My Girl's Teen Room Continues

My goal was to finish this room by Christmas (and last I checked it was April) but braces and a few other dentist bills (like two root canals with no dental coverage) happened, and the room has just sort of been stuck.  You can see my previous posts on this room here and here.  

So this is where this room stands now...one side of the room is done, but I decided to change the dresser which was originally against the black wall and put the white chair here instead.  The collage then had to move a little further down the wall.  I also  purchased this gorgeous knitted pouf from HomeSense, and found this very cool striped bedding at Ikea.  Oh ya, and the gold end table is from Target (which sadly is no longer here in Canada), and I may have mentioned that in my previous post.

And here's Po on my daughter's bed while she was away for Spring break.  (For a whole week my daughter's bedroom was tidy!)  Actually, this pic of Po was featured on the Style at Home Instagram in March.  That was pretty darn exciting!!!  If you scroll down their account you'll see it!

That's it for updates. 

Have a great day!!!

I've Been Painting Things Again

I've been doing a little painting & a big switcheroo lately around my house.  I'm beginning to think this is a pattern for me..seems to me I did this last winter.   (Like the sideboard above..it's moved).  We've lived in this very basic builder home now for 5 1/2 years, and it's taking a while - and some cash, to slowly transform it.  It's complete with light floors, stuccoed ceilings, and lots of "boob" lights...I'm not complaining, I'm just stating the facts.   I see it as a great challenge having only lived in century homes before, to transform this house.  I'm a firm believer that you don't have to have a lot of money to make a home look good, but it may take a little more time...and a lot of paint!  

 I seem to be painting everything dark gray or (as I call it) almost black. When I moved into this home I wanted everything very calm and serene so I painted a lot of the furniture a soft gray.  We had just come out of a very stressful time in our lives and I wanted a calm space... now for some reason, I'm going almost black.  I have a great love for French & English antiques (like Anton & K and that whole gray, black, taupe thing they have going on).  I first decided to change out my dining/kitchen light from a little drum light to a massive dark gray Hektar pendant light (below).   What a change that made... talk about lighting drama.  Also, things started to go a little industrial farmhouse so I painted this sideboard black (which actually is an island from Home Depot but I use it as a sideboard in this house). I've talked about this before...painting & changing the use of a piece of furniture.  (You can read about it here.)  I then got these massive baskets from Target, which is sadly leaving Canada, but that meant that I got them on sale so that was good.  

The "dining room" in my house is actually part of the kitchen, so I was going for a little more sophisticated look.   I usually like my spaces to have a more relaxed sophisticated look...hence the Hektar and gray velvet curtains.  (Just an aside here, when a house doesn't have a dining room, I think it's important to treat the eating area in the kitchen like a dining room).  This space has always been a work in progress, and I need to get an area rug and  slipcovers for the chairs... the list goes on.

  

Then I decided to paint the white shades on the lamps black. I just used some latex paint I had left over from another project and started painting.  I painted fabric before when I painted my pillows.

Then I went to the front hall and decided to paint my hutch black. I found this hutch at a garage sale about ten years ago. It houses all our stuff...you know, the stuff that everybody needs just inside the front door. Still need to get pulls for the drawers though.

Before

After

Are you still with me?  There have been a lot of changes, and I haven't even talked about my master bedroom yet ...it's changed too.   

So here's the lamp I painted in the master bedroom.  It's an antique light that I got at a thrift store years ago for $17.00  that I had stored in the basement.  Originally it was red and then with all the painting I thought..wait a minute...what if I paint that red light black and get a black shade? And what a change.  (Just an aside here,  "Unbroken" is an amazing book.  But definitely not a light read.) 

Oh ya, and I moved a couch into my master bedroom because I switched the family room all around.  But more on those two rooms later.

Here's a little sneak peek at the family room with the painted lamp shade. 

 I haven't painted these yet, but I still want to do it!  

Have a great weekend!!!

The "Sweetest" Little Bakery

 Is this bakery not the cutest?   I was just wandering Main Street (as one does) this beautiful Easter weekend when I noticed this new quaint little bake shop called cupCAKE.  They just moved to Main Street, Newmarket, ON but also have a location in Barrie, ON.  I had such a fun time checking them out.  (As you know, I like to feature quaint small town stores & galleries when I can.  Like last year, for instance, when I featured this antique store & this art gallery.) cupCake offers coffee, tea, cookies & cupcakes on location and they also do wedding cakes & custom cakes.   To see what else they offer, you can check them out at iwannacupcake.com.  Coming soon, they'll be offering birthday parties on location in their Pinkalicious Party Room.  

This place has such a wonderful small-town feel.  I loved the ambiance & I'm so happy that places like this, that are locally owned, are starting to pop up on our beautiful historic Main Street.  If you live in the area, please check them out.  You won't be disappointed!

(all pics taken with my iPhone)

I know it's been a little quiet here on the blog lately.  It's been a cold long winter & I've been switching things around in my house.  Partly because I'm a chronic decorator and partly because I just needed a change, so I'll be sharing some of the changes soon.  Also, I haven't forgotten about my daughter's teen room.  I'll be updating you on that...I'm almost at the finish line.