Decorate

Zara Home is Coming to Canada

August 01, 2013

Having an Irish mother meant that growing up I spent a bit of time in Europe visiting relatives. On one such trip I was introduced to Zara, and I was amazed by the store filled with lovely clothing, and very pleased to be able to buy some clothes that nobody had at home.

Zara eventually opened stores in Canada, and it remains one of my favorites for fun, fairly inexpensive clothing. A few years ago I discovered that Zara had a housewares division and from time to time would browse the European web stores to see what they had. When I was in Ireland last fall I even checked to see if there was a retail store so I could finally go shopping, but was disappointed to discover there wasn't one.

This past spring I heard some Internet rumblings that Zara Home would finally be opening an online store in Canada, and unbelievably a retail location as well. I tried not to get my hopes up, and refrained from perusing their wares online. This past Tuesday I heard that the first Canadian retail location would open at Yorkdale shopping center on August 22nd, and that the online store would open that day as well (a second retail location in Laval, QC will open on Aug 29th). After hearing the news I  jumped right online and picked out a few favourites.
Zara home favourites
Clockwise from top Left: Round Openwork Metal Tray, Linen Pillow with Central Motif, Leaf Napkin Rings*, Black and White Stripes Pillow, Cut Glass Water Tumbler, Kimono Dish Towel, Gold Stripe Vase, Skull Tumbler*, Floral Print Throw
What do you think? Do you have a favorite from the above? I can't decide between the tray and the skull tumblers.

PS - The items above are mostly from the US site, but a couple are from the UK.
PPS - Oh the irony of hearing that Zara was Finally going to open just days after realizing that any extra money in my budget for the foreseeable future will be going to plaster repairs.
PPPS - This is not a sponsored post - I'm just a bit excited Zara is finally coming to Canada.

General

Resolutions, Goals, and To-Do lists

January 02, 2012

Freakin Never Ending To Do list via Etsy
Freakin Never Ending To Do list via Etsy
This year I wasn't going to resolve to change anything - mostly because I've realised that like a lot of other people my normal resolutions (like go to the gym) fall by the wayside long before spring arrives. This year I've decided to do something different - I'm going to talk about them.

I've been lagging a bit when it comes to completing home decorating projects, so I thought I'd actually write out what I hope to have accomplished at home by December 31st, 2012 in the hopes that the internet is better at holding me accountable. Ready? Here we go (in no particular order):

Stuff to finish
  1. Repair (or have repaired) the ceiling in the dining room.
  2. Paint the walls in the dining room
  3. Spruce up the kitchen
  4. Get some additional storage for the dining room
  5. Come up with a better furniture layout for the living room
  6. Finish my dresser project
  7. Paint the living room a colour other than white.
  8. Get actual window coverings for the bedroom, living room and dining room
  9. Get or make some art for the walls
  10. Actually hang the art on the walls!
  11. Get a rug for the foyer that can fit under the door when it opens.
  12. Get bedside tables that are not two different sizes.
  13. Get a prettier TV console
  14. Add some more storage to living room
  15. Purge my bookcase
  16. Paint my bedroom
  17. Get a rug for my bedroom.
  18. Refinish those chairs I bought last spring . . .
  19. Install my dining room light
  20. Remove doors into dining room and living room.
  21. Get more lighting for the living room
I'm also going to share some goals I'd like to reach when it comes to this blog:
  1. Consider a move from wordpress.com to wordpress.org
  2. Learn to take better photographs
  3. Increase average posts a week from 1 to 2.
  4. Reach 100,000 views (Currently at 22,000)
Okay, maybe I'll toss in some personal ones too.
  1. Start taking my lunch to work EVERY DAY (okay, 4 out of 5 days)
  2. Get back into running, and do at least one 10K race in 2012
  3. Buy myself flowers every so often 'just-because'
So there they are - my resolutions, goals and to-do lists for 2012. I'm going to try to report on my progress periodically, and hopefully I'll soon be able to start crossing things off.

