Mini Manor Blog

The Nose, knows.

2013-05-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

Well at least my nose knows. It knows everything!!
I have terrible eyesight. Like really really bad eyesight. I haven't seen the time on an alarm clock first thing in the morning since I was 10.
But what I lack in the eyesight department I more than make up for in the smell department! I smell everything, cigarette smoke from 4 houses down, fabric softener on the person behind me at the movies, or the perfume on every overly coiffed woman at the mall.

Home Fragrance is something that I tended to avoid, I was from the school of thought that NO scent is good scent . . . but that's not entirely true. Cookies, for example, smell amazing . . . as does fresh lemon. It wasn't until I started making my own Soy Candles using essential oils that I realized I missed a light scent around our home.

I cannot stand the smell of plug-in air fresheners, or aerosol air fresheners. I wanted something really subtle, but more importantly I wanted something NATURAL! Our natural soy candles are great, but they aren't powerful enough to infuse a whole house full of scent.

You've probably seen the recipes for the "William Sonoma Scent" they are all over pinterest (probably because William Sonoma smells amazing). But I decided to try it out for myself . . . it's awesome! LOVE IT! I let it simmer on low and when the water runs low I just add a bit more. It gives off an amazing subtle scent.

The last party we threw I simmered a pot on the stove and we had more than one comment on how good it smelt! And I also had one Fed Ex delivery driver tell me my house smelt nice. But it was an early delivery and I was wearing some pretty sexy flannel pajamas and no makeup so he might have been hitting on me. ;) just kidding #flannelpajamasaren'tsexy

4 Steps to an Organized Coat Closet

2013-05-23T03:37:00.001-07:00

I set out to organize our coat closet . . . it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. In fact it was pretty simple.
First we installed a simple wire shelving system, you can buy packaged systems, rubbermaid makes a good one. Or you can buy the individual pieces like we did, from stores like Home Depot and Lowes.
I usually don't like the wire systems but I chose one for our coat closet for a reason. Because our coat closet on the main floor is where we keep all of our "everyday" shoes. There are no high heels, or men's dress shoes in our main coat closet, just runners, and boots, shoes that Lee wears to work (a cross between hiking shoes and dress shoes), and flats. Our everyday shoes get dirtier than our dress shoes, and if I had chosen solid shelves (either wood or MDF) they would get muddy and dirty and I would have to clean them off. Wire shelves don't leave a lot of surface space to get collect dirt. The wire shelves also allow the circulation of air around the soles of the shoes drying off wet bottoms.

After we installed the wire shelves, I was able to organize the closet in 4 steps:

Step 1: Hooks

Every well organized closet needs a couple of hooks. The back of the door would have been wasted space. I usually have a tote bag and a scarf hanging from them

Step 2: Seasonal Storage

I think all coat closets could use a basket or box for seasonal items. In the summer we keep our snow boots, and all of our mittens and toques, knitted scarves . . . and a couple of Max's winter sweaters (don't laugh he's very tiny and needs a little sweater, the fact that it has a monkey on it is just for fun). In the summer we keep our flips flops and sunscreen in the basket . . . because we live in Canada and there is NO need for flip flops in the winter unless you wear them with socks . . . so classy.
*basket is from Michaels.

Step 3: Baskets

These two little baskets are from The Real Canadian Superstore. They are the same baskets from our townhouse bathroom. They are the perfect addition to our coat closet. They catch all the hats, and mitts, and toques, all the essentials for a Canadian winter. In the summer we use them to hold a cotton scarf or two, sunscreen and our ball caps.

Step 4: Somewhere to store re-usable shopping bags

We all try to use our re-usable bags and storing them can be a bit awkward around here. I use to store them in the car . . . which was great but while they were in the house they would always be sitting on top of the front hall console, or in the mudroom on top of the machines. They aren't the prettiest of things and I didn't like seeing them on the counter or table tops.
This little wire basket is meant to work with the wire shelving systems, and we use it to hold our shopping bags! Because I have to go into the coat closet to get my shoes before I leave the house . . . I never forget my re-usable bags!

Your family is probably different than mine . . . so your coat closet might have different needs . . . for example you might need extra hooks, or extra baskets. You might need two or three baskets/boxes for your seasonal storage. But I really do think that these are the 4 parts that every coat closet needs.

Bonus Step 5: Matching hangers

Ikea sells hangers for amazing prices, grab a couple packs . . . spend less than $10, and wow yourself with your pretty closet! ;) haha

Bonus Step 6: Key Hooks

We have our key hooks beside our front hall console, but if you don't have a console a couple of small hooks in your coat closet would be very useful!

Anyone have any other Coat Closet organizing tips??? I would love to hear them!

