Fessing Up : My Dirty Little Secret

Today I'm thrilled to be over at one of my favourite blogs, Little Black Door, dishing about one of the secrets that I keep about my living situation. When I say it's dirty...I mean it literally.

  Here is a look at some of the goodness you can expect to find over at Elizabeth's blog while you're there checking out my confession. Her home is so fabulous, and she is a DIY master:

 Loved her cane chair transformation!

This painted staircase leading down to her basement is so fun!

This room she designed for her lucky daughters is perfection!

Now what are you waiting for?! Head on over to Little Black Book for the good stuff.
xox

Pink with Envy: My Mom's Depression Glass Collection

Sorry for the radio silence last week. I'm a bad, bad little blogger. Do you forgive me? I was in Waterloo visiting my family, and well, you know how these things go. One day while my mom was at work, I unloaded all of her pink depression glass to admire and snap pictures of. This pattern is known as Old Colony or Open Lace, and is very delicate as the edges tend to break easily. I just love this collection. It's one of my very favourite things.

 Isn't it just perfect? I'm simply pink with envy!
Do you have any depression glass of your own?

Closet Dreaming: Walk-In Closet Makeover Plans

So as you may have seen if you follow me on Instagram, I'm thinking about giving my giant walk-in closet a mini makeover. It just feels cluttered, disorganized, and not living up to its full potential. Also, my hamper broke resulting in a growing mountain of laundry taking up most of the floor space. Of course, the most boring cost effective solution would be to replace the hamper, which I fully intend, but I figure why not have a little fun with the space too?

The only thing is that I'm questioning whether or not it is worth investing money into, when I only plan on being in this rental for another 18 months or so. But I think I can do it on a tight budget, and if I spend money on solutions that I can take with me to my next place (although I doubt I will find another closet this big), it will be worth it. I'm thinking $250-300 is a reasonable budget for the space.
I've dreamed up this moodboard with my current ideas for the space:

I love the idea of adding some dressers because everything looks more organized behind closed storage. I want the space to feel sexy and glamorous.

I've come across a couple of other great ideas that I would love to implement in my walk-in: 

via Design Darling

^ I love Mackenzie's idea of using an acrylic letter sorter to organize clutches. This would look great on top of those dressers!

via Made by Girl

^Maybe I could paper or paint the drawers with a fun pop of pattern or colour like Jen did.

And just in case you need a reminder of how it looks currently, here it is, only today it looks much messier:

So what do you guys think? Should I make this my spring project or do you think it's not worth it?
Cast your vote in the comments!
xox

Elle Decor Shout Out

This weekend I was beyond honoured by a shout out from Elle Decor via their twitter and website. Elle Decor is such an amazing magazine, I have a whole stack of old issues I could never part with.

 See it in action here!
Thanks so much Elle Decor!
xox

Valentine's Day Bar Cart & Heart Scewer DIY

As I've discussed before, I love being able to decorate my apartment as feminine as I want (like my gallery wall here). This bachelorette pad thing is something I try to take total advantage of because I know I won't be able to do it forever. This year, I'm feeling especially excited for Valentine's Day, and it shows! Over the weekend I added some fun, easy, lovey-dovey updates to my bar cart:

I made the little heart shaped straw toppers / drink skewers simply by cutting hearts out of construction paper and then gluing a toothpick in between 2 hearts. I think they are adorable! My XOXO pillow from Chapters Indigo (on major sale!) is also looking great with this theme! And I can't forget about my adorable 'Cherry on Top' cards by Ashley Brooke Designs. I had this one on my inspiration board and one day I opened it and found a hidden little love note from M. inside! He's so sweet.

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?
xox

Painting out the Trim

If there is one trend I heard being repeated over and over during the talks at IDS this year, it's that the big thing right now is to paint the trim to match the walls.

via Martha Stewart

Katie Ridder via Southern Living

via Thom Filicia

Original Source Unknown, via Pinterest

How do you all feel about this look? I'll admit, at first I didn't like it, but it's growing on me. I especially like it in rooms with dark walls like the last two photos, where white trim would be too harsh of a contrast and really ruin the moodiness of the space. Weigh in on your thoughts in the comments!
xox

Goodbye Smokey

On the weekend, my parents called to tell me that my beloved childhood cat Smokey passed away. My heart is truly broken that I will never get to see him again, and that I wasn't there for his last few days or to say goodbye. But I know he is in a better place, and that he is not suffering, and that is all that I can ask for.

 He's been my partner in crime for fifteen years and he is always the first thing I look for when I go home to Waterloo for a visit. It's going to be so weird not seeing him there. But he had a good, long life, full of adventure and love. I'm quite certain that he had used up all nine of his lives.
He once escaped from the house and went missing for 30 days. We looked and looked but couldn't find him. I can't even tell you the overwhelming sense of relief I felt when my neighbour found him starving under a truck and brought him home to me. He was a house cat (although he loved sitting in the grass with his leash) and I thought for sure I had lost him. I am grateful for the extra years we had with him.
Then there was the hilarious time that a stray lookalike imposter tried to take his place:

Smokey's twin now lives with my brother. Smokey was less than amused by this guy.

No one ever said he was a cuddly cat, but he was ours, he was a part of the family. We loved him so much and we will miss him dearly. Rest in peace my sweet little man.
xox

Equestrian Decor: Year of the Horse

Happy Chinese New Year! It's officially the year of the horse. I was born during the year of the horse, so this one is especially fun for me. The past couple of years, I've seen equestrian decor popping up more and more, and I predict that now that it is now officially the year of the horse, it's going to become a major trend. It's always been a dream of mine to go horse back riding - although I'm a little bit intimidated by horses, there is no denying the sheer power and regalness of these gorgeous creatures!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Take a look at some of my inspiration pics for horse-related decor:

Designed by Kelly Wearstler via O at Home Magazine

via Atmosphere Interior Design Inc.

via Apartment Therapy

via Design Darling

via House Beautiful

 Do you have any equestrian decor in your home? What do you think about this trend? Comment below!
xox

IDS 2014: Some Highlights

Like every other Toronto design blogger/enthusiast, I spent a good chunk of my weekend exploring and being inspired at IDS2014. I get very overwhelmed by the sheer size of events like this, and inevitably, my intentions to take a million pretty pictures get thrown out the window while I touch and experience everything. I did, however, make sure to document some things that really caught my eye.

First up is the IKEA booth. IKEA is always a showstopper at this event and this year was no exception!

I was literally drooling over that gold tile!

I also really liked the fun and quirky displays illustrating colorways at the Urban Barn Display:

Obviously this wall treatment isn't the most practical, but it is pretty and romantic isn't it?

A line by Aerin Lauder is coming to Cocoon Furnishings! I just loved this etagere vignette:

I also had fun seeing the new products on the market, especially those designed and constructed locally here by talented designers in Toronto.
I found these 'Innit' chairs to be so fun and surprisingly comfortable:

 Last but not least, I had the privilege of hearing the design talks by Linda Reeves, Kelvin Brown, Suzanne Dimma and Sarah Richardson, which was very inspiring and motivating. Sarah's booth featuring her new Kravet fabric line was amazing too, but much too crowded for me to take a decent picture!  Here is a peak off of Sarah's Instagram account:

via Sarah Richardson on Instagram

Next year, I will try to take more photos! At least this year I didn't knock over any sculptures...
Big thanks to M. for sticking it out with me all day! He is a keeper.

Were any of you at IDS? What was your favourite thing?