A Riot of Colour

If there's one thing Audrey is certain of, it's that she LOVES colour.  Lots of bright, happy colours.

When we created her room in our house, we went with her all time fave, turquoise.  I was trying to make her room fit the overall look of our 125 year old home.  But it wasn't polished and the scheme never came together the way I envisioned.  It wasn't really the fun, happy space she wanted.  You can see for yourself, above.

We've been looking at some ideas for her room in our new house.  And she's not kidding when she says she wants it to be colourful.  These rooms are her favourites.

Apartment Therapy

House & Home

Lucy & Company

You can find all these rooms on my Kids Rooms pinboard.

Here's the inspiration board for Audrey's new space:

I think you all know that I'm a little colour shy.  The walls of her room will be an off white to dial it down a bit.  As will the furniture, except for maybe the bed.  She's currently trying to convince me that a rainbow chevron wall is the way to go.  Yikes!  A riot of colour!

Nothing like pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

xo Meg

Big News

   Last February, we listed our house.  I think you all know how I feel about my house.  I love it.  We didn't think we'd ever move again.
   

     If you are interested in the reasons why we were listing back in February, you can read this post.  If you'd like to see that listing, click here.  I think it's interesting because it shows the house pre-reno, and a few of you have asked about that.  Here are a couple of ugly process shots:

     If you recall, our house didn't sell after a couple of months.  The deals kept falling through. We determined the reason to be that there was simply too much work to be done on the property.  We thought we'd have better success if we completed a reno to the main floor, among other things you can read about here. Since we own a renovation company, this type of work costs us considerably less than it costs other people.

   We finished most of the work we were looking at completing with the reno, although there were a few things that still needed to be done.  We felt that the house was ready to re-list.

We listed the house on Thursday, September 20th.  We received an offer the following Wednesday and accepted it.  It's all done now, and the SOLD sign is up.

My feelings about this are extremely mixed.

We are actively looking for a new home now.  The neighbourhood we are looking at has old brick rancher homes.  With wide, beautiful properties, huge old trees and quite, rambling streets.  A completely different architecture.

We are waiting for just the right house to come up.  We have been to a few, but nothing that is just right yet.

So, for the next while, I'll be posting a little more about inspiration and a little less about reality.  We don't have very many real projects that we can be doing, although there are a couple of furniture painting projects I'll be working on.  Lots of inspiration boards coming your way!

xo Meg

Fall Style

It's not a secret that I love the fall.  Who doesn't?  The crisp air, the changing of the leaves, the kids going back to school, the boots...

I could go on.

I've been working on a little fall style makeover this year.  I will admit that I'm not always the most polished or fashionable woman.  I like classic style but am also always really, really busy.  So, I often wear lululemon pants and sweatshirts on the days that I don't go to work.

I am, in fact, wearing that exact outfit right now.  But I have been working to improve my overall appearance lately.  My favourite fall purchase being my leopard print flats.

Here are a couple of outfit images that are inspiring me this fall:

via

I love the bright yellow and the printed scarf.  This outfit is really me.  Once someone called me 'the queen of cardigans'.  If the shoe fits... Oh yeah, I also have those flats.

via

I love brown riding boots.  And I think the black and brown combo is pretty sophisticated.  The skinny jeans are a bit of a stretch for me (no pun intended) but I've purchased a pair from Joe Fresh that are black cords and I love them as long as I'm wearing a longer top.

via

I am definitely a basics girl.  But I love a funky accessory!  Leopard flats and an orange bag?  I'm in!

What are you wearing this fall?

xoMeg

Master Bedroom Update

 

 Remember when I asked you guys for a little help in the bedroom?

 

 

You were great.  You really were.

 

A whole bunch of you tried to help me out with bedside styling and picture hanging.  I put a lot of holes in my walls trying to figure out an artful arrangement for my bedside tables. Then I filled them all in and hung the two photos above the bed instead.

 

 I really wish I was a better artwork hanger.  I'm always trying to do a gallery wall.  I just can't seem to get one right.  I don't have the eye.  I think I'll put that on my list of goals: be good at gallery walls. . 

 

For now, I have given up accepted that the room is going to look like this for a while:

 

 

 

 

There's no headboard back there. Sigh.

This big piece of art, that is supposed to ground this whole scheme,  isn't hung. I don't really like the lights on our bedside tables. I wish they were gourd lamps. And I need a rug.

I am actually okay with the room looking like this for now.  In all honesty, I'm tired.  The reno has taken a lot out of me and need to take a break.  That way I can come back with fresh eyes and make this room happen.

 I'm also out of money.  Gourd lamps cost a lot, don't you know?

I hope you have the best of weekends.  Fall is here!

xo Meg

Exterior Progression

 

 

In addition to the renovations to the inside of our home, we also made some changes to the exterior.

 

 

 

This is a shot of our home from just before we took posession of it.

Note the overgrown landscaping and peeling paint.

 

 

 

 

 

Here I had completed the landscaping in early summer. It is amazing what some new

plants and lots of dark mulch can do for a garden!

 

 

 

 



 

This before shot is a close-up of the trim before painting.



 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is what the exterior looks like now:

 

 

 

You can see that the plants are fililng in nicely in the garden.  We also added a window box and filled it with trailing plants.  The white of the trim really brightens the whole house and makes the lovely detailing stand out. 

 

 

 

 

The front door was painted in a charcoal grey and the ceiling was painted out in white, like the rest of the trim.  It truly is amazing what a coat of paint can do, isn't it?

Happy Monday!


xo Meg

 



Main Floor Reno Photos

Is it gratuitous to post even more photos of this reno?  Seriously, we've worked so hard and so long on this that I have so many more things to show you.  When I look over the photos on the blog, they all look like 'before' shots!
 Here are a few more photos of the main floor:

This is the renovated office.  If you are interested in seeing the before, check this out.

The new powder room. It is so much better than before!

 

This is a completely different view of the main floor with its new open concept.

Remember how hard I worked on this wallpapered staircase?



And how I'm the Jedi Master of Trim?  I love this little leaded glass beauty.

Believe it or not, I have some more photos to share next week.  I thought I'd catch you up on everything we've finished here at this crazy old house.  I'm also going to update my home tour page with the renovated version. 

I'd like to thank my friend Kara for taking these shots with her awesome camera.  So much better than my photos! 

xo Meg

My New Kitchen

It's been a long time coming but I thought you'd like to see my new Kitchen.

Frankly, this renovation almost killed us.  But we managed to get it done and stay married. 

Remember when we moved in and it looked like this?

before

See that wall on the left side?  

We made some large structural changes to the kitchen by removing the wall between the existing dining room and kitchen.  This made room for a peninsula and created a better traffic flow for our family.  It also served to open up the entire main floor.  The light in there is amazing now and the house feels so much larger!

Here is a view of the dining room, from the living room at the front of the house:

You can see the peninsula and how removing the wall created an open and airy feel.  

I love the view from here.

As a result of opening up that wall between the kitchen and dining room, we had to close up the large, non-functioning doorway in the hallway. It was an amazing french door - 4 feet wide!  But it was warped in the hinges and wouldn't even open.  I'm taking suggestions as to how to repurpose it.

before

I love the ceiling we installed.  It might be my favourite thing about the new kitchen.  Especially since it was a dropped ceiling before. 

So there you have it.  Hope you like it as much as I do!

I'm back now so you'll see more regular posting again. The renos are done, the kids are settled in at school.  I'm looking forward to putting a little more personality into the spaces we've finished.  I'll keep you posted!

xo Meg