Greener Way to Water your garden this summer

2013-05-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

The more I research ways to be green, and the more I implement green changes around our home. The more I am convinced that green just makes sense, green changes usually save you money, and a lot of the time they save you effort as well.
This is so true of our latest green change. We added a soaker hose to our rain barrel and it's been awesome!

First it saves us money!

Sprinklers waste a lot of water! While we are careful not to water the sidewalk, or the street, some always ends up there. Sprinklers also loose some water due to evaporation!

Second it saves us time.

Because sprinklers are a bit of a waste of water, we took to hand watering which ends with us standing in the front yard for 30 minutes watering all the beds, all summer.
Even if we kept using the sprinkler to water our garden beds, we still have to run back outside every 10 minutes to move the sprinkler.

3rd green benefit . . .

Most soaker hoses are made from recycled rubber!

Soaker hose tips:

Soaker or Weeping hoses work best in lengths of 50 feet or less. Any more and it's hard to get the water all the way to the end of the hose (because there is no pressure pushing the water through . . . just gravity from the rain barrel).
Don't bury your soaker hose in the dirt . . . lay it on top of the dirt and cover it with mulch instead. The mulch works two ways, one to cover the hose, and two to trap moisture in the soil.
Keep the hose approx. 2-4 inches away from the base of the plant.

Here's how we tackled it . . .

(please excuse my terrible drawing, graphic designer I am definitely NOT!)
Because we are using our rain barrel for our water source, we attached the hose to our barrel.

We used a regular hose to run from the barrel to the garden bed so we didn't waste water that would seep out over our gravel . . . gravel doesn't need to be watered, silly!
(p.s. ever tried to take an artsy shot of a garden hose??? . . . nailed it ;)

Then we hooked up the regular hose to the soaker hose at the start of our garden bed.

Then we weaved the soaker hose in a big squiggly line between the hydrangeas (since they are the plants that need watering the most in our front yard). We made sure to keep the hose 2-4 inches from the base of each plant.

Lastly we covered the hose with mulch so now, you can't see it at all. Soaker hose?? What soaker hose??

One last tip before I go . . . to promote strong, deep, healthy roots systems on your plants, water longer and more infrequently, instead of short burst of water frequently. Let the water soak deep down your looking for about an 8-12 inch deep soak! It usually takes all the water in our rain barrel to achieve this . . . luckily we live in the Greater Vancouver area, where rain is abundant . . . even when you wish it wasn't.
Here's a link to our Rain Barrel Guide from last year! Our rain barrel is one of my favorite green changes we've made . . . and now with the addition of a soaker hose it might take top billing.

I am also pretty happy with my clothesline from last year!

You can find soaker hoses everywhere, we picked ours up off Amazon for a great price, 50 feet for under $17, and free shipping!

2 Desks are better than 1

2013-05-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

This was a happy reason for a small redo of our office. The 'ol blog is getting bigger (a big thank you to all of our readers!) I needed a place to deal with bloggy stuff (emails, writing, researching, sponsors, moodboards etc . . .). Before I would just use Lee's desk during the day while he was at work, but from time to time Lee is able to work from home, and if he tackles a bit of work in the evening I would be relegated to the sofa or the dining room table. The solution was a simple $75 desk from Ikea (found here). Actually it cost us two $75 desks, but we were able to sell our old desk for $75 (even steven).

Now we are able to work in the office together, it's really nice! It's more than really nice, it's the best situation for working. We are able to talk while we research, we are able to play footsies under the table . . . just kidding.

It also gives me a chance to use my favorite chair, I didn't want a 'desk chair' like Lee's, but I did want a black chair so it nods to Lee's without matching.

We added a couple of Ekby brackets and shelves to the desk, I thought it gave more definition, and more of a cubicle feel. haha I like that I have an extra shelf to hold books I am using as reference for a post, or a cup of tea.

I added a desk pad (also from Ikea, apparently it was an ikea sort of day), I also grabbed some $5.99 fabric and cut it to size under the desk pad. It's pretty! ;)

This weekend we added a couple of drawer units, also from Ikea. They are the Micke Drawer units, they have three shallow drawers and one deep drawer for files. They have been the most useful thing we've bought for the house! ;) I'll share in another post how we organized them all, but even just this weekend they've been so great.

We are so happy with how our office for two is coming along. We still have the rolling ladder to add to the bookcases,

but we are making some serious progress in the office, with the addition of our new bird cage for Carson, our new bookshelves and now our desks!!!

What do you prefer, a quiet office for one or a busy office for two??

