the walls. It’s a nice light grey without any blue undertones – a hard gray to find!

Veil 00NN 53/000

I’d seen this wallpaper on the Graham & Brown web site and loved it. I ordered a sample, and it matched the colour of the purple cushions perfectly! The pattern is called Darcy and the colour is Amethyst.

Let’s just say that hanging the wallpaper was… an adventure ;-) Actually, it wasn’t too bad. I was the lucky one who rolled on the gooey wallpaper paste, hubby was the lucky one who stuck it to the wall :-) Sorry about the picture is fuzzy – the camera doesn’t seem to like all the circles.

We replaced the original brass & mirror sliding closet doors with these doors from Home Depot – a HUGE improvement!

The mirrored mirror is from HomeSense. I’d wanted one for the longest time, but didn’t have a place to put one. Till the redecorated guest bedroom! I bought the lamps about nine years ago, but never had a good place to put them – till now :-)

This chair was my grandma’s, and I really wanted to use it in the room. It’s the perfect size to fit into the corner, has nice lines, and gives guests a place to sit down or they can put their suitcase or clothes on it.

We removed the old fabric and replaced it with this shimmery charcoal fabric from C&M Textiles.

The new & improved chair with two little purple velvet cushions.

The base of the lamp on the night table echoes the circles on the wallpaper.

I love this chandelier – it’s a bit traditional and a bit contemporary.

And finally, some sparkly accessories to kick up the glam factor :-)

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend – especially big purple ones!! :-)

And the completed purple guest bedroom makeover.

What’s the most interesting item that you’ve used as inspiration for a room makeover?

A little bathroom eye candy

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 19:54:00 +0000

It’s taken 4-1/2 months, but hubby has finished all the plumbing in the master bathroom – YAY! And his work actually passed both the plumbing & building inspections ;-) So that means that it’s drywall time, and then we can FINALLY get the the fun part of putting the room back together. WOOT!

Plumbing pictures aren’t very exciting, so here are some pretty bathrooms instead. Love the bright shower curtain & accessories in this white bathroom.

Image via Martha Stewart

So many things to love in this pretty blue bathroom – the wall colours, the chandelier, the hand-scraped hardwood flooring, the mirror hung in front of the window…

Image via Ciao! Newport Beach

I can’t figure out if this is a real bathroom or a bathroom display Either way, it’s one seriously sexy space! Awesome combination of the dark purple walls, grey wainscoting, and silver & chrome accents'.

Image via Michael Payne on Pinterest

Gorgeous stone wall and super-thick rustic wood countertop.

Image via Casa Decorada

Love the glam tub and the artwork hung on the mirror. But can you find what’s weird about this bathroom?

Image via Architectural Digest

Who wouldn’t want to relax in this tub…

Image via Sandy@OohLaFrouFrou

Bev Adams’s feminine marble & pink bathroom.

Colorado Homes & Lifestyle / Interior Intuitions / EMR Photography

Happy weekend!

The Elephant Poem

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:42:00 +0000

Elephants are lovely guys,
They're good and true and tell no lies.

They don't take more than they can eat,
And always watch where they put their feet.

They don't play with electric wires;
I never have heard of them starting fires.

They live healthily, they don't smoke
An Elephant is a kindly bloke.

Elephants take care of their young,
And rarely speak with angry tongue.

When in school, they do not cheat,
They walk in lines which are quite neat.

They don't beat up on smaller folks,
Don't care if they're the butt of jokes.

They don't fret, what to wear today,
Look simply splendid all in gray.

Super strong yet very nice,
They're really not afraid of mice.

I've tried and tried but I just can't
Find anything better than the Elephant.

by Wayne Hepburn

They also like to check out the Canal during Winterlude :-)

Planet Elephants was part of the Family Day celebration at the NAC this past Monday. Ottawa artist Christopher Griffin originally created his herd of concrete elephants for Ottawa’s first-ever Nuit Blanche last September. Christopher provided clay for people at both events to create their own little elephants. As you can see in the pictures, many of the little clay elephants hitched a ride on the large elephants :-) And some of them {including our two} made their way onto the Canal to enjoy the last day of Winterlude. Click here to check out more pictures on Christopher’s Facebook page.

Sorry about the crappy picture quality. I had my little point & shoot with me, and it’s useless – most pictures came out fuzzy, over-exposed, or under-exposed. Next time I’m bringing my Nikon!

Moving over to the dark side-Two PARA Paints Blog Crew projects

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly @ JAX does design) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:37:00 +0000

I have two half-PARA Paints Blog Crew projects to show you this week. One is half done and one is one-half PARA Paint :-)

The loft is painted, and I LOVE it! My final colour choice was PARA’s Rainy Skies. I had to repaint the baseboards (PARA’s Climb the Mast), which I got done this weekend, and now the loft is ready to be decorated – WOOT! So no final reveal pics today, but here’s a peek at the wall colour…

Orange and purple are going to be the accent colours. I went a little cushion-crazy at HomeSense last week! Still deciding which ones to keep, which ones to get more of, and which ones to bring back…

The runner-up colour for the walls was PARA’s Potion. But I had another project in mind for it. I’d started painting a coffee table with Annie Sloan’s Paris Grey and Provence, but then decided to use Potion instead of Provence. I know I took some before pics, but I can’t for the life of me find them. But the coffee table is from the same set as this end table that I Annie Sloane-i-fied last year:

And this is how it turned out:

Did you know that you can wax latex paint just as well as chalk paint? Yep, you can! I waxed the top and used a silver paint pen to highlight the groove.

I used pewter Rub N’ Buff on the pull…

And the feet…

I haven’t decided if I should sand the base to give it a distressed look or apply some dark wax or just leave it as it is. What do you think?

Thanks to PARA Paints and Bonds Decor on Bank Street for providing the paint :-)