What about you? Have you made any resolutions for 2012, or have you resolved not to make any this year?

Decorate

Thrifty Owl

October 12, 2011

Have you noticed recently that owls have become very 'in'? It seems that every time I open a decor magazine or pop into a home store owls or other types of fowl are everywhere.

Collection of Owl shaped items
1. West Elm - $32 2. West Elm - $99 3. West Elm - $9 4. Jonathan Adler - $48 5. At West End - $36 6. Abigail Edwards - $120/roll 7. Modcloth - $57 8. Anthropologie - $68 9. Anthropologie - $20

Anyways, I was in a Goodwill a while back when I spotted this little guy sitting on a shelf and I decided he needed to come home with me.
Brass owl figurine

I think he's kinda cute for $4.04 don't you?

Bedroom

Shine a light

September 14, 2011

As part of my ongoing quest to turn my condo into a home, I've embarked on the most thrilling of tasks - to rid my home of the overhead lights that were here when I moved in (I need to get out more).

The light in my bedroom was a dreaded 'Boob light', and I quickly replaced it with the halogen lamp that I removed from my dining room (it was removed during phase one of the dining room redecoration which occurred 6 months ago - I have yet to move on to phase two). While the halogen light was better than the boob light, it didn't really convey 'bedroom' - more kitchen. Even though I'm still unsure of the ultimate direction of the decor in my bedroom, I know that making it feel like a kitchen isn't quite what I'm going for.
Old Bedroom overhead light
My Old Bedroom Light
Over the past few months I've noticed a pendant light which had a shape I liked at the HomeSense stores in my area, but they only ever had grey or black shades. This colour selection annoyed me to no end because I could see clearly on the box that it was also manufactured with white shade.  As with most things when it comes to my home, I've realised that if something is meant to be it will be, or something better will come along. Two weeks ago, I finally found the pendant light with the right colour shade, and brought it home.

I have to be honest here. When I initially brought it home and tested it by holding up the shade I though it was too big. I then realised that while it might be a smidge on the large side, it was an excellent price, and more importantly, returning it would require schlepping it back to the store on the bus. The lamp stayed.

After a couple of false starts I managed to install the light without getting electrocuted (or burning down the building - yay me!!), and I think it looks pretty good.
New Bedroom drum shade overhead light
My new bedroom light
I think the light is reminiscent of the Two-tier round shade pendant from Restoration Hardware which sells from $450 and up.
2-Tier Round linen shade light by Restoration Hardware
Restoration Hardware Two-tier Light

The best part - my new light was only $50!
Bedroom with new drum shade overhead light

What do you think? Hopefully it's a little more 'bedroom' than it's predecessor.

Home

Little Bird

August 24, 2011

Over the past little while I've noticed a trend in stores for white ceramic birds as decorative objects. I resisted valiantly until I saw this one: 
White bird sitting on a art book

The reason I caved is quite simple, this particular bird has storage which is perfect for holding my individual serving bars of British Cadbury's chocolate (Yes, it's better than the Cadbury's on this side of the Atlantic). Also, apparently in Feng Shui, having a bird in the room can bring good luck. Hopefully the amount of luck isn't directly related to the value of the bird, as this little guy only cost $7.
White bird with hidden storage

Decorate

Coffee Anyone?

August 05, 2011

If you read about my Jonathan Adler-esque lamp you'll know that for months I'd been living in a home with no livingroom tables. This wasn't a problem when it was just me at home, but it was hard to be a good hostess when guests were forced to hold any drinks in their hands when visiting.

Shortly after I purchased the lamp/table I was visiting one of my favorite furniture consignment stores in Toronto when I saw this:
Rectangular coffee table at Frontier Sales

Frontier Sales had this piece in their front window so I spotted it as soon as I walked in. Before even looking through the rest of the store I put it on hold so I could go home to make sure it would fit. At 2'6" x 4' it's quite a bit larger than most of the coffee tables I'd seen in stores - they're designed for new-build condos that have small living rooms, where as my living room is a rather large 12'x16'.

