This is the room for the older of the sisters…her colour palette is a little more bright than pastel…but she’s still girly. In this room we painted the thrifted bed and desk with chalk paint, used a vintage window, Chinese lanterns and some random frames and a wooden box to create some interest on the wall. Just like with her sister, I made a custom subway sign for her and sewed all the bedding and pillows. She really loves it and so do I!
Later this week I’ll post some details on products and projects in this room… for now just enjoy…
If you want some help making the place you live a place you love contact me…I can help!
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Every day me ‘n the dog hop in the car and go pick up the mister from work. He works in the vicinity of a huge recycling plant that crushes cars and other stuff….every couple weeks an empty barge shows up and over a period of two short days these guys on bulldozers Tetris these old cars and trucks onto the boat for a trip to god knows where. I love to park here and wait where I can watch this process unfold week after week. I’m astounded at how many vehicles are always being loaded up, I mean we ARE on an island…how many cars can there be? Until I figure out the answers to these burning questions I thought I’d share a couple snaps I took a few weeks ago…
I’m totally inspired by a client of mine who takes great local urban/editorial pictures and see’s inspiration everywhere she goes…so I thought I’d try to play photographer for a day until she lets me feature her work on the blog for you all to enjoy.
What do you think? Cool. Weird? Cray Cray? I’m kind of loving the idea of framing one of my pics in a white mat/white frame combo.
Crisp vs Crushed, Clean vs Dirty, New vs Recycled.
If you want some help making the place you live a place you love, Contact me…I can help!
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Thanks for coming back to check out my progress in the one room challenge! If this is your first visit (I’m so glad you stopped by) click here to see the first three weeks of my girl glam apartment project. This past week I tackled a coffee table that my client inherited from her parents which was actually made by her grandfather. It was a big heavy piece and I knew right away we needed to lighten it up if it was going to stay. Here’s how it looks today…
And here’s how it looked when it arrived at my house for a makeover…
I sorta kinda got a Moroccan vibe from the open work on the sides and I fer sure wanted to take the top off and replace it with glass, …. my client wasn’t exactly as sure as I was so I showed her an inspiration pic to help persuade her…it worked.
First thing I had to do was take it apart which was no easy task cause her grampa was very meticulous and built this table for a hurricane. I carefully removed the top and the bracing and decided that this table was going to live out the remainder of its days upside down.
After that I sanded and used wood filler on the holes and knicks….sanding and re-filling several times… It had a thick black enamel paint on it so I sanded the sides a little, but not allot, and then primed it with gray primer.
Next I was ready for the gold, and I wanted it to have some movement…not a flat gold so I used two colours of spray paint and used some craft paints too in order to get some variation in the colours. The product I like best is Rustoleum metallics in Antique Brass & Pure Gold and craft paints in Sahara Gold, Antique Gold and you guessed it…gold.:) I applied the spray paint like the Karate Kid and used my larger art brushes to apply the craft paint. it’s subtle…and certainly more effort…but it turned out really good.
I was nervous to bring it over to her apartment because I knew it was a sentimental piece but thankfully she likes it and the glass guy arrived on time so it wasn’t naked for long. here’s how it looked…
This was a fun, inexpensive and easy transformation. The table was free, and the paints were $20. The glass was by far the most expensive part at $185 incl taxes & delivery. If I were to do it again I would scour used furniture stores for a glass table and re-use the top. Turns out round glass is kind of a pain and we had to get it cut in Vancouver and brought over to the island…hence the price tag. we learn 
Next week I’ll reveal the dresser I’m painting for under the TV…My client did the base coat painting and I’m going to try to take it up a notch with a distressed / stained finish…we’ll see how it goes.
Don’t forget to jump over to these ladies blogs and check out what they’ve accomplished this week! That’s where I’ll be:)…
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What a fantastic weekend! I got the Etsy shop running, had amazing support and feedback and even made my first sale!! Sweet! The Peppercorn pillow above will forever be my first:) But don’t worry I just made another one and I’ll list it on Tuesday when I’m back from Vancouver.
Happy Monday Peeps. And Thank You for being so amazing!
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Whoa! Today is the day. I’ve filled and fluffed and karate chopped some pillows and now it’s time to push them out of the nest. I finally listed some pillows Wooo hoo! Here is the link to the shop. And, from now on you will find that little orange “E” in the follow me section on the right sidebar so you can always come visit.
It took a little while to get it going and photographed..Props to all shops! But it’s coming along nicely and I’ll keep adding more as I go. REMEMBER I do custom orders too.
In October I’m planning a giveaway on this blog and my One Room Challenge and BLEND peeps will get a special discount cause I love’em. So stay tuned for your coupon codes ladies! Remember E is for Etsy!!
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This is the part where I get sad that it’s almost over… I love the One Room Challenge! If you would like to see my progress click week 1, week 2, week 3 or week4
This week I finished a few projects and in this final week I am expecting to get the outstanding electrical work taken care of, get the walls closed up and paint. Delays!!!!!
I am planning to tackle the drywall myself..good grief I’ve really gone nuts!! But the fact is I’m outa time and outa funds for this project so I just have to get’ er done. Thank goodness for Youtube “how to” videos!
Take a look at the marble work top I finished this week…before / during / after
And the card catalogue drawers before and after…
Sad to say this is all I can report since my WordPress is refusing to upload any more images….I swear I can cut, nail, paint anything…I have the energy for it. But when it comes to the computer stuff I am at a total loss. I’ve done all I can tonight, it’ll have to wait till tomorrow…HTTP Error you suck!
