Guest post - fun with fabric

Hi everyone,

Today I am over at Lindsey's blog: Recreated. So excited to be there today as she takes some time away. If you have not yet checked out her blog or my previous Pieces of Me post over there, now's the perfect time!

Head on over to see what the heck this has to do with my post:



To paint, or not to paint...

Everyone is painting kitchen cabinets as a quick facelift project for the kitchen. I can 100% say that our kitchen needs a facelift. We are currently trying to decide how much of a facelift it needs - some really good concealer and blush? Or more of the plastic-surgery-full-facelift variety? We're hoping the good concealer and blush approach can tide us over a year or two until a larger reno...

Have any of you out there in blogland personally painted your kitchen cabinets? If so - how did you do it (brush/roller, or spray paint, or did you have them sprayed)? What kind of paint worked best? Glossy? Flat? Dark? Light? Do they look good up close (or just in pictures?) I know that there is no shorage of great examples online of painted kitchen cabinets (see below for a wee snippit), but I need some real life proof to get comfortable with this project!

In the meantime...here are some examples of painted kitchens done well (at least in photos....)

via Centsational Girl

This is my EXACT kitchen layout - just pop a window over the sink...via Young House Love

I don't think I want dark cabinets, but these are done nicely - via We're THAT Family

 

via The Nest

via Home Decoration Collection

And....just as a reminder - my ever so stylish-oak-cabineted-white-counter-topped-white-applianced-kitchen (with dishes...this was a file pic, not a style pic!):



Friday faves - places and spaces

One of my absolute favourite places is the beach...any beach with an ocean will do but I do have a couple of favourites. I grew up going to Myrtle Beach SC for 3 weeks every summer, so I love spending the whole day on the beach. Recently the Mr. and I have been favouring Hawaii. No matter which beach I'm on, one of my favourite times at the beach is late in the afternoon after you've been on the beach all day. You're trying to get the last bit of the day before the sun starts setting. The crazy heat of the day is melting away and it's so relaxing to be on the beach when almost everyone else has left...ahhhhh....

I kind of feel this is where we are in the summer right now...it's getting dark earlier, stays dark later in the morning and the heat isn't the same as July heat. I don't want summer to go, but I will try to get everything that I can out of the coming weeks.

All photos mine - Kauai, Hawaii





Polyvore + new Ikea catalogue = fun!

I have been playing around with Polyvore a little bit, and just received the new Ikea catalogue last week! I finally got the chance to scour it for ideas, and there is some nice stuff in there. I won't vouch for the quality of the items, but they've got the look down pat. Here's a fun little throw-together of a living room with all Ikea furnishings:

Total cost before tax: $2897 (my gosh Ikea is inexpensive). 

You can see more of my Polyvore fun on my account: http://interiorgroupie.polyvore.com/

Playing Houzz

Do you know about houzz.com?? It is a website with millions (ok, not sure about that self-made stat being reliable, but at least many many many) photos of homes - like Pinterest, but homes only. You can filter based on geography (very cool), design style, and room (or all three). Amazing? I think so. Here are some of my favourite photos from a quick peak (ok, continuous revelling) the other night:



Whoo-Whoo

Happy Monday everyone! This past weekend was busy at the start and tailed off nicely for a relaxing and rainy Sunday. Just what I needed to get back in fine form for the week ahead. Has anyone else realized we are already PAST mid-August?? Eek! Luckily I have a litte city-fun-getaway planned that is keeping me pining for September :)

Another thing I've noticed over the past year is the persistence of owls showing up in home decor. I think they can be really cute, but wonder if it's a trendy fad?  Whether it's here to stay or not here are some great examples of owls done right...



Bookends via Chapters-Indigo

via TheArtZoo

Owls everywhere! Via Pinterest

I got this adorable owl (w/ a candle inside) for a friend from Anthropologie. via

via Pinterest

Cute with the chevron - via

via Lake Jane

Maybe I need to get an owl to add some spice to my cabinet styling dilemma!