Luckily for me the table would fit, so next came the task of getting it home. I recruited my boyfriend D to give me a hand, but while we could get the glass top into the back seat of his car, the base wouldn't fit. Handily his brother owns a pick-up truck, so the next day he very kindly helped me move the base home.

Here's my new living room addition (which you might have spotted in the mirror in my last post):
Rectangular Brass and glass coffee table on rug

There are a couple of scratches on the glass,  but given the table only cost $65 I'm not worried. I figure I can place a book or something on top to hide the imperfections. Also, as it's already marked I won't freak if I accidentally scratch it myself.

The one small issue with the table is it's HEAVY, so if I want to use the pull-out couch I need to recruit my guests help to move the table before I can set the bed up, which I think moves me back in to bad-hostess territory. 
Brass and Glass coffee table

Decorate

Thrift Store Find: Gold Sunburst Mirror

July 28, 2011

I've been blogging for about 8 months now, and in that same time I've discovered quite a few blogs that I enjoy reading. One thing that these blogs all seem to have in common is the authors fairly frequently find something really great at a thrift store.

Whenever I see one of these posts I tend to trundle off to a thrift store thinking I too will find something great, and have pretty much always come away empty-handed - until recently.

Feast your eyes on what I found at a local Goodwill store:
Convex mirror with gold coloured frame
Curious about the price? It was a hugely expensive $6.06. I think this qualifies as a great find - don't you?

Decorate

Spitting Image Style - Jonathan Adler - Meurice Table Floor Lamp

July 18, 2011

I while back a bunch or friends and I were going out to dinner and everyone met up at my place before we headed out. In an attempt to be a gracious hostess (as my mom taught me) I offered everyone a drink. It was then I realised I had a bit of a problem - I didn't have anywhere for my guests to put their drinks - there were no tables in my living room which meant my guests had to hold on to their glasses while we sat around and chatted. I'm pretty sure this and the lack of beverage choice (I could only offer water) would be an automatic fail in Hostessing 101. That evening ensured that tables for my living room moved to the top of my long list of things my home needed.

I few weeks later I was browsing the HomeSense near work on my lunch hour when I spotted this:
Maurice Floor lamp knock-off
I liked it on sight, but with its slightly gold tones was a huge departure from my normal preference of silver hues, so with one last glance I left it behind. Halfway back to the office I knew I'd made a huge mistake. The problem with HomeSense is if you see something you like, you need to buy it immediately, because more often than not by the time you return it will be gone. I rushed to my desk, googled the phone number and frantically dialed. Phew - it was still there, and they put it on hold for me until I could pick it up after work.

Remember my giant pear? Well I bought it at the same HomeSense. When I arrived to pick up my lamp, the cashier who served me commented on the lamp saying that it had been admired by a few customers, and then looked at me and said - 'You look familiar'. I smiled and wondered which gorgeous and talented Hollywood star she would say I looked like, and she said 'I remember - you bought the giant Pear!'. Apparently I've developed a reputation at that store.

When I looked again at the lamp I was about to purchase I realised I had seen it before, or at least something that looked an awful lot like it. Here's the Meurice Table Floor lamp by Jonathan Adler:
Jonathan Adler Meurice table floor lamp
Jonathan Adler Meurice Table floor lamp - Image Source: Jonathanadler.com
Anyway, I brought the lamp home (getting a few odd looks on the subway), and set my new lamp up in the living room. I think it looks pretty good, and the best part? The lamp cost only $70+tax vs. the $595(US) + tax and shipping that the Jonathan Adler lamp would have cost me.
NEW JONATHAN ADLER-ESQUE LAMP
My new Jonathan Adler-esque lamp

Bathroom

Bathroom Makeover - Part 2

May 22, 2011

It's been a while since I've posted anything even remotely related to my home - first I was sick, and then my trusty computer sputtered and died. My new computer finally arrived on Wednesday, but I spent the past few days doing absolutely nothing blog related - it turns out I missed the internet dreadfully when for two weeks I could only access it at home via my phone ( it's just not the same on a 3" screen).

