No Cost Changes in the Master Bedroom!

Earlier this week I told you about my "Hate My House Syndrome" - and I had thought that it was just a result of returning home from vacation.  I do believe that was what was behind my feelings - that and the cold temperatures that I returned to.  I will be the first to tell you that I feel I suffer from seasonal affective disorder.  I really hate winter and cold temperatures like those we live with here in Ontario.

In an effort to get rid of those feelings this week, I have taken on a few small projects this week.  Nothing major, just some re-arranging and bringing some spring into my home.  The first was to re-arrange our master bedroom.

I moved the bed under the window and off the long back wall.

I put McG's marble-topped bedside table at the far end of the room near the ensuite door to the bathroom.

My armoire was moved to the long wall where the bed used to be, while my dressing table was left in its original position.

Here's a closer look at the new arrangement on top of the armoire, including a new owl I found at the Dollar store this week!

Just some small changes - that cost NOTHING - but made a big impact in making me feel a little better about my home this week!

Hope you enjoyed them!

Cheryl

A Little Pillow Talk...

Do you like stenciled pillows?  I can do without all the ruffles, but I do enjoy the look of the stencil...You know what I mean...something on a creamy background that would look great in any room!

I made a quick trip to the Dollarama yesterday to pick up some cat treats and a few other items.  While walking down one of the aisles I spotted these...

Very cool pillow covers for just...wait for it....

I purchased these 2 - there was another one with more of an old postcard look to it...but they only had one and the zipper was broken...

Not sure where I will put them - but I LOVE THEM!!!

Here's another picture of them...

I'm going to find a pillow form in my stash and get them out....might make a cute addition to the loveseat in the living room...

Cheryl

Adding some "WOW" to the Entryway

Back when we were first starting our renovation (and this blog) I showed you this picture of our living room...

I told you then how I HATED that orangey railing that divided our living room from our entryway... Step one in the renovation was taking that down and installing a half-wall in its place.

At that time we also painted the trim white and the walls a soft grey-blue called Canadian Sky by Glidden paints.

I knew this large entryway wall needed more than just a paint treatment...and that's where the WOW comes from...A STATEMENT WALLPAPER!

I purchased the wallpaper at Walmart.  The pattern is called Floral Trail and I paid $22.97 for each package.  It took 1 1/2 packages to complete the wall.  Its a chocolate brown background with a grey-blue and pear green flower, all the colours I love.  Our living room furniture is chocolate brown and we have a feature wall in the dining room that is painted a mocha colour so I knew this would work.  We painted the molding that was previously in the entryway and installed it where the new wall portion meets the old wall..

It breaks up the wall a bit and helps to bring your focus down when standing in the entryway.  McG also added a shelf onto the top of the wall to finish it off,

I needed a narrow entryway table, so I shopped my house and found an antique plant stand that would work and McG had some leftover door panels in the garage from the media cabinet makeover that I put on top for the table surface.  I draped an old curtain panel from the living room over top of the doors and then accessorized with some more items I had on hand.  I did purchase the small lamp at Walmart for $9.97 to finish it off.

(McG has' yet to finish the stairs.  We are waiting until next week as we are having a family dinner this weekend, and I didn't want the stairs torn up until after the party.  I will post an update on the finished stairs once he has got them done.)

Next I added an mirror I purchased at Hobby Lobby on one of our cross border shopping trips.  I just LOVE that store!  Mirrors were 50% off that day, so it was a good buy at just $15.  

It's a creamy white with a lovely edge detail along the mirror's edge.  I love the way it finishes off the entryway!  I also purchased the metal cross in the clearance area at Hobby Lobby for $4.99.

I really LOVE the bold statement the wallpaper makes in the entryway.  

Are you BOLD enough to make a statement like this in your home?!!

Cheryl
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Vanity, Lotions and Lovelies...

Well that's quite the title for a mish-mash kind of post...

Last week when I was organizing "the un-mentionables" I knew it was going to lead to more work in the bedroom (and no not that kind of work - get your mind out of the gutter!!)  I'm talking about organizing the top of my dresser...

We have no vanity area in our bathroom, so I needed a place to store and put on my make-up each morning.  It has been relegated to the top of my dresser.  Back a few months I purchased an organizer from Home Sense that I used to corral all the goodies on top of the dresser. (the cute black and white damask pattern I love!)  But even that was bulging at the seams.

I knew I need to get my jewelry and perfume out of the equation to free up some space on the top of the dresser and get things more organized.  On a trip to Home Sense again last week, I found a cute shelf in the clearance aisle...and it works perfectly to hold my perfume and organize my jewelry. ($20)

The wood is distressed and has a rusted metal inlay.  I moved the artwork I had there and added a couple of extra nails to make sure it was sturdy enough to hold the weight of the perfume bottles and the jewelry.

It is close enough to my "make-shift" vanity to keep everything within reach.  I also cleaned out some of the lotions and potions and added a small three drawer organizer to help corral some of the stuff I couldn't do without!

It's now less cluttered and more organized.  It makes getting ready in the morning much easier and faster.

One more stop on the Organization Train is completed. 

