Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Its been a very busy holiday season for us this year.  We hosted our annual holiday "Oyster and Stew" bash and then my entire family for Christmas.  It was nice to have a full house brimming with cheer and  treats.  The leftovers are still flowing.  We also now know we are able to fit 12 (very creatively) around our dining room table.  

We have almost been in this Parkdale house for a year and I still feel so lucky to call it home. It is such a bright, warm and inspiring space that I am still discovering.  Below is a glimpse of a couple of new additions to the living room, including this amazing quilt form Hopewell Workshop.  I finally put down  an area rug to camouflage the floors that are just a little worse for wear.  I also somehow managed to justify giving myself a marble coffee table for my birthday.  The hobbit closet to the right of the couch is about to get stuffed to the brim with christmas decorations…until next year! In the new year I will tackle our master bedroom (there are wallpaper plans in the works) and do a little more work on the bathroom, perhaps a little more paint.  More photos to come soon!

Wicked Wicked Winter

Alas…It has been so long since I have posted.  In the midst of a crazy move I somehow managed to get pneumonia so I was down for the count for quite a bit.  I've got things back up and running now and hope to be a little more present on here.  We are really enjoying our new apartment.  Slowly but surely it is all coming together.  Last week my folks were visiting from Nova Scotia and we went out for an afternoon jaunt on Queen West.  Poking around INabstracto, we stumbled upon the perfect little credenza for our new living room.  Talking with Kate the owner we learned that these smaller 50's and 60's versions are becoming more and more difficult to find.  This one fits perfectly in our space and will work well for our TV. I love that it carries the grain of the wood all the way across the front and the walnut handles are really gorgeous.  Also, having not had a television in about 10 years, I'm pretty excited for the thing that sits on top as well.

Speaking of TV, I should also report that my old space and I were featured on the show Steven and Chris.  Many thanks to Meg and Mary the delightful producer and camera-woman who came over to spend the day shooting.  I am the second segment in Episode 94 (Season 7). You can see it all here.  If you don't want to watch the entire episode you can simply drag the mouse forward one segment to the second and then I'll give you a guided tour of the space!  

Apartment Fame

Many thanks to the Apartment Therapy folks for featuring my little space last week as a "House Call".  It is fun to see it up there on the big internet screen.  I have really enjoyed putting it all together over the years and am always pleased when other people appreciate my choices as well.

Chair fame

These little babies are getting a lot of attention lately.  Thanks so much to apartment therapy for adding them to their before and after files a few weeks ago.  Also, thanks to all those apartment therapy readers who took the time to give feedback.   Your kind words were very much appreciated.  We are all blushing.  Catch the full feature here:

Blushing Chairs 

Big Blog Love

There were many pics of this gallery wall collage in my living room on the 'ol world wide web this past week.  Many thanks to Design*Sponge and EQ3's blog Inhabit for doing some features on my designs.  Max at Design*Sponge did a great piece on the two Mid-Century Modern chairs that I redid and Inhabit was kind enough to feature some of my living room details along with the Reverie sofa I purchased as a gift to myself for Christmas last year.  Thank you so much to both sites for your kind words.  I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to share my ideas with the world, outside of this blog.
In case you missed it here are the links :
Chairs
Reverie

rainy revelry

A fair share of rain for us so far this summer.  Today I'm working from the couch as there is no real reason the venture outside.  I am getting geared up for a trip out east to see my Mom and Dad.  Looking forward to some ocean air.

Beautiful Brass Bobbles

I've been really lusting after all things brassy lately, slowly picking up little pieces at auctions and antique stores - book ends, vases, light fixtures.   I'm finding that they work really well with the tones of my teak mid-century modern furniture.

Here is a nice inspiration wall from Jonathan Adler that instantly caught my eye.  The brassy bits just pop and I love the warmth they bring into the room.  It is instantly elevated.

Jonathan Adler

Mid-Century Recovery

They are finally finished... The chairs that took a great deal of blood sweat and tears.  Between re-foaming the seats and backs and waiting for the fabric to arrive from the manufacturer, it was quite a lengthy process.  I'd only ever tried smaller upholstery projects in the past and these were a little trickier.  I had to shape the foam myself and apply decorative tacks to the seat backs.  It was all worth it.  Im very pleased with the results.  I've already had a couple of offers to buy them,  but i think these ones will be for me.  I just like them too much.

Here are a few other snapshots of the process.

Soul Soothing

I've been a little under the weather lately and have been spending a lot of time on this...
Couldn't be more pleased with this purchase.
I've also been working on a few other projects to show and tell shortly. Stay Tuned.