Friday faves - kitchen gadgets

I am a sucker for a good gadget...I think I get it from my parents. There are some, however, that really make my life easier in the kitchen. A lot of these could be replicated or the tasks could be done another way, but I think the gadget adds that special touch. I'm featuring primarily non-mechanical gadgets in this post. 



A good knife is not optional. Henckels via

 

Call it what you will - meat tenderizer, meat pounder, meat mallet...whatever it is makes the job wayyyy easier than trying to use a frying pan to flatten pieces of meat! via

This is a wooden reamer, used to juice citrus fruits. I actually don't own one but have always loved how they look! via

This is what you use if you really want all the juice out of a lime! A heavy metal juicer like in Mexico. via

I prefer a carafe to other water containers because the wider neck allows you to put ice in it. via

 

A good pastry blender is key to easy (and delicious) pie dough. via

What are some of your favourite yet simple kitchen gadgets??

Styling

I have a few areas of my home that need styling...in most cases, they are cabinets or shelves. I don't know quite what's taking me so long but I think a lot of it is the sheer amount of "stuff" that you have to put on shelves to make them look good!  Here's one of them:

I can continue with the black/white theme, but I really need some additional items for the shelves. And what to do with those drawers?? This is in our guest bedroom.

I always stayed away from little "bits and bops" because I didn't want clutter - but who knew you had to hunt for stuff...I think in my case I need interesting items that will add a bold feel to the empty spaces. Where do you find your "stuff" for your shelves?

 Here are some inspiration photos of shelf styling...enjoy!



via DecorPad

via me oh my! 

via DecorPad

via Young House Love

via House & Home

via HGTV

via House & Home

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

Curb finds

My hubby picked up these pieces on the way home from work one day last week -- he knows how to spot them! Some great curb finds. They will likely sit in our garage for the moment until we find inspiration...any ideas?

This coffee table is very similar in shape to the one we converted to a bench for our master bedroom, but is not quite as tall (and therefore not comfortable sitting height). I will have to put my thinking cap on for how to handle this one...

Maybe I could transform it with gold legs and a white top...



via

via - I would rough it up quite a bit more than this one...

Or maybe I could rough up the top service and wax it, paint the legs white like this:

via

Here is the second piece:

This is a cool art-deco style wooden chest of drawers...would be a perfect night table, or storage in a bathroom (if only my bathroom were that big)...now to determine the best way to highlight the wood work on each of the drawers!

Happy Monday  - here's wishing everyone a happy,quick, and productive week!

And the winner is...



via

ME!

I am the LUCKY winner of an amazing giveaway on Flourish Design + Style (if you haven't checked out the blog you simply MUST...and it's a Canadian blogger to boot). I am just so excited, nice little uplifting way to start the week. I have won an assortment of beauty / skin products from Arbonne. Who can't use some pampering? Thanks to Miranda and Sarah for the giveaway!

Happy Monday everyone

Friday faves



via

Did anyone else have a week like this!??! Mine wasn't particularly terrible in any way, but boy oh boy am I happy it's Friday.

Happy weekend everyone!

Peachy keen

I've posted about local Ontario strawberries before, but I don't think I have publicly declared my love for Ontario peaches. Don't worry Georgia, you still have ah-mazing peaches, but they don't taste as good when they're trucked 1000 miles up here. Local is where it's at...Niagara peaches are in fine form this summer and I am planning to get my fill!

We bought a basket on Sunday and they looked good but were very hard...give them 3 days without a/c and they are PERFECT right now!  Last night I made a salad with peaches, caramelized onions, and a simple white balsamic vinaigrette.



So tasty and smooth, served with chicken for dinner (some prosecco would have been the perfect accompaniment now that I think about it!). I used what I had on hand (romaine and red leaf lettuce), but next time I would throw in some more bitter greens like frisee, and definitely some peppery-arugula. Blue cheese would top it off nicely.

Hopefully I've given you some inspiration for a deliciously locally inspired lunch or dinner today!