the simple things

the bathroom inspiration and plan

So the next room on my planning list is the bathroom. I definitely want to keep it bright and white. The plan is to use lots of white subway tile, a hexagon tile floor, pedestal sinks (probably two of them) and tons of white with black accents.

Here are some of my inspiration pics from Pinterest.

I love, love this floor and all the white subway tile!

Source: google.ca via Carly on Pinterest

 

The perfect pedestal sink and mirror. I love the idea of having two of these.

Source: frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.ca via Carly on Pinterest

 

Oh, and maybe a tin ceiling like in this bathroom! Would that not be divine! I also love all the little accents in this bathroom like the wire basket to hold extra toilet paper and the cute hooks for towels and other stuff.

Source: bhg.com via Carly on Pinterest

 

And I just love this little vintage blue cabinet. I have a small black cab that I'm thinking of repainting this amazing eggshell blue and distressing it. It will also be perfect for storage since we are going with the pedestal sinks vs a vanity.

Source: theletteredcottage.net via Carly on Pinterest

 

You can see more of my Pinterest bathroom inspiration here. I'm still working on my living room and dining room plans, but will be back to share them with you soon!

Have a great day!

the kitchen inspiration and plan

Happy Monday! First, I want to say a big thanks to everyone's wonderful and supportive comments and emails!! You guys are simply the best! I have to admit I've been feeling a little overwhelmed with selling the house, planning the renos on the new place and of course the daunting packing task ahead, but with all the amazingly positive emails and comments I have received over the last few weeks has really helped lift my spirits! Thank you!!

So now that the house is sold and we are set to take possession of our new 1922 built home, I am now in full renovation planning mode and I am starting with the kitchen. Not sure if you follow me on Pinterest, but I've been pinning up a storm for months. Here are a few of my pins for my new kitchen inspiration, which is the first room I plan to tackle.

This first pin shows the heart of my inspiration for our new kitchen. I plan on having a great big farmers sink and lots of open shelves for our dishes which happen to be all white as well! We are also doing a beadboard ceiling with pot-lights.

Source: 4allmywishesanddreams.blogspot.ca via Carly on Pinterest

 

My plan is to also have my DH build a rustic kitchen island/table maybe similar to this one. I want the table to be as big as possible so I can prep food on it, use it as my baking center and of course a place for breakfast. I love this table, but for my table I will have a lower shelf so I can have a place for more kitchen storage.

Source: free-home-decorating-ideas.com via Carly on Pinterest

 

I absolutely love this coffee station idea and totally plan to do something similar in our space. I even have the vintage table already!

Source: houzz.com via Carly on Pinterest

 

My other idea is to find an old cabinet that I could convert into the kitchen pantry. I just love this one! I have a 150 year old pie safe I might use if I can't find something bigger. Oh and look at that table with the lower shelf, that's what I'm thinking for our table.

Source: cozycottagecute.com via Carly on Pinterest

 

So there it is, my dream kitchen inspiration and plan! The heart of the kitchen design is a white palette with a mix of vintage and new furnishings, a big farmers sink, lots of open shelves and a great big rustic island/table in the center. Now I just have to wait to take possession of the house and get to the demo and rebuilding stage!

With the kitchen plan down I'm now onto the living room and dining room, and I'll be back soon to share more of my inspiration plans with you.

See ya soon!

the house is finally ready for selling...and it sold!

Well, it's been a crazy few weeks, but I'm so excited the finish line is now insight. Last week we finally were ready to list our house and as luck would have it, it sold to the first person, in the first hour! 

Today I thought I'd share a few pics from our listing. Looking at the photos now makes me a little sad that we are leaving our little home which we've really grown to love. In a couple of months we will be moving out and I will for surely miss this place, there are so many amazing memories here. We've lived here for almost 8 years, our girls were born here and we've witnessed a lot of firsts here - first steps, first laughs, first teeth, first everything. I will truly miss seeing things in our house that remind me of those moments, but I'm so grateful to have many pictures to look back on.

Now back to the house photos and first up is the exterior of our humble little abode. I really wish our lawn was greener and our trees had leaves, but that's what it looks like after a long Canadian winter. 

The view from inside the front door.

Stepping into the kitchen, one of my most favourite rooms in our house.

The living room.

The main bath.

Our girls {very} pink room.

Our room.

The playroom.

The family room downstairs.

My craft room which I will miss terribly.

Now into the backyard.

And there it is, minus photos of the guest room, laundry room and my husband's bathroom. I will truly miss our home, but at the same time I'm looking forward to renovating our new house and can't wait for all the new experiences our new new home will bring.

Have a really wonderful week everyone!

what's new in the dining room

Hello blogger friends! Sorry to be MIA but the moving preparations are starting to pile up. However, in preparing our current home for sale I've been making some much needed decor changes that I thought I would share with you. All the changes I'm making are to things that we can move with us so all the time and effort is not wasted. 

Remember awhile back I chatted about recovering my dining room chairs...yet again. Well, I did it and just love how they turned out! I used vintage grain sacks this time and couldn't be more pleased with how it all came together.

Recovering these chairs has almost become an annual ritual for me. It's such an easy and inexpensive way to change the look of my dining room.

I'm also making some big changes in the living room as well and once I pull that room together I'll share the pictures with you. 

We are hoping to have the house on the market sometime in May and the renovations in our new home set to start in June. Fingers crossed everything goes as planned and we'll move sometime in August. The new house definitely won't be done by then, but I'm hoping the messy stuff like the demo'ing and some of the rebuilding will be complete, after all the girls start kindergarten in September so we'll need to be somewhat settled by then.

Have an amazing day everyone!!

some big news...

We're moving! Back in November we got word that my husband was being transferred to a new office in a new province and the opportunity was just too good to pass on. However, this move won't be easy. We've lived in Calgary for quite a long time now, our girls were born here, our house is now just getting to a point that we love and we've made some really good friends we'll miss dearly.

What will make this move even more challenging, is our new home needs a top to bottom renovation...oh, and did I mention I have never even seen the house!! My husband flew out to look at a home we thought we were going to buy and long story short, that house didn't work out, but by chance he happened upon this house and well...he bought it after seeing it for only 5 or 10 minutes. Crazy I know, but we needed a house.

The house was built around 1920, is not located on acreage, and isn't at all what we were looking for, but with all the negatives, there are some really great things about it. The home is really close to my Mom, Dad and Grandma, a wonderful school is just a short walk away and there is great renovation potential.

I'm just now getting excited by all the possible renovations we could do, especially since I feel I've really developed my home decor style to something I love and am thrilled to start creating a home from scratch.

So what's this mean for my blog. Well, for awhile my posts may be a little sporadic. The craziness of getting our current home ready for sale, packing, moving to a new city, renovating our new home, getting the girls settled in a new neighbourhood and starting a new school will all be a little overwhelming at times.

However, on the fun side of things we will be totally transforming this house so if you're interested in home renovation projects we are going to have a lot of fun posts for you! I'll try to keep my photo challenges going, but to be honest it will be hard, so if I'm not able to post a challenge I hope you will still pick up your camera that week and challenge yourself to take a photo of anything and everything!

We aren't set to move until June, but as soon as I have reno project pictures in the works I'll be sure to share. From what my husband has told me, the house hasn't seen a single renovation in at least 40 years. There is wallpaper to remove, a kitchen and baths to replace, floors to be refinished, a basement to demolish, and the list goes on from there, but transforming a home from the early 1920's is sure to be fun!

Well, I'm off to build my room-by-room inspiration boards for the new house! Wish us luck! :-)

Have a great weekend everyone!