Anyways, back to my bathroom. The second stage of the makeover has been the replacement of what I've been calling the 'bathroom bling' - the light fixture, and the sink faucet. Here's a reminder of the old fixtures:
Old Bathroom Fixtures

The aim of this makeover was to do it without spending a huge amount of money. This therefore precluded going to any of the fancy lighting or bathroom stores about town (darn) - I stuck with Home Depot.

Here is my choice for my new light fixture:
New Bathroom Light Fixture

Not bad for $59.99 right?

And here is my new faucet:
New Bathroom faucet

This is where my low-cost bathroom makeover went off the rails. The faucet was only $69.99, but unfortunately I ran into a little trouble with the installation. The short version is I looked under the sink to locate the water shutoff before removing the old fixture and didn't see it. That was a wee problem as you can't remove a faucet without first turning off the water (well you can, but you won't like the results). A call to the building management the following Monday (because, like all good DIYers, I was doing this on the weekend) confirmed that there wasn't an individual unit shutoff - in order to change my one measly bathroom faucet I had to get the water turned off to the whole building. Sigh - why can't anything be easy? In the end I arranged for the building handyman to turn off the water and install the tap, and in return I received an invoice for $170.

I had hoped to perform this makeover miracle for under $300, but with the unexpected installation expense I'm now aiming for under $400.

BTW - while the handyman was installing the faucet I had him install water shutoff's on both the hot and cold lines under the sink, this way the next time (yeah right) I change the faucet I can do it myself.

Bathroom

Bathroom Makeover - Part 1

April 20, 2011

So, I've finally started my long put-off bathroom makeover. When I decided that there wasn't really anything I could do with the blue tiles I lost a little of my redecorating gusto (or maybe it was mojo?) . It's now returning in fits and starts, but that might be because in the last few weeks I have managed to collect a rather LARGE number of other projects that I will have to start on soon, rather than any great desire to try to make something of the bathroom.

After my last post on the subject, Rufusfrom Rufus' Food and Spirit Guide commented and suggested I embrace the Smurf blue  - well, I think I need to conclusively demonstrate that it's not the colour itself I dislike. For this reason alone I felt compelled to share this picture from last Halloween:
Smurf Halloween costume
Embracing smurf blue 
Yes, that's right, I dressed up as a Smurf. I should add this was while at work. My whole department (even our director) painted our faces blue  and we won best group costume, and also Best 80's theme costume!! Ironically  I was handy Smurf. But I digress.

Back to my bathroom. The first step was determining how to fill-in the gap at the bottom of the wall between the baseboard and the floor tile. A common occurrence in older buildings is settling, and my building is no different with slightly off-kilter floors and doorways. This was the only immediately visible indicator of the settling  in my apartment, and it needed to be disguised.
Gap between tile and wall
The gap between the baseboard and the tiled floor
Fixing the gap wasn't difficult - it simply required a quick trip to Home Depot for some quarter round and a little of my time. There were of course the little hiccups - I though I was brilliant when I decided to drill pilot holes for the nails that would hold the trim down, except the drill holes were at an angle that ensured the nails ended up in the gap I was trying to mask. Grumble. Other than leaving me with a few more holes to fill, it wasn't a big issue.

What was a bit of a pain however, was painting my new trim,and then the baseboards and radiator. You don't think about how many nooks and crannies a radiator has until you have to tape around, and then paint one.
Tapping around a radiator for painting
I'm pretty sure I used up at least half a role of tape doing this
I'm very much hoping that the fact that the rad was warm while I painted it won't be an issue down the road . . .

