Living room: The next update

It's safe to say that I like change. My living room isn't too shabby, but I have plans for an update. It'll have to happen bit by bit, but that's okay. My light grey couch and dark grey and white armchairs aren't going anywhere...for now at least! So here's a look into the vision I have:

1. Micah Floor Lamp from EQ3 - This lamp has actually been ordered and is on its way to my house. Can't wait! Love the shade, the cool base, and the hit of black it will bring. I dig it in a big way.

2. Custom Coffee Table in Marble from EQ3 - Um, yes please. I have longed for a marble coffee table for some time. I wish I could say that this is also on its way to my house. Alas, it shall be mine one day!

3. Anchler Media Storage from EQ3 - Now this is a piece of furniture. For now, my old IKEA tv stand works just fine, but this beauty would be a welcome replacement. I really think rooms need wood like this to warm them up. 

Moving on to the walls. Lately, I seem to have a serious obsession with looking for pretty things to hang on my walls. So here are a couple of very pretty things:

4. Expedition Mirror from DwellStudio - Yep, this is pretty gorgeous. I love a round mirror and I think the leather strap hanger is simple enough that it's not too over the top. Seems like a classic piece that won't go out of style. Or maybe it will go out of style before I can afford it!

5. Volcano, Iceland photograph by Bardoux Manuel from L'Affiche Moderne - This is actually a colour photogragh. Mind blown! I am mesmerized and just want to stare at it. I need to order this as soon as possible. And I think I should put a trip to Iceland on my travel list! 

So there you have it. A glimpse into the future of my living room! And of course I have my eye on quite a few accessories that I think will fit with this vision. I really want to go in the direction of white, many shades of grey, black, and wood in pretty much every room of our house. Neutral is something I won't get tired of. At least for a while, right?

Art on a ledge

My kitchen/dining room art has arrived and it's framed! Finally! Each piece came in the mail one at a time and I got them all framed one at a time. I had them done at Michael's and they did a fantastic job. And the 'M' is a vintage 50's marquee letter that I ordered from Etsy. I had bought a RIBBA ledge (actually two) at Ikea in February in anticipation.

So here's what it's vaguely going to look like...try to imagine it hanging on the wall, not sitting on the floor:

So??? Does it look good? I need the truth! I love each piece but once I saw how big the biggest piece was, I wondered if it's too grand for a picture ledge. I set it out on the floor roughly how I'd arrange it on the wall to see if I like it before putting the five holes in the wall that it'll take to hang the ledge. Since the London print and the tree print are fairly big pieces, the plan is to attach the tops of the frames to the wall using 3M velcro picture hangers (which are the bomb, by the way). Then I don't have to worry about them falling off.

Just so you can see how cool the London art is, here's a close-up:

I seriously love looking at it! And here are the others:

Also awesome, in my opinion. If you think the whole idea of this on the picture ledge is completely uncool, I need to know! I really love a grouping/gallery for art and I really dig picture ledges, but does that make it good? 

Please tell me your thoughts! Go for it? Rearrange it? Don't do a ledge? I try to put a lot more thought into decorating in hopes that I will be happier with stuff and keep it longer. But now I'm constantly doubting myself. Ack!

Paper cut art

I've longed for this amazing work of art from Famille Summerbelle for quite some time:

London Paper Cut Original from Famille Summerbelle

It's a paper cut map of London that has the most amazing details. I think it's extraordinary.

London Paper Cut Original from Famille Summerbelle

Amazing, right? I think paper cutting is a really neat form of art. So intricate! There are other cities as well and I like them all, especially Paris. But London, some day you are going to look awfully pretty hanging on my wall.

Happy new year: My resolutions

Image: Art by Sabeena Karnik on behance.net

My hopes are that 2013 is going to be a great year. I wish all of you health, happiness, and love and that all of your wishes for the year come true.

I'm not a huge resolutions person but a few have come to mind that I think are actually achievable:

1) Try one new recipe per month. We tend to eat the same meals over and over and I want to try some new recipes. I'm thinking pasta, vegetables, and soup. The recipes have to be 'real' supper food...not muffins or something like that. In theory, it shouldn't be too hard to find 12 recipes that I want to try...and find the time to actually make them.

2) Go on at least one date with Dave each month. I don't mean supper at the Dairy Queen here (but of course that will still happen)! I mean dress up a bit and go do something different each month. There are so many things happening in the city all the time and we need to take advantage. And I like to dress up!

