Staircase Collage

This weekend was very labour intensive and productive. Staircase collage is finally up!

Ever since we moved to our new place, I thought that the large wall space above the staircase would look great if we made a feature wall of various artwork. And I was right.  The staircase leading to the second floor turned out to be a perfect space to display music posters, family photos and cool artwork that I’ve collected over the years. 

I’ve gathered all pieces that I wanted to display on the wall and laid them out on the floor. After a few various arrangements I figured out the best one. This process took a while and also took up most of our living room.

With a few handy tools in hand and a huge ladder the work began, and after a day and half of measuring, leveling and hanging the wall collage was done!

 

 

It looks even better than I imagined and I’m so happy it’s finally up!

P.S. Huge thanks to my hubby who hung all these pictures. I wouldn't be able to do this without you!

Mini Bedroom Makeover

We've been in the new house for almost two years and it's time to rejuvenate things a bit. Our bedroom needed a little face lift. So I've decided to change our bedding and add some artwork to brighten things up.

I few months ago I painted sky with clouds on a large canvas. Bedroom seemed like a perfect place to display my painting and that just kept snowballing. I felt that new bed sheets will make our old bedroom feel like new and I also decided to add more artwork to this space.

I found some great inspiration online and created beautiful typography posters. I used wrapping paper to add texture to the frame and the results turned out to be spectacular. I love how intricate typography combines with the geometrical patterns of the picture frame.

I love flowers and plant, but unfortunately for some reason plants and flowers don't like me. However, I believe that flowers brighten up any space, so I decided to get some greenery for my bedroom. 

So a few small changes and the bedroom mini makeover is complete. I tried to make my bedroom feel light, peaceful and serene.  Black and white theme that I have throughout my house is accentuated by vibrant light blue hues. 

Can't wait to finish the rest of the house. My plan is to hang more artwork on the staircase this summer, hopefully I can find some time to do it.

Big and Cozy

The office is now complete!

Alex and I have been looking for the perfect sofa for the office for quite some time now.  When we moved into the house, Alex and I wanted to have an office/spare bedroom, so once the computer table and the wall unit were in the room, we started looking for the sofa bed. We were looking for some very specific features, such as, it had to be leather, it had to have a fold out bed, black or white in colour, small in size and modern looking. After a few showrooms and furniture store visits we got lucky!  We found this black leather beauty on Craigslist for only $300. We got so lucky, because we were ready to purchase exactly the same model in grey from Chesterfield shop for $1,600.00

We found the perfect sofa bed for our office where guests can sleep the night and Alex and I can sit and enjoy a cup of tea.

YAY!

I already had these funky pillows which worked very well on this new couch.

A little too big

In my previous post "Shiny & New"  I posted that the new appliances are in and the old ones are gone. Well that true, BUT one  new appliance didn't fit. Our new microwave that's supposed to go over the stove, doesn't fit into the space. It's 1/8" bigger!  So as a result we've decided to remodel the whole kitchen!

Yes, we've decided to get new cabinetry, new countertops, new backsplash and maybe even floors for the kitchen. Well, we always knew that we will have to invest into new countertops, new backsplash and new facing for the existing cabinetry. But with the new developments, we decided to go all out and make our kitchen cozy and stylish.

Ideally we would like to do the following:

•  new flooring

• new backsplash

• granite countertops

• breakfast bar with seating for 2

• remove "facing wall" that separates kitchen and living room

• new cabinetry that extends all the way to the ceiling

• smart and stylish solution for storage on the side

That's a pretty big list and it will cost accordingly, but of that's what it takes to make me want to cook, then be it!

Basically new year will be all about massive renovation projects, lots of dust, building supplies and hopefully a finished kitchen. Stay tuned for more in 2014.

Last Drop

The appliances are now in the kitchen and that means that most of the heavy lifting is done and it's time to paint the main entrance staircase. We decided to paint  it last because when our fridge was delivered the wall was terribly scratched and damaged during  the process. To make sure that we didn't have to paint this staircase twice, Alex and I decided to leave this wall until all heavy duty listing is done.

The delivery crew were very careful and nothing was scratched or damaged. I was eager to paint the wall, and as a result, I painted the entry and the staircase - all in one day. Most of the prep was done before, so it was a quick turnaround this time.

The New Year is upon us and I hate to leave things unfinished, so painting the staircase was absolutely wonderful. The kitchen still need a lot of love, but we are getting there.

I'm looking forward to the progress in the year to come.

Shiny & New

Boxing Day sales are a big 'no-no' in my household. I've worked in the retail industry and marketing long enough to know that it's all just a big trick to get everyone to buy more stuff. But if a Boxing Day is the only available day when you and your hubby have  the time to go shopping for appliances together- it becomes a big 'yes-yes' for me.

So this boxing day, Alex and I went to a few large retail stores to buy a few shiny appliances. We bought a set of microwave, stove and a dishwasher. Fridge was a already purchased about a year ago when we first moved in, here is the post about that.

Our old white appliances are gone and new shiny stainless steel appliances are in!  YAY.

The kitchen is starting to look more like a real kitchen. Well, there are many boxes there now and everything is out of place, but it will look nice soon!

Accessorizing

Now that the walls are freshly painted and the furniture is put back in place, it's time to add a personal touch to this red hot living room. Alex and I travel often and to commemorate every trip we add another photo to our "Travel Wall". I haven't put up any photos in our new place yet, including the "Travel Wall". But now that red wall is ready, I can't think of a better place to display our travel photos.

 

Hanging photos is tricky because "if it's not  a right angle, it's a wrong angle" and I'd hate to see poorly displayed photos in my new home. 

 

I love little knickknacks and cozy pillows in my home. I believe they add personality and  a splash of colour to any living space. I already have a great collection of various things that i would like to display in the living room, most of the stuff that was there before is definitely coming back. But I love to change things up from time to time, so some new pieces will be added. I also love to mix old and new pieces together to create an eclectic feel. My newest craze is patterns and textures. I love mixing and matching, it's so much fun. 

 

Here are some photos of the whole process of getting our living room ready for living. ;)