Spring Clean your Purse with Grace Adele

2013-05-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

I think keeping a clean, well organized purse is almost as important as keeping a clean, well organized home. It keeps you on top of things, when you phone is ringing you can find it, when you need a tissue it's right there, when you need to return that item because you found a similar item that's way cuter at Target . . . the receipt is easy to find.

I was introduced to Grace Adele bags by a friend and I couldn't wait to share them with you. They are so smartly designed, even Lee said that's a really cool bag when I showed him all the goodies.

First you pick out your bag, then you pick out your accessories like:
My personal favorite a removable clutch, it fits perfectly in to the front, and gives a pop of color to your bag, and when you want, you can take it out and use it as a clutch.

My second favorite accessory:
The Key chains and the D ring on the front to clip your keys on to . . . no more searching elbow deep in your purse for your keys.

Next accessory is another clutch type purse on the inside, that clips in or out. It also comes with a strap so you can use it as a purse all on its own.

Grace Adele also makes lots of clip on accessories to go with the purses or clutches, I like the leather flower!

and don't forget the matching jewelry . . . I'm not kidding Grace Adele has matching jewelry to their bags!!! It's awesome!!! haha

On top of all of this they have coordinating wallets and makeup bags, phone holders, rings, scarves and pretty much anything else you can think of, including a whole line of Leather Purses.

I hope you'll check out their catalog, they really put a lot of thought in to their bags as well as having TONS of styles and colors!

*I was not paid anything for this post, I was given a bag to photograph. All opinions are my own.

Magazine Storage

2013-05-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am contributing over on I Heart Organizing!!!

If you have a second pop by and check out my quick fix for Magazines you'd like to keep around! There is always an issue or two a year that have amazing articles and are full of great Idea's. I usually love January issues (with all the organizing ideas) and of course September issues with all of the great fall fashions!!

Office Sneak Peek

2013-05-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

We are putting some of the finishing touches on the library this week. It's almost done . . . so close. We went and ordered the metal for the ladder in the library this weekend. It was so exciting to move one step closer to my dream library/office. I sometimes talk about "Dream Home elements", those are things that you have always dreamed of for your home. A library with a ladder is my number one dream home element. It feels great to be one step closer.

I mentioned last week that we were planning on adding another desk to the office . . . and we did!!! We've almost finished the changes in the library . . . here are some sneak peeks:

We found a spot for my favorite green lamp. The curtains have a bit of green in them and the green lamp ties in really nicely.

These fabulous paper weights were something I couldn't resist . . .especially because they were on clearance at Chapters for $2!!! They stack up neatly, and are numbered so if you have piles of paper on your desk you can prioritize the piles!

Lastly, our terrarium is still doing really well!!!

I can't wait to share our new desk and library!!! I think you're going to love it!!!

Shedding New Light in the Foyer

2013-05-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

After rearranging our living room . . . we wanted to add a little light to the foyer. We have pot lights installed but something that hangs down into the space would be ideal. I always loved these Allan and Roth lights from Lowes. When I saw them installed in a friends new home, and they looked so amazing, I had to pick one up for our manor. They come with amazing Edison light bulbs . . . but the orangey glow was a bit too much for our little entrance so we swapped it out for an incandescent bulb, but have a couple of those fancy shaped florescent bulbs (plumen) on order (they are green and stylish).

We used a pot light converter kit. It was really easy. All the instructions are in the package it was simple.

Next, if you follow us on Instagram you would have caught my recent photos from a trip to Homesense. I shared a driftwood wreath I purchased. I was finally able to get it up and on the door. I've been looking for a summer wreath but wanted to stay away from silk flowers this year. Driftwood was perfect!

Lastly we need to add another plant to the front foyer, because our old piece lily (seen in our house tour) is way way way too big now, and I am also thinking of adding display rails to hold pictures or mail, but of course I will post about it when it happens.

Living Room Update!

2013-05-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

It's a bit of a story of how we got to this point . . . but stick with me and I'll explain it all.

Back Story:
We have an additional 900 square feet in our basement, it fully finished (with really ugly carpet) but it is totally unused. And in case you are thinking that's where we hide the junk . . . you'd be wrong. Our basement is completely EMPTY! Like echo-y filled, ride your bike around in circles, Empty! In this post I shared our basement steps and hallway, I also shared where we were hoping to put a small home gym. The home gym plans were dropped because our gym is now 24 hour so it seemed kind of silly to have a 24 hour gym 15 blocks away and a home gym.

