Trick or treat & Last day to enter the giveaway!

Happy Hallowe'en all! Hope everyone has a goulishly good day. I'll be waiting for all the kidlets in their costumes to come and collect some goodies!

While many of my neighbours in my neighbourhood decorate their houses for Hallowe'en, I'm holding out for the holidays. We do have a pumpkin though (we're not complete prudes). Here are some great Hallowe'en decor ideas that are much too late for this year, but maybe I'll get inspired to do something next year! (who am I kidding...I'm just not that much of a Hallowe'en gal...but I do like these!):



via I heart shabby chic

via Apartment Therapy

 

With all the Hallowe'en excitement, don't forget to enter the giveaway for this beautiful bracelet from BlushBeads:



The draw closes tomorrow, November 1 at 5pm EST - make sure to enter so I can meet my entry goal!!
See the original post to enter: http://interiorgroupie.blogspot.com/2011/10/giveaway.html

Friday faves - giveaway!

YAY for Friday everyone!! Thank goodness it's here. Now, I know that everyone likes to take it easy on Fridays and the weekend, but I've got homework for you.

Enter my giveaway!  It is my first one ever and I know you will love the bracelet from BlushBeads:

I have some goals for how many people I would like to enter....and unfortunately I'm not close :( So come on people, free stuff is good stuff (and who doesn't like a little surprise in the mail)! Slap a comment on the post here and get in on the goods. *Open to US and Canadian shipping addresses.

Have a great weekend!

Heartbreak

This past weekend, I fell in love with some furniture. I haven't gone furniture shopping in a long time (other things have gotten in the way - a new car, kitchen plans, etc.)...but on Sunday it was such a nice day that I wanted to wander a little bit....so we went down to Leslieville, went into Hardware and I bee-lined to these:

Be still my heart.

Picture them with a punch of colour via lumbar pillows or a throw, and an orange-brown-leather couch (yet to be found...).

Ok, back to love at first sight. Nturally I took a picture, drooled over them, sat in them, gushed with the store owner about them. Then I went home, got busy with some other stuff, and kept them in the back of my mind. Last night before going to bed, I looked at the photo I had. You know, so I could have dreams of them being in my living room and all.

Then, heartbreak.

My beacon of reality (aka the Mr.) piped up and said....I don't know how well they will fit in our room. {insert the sound of my mind spinning to MAKE them WORK here}. We moved around some of our current furniture to see how placement would work. It was hard to get things in the right place because the pieces we were using as fake chairs seemed a bit big where I wanted to put them. Then, I took out the measuring tape to measure the existing items.  That's when heartbreak set in. The existing items that looked too big were 4" smaller (in depth) than said chairs. The chairs are DEEP (36" deep....that's a serious seat). 

Sigh. I don't think they're going to work.

Now I am on a mission to find similar chairs that aren't quite so big (I know I should have a floorplan on here to help you guys visualize....but I don't....maybe soon so I can poll for layout suggestions). I found this one at West Elm:



Sweep Upholstered Armchair via WestElm

These WestElm chairs are only 32" in depth. But...they're not the same. I miss the cushion backing as opposed to the basic back that the WE ones have.

Do you have any suggestions?

If you are in the market for chairs, go to Hardware and buy my beloved chairs. Run, don't walk. Let me know that they've gone to a good home.

PS - Want another way to help me feel better (and in return get a chance to win a fun baubble)? Enter my giveaway!

My man, JOE

Did you guys watch the Joe Fresh 2012 Spring Fashion show live like I did? They streamed it from Toronto Fashion Week...pretty cool to watch it unfold. I haven't been to Joe in a little while, but I am a huge fan and have been since the collection was launched in '06. I decided to hit their website which has undergone a huge re-do, and now has all of their items availabe on hte screen to drool over. Here are some of the ridiculously hot items I'm swooning over:

Don't you want all of this stuff??

 1 - Wrap Belt $19;  2 - Multi-Chain necklace $14; 3 – Mohair Cardigan $39; 4 - Mesh Hoops Necklace $14; 5 - Cascade blouse $39; 6 - Felt Flats $29

And...

1 - Striped skirt $39; 2 - Fringe mini $39; 3 - Melange long sleeve tee $16; 4 - Desert Boot $79; 5 - Merino Dolman sweater $49; 6 – Plaid scarf $12

For those of you in Canada - you can find JOE locations here. For my American readers - don't fret! They're bringing JOE cross-border, and you can read all about it here.  In addition to the amazing women's wear I've featured here, they have active-wear, men's and kids/baby gear.

PS - don't forget to enter my giveaway!





Giveaway!