Anyways, after giving the trim and radiator two coats of  paint, I peeled back the tape I had so carefully applied and revealed this:
Quarter round in a bathroom

Much better n'est-ce pas?

Bathroom

A Nice Hot Bath Will Fix Just About Anything

April 06, 2011

Or that's what they say.

What happens if you really don't like your bathroom?  I'm pretty sure a hot bath can't fix that - believe me I've tried (well, I'll be honest - I tried hot showers, but I'm sure the saying applies).  It's not that my bathroom is bad per se, it's just not beautiful, gorgeous, awe-inspiring, and divine like these:
Dream Bathroom collage
1. Sarah Richardson 2. House Beautiful 3. apartmenttherapy.com 4. Country Living 5. Living ETC
Here's my bathroom as it stands now:
My Bathroom before collage
My bathroom - storage is an issue
See it's not too bad - unfortunately I don't like it. I wouldn't go a far as to say I hate it, but I feel a good bit of dislike for it.

So what's a girl to do? Unfortunately I don't have the budget for a complete reno, so I'm going to have to get creative.

On my bathroom hit-list:
  • The tiles. I don't like them. Okay, I just don't like the blue ones, the white ones don't bother me so much. It's unfortunate that the blue ones are so visible.
  • Storage issues - there isn't much. And what's with the blue and white plastic towel rails? Those will be first to go.
  • The faucet - I challenge anyone to find a cheaper one.
  • The lighting - Charitably I'd say the fixture  is art-deco style which fits with the buildings age.  Honestly, I'd say it was bad 90's.
So, what kind of bathroom makeover can one get on a very limited budget? I guess I'll have to see what I can come up with over the next little while.

Home

It Squishes Beneath My Toes

March 30, 2011

When I first moved into my condo, one of the first things I decided I needed to buy was a  rug for my living room.  I didn't have one in my old apartment, and even if I had it wouldn't have fit in my new 12'x16' space.  I'd read in a few different decor magazines that if you're starting a room from scratch it's always better to purchase a rug first, as apparently it's easier to match upholstery to a rug than the other way around (If you read my earlier post, I had some difficulty finding a fabric for my sofa to match my new rug so I can't begin to imagine trying to match a rug to an upholstered piece).

I was somewhat focused in my living room rug search in that I only went to one store.  That's right, just one.  I did however visit every single location of that store in the Greater Toronto Area (I'm not kidding, we looked at every one from Mississauga, to Scarborough and even north to Vaughan).  The store in question was HomeSense.  HomeSense is great for all sorts of things, but unfortunately for me being carless makes it a little difficult to visit.  There are a couple of locations in the city, but they just aren't as massive and magical as the ones you can find in suburbia.  Handily my mom came to town for a week or so to help me move, so I made use of her car.  Aren't moms wonderful??

When you go into HomeSense the rugs are hung very neatly from the walls which is great - you can flip through them quickly and see the whole rug easily - not like some carpet stores where they're piled up on the floor and in order to see one you fold back the corner of the one above it, and invariably the only rug you're even slightly interested in seeing is the one on the bottom, so you have to somehow lift up the 25 or so rugs above it. . . . Ugh! I get winded just thinking about it . .
Rug Store collage
Stacks of rugs vs. Homesense's neatly hung rugs
Anyways, back to the way HomeSense does it.  It's so much smarter, making it easy to flip through their rugs in just a couple of minutes.  In theory, if you're just looking for a rug as I was you could walk in, make a bee-line to the rug section, and if you don't find anything be back out at the car in under 10 minutes.  I've never managed to do that.  Sigh - did I mention I think HomeSense is magical??  I'm like a kid at Disneyland - I walk through the doors and stop and stare, and can't decide what to look at first - I'm sure I look like the spectators at Wimbledon with my head bobbing back and forth.

