procrastination

This is what photographer's do while procrastinating...


And this too. (Yep, that's my bedroom door... happiness bursting out of a wooden heart that was lovingly hand painted by my friend Merrick). I'm not gonna lie... I love it. :)

new bedroom

I really wanted a pink bedroom with pretty wallpaper and a pink chandelier. But after a lot of browsing (both online and out and about) and price comparing, I decided that a pink bedroom will have to wait. For what? I don't know. But wait it will.

So my thoughts turned to white - an appropriate colour for peace, calm and fresh starts, don't you think? My apartment already has nice eggshell-coloured walls and 12-inch-high white moulding around the base of every room so I had an easy space to work within. My furniture is also white - making a totally white room make even more sense.

It was surprisingly easy to create an almost completely white room - white curtains, white duvet cover and pillow shams, white lamp base, white rug and voila. A white room.

The crowning glory of my bedroom is the hanging light fixture. I have a friend who's getting married soon so I have been spending more time than I should on wedding-related blogs. I was loving the idea of clustering paper lanterns for decoration and thought, "Why couldn't I have that in my room?"

Shortly thereafter my (very patient) brother took me around the stores as I scouted out possibilities and ideas. Luckily RONA isn't kidding when they say they have DIY experts because the lighting lady was amazing. She understood exactly what I wanted to do and told us exactly how to do it!

In order to successfully complete my mission, all I needed was a small metal plate, 3 rubber washer-type things, 3 dangling cords for hanging lamps (the kind you plug into the wall) and the lanterns.

Now, I'm not an electrical expert. So this is where my brother took the reins. I'm an idea generator, not a follow-through individual! Stephen drilled 3 holes through the metal plate and inserted the 3 rubber rings into each hole so that the rough edges wouldn't fray the cords. Then, we ("we") cut the plugs off each cord and spliced (is that even the word?) them to connect to the wires dangling out of the ceiling. We ran the cords down, screwed the metal plate into the ceiling, attached the lanterns to the bulbs and... Amazing! My very own paper lantern cluster. I love it. All it took was 3 hours and $75. Not too shabby to have something to smile at every time you walk into your bedroom!

The room isn't complete yet. I still need a headboard and some art on the walls. I also want an analog alarm clock that doesn't tick-tock the heck out of me. Digital clocks hardly hold the same charm. I am also looking for plants for my windowsill, a bigger, fluffier rug and... who knows what else. I'm sure with time things will fall into place.

going to the birds

I wasn't feeling inspired to re-work my clothesline in a photographic manner this season. But I couldn't leave my hallway empty. So as I surveyed my freshly decorated front door, I realized how easy it would be to keep going with a springtime theme using scrapbook paper and a pair of scissors.

I'm in love with my new feathered friends. They keep this place feeling full of life and activity as I walk up and down the hall. I have the bird silhouettes saved as PDF files so if you want to make your own flock, let me know and I will e-mail you the outlines! >:)

A Happy Spot

I cleaned the dickens out of my kitchen today. No crumb stood a chance! There's something about cleaning that soothes the soul, don't you agree?

Some of my flowers needed to be re-arranged because they were wilting. Now I have a new happy spot that makes my heart swell whenever I look at it. :)

You know, I don't normally keep plants because I generally have zero success. I killed a cactus once. But I think I could get used to some greenery on my windowsills. Perhaps I'll give it a go!

I thought it might be a nice to save my roses.

Here they are hanging upside down.

My lovely PINK daisy and friends.

bedroom love

I love our bedroom. There's something about the quality of light that shines through our windows that is so delicate and magical. It makes me swoon. Most days I am getting ready for work around 3 o'clock and always think to myself, "I need to get a picture of this."
But then never bother. Well, a few days ago I tried but the picture is never as good as being there.


Anyway, the above photo is showing you my favourite spot in our apartment. I am in love with this area for 4 reasons:

1. I love our tall windows and the pale yellow curtains that cast a golden glow on sunshiny days.

2. The teddy bear. Meet Sir William! My parents were married in 1969 when real fur was all the rage. Sir William was originally a coat that was a gift from my father to mother their first Christmas together. A few years back Dad had the coat made into three teddy bears - one for me, my mother and sister. I think Sir William is cute as a button watching over things all day on his chair.

3. Draped over the chair is an afghan I wove. My mother weaves and it's always been something I want to learn too. It is so neat to take a skein of wool and turn it into something useful like a warm snuggly blanket. This afghan was my first major project of hopefully many more to come. My dream is that some day Mom and Dad will show up with the loom and let me set it up in the spare bedroom. [*hint* *hint* if you're reading this. I love you and want to be like you! :)].

4. The painting is my most favourite painting Mom has ever done. It's called "Ma & Da's house" and it's where she was born in Newfoundland. I love that it's mainly black and white with a splash of colour for extra punch.

I love my apartment. Sometimes I feel like people scoff at the thought of interior design and buying/creating things purely for decoration. But I think it's so important to be enamoured with where you live and happy when you look about your surroundings. I strongly believe that where you live should be a reflection of who you are and how you love. Don't you think?