{a silver leaf dresser: an ikea rast hack}

My teen daughter's room is finally coming together.

The latest improvement to her room is a new side table dresser. It is my version of an Ikea Rast hack. My inspiration was this photo from the September issue of Chatelaine magazine {another great Canadian publication}


I loved the bevel mirrored chest of drawers, which was from Ethan Allen. Wanting to replicate the look I called around for prices on custom cut mirrors. What I found was that most places charge a minimum fee per piece cut, around $40 a piece, then charge $5 per hole, which meant it would cost me $150. The Rast dresser was only $29, so $150 was too much. My daughter also thought the mirrors would be hard to keep clean, she didn't want to be constantly shining them.

Good point.

Glad I consulted with the client.

Instead I used a coat of black paint, silver leaf and crystal knobs to give it the glam it needed.

 The Rast dresser went from this:


to this:







My cost:
Rast dresser from Ikea: $29
black paint {Benjamin Moore Aura paint}: free {leftover}
silver leaf: $7 with 50% off coupon from Michaels
sizing medium: free {leftover from silver leaf lamp project}
crystal knobs: $6 each from Home Depot
Wipe-on poly: free {leftover from previous projects}

Total:$72


I am thrilled with the look. My daughter is glad that her room is finally getting the finishing touches. 


Now I am waiting for the fabric that is on back order to come in so I can make her some drapes!

{happy thanksgiving to my american friends}


While we lived in the US {Virginia} for only a few years, we embraced and enjoyed Thanksgiving. You Americans sure know how to kick off the Christmas season with a big huge party! 


I loved how the neighbourhood became quiet on Thanksgiving, with the aroma of turkey baking in the air. I loved how the next day was a Christmas decorating blitz, both outside and inside homes. After moving back to Canada, I found our Thanksgiving, which is early October, just didn't have the same excitement. Now I enjoy the US Thanksgiving vicariously though all the American blogs and my former Virginia neighbours.



I want to wish all my American neighbours a Happy Thanksgiving. 

Thank-you for following and reading my blog. 

Most of all thanks to those who have become wonderful friends, even though we haven't met, I find that it's through blogging and our love of DIY and design that we have found a common ground and friendship.


{i'm featured: Polly Want a Crafter?}


Looking to make a great gift for the Star Wars fan in your life? 


Look no further. 



Check out this blog for other great DIY gift ideas!


{dreamy kitchens}


I love kitchens. 
 I dream of having the perfect kitchen {one day}as it is the heart of our home.
We are currently renting our home while we wait to find our perfect home, in the meantime I have serious kitchen envy. 

I am not saying that our current kitchen is bad, I have seen worse. It is just stuck in a 90's oak time warp. It has great bones, solid oak cabinets, lots of counter space and tons of storage. It has so much potential. But...
I don't think the owners of the home would appreciate me painting their cabinets, they are of the "never-paint-perfectly-great-wood"generation.

So instead I dream.......{and wait}





to have a kitchen like this one day.

 This kitchen by fabulous Canadian designer, Tommy Smythe has to be one of my favourites. It is in my {dream} kitchen file. The mix of black, white, stainless steel, marble and rustic elements makes it an absolute dream.

Another fantastic kitchen in my {dream} kitchen file is Margot Austin's kitchen. Margot is the senior design editor at one of my favourite Canadian decor magazines, Style at Home. If you think you have seen this kitchen before on my blog, you have. It took part of a What's Your Style in One Picture challenge From The Right Bank



Lastly, this gorgeous kitchen from the January 2010 issue of Style At Home, has also made it into the {dream} kitchen file. Even the stools are fantastically glamourous with their nailhead trim.



So while I cook and bake in my not-so-glamourous-oak-with-mismatched-appliances kitchen I will {dream} of one day washing dishes in my gleaming farmhouse sink while tap dancing on hardwood floors, rummaging for canned goods behind white cabinet doors, rolling out cookie dough on marble counters and whipping up a Kraft gourmet dinner on a shiny stainless steel stove.


{lucky me: an esty giveaway win}

I love etsy and was thrilled when I won a shopping credit with the etsy seller, burlap+blue


This win goes wa-a-a-a-y back to May of last year when I won a giveaway at A Soft Place to Land. Linda, the creator behind burlap+blue the etsy shop, also writes a blog under the same name of Burlap and Blue, has a wonderful selection of cake stands made from vintage plates and candle holders. She also makes gorgeous coasters. 

When I contacted her she made a beautiful cake stand just for me! I also chose the Paris subway map coasters. Paris is one of my absolute favourite cities, I couldn't resist.

I love red and this stand is just up my alley!

 The cake stand has been used many times, at my daughter's 16th birthday it was placed on top of another stand to create a tier to hold cupcakes.



In the summer we had mint lemonade and used the coasters.

They are now in my family room where I use them daily {and they get complements every time we have company}

 Now the stand sits atop of my bedroom dresser holding my favorite pieces of jewelry.


{See the pretty black onyx earrings? They are another giveaway win from a local etsy seller - who is as sweet in person as her jewelry - Mo'Funk Designs}

So pretty, I love it!

What have you bought from an etsy seller and love?