So we decided the room at the bottom of the steps should be a small movie room/video games/ surround sound/ other things I'm not that into ;). haha Lee loved the idea of a small room with surround sound, because of our vaulted ceilings upstairs surround sound wouldn't work that well (you can see the disappointment on my face, right?? ;)

Main Story:
We always planned on moving our existing sofa downstairs when we were ready to tackle a bit of a living room redo. That "redo" came a little faster than expected when we found our new sofa on clearance at Homesense for $240! It was marked down from it's original $999 Homesense price tag, and it was made in America! I couldn't believe we snagged a new sofa for $240! That's less than we paid for our secondhand sofa!

I always knew that I wanted the living room arranged with the sofa facing the fireplace . . . but with our HUGE 107 inch sofa it didn't leave enough room to comfortably make your way around (here's a post from when we first moved in and the sofa was in front of the fireplace). But now with our new smaller 75 inch long sofa it fits with so much room to move around!

So with every new purchase there is a "ripple effect" the sofa being in a new spot now means that we can't fit both large wingback chairs. Which was fine because we were able to move one into the nursery. But then we had the small rocking chair from the nursery leftover, so I brought it down and it fit perfectly! Which made me so happy because I am seriously in love with that chair.

Then we needed a new rug because our existing cream rug, wasn't cream anymore. It was a dirty shade of dirt ;). When we moved the sofa off the rug, the part of the rug that was under the sofa was BRIGHT cream, and the rest of the rug was . . . it was gross, just plain gross.
We were gifted our new rug from friends who had bought it but it didn't fit their room . . . it's the EGEBY rug from Ikea. It's a beautiful sisal rug for an amazing price (at $169). It was a bit rough so we layered our cow hide on top and I am in LOVE with the look.

(please ignore the fluffy tree stump dog toy under the coffee table . . . Max loves that toy and it almost never gets put away . . . I didn't even notice it until I was writing this post)

I should explain why I ran the rug length wise instead of horizontal in the room. It just came down to we really liked walking on the wood floor in to the living room. It made the "traffic flow" more natural.

What's left to do:
-Some throw pillows for the sofa.
-Find/ buy/ make a sofa table.
-Depending on how high the sofa table is . . . maybe find a new lamp.
-Maybe find another matching rocking chair??? maybe. Lee's saying no as he's reading this over my shoulder. Okay he's gone now . . . -find a matching rocking chair!

I read a quote by Suzanne Kasler:

"A room should feel Collected not Decorated"

I know the room seems less decorated now . . . and maybe not as 'put together' as it did before and it's really hard to describe it . . . but it just feels so much better now. Not that there's was anything outwardly wrong with our living room before . . . now it just feels more collected! Less put together and more natural. Sorry that's the best way I can think to describe it. We are really happy with the switcheroo. I am hoping to decide on a sofa table this week, so maybe later this week I'll have an update! I really think that a sofa table is going to make this room!

Still more changes to come this week . . . we'll have some of our first shots of the basement "media" room and the office has two desks in it for the first time!!! :) So exciting/stressful/ amazing/ crazy/ fun!

Sneak Peek Update

2013-05-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

I have so much to show you and yet . . . nothing to show you.

This is one of those weird bloggy things where we are so busy tackling projects that I've had no time to photograph them to share. This week has been INSANE for projects. Almost all of them (other than the office) were unplanned. I also decided to tackle some spring cleaning at the same time . . . my sister is getting married next month so we had makeup and hair trials, as well as final dress alterations and many other odds and ends. We had a couple photos to take for some possible upcoming things . . . I will let you know about them as soon as I can, and the house generally looks like it has been turned upside down, then flipped back around . . . like a Martini Shaken, not stirred.

Piece by piece it's getting back together, I am so excited . . . and kind of nervous to share everything we've done and changed. I don't know why I am nervous, I think we just changed so much I don't want to shock anyone. . . because it's kind of shocking. Not that I added any color . . . not that shocking ;) haha.

I'll be snapping photos tomorrow and all weekend then I'll share all next week. It's not done, but it's getting there.

Here's a Sneak Peek of what's been going on:

Don't ask why my watch is in the collage I just got a new watch and I like it! ;) So I put it in!

Someone to watch over me

2013-05-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

I'm back, a little impromptu vacation to my parents, if you follow me on instagram @minimanor you would have caught a couple photos of my last minute trip. I had a great time, a little shopping, a lot of sleeping. But I am back now!

When I came back I found my recent ebay order sitting on the front porch. I ordered a old fashioned vinyl record of our wedding song. I've been searching for ways to add more meaning to our home. I want our walls to speak, I want them to say something about us, even if what they are saying is "hey this is your wedding song" ;).

We didn't choose our wedding song lightly. We put lots of thought into it. We wanted it to be classic, but sweet, but not too corny. We covered classic with Frank Sinatra and the song we chose was "Someone to watch over me".