3) Do at least 6 craft/sewing projects this year. That means start them AND complete them! My sewing machine has been fixed for almost 2 months and my pillows are still not sewn. And I'd love to make some garlands, do some painting projects (painting objects, not pictures), and try my hand at quilling paper (that's what the above picture is). I actually bought this Twirled Paper book at Michael's. And yes, it is for ages 10 & up!

Christmas wish list

1. The Things That Matter by Nate Berkus (amazon.ca) - I've heard good things about this interior design book. But such a broody looking Nate on the cover!

2. Surya tobias black throw blanket (amazon.com) - This textured black throw would be pretty at the end of our bed. I've been on the search for one and they are surprisingly tricky to find.

3. Red birds print by Judy Kaufmann (etsy.com) - I've had my eye on this print for so long. It's perfect and would look fabulous in my kitchen...but where to put it?!?

4. Case study cylinder plant pot with stand (modernica.net) - I love this pot/stand combo. This would be so awesome in our living room.

5. MELLBY armchair in Dansbo dark gray (ikea.com) - I dig this chair and think it would be pretty sweet in our living room. We tried it out when we were at the Edmonton IKEA a couple weeks ago and it's comfy. 

6. Woven felt basket in large (westelm.com) - I've had a bit of an obsession with felt baskets lately. I wanted one for my throw blankets in the living room but ended up settling for a gray plastic basket from HomeSense...it's okay, but settling doesn't equal loving.

1. Heart locket pendant (tiffany.ca) - I would love love love this large heart locket on a long chain (24 or 30 inches). I've never seen a locket so perfect...you can't even see the hinge. And it's Tiffany blue inside. Swoon!

2. Your name here silk bracelet (coattonline.com) - I just think these are cool. You can get your name spelled in morse code! Of course I would choose sterling silver and a black silk cord to match all of my other jewelry.

3. Cozy long fleece robe in spring orchid (victoriassecret.com) - I have a summery robe but not a big, warm one. I saw this at VS when we were at the West Ed Mall and it was heavenly.

4. Cotton mayfair pajama in pink/white stripe (victoriassecret.com) - So classic pajama-y. I have other pj's from VS that are awesome so my guess is these would be also.

5. Single legacy tassel key ring (coach.com) - Ideally, I'd like one from Hermes, but since they're a cool $260 I'd be happy with one of these for $38.

6. Sherpa-lined sweater boots in coconut milk (oldnavy.gapcanada.ca) - Oh, I love a good slipper boot! My feet are pretty much always cold and these are ever so cozy.

Now that's what I call a WISH list!

Art wall in the kitchen

Yep, that's my dining room/kitchen wall. And yep, that's a whole lot of frames on my dining room/kitchen wall. IKEA Ribba frames of course! Last weekend, Dave used a very large number of those 3M velcro picture hangers and did a fantastic job with the measuring tape and level! As you can see, I need some more art to finish filling the frames. I'm working on it!

Art for the bathroom

We checked another thing off of our to-do list! This morning we finished hanging some frames in the 2-piece bathroom. So now there are the fancy new glass shelves AND cute little frames in this tiny room. Sweet stuff! It was tricky to take a good pic so you can see what they look like but here's one on an angle:

All IKEA, of course. I had bought these little art cards ages ago but had never put them up because I had a bit of an issue with frames. I had originally bought 4 of these RIBBA 5 x 7 frames for another project that never happened, but I needed 5 frames in order to hang all of these pretty little art cards. I got my hands on another one (thanks Steph!) but it turned out to have a different finish and the matte was a different colour. So I got crafty. I bought some acrylic paint at Michael's and painted all of it! As you can probably guess, I painted the mattes white and the frames black. I used a small roller for the mattes and a foam brush for the frames. I think they turned out pretty well...at least they're more cohesive even if they're not perfect!

Don't rub your eyes...this pic seems somewhat blurry...but it gives you an idea of what the pics look like straight on as you go through the door:

We (by we, I mean Dave) used those handy little 3M adhesive velcro picture hangers. We've used them quite a few times now for smaller pictures and they work great.

So now I have another sweet little homage to beautiful Sweden. Every room should have one!

Just stuff

I continue to search for art for the kitchen/dining room and this little number has been in my bookmarks for a while now:

Geometric print by Graphic Anthology on Etsy

Four cute trees. So simple. I like it!