{check this out: typography maps}


My husband never ceases to amaze me with his internet finds. Now with his newest toy, an iPad, he is a twitter extroidinaire and keeps his finger on the pulse of the latest news and even sends me links to design finds! He has taken to reading Design Milk's Flipboard which brought these cool maps by Axis Maps to my attention, as a hint for Christmas. We both love maps as art, he especially loves them and collects maps from his travels. 

I have always loved typography, I guess it comes from my high school drafting course days when I loved practicing lettering {we weren't allowed to use the computer, had to be done by hand}, even working for an engineering firm in university where they let me do the lettering for their blueprints. Typography is a wonderful combination of art with {in my opinion} math/science. It's precise and follows a pattern. Does that make any sense?

Check out these maps!

These maps of Chicago and Boston are made up entirely of words!


{1}

{2}


{3}


{4}



I stumbled across this typography map of London from Blanka, in the UK.

After searching a bit more I came across these from Ork Posters:

{5}
{6}
{7}
{I think MadeByGirl had this one in her office?}

Can I just say I LOVE these!
I think I might have to buy a few, hmmm...
which ones?


Photo source: {1,2.3,4} Axis Maps
{5, 6, 7}  Ork Posters




{monday, monday}


I had a great weekend, how about you? 

Mine was full of friends, family, furniture and fabric!

On Friday I meant to hop into a local fabric store  just to buy drapery lining and more self-covering buttons {working on the second headboard}, they were out of buttons and instead I left with an armful of fabric. Couldn't help myself - 50% off. My only wish is for at least one of the two local fabric stores {one touts itself as an interiors specialty store} to carry on-trend fabric, getting tired of seeing toile.






My Friday improved when I checked my inbox to find an email from a known website that wants one of my projects. Can't say more until it is a done deal but I was elated nonetheless.

I think they found me because of this:


featured my daughter's room in her Stonington Gray post, which subsequently got posted on Benjamin Moore's Facebook page. Amazing the power of the internet and twitter.
Thanks Abbe!


On Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting up again with Nancy from Marcus Design and Victoria from Design Ties for lunch. I was privileged to get a tour of Nancy's house, which in my opinion is "so Nancy", stunning and classy. She is such a sweet and amazing person.

Marcus Design

Did you know that Nancy and I have almost led similar lives? We went to the same elementary school and high school, the same university, majored in the sciences, lived in the same neighbourhood, have the same passions, both started blogs about the same time and love design, the only difference is we are a decade apart. 


Another funny coincidence, we both won a prize from Kelly at Jax Does Design's bribery giveaways!

We still comment on what an eerie coincidence it is. 

 Nancy and I got a tour of Victoria's beautiful historical home, that is perched on a hill overlooking the Fraser River in New Westminster. She and her husband have done such amazing work on the house. Her kitchen, gorgeous! 

Edin Design

Victoria also gave Nancy and I a tour of her historical neighbourhood FULL of amazing beautiful historical homes, some in shameful disrepair while others lovingly restored. 

We then hit a non-descript grill, enjoyed lunch and great conversation. We spent most of our 5 hours together talking non-stop. The conversation flowed easily. What a pleasure it is to find two talented women with a passion for all things design and art related AND can understand the world of blogging. 


Source

After lunch we hit some fantastic antique/junk shops. Mostly overpriced, as they are in a prime location. Victoria mentioned that many movies are filmed on that street which is reflected in the prices. That didn't deter me from scoring a deal though! I got this chair for $50! 


So to add to my list of projects I am planning on re-upholstering this beauty. Not sure if I should paint the wood, if so I tend to steer towards black, maybe I'll go outside the comfort zone and paint it white!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend - now onto a new week. What projects are you working on? Or are you feeling panicked like me, feeling that Christmas is taking over blog land and that I am somehow already behind?




{smitten: bijou and boheme}

Have you ever stumbled across a blog or home that just knocks you off your feet?


 I have
 and am smitten with this home of new Canadian blogger on the block, the talented Christine of Bijou and Boheme. She does an amazing job of making her house look magazine worthy with touches of quirkiness and the unexpected.




{Chiang mai dragon pillows - sigh}


Love this room, the layers of modern mixed with traditional and touches of femininity.


Love how the tv is part of the art above the gorgeous rosewood console. The gorgeous mirror reminds me of a Parisian apartment.


Ok- settee envy, is that settee not amazing! Loving the juxtaposition of the curvy lines of the settee and ghost chair against the clean modern lines of the table and lamp. 
Hello  - I just want to get rid of all my furniture and start from scratch. 


This is where Christine and I have something in common - I have a photo gallery like this flowing up the stairwell. Only thing is she has beautiful wooden tread stairs while my stairs are covered in ugly beige carpet. Sigh...




Check out her kitchen. LOVE this kitchen. She talks about possibly painting it white which I think would look amazing. I am partial to white kitchens and dream about having one, one day. In the meantime I can enjoy the eye candy that the world of design blogs have to offer.



One of her projects she is currently working on is recovering this Craigslist bergere chair with Marimekko fabric. 

To.die.for.

{Excuse me local Craigslist sellers - could you please sell chairs like this?}

Check out the wallpaper that she is putting up in her entryway. What a daring move - I don't think I would have ever given this wallpaper a second thought!



Christine is definitely one to watch, I can see her showing up in a magazine one day!
Welcome to the world of blogging Christine, can't wait to follow along and see what is next up your sleeve.