I found the record for sale on Ebay for a whopping $1.01, with shipping it was still less than $7. The frame I found on Amazon for $12. I placed the cover behind the record, I figured we should be looking at the record not the cover, even if the cover had a young Frank Sinatra on it.

I am so happy with how it turned out. I think it's small touches that make a house a home (for lack of a less cliched way of saying it). And this record is so meaningful and personal, as well as being a conversation piece.

I think when you LOVE neutral colors as much as we do, you have to get creative in other ways, like personal art from your sister, or great grandmother, or mother in law. I want to add heart and personality to our home . . . with out adding a lot of color. I think one of a kind items that are full of meaning (for you) are the way keep neutral exciting!

Mom's Cheap and Cheerful Makeover

2013-05-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

This post doesn't need much explanation, their before fireplace wasn't great :S. They were hesitant to paint it because they . . . honestly I have no idea why they were hesitant to paint it.

A coat of white paint can do wonders! I really loved the addition of the framed botanical prints. The fireplace is really wide and tall, leaving not much room at the top . . . I love the grouping of the small frames. Finding something in the right scale was hard, but I think she nailed it.

New Art in the library

2013-05-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

We have a couple of new photographs in the library. We've been meaning to add more meaningful art to our home. We added the oil painting from my great grandmother's house in the library last month, and now we've added some more family art work in the form of Lee's Mom's Photography!
Lee's mom is very talented nature photographer and during our last visit I was able to steal (with permission) some of her latest snaps.

The first one was a large picture of a bird on a snowy branch.

The two smaller ones are made up of a crystal clear photo of an owl. And another beautiful photograph of one of her trips abroad.

We are very lucky to have both a painter (my sister) and a photographer (my MIL) in the family. It feels nice to add some pictures with a little bit of soul in them.

In Today's theme of family I'll have a new photo from my mom's living room this afternoon. She did a cheap and cheerful, traditional update on her fireplace I think you are going to like.

Gnome Sweet Gnome

2013-04-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post today, I was at Ross last week, and I saw this little white ceramic gnome. I didn't even hesitate, he was less than $5 and I love him.
He will probably go outside in our shade garden with the Hosta, but since the Hostas aren't out yet, I thought I would enjoy him inside for now!

He's about 12 inches tall, and 4 inches wide. I have never had an outside ornament before, but I kind of liked the play between the traditional Gnome in the yard and the modern, crisp white color.

I think every room needs a little touch of whimsy and outside is gnome exception . . . although a yard full of bits and pieces would look funny but one or two choices items is nice.

This is probably one of the weirder purchases I've made . . . that and my white ceramic husband. But you can't help who and what you love ;)
I'll share his new spot when he makes his way outside.

Rock me gently, Rock me slowly . . .

2013-04-25T04:09:00.003-07:00

Take it easy,

Don't you know.
That I have never been loved like this before . . .

Baby Baby!

I hope this song reference doesn't go over some of our younger readers heads. It's totally not the point of this post . . . but I love that song!

We found a rocker at The Salvation Army thrift store for $20! Every mother I spoke to said you NEED a rocking chair, and I refuse to buy a glider . . . I know they are great but there is nothing you can tell me to make me buy a glider. BUT we are going to buy a metal rocking base for one of our chairs in the living room so we will have a chair that glides! (of course we will blog about it when it happens)

Since we don't know if we are going to be chosen to adopt a boy or a girl . . . or even if we will be chosen . . . or when (have I mentioned waiting is hard??) haha We've decided to do a really natural nursery. Natural wood tones . . . solid wood furniture . . . things like that. So when I saw this solid wood rocker on sale for $20 I picked it up.

Check out the construction:

We still need to add a cushion to the seat and the back but we are really excited to have this part of the nursery done.

So excited we thought we should practice baby rocking with Max.

In other news . . . Max does not enjoy rocking. :(

This blew my mind!!!

2013-04-24T03:10:00.002-07:00

KA-BOOM!
Maybe as we get older we get more skeptical but I thought there was NO WAY this was going to work. Here's how it went down:

Our new table for Carson had some scratches on it. I thought about picking up one of those stain pens or using a crayon . . . but then I remembered something about rubbing a walnut on the scratch ? ? . . . I was seriously skeptical, I grab a walnut out of the pantry and started rubbing the leg of the table.

I stopped dead, and started screaming for Lee (a little over dramatic in hindsight). Lee came running thinking I had just hurt myself or the house was on fire. Honestly he was a little angry I yelled so loud over nothing but I showed him what I was doing and how well it worked and he was so AMAZED, he forgot all about being mad at me.