And here's another thing I think is pretty sweet:

Glenjade Liberty print knot watch from Liberty London

How fun is this watch? It has a fabric strap that you can tie how you want. I love that the face is the same fabric. Liberty has such groovy floral fabrics. Some would say sort of gaudy...I say sort of awesome.

The cow has arrived

My last post was about the Swedish poster I ordered for the kitchen...and now it's here (excuse the poor lighting in this pic and the fact that my beautiful new artwork is just leaning against the wall in the upstairs landing):

So it's here...all the way from Sweden. Well, actually, it arrived from California! I ordered it from Huset, a website I stumbled upon in my neverending quest for all things fantastically Swedish. I think my pretty poster looks quite snappy in its silver IKEA frame (it's a RIBBA of course). It's the first one I have filled for my wall of silver frames that will cover my kitchen/dining room wall. I'm scoping out other art and can't wait for some serious colour to be added to my kitchen. I'm tired of blah!

Now how could I order just one thing from a site like Huset? I mean once you're ordering one thing online from a shop, you may as well order more from there, right? That's how I like to roll I guess. I fell in love with this tea towel...okay, I fell in love with several tea towels (I really love tea towels for some reason!)...but this is the one that made it into my basket:

No, I couldn't wait to wash it and I certainly wasn't going to iron it just for the pic. Look past the wrinkles and check out those crazy adorable apples. Ack! To me, it's just so very Swedish looking, sort of retro, and a whole lot of cute. All right, I'll go take it down and put it in the laundry now.

Cow for the kitchen

Yay! I've been longing for this print ever since I came across it on a blog (which one I do not recall since it was probably about two years ago). It's a fun Swedish poster for my kitchen/dining room:

From Huset (huset-shop.com)

Yep, that says milk! According to the shop's website, this is essentially a classic work of art: "Artist, art teacher and actor Mikael Reuter painted Mjölk (milk) for the exhibition Sweden Pop Art which featured Swedish interpretations of Andy Warhol’s famous soup can and portraits of stars. This graphic poster is a classic Swedish pop art poster." Yep, a classic. And it will be mine for the mere price of $30 USD (plus shipping etc etc...which I don't really count, even though I should...I'm aware).

Anywho, this is the starting point for my soon-to-be art gallery wall in the kitchen. The requirements are that the art must not be boring or stuffy, it must make you feel happy, it must contain red, yellow, green, or blue, and it must fit into the already purchased frames from IKEA. A frame was actually purchased knowing that this poster was to be included...without a doubt.

So this happy cow will lovingly watch me drink my skim milk. Sorry cow, I can't do 'chunky' milk as I like to call 2% milk...and don't get me started about that really thick stuff. It's 'blue' milk, as my family calls it, for me.

We have a couch

I've been too busy to show you but we actually have a functioning living room again. The couch cover from IKEA arrived last Wednesday...2 months after we placed our order online. Ack! What an ordeal. We got the actual couch in a pretty timely manner but it took 40 days after the couch was delivered for the cover to get here. Without a cover, you can't exactly use the couch (you don't build it until you put the cover on the individual pieces).

Perhaps this is reasonable to some but we have chalked it up as a frustrating experience and there's a very slim chance that we'll be ordering online through the IKEA website again. Even their customer service rep said it's a better idea to order directly from your most local store. That would have been good to know. We usually drive 5 hours, load up the car, drive another 5 hours back and are as happy as peaches. However, my car doesn't fit a couch. Next time (if Dave allows it...he was not a happy camper I tell you!), we will have to place our delivery order at our 'local' store.

So even though our ordering experience was less than ideal, I really do love my new couch:

It's the Karlstad with the Isunda gray cover which I have dreamed about, talked about, longed for, waited for, etc. for a very long time. It's very comfortable, I love the fabric (colour and texture), and I really am happy to finally be sitting on it!

I will have to get different legs for it as I'm not a fan of the ones it comes with. And since we are playing what's wrong with the stuff in the picture above:

1) Take a look at this rug on rug situation. Not good, I know.

2) Check out the brown too-short curtains (which are gone now and replaced with beauties I will show you later...promise)

3) Beige paint with a grey couch? Not a big fan I tell you.

4) You can't have one pillow...maybe you can, but I can't. This will not last.

Oh, and one other thing that is just plain right...that sweet looking art. It's a moviebarcode print that we ordered (I posted about this cool art back in April). We got it framed at Michael's and we're digging it in a big way. What movie is it? An epic masterpiece from 1978 of course. Okay, it's Superman. I love my husband. And the colours.

