Art Gallery Tour

As promised, here's a little taste of the art I saw this weekend in Clarksburg, ON, which apparently is becoming known as "Artsburg".   I just love how quaint this little town is.  All of the galleries are right next to each other, and what I really love is that some the artists are there to discuss their art.   

First up is the Marsh Street Gallery owned by the very talented artist, Cynthia Marsh.  She's also an avid gardener, so I was able to get a garden tour in as well. 

Wow what a garden!

Cynthia Marsh

Next up, I went to the Matilda Swanson Gallery.  I love this art by Anna Green and the one directly below it by Bertie.  This part of the world is full of beautiful landscapes, apple orchards and ski hills, so it's interesting to see how it inspires all of these artists in very different ways. 

 Anna Green

 Bertie

My next visit was to Loft Gallery owned by  another very talented artist, Debra Lynn Carroll.  Her paintings are mainly large textured landscapes done in oil, and her 

studio is in the back so sometimes she's working on one.

Debra Lynn Carroll

Canada has many artistic destinations, and this little Ontario town is a perfect example.  

If you can, stop by this summer.

I'm going to post my pics of 

Cynthia's garden soon.  

A Country View

We were up north this weekend for some family time and for me, some sister time.  My sister and I had a wonderful Saturday going through art galleries, antique shops and gardens, in a place called Clarksburg, ON. 

There are some very talented artists in this part of the country, but more on that later.

 I took these pics of our view.

My 13 year old daughter loves photography and took the pic above.   I'm going to post more of her work on my blog because I think she has real talent.

The gardens were all in bloom so I had to pick some fresh ones and make a 

bouquet for the house.

I'll share some of my favourite antique and art finds later in the week.

Have a great week!!

  

Summer Curtains

Just got these crazy new Ikat curtains for my dining room at Fabricland.  I also got the grey velvet curtains next to them at the same place a few years ago.  Where else can you get lined velvet curtains for $30.00 a panel?  I love to lighten up the space during the summer months, and changing out the curtains is an easy way of doing this.  Come to think of it, my black bedroom curtains are from Fabricland too.

And on a completely other note, I finally got my pergola up  and it looks amazing.  

I'll have more on that later.

Saturday at the Market

Saturday morning I grabbed a coffee and drove down to our local  Farmer's Market which runs May to October.  I love strolling down the sidewalks with a cup of coffee checking out all the local vendors.  During the summer I spend less time at the grocery store and more time at the market.

I'm always looking out for great design and style. So I was pretty happy to find Simply Em's (above) which is run by Emma Sinyard who makes wonderful cupcakes and wedding cakes.  Apparently, she has quite an Instagram following and is sold out within minutes of posting where she's going to be.

I also spotted this beautiful hand-made jewelry by Kooch. J which will have a website very soon.  I just love these bracelets (actually I like it all)!!

 Preserves and fresh pizza!!

Organic produce anyone?  

Of course I had to take a pic of the flowers.  They had pots of Lupins - so pretty!!

In such a fast-paced world it's so nice to just take it easy and shop the way people used to shop.  If you live in the Newmarket area, make sure you check them out.  It's fun for the whole family, including your dog!

A Peony Parade

So I'm in love with Peonies and went a little crazy taking pics in my garden.  

Wish you could smell them!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

 Day 4

Pergola Purchase

   I finally bought a pergola!! I talked about my backyard and maybe getting a pergola here  and I'm happy to say I did it.  I've always wanted a pergola in my backyard so I was very excited to find (and purchase) this one from Home Depot.  I bought the outdoor loveseat and chairs a few years ago from the Superstore, so now I just have to get some accessories.  I love ferns, climbing vines, white drapes and lanterns so this is the look I'm going for.  I would also like a chandelier and I might just use one I already have.  

Because I'm a visual and love gardening, it's very important to me to see my garden from inside my house.  I also like to be in my garden and prefer low decks or patios.   I'm thinking of putting the pergola here (above) if it doesn't obstruct my view of the garden too much.  Since my dining room is grey and yellow, and this is the door you have to exit to get outside, I want to co-ordinate the outside with the inside. I haven't quite decided on a rug or cushions.  I'm going to have to get a rug because the paint is peeling which  I'm not too happy about.   I just painted it two years ago:(  This will be a Fall project (or maybe even Spring).  

I like elements of all three of these spaces.

 via

via Pinterest 

 via Pottery Barn

Apparently this pergola takes about 4 hrs. to put together so I'm going to have to get someone to help us.  
I'll let you know how it goes.  

You can see more 
of my pergola inspiration here.

Father's Day Gift Ideas

 Canadian Tire

 Father's Day is fast approaching.

If you haven't had a chance to pick up something yet, here are a few gift ideas.

Indigo

Etsy

You can see more of my Etsy finds for other occasions here.

Have a great weekend!!!

Staging Tips - What Message is Your Home Giving?

 After

Right now is a hot time to sell a home so I thought I'd show some more before and after shots of some staging I've done. I've talked to many realtors who don't use stagers and I've even had some tell me they don't see the point  in having a stager if the home is clean.  I will never understand this.  Every home needs to be staged.  If your realtor is saying this to you, I would suggest that you get another realtor because they are not looking out for your best interest.

I think the myth about stagers is that they just stage empty homes.  The reality is that typically, we go into furnished homes and tweak each room to make it appeal to a specific target or to most buyers.  Sometimes this means renting furniture but most often it's just using what people have in their home or in storage.  We are also restricted to the seller's budget and work within their financial means.  Not only do stagers make the home look better, they also look in every corner and see what your house is saying.  That's right - your house is sending messages.  

This home was an estate sale.  Stagers are really good at helping people in this situation decide what to keep, what to store, what to paint and how to move forward with the sale of the house.

The message this house was giving before being staged was that it was very hot (AC in window), that it was an estate sale (old furniture), and that it was tired and needed updating (dated wallpaper).

The dining room just needed the built-ins and walls painted, some new styling and some window treatments.  This home had some beautiful antiques, so I was able to use most of the furniture.  You can see above that I chose to hang the window treatments high and bring them to the floor to add some much needed drama to the windows.  I also chose taffeta curtains to add some elegance and richness to the space.

Before and After

 After

This room didn't have a real purpose before I staged it.  It was a storage room with 1960's wallpaper.   This was a child friendly neighbourhood, so I knew that a family might be buying this home, which made it very  important to create a child's room.  We wanted to send the message to buyers that this was a child friendly house.    I also used a very neutral and calm gray/blue called Nickel by Pratt and Lambert on the walls so that the room could be used for other purposes by the new owners if they wanted.  By painting the walls, placing a bed in the room and putting up window coverings, this room was transformed.  

 Before and After

 After

This kitchen was a little overwhelming so again, I toned it down by painting a neutral colour on the walls  (Sea Glass by BM) and painting out the dated cupboards.  This is an easy fix if you have these 80's cupboards.  Just painting the wood portion out the same colour as the rest of the cupboards and changing out the pulls can quickly update the look.  I chose to keep the table in the kitchen because most people like a space to eat in their kitchen so it's a good selling feature.

Before and After

After painting, fresh linens and window treatments, this house didn't give any negative messages.  To see some of my other staging tips you can go here.

When you're selling always have your home staged.  Remember stagers are not just looking at the aesthetics but are also looking at the messages your house is giving.

If you live in York Region and need a stager, just e-mail me for rates.