How's your house coming - are you organizing today too?

Cheryl
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A Winter Tablescape

This morning while waiting for McG to wake up, I decided to put together a post about my new tablescape in the dining room.   It's nothing fancy...but now that all the Christmas decorations are put away, the house was feeling a little blah - or maybe that was me...

I am really loving birds in my home decorating lately...and I found this one at Home Sense last week in the clearance area.  I teamed it up with a placemat that matches my dining room curtains, two small gold mercury glass candle holders, a teal vase full of sticks and another bigger container filled with giant pine cones and wicker balls.

While I was taking the pictures, this guy showed up...

and he wanted to play peek-a-boo through the chair...

So play we did...

We had a lip-smacking good time!

Cheryl

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Thrifty Finds...

Today's adventures involved some errands and a trip to the local thrift store.  Here's what I found...

All for the low, low price of $3.37!!!

I was looking for a new lamp for my new office - and found this lovely black one for just $1.99.  

As you may or may not know, the 2013 Pantone colour of the year is Emerald Green...and while I love green, I am not going to be painting any rooms Emerald Green any time soon...however, I do love green as an accent colour and these four little gems all together were just $0.99 - a STEAL to add a little colour to a vignette or room...I will stash them away for now - possibly bringing them out for a spring arrangement on my dining table soon.

I added a small wicker shade to my lamp that I purchased on a prior thrift store trip for just $2.00.

The finished lamp looks lovely next to my desk in my new office space...and you can't beat the price!

Have you been thrift shopping lately?  I love it when I find exactly what I'm looking for.  Thank you Community Thrift Store!

Cheryl

A Break from Holiday Decorating...(Living Room Reveal!)

I am taking a break from all things Christmas to post our finished living room.  McG celebrated his 50th last weekend and we really didn't work on any projects...except adding a rug to our living room.

Well - last week you got the reveal of the dining room - this week the living room!  I don't want to say it's "finished" - cause we all know for a home decor junky like me, a room is hardly ever done!  But it's one step closer to feeling done...This is what our living room looked like before we started our renovation.

Pear green walls with aqua accents and that orangey railing...and beige carpet that was way past its prime!

Now we've got grey blue walls, autumn oak laminate floors and white trim...and that railing is outta-here!

And here's the carpet we got for a steal of a deal yesterday at Home Depot - a golden-y chenille rug (originally way too expensive for our budget at $449) but in the sale bin for just $79!!  WOO HOO!

McG and I couldn't believe our eyes when we found it in the sale bin.  We had the sales clerk double check and sure enough it was marked down!  We quickly paid for it and got out of there before they came to their senses and changed their minds...

It has a two toned look with a soft backing that won't harm our new floors.  It also has a border of gold-y carmel which is lovely with our curtains.  Here's a closer look...

Oh, and this is our new coffee table/ottoman - that we also got on sale at Home Depot.  It really shows up now on the new carpet.  And below is a close-up of the fabric on our pillows...It reminds me of bark-cloth.

It has a mix of greens and blues that go well in our new room.

And finally here's a picture of the new wall that is now in place of the railing.  Sloan loves the new wall and likes to greet everyone from here - its so much easier for him to climb on than the old railing.

Except for some artwork over the couch, this room is finished.  I hope you enjoyed the tour of our living room renovation.

Cheryl

Kitchen Tour

Hey there!  Before we start breaking out the Christmas decorations around here, I thought I should give you a tour of the kitchen.  The living room/ dining room tour will be very soon - I'm so excited to show you!  Come on in and have a look around...

This is the view as you are walking into the kitchen from the dining room.  We have a raised ranch and as you enter the house you walk up 6 stairs to the open dining room and living room...then you travel this way to the kitchen.  Here you can see our new flooring as well...I love how it co-ordinates with the kitchen floor.

This is a better view of that bank of cabinets.  As I told you before we painted the kitchen Smoked Turquoise by CIL paints.  It really picks up the colours in our counter top and I love it! Before it was a pear green - you can see that colour on the island.

Here's a closer view of this wall.  The upper cabinets used to be on the wall between the kitchen and dining room.  When McG opened up the wall, we moved the remaining cabinets over to this wall and ordered more base cabinets to match.  We were very lucky to find them and a matching countertop since we didn't do this until seven years after the house was built.

Here's a view of  the island (and the pear green paint) and a view of the other side of the kitchen.  McG built this island out of a spare base cabinet.  He clad it in bead board and painted it.  The newel post legs were a garbage find that we re-purposed.  He tiled the top for an easy clean surface.  We eat most of our everyday meals here in the kitchen. Here are a few more photos of this side of the kitchen...

This view shows you how McG opened up the wall between the kitchen and the dining room.  Here too is our coffee station.  McG loves his Tassimo and this little cabinet holds all his coffee options quite nicely.

Here's a little sneak peek of some Christmas decorating...I am just itching to get going on it.  I have been seeing some pretty creative stuff out there in blogland lately.  There will be a post later this week on this beauty!  The majority of our decorations don't go up until after the 1st of December.

Thanks for stopping by - hope you enjoyed this tour of our kitchen!

Cheryl
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