The only problem with buying a huge rug a HomeSense is you have to
Popeye
get it home yourself.  Rugs are pretty heavy, and they're rather unwieldy.  I think regular rug stores roll them up for delivery, but a rolled up 8'x11' rug won't fit in any car so the people at HomeSense  fold it  several times like a piece of paper, and place it on top of a cart so you can roll it out to your vehicle.  That part's not so bad, it's the part when you get to your destination that causes regular folk to wish they had a friend or relative who looks like Popeye.

Given that delivering rugs is oh-so fun,  my mom and I did it twice as the first one I bought looked decidedly washed out against my hardwood floor.  The second rug purchase worked much better, and thankfully it stayed on my floor once we'd heaved it into my home - have I mentioned that my condo in on the second floor in a building with no elevator?
Homesense Rug in a livingroom
My new rug (Please ignore the 90's lamp in the corner)

Design

Kettle, meet . . . Kettle

February 28, 2011

You know how there's always something around your house that you always mean to replace (or fix) but never get around to it?  It stays as is, either because you can't find something to replace it with, or you just don't have the time to fix or replace it?  Well, for me, that something was my kettle.

Yellow Kettle
My old kettle was not purchased for its striking good looks or bubbly personality - it was purchased because I needed a kettle, and it was the cheapest I could find ( Gasp! Yes I admit it, I purchased something knowing full well it was ugly). Whatever looks it did have were unceremoniously diminished a year or so later when one day I neglected to close the whistler and then placed it on the stove.

You guessed it - I forgot all about the kettle, and without the whistle there was nothing to remind me to remove it when the water boiled.  I forgot the kettle so completely that all the water boiled away, and my kettle developed a slight black tinge around the base where the colour started to burn off.  As ugly as it was, I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money to replace it, so it has continued to grace my stove for quite some time in its diminished state.  Until now.
New Stainless Steel Kettle
Voilà!  My sexy new kettle.  Isn't it pretty?  I love the shape.  Plus, as a major bonus, it's not yellow.

Design

Fab Find: Louis XV Style Chairs

February 14, 2011

For quite some time I've been looking for some more furniture for my living room.  I have a couch (which has its own long story) but that's pretty much it, and the space looks a little bare and forlorn.  Having so little furniture also makes figuring out furniture placement difficult, so what I do have is pushed unimaginatively against the walls.

My decorating budget isn't huge (let's be honest - it's teeny-weeny), so I've been trolling both Kijiji and Craigslist in the hopes that someone would be selling something that would fit perfectly in my space at an excellent price.  Chances of finding the perfect piece are admittedly quite slim, but a girl can dream right?

Over the past little while there have been a few things that have caught my eye, but as is the case with items posted on either site you have to act QUICKLY as you can be sure if the item attracted you, it's caught someone else's notice as well.

On Friday morning I was surfing Kijiji when I came across a posting that immediately drew my attention. The only issue was the item was located in Cambridge which is 85km west of Toronto, and I don't have a car. Fortunately I have recently become a member of Zipcar.ca which is a car sharing service in Toronto.  This was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

Anyways, to make a long story short - here is what I successful in procuring:
My new Louis XV style chairs

And the best part?  The Price.  Would you believe that these were purchased for $75 for the PAIR???  When you factor in the $35 I spent on the car rental, I got both chairs for a total cost of $110!!!  Woohoo!!

Now of course I have to figure out what to do with them.  They obviously need to be cleaned and reupholstered, but I need to decide if I should paint them, or just leave the wood stained.  That decision will probably be made after I clean them up and take a closer look at the condition of the current finish.  I'm open to suggestions if anyone has them.

In the meantime I'm going to daydream about what my new chairs could become with a little elbow grease from yours truly, and hopefully a lot less money than what the chairs in the inspiration shots below cost.  Unsurprisingly, I absolutely LOVE #4 - but who'd spend that much on one chair?
Louis XV chair Inspiration collage
1. Elte 2.Anthropologie, $798 USD 3.Elte 4.Dransfield and Ross, $3,125 USD 5.Restoration Hardware, $329 USD (on sale) 6.Anthropologie, $498 USD

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