pillows and tables

I popped into Winners this morning "just to look". I don't really shop there much, heck I don't really shop anywhere much, but I do love Winners. I found some pillows I had admired a week or so ago and they were marked down to half price. I couldn't leave them there. I also found the cutest side table for $39.99tx and I'd have been a fool to leave that behind too!! With my fireplace makeover and these new colourful additions, this is beginning to look like a very joyful room. I need to start prepping the walls to receive their nice new green hue.

fireplace progress pics

Before I say anything, I must give credit to my sister for helping me narrow down the colours I used. I had initially planned to use a much lighter tone with a white mantle. Here's a pic below that I sent her when I was trying to figure things out. Ah technology! I copied and pasted the colours from the photo of the paint chip below.




My sister suggested colour #3 but without a white mantle. We decide 2 shades lighter than the main colour would work better. Here's proof:

BEFORE:

(owner's stuff, not mine!)
AFTER:



Big difference no?! Next up: painting the walls Glidden's "Ionic Green".

fireplace makeover

I posted about my ugly propane fireplace quite awhile ago, which included a great makeover plan from my genius decorator sister. Since then I decided to take the simple route and paint it. My sister could pull off something much more significant, but alas I'm not my sister!

Here's a photo of the fireplace as it was with the previous owners, as it was primed, and now with one coat of the main colour:




I'll post more progress pics as I, well, make more progress!

finally picked some paint colours

I've finally found my living room colour. I was going to go for a grey-blue but I think it would have fenced me in decoratively speaking. I was flipping through my vast collection of paint chips and found a Glidden paint colour called "Ionic Green". Turns out it's a colour on Sarah Richardson's list of all-time favourites, her signature pallette as she calls it. I guess I have great taste, LOL!

Here's where she used it in a kitchen, though all you can really see here is the wall over the window. It's a very neutral colour:


I went around with the paint chip and no matter what piece of painted furniture I held it up against, it didn't clash. I found the opposite problem with any blue paint chip. Everything seemed to clash! See the grey/green piece below? It so goes with the Ionic Green.


I've also chosen the colour for the dining room called "Chelsea Fog". Strange thing is it's another colour that Sarah Richardson uses. Damn I'm good. :oP

Here it is being used on the cabinets. Yes, it's a very pale blue but happens to compliment my grey/green dresser in that room.

let's get this show on the road

This is for you Chris! Last night I started to work on transforming our front sitting room with a lovely shade of green paint. It's Debbie Travis's "Delicate Moss", but I got Glidden to tint their paint for me.

Usually I obsess over choosing colours of paint (who me???), but this time I chose quickly saying "this will do". I LOVE it! The biggest problem with the room before was that it was a sea of beige. Beige walls, beige carpet, beige couch (which I adore by the way!!!!).

The coffee table is something I salvaged from our collection of useless items stored in the basement. It used to hold wood for our woodstove. I'm going to paint it a gray green.

Here are some before shots of the room, plus a video, plus some progress pics from last night:








(edited to add that I really dislike those lamps, so I'm going to paint the bases black, and replace the shades. a witty friend of ours dubbed them 'the laura ashley look', and that is NOT what I'm going for)

sears lighting, and killing time

It's Wednesday evening, and it's 2 more sleeps until we move. So of course the time is crawling by, and it's driving me batty.

I'm at the Sears website checking out lighting fixtures. The house we're buying needs some lights updated. So I thought I'd have some fun posting pics of the ones I'm admiring.

This one has seagrass shades, which I love. I love it because it's a natural organic element. This one is $129.99tx. I'm thinking for our dining room. It may be too big though, our dining room is only 10 x 10.


This one may be installed at 9, 21, 33 or 45" heights. I'm thinking for the kitchen, mounted at the shortest height. I'm hoping the 9" includes the light itself. A great price at $54.99tx.


Whoops, I guess that's it for chandelier types. Oh well, that killed about 7 minutes. ;o)

if i could start ALL over again....

My lovely friend Alli put me onto the urban outfitters site (sorry no html until I get back onto the pc where all my html codes are conveniently recorded). Anyways, I thought I'd have fun and post some pics of all the things that made me go "Oooooo". Yes they are quirky and eclectic, and they'd be perfect for my fantasy loft apartment in a cool big city.