I'll post more pics of the living room another time. It's still a work in progress but we're getting there!

Threes: Geometry edition

Here's the thing...I like circles and raindrops...and now triangles. These prints from 'I Need Nice Things' are pretty sweet:

Kaleidoscope

Speech Bubble

Cool stuff! Love the colours in both.

However, this print from 'The Best Part' takes the cake:

Moon Diamond

It's a pic of the moon all sliced up and put back together to look like a diamond. Seriously. Brilliant, in my opinion.

A beautiful nursery: Take two

So back in April I posted about the beautiful nursery of a beautiful little boy named SuperKid (okay, that's not really his name!). Check it out here. Since then, SuperMom, SuperDad, and SuperKid have moved into a new home. They kept many things the same in his new room but also made some changes. I just had to show you some pictures of what his room looks like now. Take a look:

A new layout for the crib and change table and the previous glider was switched out for their yellow loveseat. I also love the addition of the paper hot air balloons along with the paper cloud cut-outs:

So cute! The adorable leaf is still over the crib. And there's some more paper cutouts on this wall:

Here's a view of the wall where the closet is:

I love the addition of the clothes hooks. It's functional but also a great way to display some of SuperKid's cute little clothes. The cute art was made by SuperMom (you can see a closer pic in my previous post).

An adorable room for an adorable kid!

Antique photo

This is a photo that belonged to my Great Grandma that I found while I was going through some of my stuff about a month ago:

I've had it sitting on my desk and I find myself frequently staring at it wondering who it is and the story behind it. I'm pretty sure my Great Grandma had it hanging in her room, with just a dressmaker's pin, with some other pictures above her dresser.

It has a name on the back with the year 1925 but I have no idea who this person could be:

The scribbled out part appears to be my Great Grandma's name and address. So could someone have sent this to her, like a postcard, or did that get written on it sometime after? Such a mystery.

I wish I remembered if my Great Grandma had told me anything about it when she gave it to me. I keep thinking she might have told me who sent it to her, like a cousin or friend, but I really don't know for sure and think it might all just be in my head.

I need to put it in a frame to keep it protected because I just want to keep picking it up and examining it. It's 5 and a half by 8 inches so I might have to get a custom frame or something. I'm very lucky to have all of the things my Great Grandma gave me and I'd like to have more of them out on display where I can admire them. It really is sort of ridiculous that some of the things I treasure most, that are truly priceless to me, are in totes where I can't even see them.

A place to find nice art

Dave and I are planning to buy some new art prints for the living room and dining room sometime soon. We've got two of them picked out from the site RedBubble. Have you heard of it? They sell images in wall art and t-shirts too and the prices are really reasonable.

This isn't what we're getting but I think it's downright pretty:

Secret Garden by VLab on redbubble.com

I will be ordering the living room prints soon but you'll have to wait for the reveal! They're not flower prints, which Dave is happy about I think! I love flowers but it's time to change things up.

I'm also planning a giant gallery wall of frames (11 of them!) in the dining room. The frames are waiting patiently to be filled with art and hung on the wall. All I know is that there's going to be some serious colour added to the kitchen/dining room and I'm pretty excited for that!

Cool personalized art

This might not be absolutely everyone's thing, but I love this personalized art I found on Etsy. These are all from the shop called Name Your Wish Images and I think they are pretty clever! How cute are these 'engraved' Peas in a Pod:

You can get 2 to 6 peas...how cute for a couple or a whole family!

And this 'carved' Summer Love Tree is amazing:

I love this so much because my family has everyone's names carved into trees just like this at my parents' farm. I guess I'm on two trees...one with my brother...and then one with Dave with our wedding date that Dave carved himself! I love looking at the trees...there are some carvings that my mom and her brothers did when they were young. Anyways, this would be great for a wedding gift since you can get a couple's names with a wedding date...or this is a pretty extraordinary family tree...pun intended!

And this Sweet Family pic is super sweet:

Cute stuff!

A very productive weekend

Can you actually believe this?:

We hung up the white frames in my office/the spare bedroom! They're above my little white desk. I don't have them all filled yet but today we decided to get them up on the wall and I'll worry about that later. Isn't my husband epic at hanging up picture frames? We used those handy little velcro picture hangers that we also used for the frames in our bedroom. I helped with the measuring tape and that was pretty much it. I'm very happy to finally get this project done (well, almost done!). It was February when I asked you for advice on how to hang them (I actually strayed a bit from my original layouts...sorry little round frame)!