We Rubbed the entire table with walnuts and there are NO MORE SCRATCHES at all!!! It was seriously amazing to me!
Here's the before and afters:

Isn't that amazing, we just rubbed it with a piece of walnut! I don't think I have ever impressed Lee more then I did that day! haha
Here's a close up:

There you have it . . . I hope you mind is sufficiently Blown! I'm not kidding I am still amazed! I think it has something to do with the oil in the nut . . . but I just chalk it up to MAGIC!!! Ta Da!

Besides the magical aspect of the walnut, I think I am so excited about this because it is such a natural way to get out scratches, no stain, no VOC's. It's as green as you can get!!!

Big Changes in the Office

2013-04-23T04:57:00.004-07:00

We are planning some changes in the office. Good changes for Good reasons. The 'ol blog has been growing in readership, which we are so so grateful for!!! But working from the dining room table or the sofa isn't really cutting it for me anymore.
We do have the big desk in the office but Lee works from home often so it's usually covered in blueprints. We had a talk about it and thought it would be really nice if we could both work in there at the same time. For that reason we are going to add another desk to the office.
If you remember we did have a smaller corner desk in the office, but it was a bit too small and pretty uncomfortable to do any long stretches of work.
Getting rid of the corner desk also gives us room for a large cage for Carson. I have always wanted a large, 'aviary' cage for Carson, I am so excited!!!
We found the cage from a local bird rescue group and were able to trade our old cage for a bunch of money off so the new cage ended up costing us under $50!

It came with a ugly metal stand but I knew that I wanted a piece of furniture for under Carson. I wasn't sure what piece of furniture but I knew it had to be wood.

We found this piece on Craigslist for . . . $20! It was in rough shape (more on that later) but it was the perfect size.

We are so happy to have our Carson all set up in his new cage.
I always think of the quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"You are responsible, forever, for that which you have tamed."

I want to do what's best for our little pets, and having a Big cage for Carson makes all of us happy. We still have to raise one of the white shelves above the cage and paint the parts we had to patch but we are almost there, then we can add an extra desk and get posting! ;)

Flowers on Friday: Daffodils

2013-04-19T04:18:00.002-07:00

We were gifted a very beautiful bouquet of Daffodils last weekend. I will never tire of Daffodils!

I love them, what's not to love beautiful yellow flowers:

And slender long stems:

They remind me of my sister . . . crazy on the top, skinny on the bottom! haha (she's going to be mad I wrote that . . . or happy ??? I'm not sure.)
And after our post on The 6 vases you need to have . . . I go ahead and use a small juice pitcher to hold our daffodils!

I hope you have a great weekend. I'll be here Monday with our New Rocking Chair . . . I promise ;).

All you need is Lipstick

2013-04-18T03:55:00.000-07:00

I love a good before and after as much as the next person, but when you live in the house day in and day out, making small changes as you go. The Big reveal isn't so BIG. It's subtle and slow, a new pillow here, a new side table there. You barely notice the difference.

Last week I came across a photo of our living room (taken from the kitchen) before we moved in. I couldn't believe the difference. I barely noticed . . . I always felt that we didn't "do much" in the living room. We didn't change the wall color, or alter the fireplace mantel. We kept the wood floors and the molding around the windows. We only changed the sconces on either side of the fireplace, and added our furniture and accents.

The living room had good bones when we moved in so it's definitely an example of what a little "lipstick" can do.

Today's post was for all the emails I get saying "That project was great, but I don't have a handy husband so I can't do that" or "That's fine, but I'm renting and I can't make permanent changes". Sometimes big renovations aren't necessary, the right scale furniture and some accents is all a room needs. Don't be discouraged because major reno's aren't possible.

btw . . . who hates the two pendant lights in the first photo as much as I did!!! That was the FIRST thing we changed when we got the keys!

The 6 vases you have to have!

2013-04-17T03:30:00.001-07:00

I LOVE reader requests . . . we've been doing this for almost 3 years now, and finding something to write about during projects can sometimes be a stretch. So if there is anything you want to know shoot me an email and ask!

Today's post came from an email I received asking about our flower vases! I do not remember who it came from . . . sorry!
The question basically asked, what flower vases should we own??

Basically I think that One Large vase and One small vase should be owned by everyone . . . if you are really in to minimalism the small vase could be a small tumbler ;).
But if you are a fresh flower addict like myself here are the basic vases you should have:

1) A White Ceramic Pitcher:

It can be used for other things as well, but more than 50% of the time I use it as a vase.

2) A round glass "fish bowl" vase:

I found ours at Michaels, and I use it all the time, any bouquet I've put into it has looked amazing! I seriously Love this vase!

3) A Julep Cup:

Again, I found this at Michaels (p.s. Don't put it into the dishwasher). I use this little cup about as often as I use all of our other vases combined. Sometimes the flowers in a mixed bouquet die at different times. So when the first few flowers die, I pull the live flowers out (usually carnations), and place them in our julep cup to live for a few more days!