Be sure to come back next Wednesday for the FINAL REVEAL…I’m so excited to see it all together!
…until next week…now go and check out the other challengers and see the progress on their rooms!
Jessie – Mix & Chic – Master Bedroom
Linda – My Crafty Home Life – Master Bedroom
Alison – My Little Happy Place – Office
Danylle – Nana Moon – Master Bathroom
Jennifer – The Pink Pagoda – Family Room
Lindsay – The Pursuit of Style – Stairway
Emily – Rue de Emily – Living Room
Lindsay – Sadie + Stella – Office
Lisa – Trapped in North Jersey – Living Room
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Here’s an update on one of my ongoing design projects. Most of the furniture we selected and purchased before the holidays has arrived and the house is starting to come together. There are a few more key pieces and accessorizing to do, but the result is already warm and inviting. My clients are dear friends who have totally blown my mind with their willingness to follow my suggestions but also their increased confidence to carry on with the decoration of their home and make great choices on their own. This project was very much a collaboration between myself and the husband and wife team and despite the fact that there were several interests at play the results are a testament to the great communication among us. Their home successfully incorporates their love of Canadian First Nations art with their need to have a safe and child friendly place for the little one to play.
This art piece is by Sabina Hill of Vancouver.
There are a lot of elements at play here. I needed to honor the client’s love of Stickley furniture and arts and craft design while incorporating contemporary art pieces, Traditional/Mediterranean architecture and a need for a soft and kid friendly space where everyone can flop at the end of the day. Tall order….but I think it is turning out great!
Contact me if you would like some help making the place you live a place you love.
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Well here it is, the last post in the One Room Challenge to complete one room in my house in six weeks. It really was the perfect amount of time and it was so much fun to follow the progress of all the other bloggers who took part. I’m really going to miss having so much traffic to my blog, but I’m glad to have met some really awesome ladies that I can continue to follow and learn from …but most of all I am so glad to have finally finished the bedroom!
Here is what the room looked like when we moved in 2 years ago….These pics document how I changed the paint and the flooring immediately upon moving in…
And here is how it looks today…
works like a charm 
I have to say that I’m really happy with the results. I’m not a professional photographer, but I hope I’ve captured the moody eclectic feeling I was going for…of course the dog would not leave and I was losing the little bit of brightness in a weekend of pretty much solid rain…so alas the resident ham/helper is in the shots.
Here is my Inspiration Pic again by Designer Eric Cohler:
RECAP
- Painted Bedside tables and changed hardware
- Replaced Hardware on old dressers
- Painted feature wall
- New Duvet Cover, rug and Lamps
- Re-purposed small frames and art pieces creating gallery walls
- DIY Art pieces
Check out the other amazing bloggers taking part in the challenge and see their final reveal!
Jen Office
Kelly Office
Danylle Girl's Room
Emily Boys Room
Suzanne Girl's Room
Kim Living Room
Taylor Living Room
Jennifer Laundry Room
Pin It
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Thanks for coming back to check on my progress in the one room challenge. This week I managed to paint the walls and complete my bedside tables project…A relief because they were the two most labor intensive aspects of the room. The rest is the fun stuff…but more on that next week.
Here is how the room progressed this weekend…If you look closely you can see that early on I had an enthusiastic assistant, but he deserted the project shortly after the work began…typical.
Click here for my Week 2 post on choosing my paint colour. I chose Kendall Charcoal (Benjamin Moore HC 166)
In addition to painting the feature wall I finished these bedside tables…Click here for the Week 3 shots in progress.
My Tip of the week relates to installing new hardware onto cabinets or furniture pieces like I did this week..
Professional Tip: When installing new hardware to your DIY project sometimes you need a longer or shorter screw than the one that came with your new knobs. There is a screw called a “breakaway” that you can break off at the appropriate length in order to get a nice tight fit. They are available at most hardware stores. The only trick is to try not to damage the thread by squeezing too hard when breaking off the pieces….my advice is to buy a few extras
Check out the other amazing bloggers taking part in the challenge and see what they’ve been up to!
Jen Office
Kelly Office
Danylle Girl's Room
Emily Boys Room
Suzanne Girl's Room
Kim Living Room
Taylor Living Room
Jennifer Laundry Room
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My most recent project has been a home where the hardwood floors were replaced and we painted the entire house. (pics of that to come soon). The fireplace was in need of an update and the client chose a charcoal coloured slate to replace the old multi-coloured slate tile.
My client also had a beam in her garage…yes a big (giant even) piece of wood…you know just hanging out in her garage. Cool client huh? So of course we had to make it into the mantle… despite the rather obvious bow in it.
I sanded that bad boy with a rented belt sander from Home Depot and had a BLAST! It revealed a really beautiful piece of wood underneath and I had help installing it from my buddy Shawn.
The drywall was patched by a pro and the painting of the house went on all around me as I painted the niches in Benjamin Moore Silver Fox and the shelves and feature wall in Benjamin Moore Black Tar in Pearl finish.
I stained the beam in one coat so as to keep it on the lighter side. it turned out amazing. I used Minwax Jacobean coloured stain ans sealed it with a polyurethane.
This project captured allot of my design philosophy…that is, re-using and reclaiming materials and vintage pieces. Using the clients objects in a new way rather than buying everything new, and most of all ensuring that the client gets exactly what they want…even if they didn’t know what that was when we started.
Contact me if you would like some help making the place you live a place you love.
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