Today I also hemmed (with that super iron-on hemming stuff) my new curtains for my office. I got them at IKEA a couple weeks ago. They're the HEDDA BLAD and I think they're pretty cute. Seriously, $19.99 is ridiculously cheap for a set of curtains! Here's a close-up pic:

I've got a few more projects to finish up and then I'll give you a tour of the whole room.

Dave also got the tv hung up on the wall in the living room (I guess he did that on Thursday night...our project this weekend was watching tv!). Here's a pic of all the hardware he had to install:

He had to cut some pretty big holes in the wall for the two plates that direct the cables. Scary stuff! But he did a great job and we're very happy having the tv mounted on the wall above our new tv bench. Our living room is still in a bit of a state and I haven't finished redecorating so you will have to wait for some 'after' pics down the road.

I really really really love weekends!

Na na na na na na na na Batman

So Dave's been wondering when I would post about the new Batman statue that has been added to his fine collection...and I guess today's the day. He's actually had the statue for a while now and was so happy to finally get it since he's been looking for it for quite some time. It was released in 2003 and was a limited edition, you know!

Are you ready for this epicness?:

It's based on a Jim Lee drawing. Dave has the poster of it hanging on the wall in his office. If you haven't read my posts about his super superhero office, you can read them here and here. Dave would really like that!

Anyways, it's a nice statue. I like the cape. Just like I like the capes on the other statues. I actually like the Jim Lee Superman and Batman statues the best out of Dave's collection. It could be that they were the most expensive. That's how I roll!

So his shelves now look like this:

...and this:

The sketches are by Tom Grummett, who drew them for Dave during Free Comic Book days (for charity). They're pretty sweet. You can only imagine how much Dave likes them!

So that's that. I'm sorry if you are not married to someone who collects superhero paraphernalia because it's just really, really great! Insert winking emoticon here.

Threes: Black and white stuff

Just some pretty things I've come across in the last couple of days. I do love black and white stuff.

First, take a look at these pretty mirrors...I can't decide which colour I like better:

From Bolier & Company (bolierco.com)

Such a cool shape. Modern and elegant in my opinion.

And here's some black and white art that I think is surprisingly nice:

Fierce Grace by Tony Stromberg from art.com

That is just a really really nice photograph. I feel like it evokes calmness and peacefulness but also a strong feeling too. Hmm, I guess the title Fierce Grace is perfect. Interesting.

And lastly, here's a tea towel...of all things. A fantastic tea towel! It's Swedish (remember: Swedish=awesome...if you learn anything from reading this blog, it should be this). The tea towel is made up of all things Swedish:

Maria Dahlgren Swedish Poetry Tea Towel from huset-shop.com

I see brands like Volvo, IKEA, and H&M, names of people like the author of Pippi Longstocking, traditions, and many delicious food items (mmmm, pepparkakor). I recognize quite a few other things too, but you must know me well enough to know that I will be looking up what the rest means!

A beautiful nursery

This weekend we were visiting some very special people and I just had to show you some pictures of the nursery of a beautiful baby boy. When you see this nursery, you won't be surprised to learn that the SuperMom of this SuperKid is a super creative and talented person. She has such awesome style and it shows in this pretty, calm, and cheerful room. I'm sure SuperDad also contributed in lots of ways because he has great style of his own (I will one day have to show you his awesome basement setup)!

Here's a view of SuperKid's room from the upstairs landing:

It just looks so fresh when you catch a glance as you come up the stairs! I just love the colour scheme. Here's the change table with darling little shelves hanging above displaying some books and other sweet little things:

How adorable are the paper cloud cut-outs on the sloped ceiling? And that leaf! So great:

I love that red chair and insisted it be in the photo shoot! And look at this cozy little space:

Remember how I mentioned that SuperMom is super creative and talented? Well, if you doubted me for even a moment, here's a close-up of the art (hanging in the above picture) that she painted:

She painted a picture of SuperDad as a little kid. So cute! And the other one is her as a little kid:

SuperMom even drew in their current little dog because she's such a special part of the family. How fantastic to have such personal art.

SuperKid is a very lucky little boy. He couldn't ask for a better room and he has the most extraordinary parents too. Thank you SuperMom and SuperDad for letting us stay with you. We miss you and your SuperKid so much already!