4) Medium Vase:

I love texture and I love white but it doesn't have to be textured and white. It's just nice to have a medium sized vase for medium sized bouquets. I find that this size about 10" tall is the perfect size for almost any bouquet.

5) A bud vase: *Optional

I know I said you should own a bud vase but I just use an oil bottle, it's rare that I receive a single stem but it does happen occasionally. For that reason we keep the white oil bottle around if we didn't already own one I'm not sure I would invest in one.

6) A Large honeycomb vase from Target! *Optional

Okay . . . it's a little specific but what I really mean to say is a Large Vase. This is also optional, because if you have the big white pitcher (number 1) you won't need a large vase.

And the best place to buy vases . . . second hand stores! Save yourself some money and search through your local thrift store for vases!!

And of course you aren't limited to just traditional vases, if you are short on space here are some examples of unconventional things we've used as a vase:
A goblet:

A mason jar inside an orchid pot:

A cookie jar without the lid:

I hope you enjoyed today's reader request!!! I hope I didn't sound too bossy, but those are the vases that I've found work really well for us!! ;) haha

Boston

2013-04-16T03:29:00.000-07:00

It felt weird to talk about our new chair today. Our hearts are in Boston. We had a friend running, she is fine, she finished about 10 minutes before the explosions.

Like everyone else we just stared at the TV wondering who would do that, worried, and angry. I popped on to facebook and saw this quote. One of my volleyball coaches (and a woman I look up to and admire so much in my adult life) had posted it on her timeline. I saw the incident through new eyes. This is something I want to hold on to and remember to share with our children one day.

We'll be back with two posts tomorrow, but today our thoughts and our hearts are in Boston. We are hoping you and all of your loved ones are safe and sound.

We threw a Baby Shower!

2013-04-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got to co-host a baby shower for two of our dearest friends!!! The house was PACKED full of people, and the guests of honor were thrilled.
It was a Jack and Jill shower, meaning both men and women were invited, and it turned into a party but with lots of presents for the Mom and Dad to be!

Like I said, we were co-hosts with our friend Rachel. Together we tackled the decorations and food!

I thought that a diaper cake would be fun, new mom's can always use diapers, right?
Lee and I tackled the diaper cake making on Thursday night, we rolled over 150 diapers . . . Lee said it was the most ridiculous thing he's ever helped me do, but that it turned out super cool! haha

The cake was topped off with a sock monkey!

We also added some Pom Poms to the pendant above the table.

Next, since it was an Owl Theme, I tackled some owl cupcakes.

Using Oreos for eyes worked out great!

We did both blue and green cupcake icing . . .

and just because you can't have enough cupcakes I made some white ones as well.

Rachel thought of a candy table, she had me at Candy!

Lastly a little banner . . .

I think our guests of honor had a good time . . . and we got a great sneak peek of some seriously adorable baby goods!
So a big congratulations to Matt and Sara, we love you guys!!

Pop back tomorrow for another peek into our future babies room . . . we'll be "rocking" our latest thrift store find! ;)

Our Favorite Vegetarian Recipe

2013-04-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

The best way to eat Vegetarian food is to cook it in Curry. To me everything in a curry dish tastes the same, other than the texture I couldn't tell potato from chicken!
We Love this Chickpea and Carrot Spicy Curry!!!
The recipe was adapted from The Kitchenist's Spicy Chickpea Curry.

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced
4-5 Carrots, diced
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1" piece of ginger, minced (or grated in)
1 tsp ground Cumin
1 tsp ground Coriander
1 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Chili Flakes (even more if looking for revenge on your tongue)
1 (400gr) can of Chickpeas
1 (794gr) can of diced tomatoes (liquid and all)
1 tsp salt

Greek yogurt and fresh coriander to sprinkle on top!

Step 1:
Heat oil in a pan (frying pan, dutch over, sauce pot what ever you have). Throw in Onion and brown for 2 minutes, add diced carrots and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
Step 2:
Add garlic and ginger and saute for another minute. Then add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne pepper, chili flakes and cook for another minute.
Step 3:
Add Chickpeas, tomatoes and salt to the pan . . . stir!
Step 4:
Turn heat to low and simmer until carrots are cooked through about 20 minutes (depending on how large your dice was).

Additional add in's:
Red pepper, green pepper, potatoes (cooked), corn (although I sure every single person in India is mad at me for saying that right now), egg plant, cauliflower.

Lee's favorite to eat it is wrapped up in a flour tortilla (or naan bread) with rice and green yogurt!

I hope you'll give it a try on your next Meatless Monday!!!

I Love my Canary

2013-04-10T03:42:00.001-07:00

I really do Love our Canary, 'Carson' . . . 'Carson the Canary'.

He is the easiest pet I have ever had. He is really next to no work, and he sings so beautifully and has so much personality.

I posted a photo of our little Carson on Instagram last week and I realized I hadn't done a post on him since 2010! Which is weird because I seriously couldn't imagine our home without him in it.

He's a Fife Canary, they are a little bit smaller than other breeds of canaries. Like I said before he sings beautifully, and loudly. He has very discerning musical tastes, he will only sing along with, classical music, Motown, and Country Music, or a hockey game, seriously a hockey game on the TV is his signal to let 'er rip! (If only I could get him to chant Go Canucks Go!)

Canaries are really easy to care for, clean water, and fresh veggies are all they need on a daily basis. They would make an amazing starter pet for anyone.

I'm not going to lie . . . birds kind of freak me out. I will never have a parrot just because when we were little my cousin's parrot bit my sister's thumb . . . why her thumb was in the parrot cage in the first place, I will never know, but since then I am afraid of parrots, like a paralyzing "The Birds, The Birds!" fear. But canaries are way too cute to be afraid of . . . how can you be afraid of this face:

If we get up early enough on the weekends we will get to catch him taking his bath. He only bathes in the morning, and during the week we are usually to busy to notice but on the weekends we get a show! He hops in, chest deep, and splashes around like a maniac. It's not at all refined, but it's so cute.
We've had Carson for almost 6 years now . . . which is a bit sad because their life span is 5-9 years, but he's as healthy as a horse (a tiny yellow horse). So we are hoping for many more years, of early morning baths and karaoke sing alongs. Carson is a HUGE part of what makes our house a home.

There you have it . . . 6 years in and still in love with my little Carson Canary! We just picked up a new cage for him . . . it's HUGE. I'm not kidding, I could fit inside it! We'll have pictures of the whole set up and his new spot in the house next week!!!

Weird Carson Facts:
- Favorite Song: "Chicken Fried" by The Zac Brown Band
- Favorite Food: Broccoli
- Favorite Show: Gilmore Girls (he loves to tweet along to the Gilmore Girls)
- Favorite Sport: Hockey-->

First Baby Room Update with Para Paint

2013-04-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

First off we both wanted to say how touched we were by the comments and well wishes from you. We've spent 6 years, more than half of our relationship, unsure what direction we were headed in regarding children, it feels so great to have a direction. Being able to share it with all of you was amazing!

We have no idea how long it will take until we are matched, it could be 1 month, it could be 1 year, it could be 10 years, but just in case it's 1 month we wanted to be prepared with the basics (my own form of "if you build it, they will come").
Step one, paint the room.
Because it's a babies room we were very conscious of paint fumes so we chose Para Paints Essence brand because it has NO VOC's.

Since we have no idea when a baby is coming our way, let alone whether that baby will be a boy or girl we decided on a neutral nursery. We chose White Chocolate (PF27) for the bottom color, and a beautiful pale grey for the upper section, Papineau Tint 1 (P2076-01).

But first things first we had to add some chair rail. It's a 12 foot by 12 foot room, and the chair rail for the whole room was under $50.

We ran into two problems with the chair rail:
1) The chair rail was thicker than the window casing (meaning it stuck out farther than the window molding). We decided the best was was too cut it on a bit of an angle. Lee just measured the depth, and cut it on a 45 degree angle in (using a miter box).

2) Problem two was a very weird little bump out in the corner that took a little extra finessing, but Lee did an amazing job patching and filling it so it looked perfect!!

We ran into a secret problem number 3 that resulted in some tears (yes I cried over paint). I cut in the trim for the pale grey and stepped back, it looked PURPLE! Like lilac, meets lavender, meets grape soda purple. Lee convinced me that it was only paint and we should just finish the color then decide. Two coats later and it was the perfect shade of pale Grey! I will blame the tears on Pre-adoption hormones ;). haha

So if you paint it on and it looks purple, keep going!!!! When it dries it's awesome. I am actually fighting the urge to paint the entire house Papineau Tint 1.

I am also really excited to have a place for my nesting tables again. You might remember they use to live in the living room, but now they are going to live in the babies room (they were from Homesense a few years ago).
Here's the Before and After:

Thank you again for all of the adoption LOVE! We are so blessed already! I just realized we get to create a new label on the blog "NURSERY" :). A few more tears . . . these ones are happy . . . darn these adoption hormones. ;)

Next:
-Blinds for the window (black out blinds for sure)
-A crib
-A dresser/ change table
-Rocking chair