I am beyond excited to announce my very first giveaway! I have been contacted about various giveaways before but wanted my first one to be special, and this one definitely is.

BlushBeads is a Canadian, one-woman-powered, hand-made jewellry shop. I know the owner and she puts her heart into every piece she makes. I am thrilled to give away this bracelet:

It's a beautiful piece - whether you wear it to kick up a basic outfit of jeans and a tee, or pair it with a dress for holiday parties that are just around the corner! BlushBeads has a number of unique pieces, and even does custom pieces - see their online shop, or visit select boutiques.

Here's how to enter (leave 1 comment for each of the actions you do below):

1. Be a follower of this blog (click on "Follow Interior Groupie" above all the smiling photos to the right).

2. Go to the BlushBeads website - http://www.blushbeads.com/home.php and leave a comment back here stating your favourite piece!

3. Like BlushBeads on Facebook, come back here and leave a comment telling me you did

4. Tweet about this giveaway - make sure to cc @interiorgroupie and @blushbeads - come back and leave a comment about your tweet

That's it! Good luck to all - the giveaway will close at 5pm EST on November 1st, so make sure to get your entries in. This giveaway is open to anyone with a Canadian or US shipping addresss.



Almost Friday!

So...I was going to do a post today about the chili I made (yes, slaved over) all day in the slow cooker...even took a before shot this morning at 7am before heading to work...but by the time I got home after work and hitting the gym it was 8:00, I was starving and I just wanted to eat dinner. I did not have the patience or desire to take a photo of a lovely steaming bowl of chili. So, I took a very unglamourous, unstyled after shot of chili in the crockpot.  Then I thought...do you guys really care about what I had for dinner? seriously?? Maybe you do, on days when I try to be a gourmet chef...not sure if chili fits that bill...but for those of you who now have a hankering for chili after all my babbling here are the shots:

Before

You guessed it...after.

It looks more appetizing before, but believe me it was very tasty.

At this point, you are all probably saying/thinking/yelling/tweeting....Heather, this post is



via Fab.com

Sorry about that....this week has been really busy at work (you know those productive yet busy weeks when you kind of feel like a hamster on a wheel? yes, that's me).  BUT I have a surprise coming in the form of a giveaway - so stay tuned!! Should be popping up next week...

Until then, happy end of the week y'all!



Have you heard?

Sarah & Tommy (and contractor Vito) are back!



Tonight (Tuesday) at 8pm EST, HGTV is airing 2 back to back episodes of the new season of Sarah's House. (Here's the schedule for the season: http://www.hgtv.ca/sarahshouse/schedule.aspx)

Here's the description of the upcoming season - from hgtv.ca
Sarah Richardson buys a home from plans in a new subdivision, and shows you how to transform a builder's beige box into the home of your dreams. Sarah's House demystifies the entire process of dealing with your builder, balancing wants and needs, headaches and sweat equity to create the home you really want!

Although I live in an 80-year old home in an established Toronto neighbourhood, I'm curious to see how Sarah approaches a new build and am sure that we will all still be able to glean a number of tips and tricks to apply to our own abodes - whether old, new, rented, or owned!

Back in black

Happy Monday folks! Here's hoping for a quick and uber productive week ahead.

This weekend while the Mr. and I were browsing a granite yard, we came across a piece with a nice black vein and it reminded me that designers always say that every room should have a hit of black. Maybe it's the bleak weather from the weekend, or the fact that Hallowe'en's on its way (my neighbourhood is weirdly into halloween house decor...or maybe me and the mr. are weirdly NOT into Halloween house decor? But pretty much every other house is decorated - already). I digress...here are some hints of black to top off your Monday:



via Decorpad

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via WestElm

Amy's bathroom! Via aDesignDock

via DecorPad

via Pinterest

What should I do with this?

We got a new TV a couple of weeks ago (of course, with everything else that comes with it). We needed a TV stand...the old one we had was a space-age-y corner stand that served its purpose well, but I wasn't crazy about the look. For our new TV I wanted to try out something new, so I started scouring Craigslist for dressers or buffets to use as a media stand.

I came across this post:



...and I thought - that could work. It would fit our space, it's the height we want, and we could remove the top drawer and one of the lower drawers for tv accessories that have to be in the open (mainly the sound bar and the cable box). Well, when we went to take a look at it at the seller's house, they had a slightly smaller yet similar item that wouldn't require nearly as much effort for our purposes (FYI - the original item above is still available! See the post here).

We ended up taking this puppy home:

This is all set up in our house - as you can see, the soundbar fits PERFECTLY in the top shelf, and the cable box and DVD fit perfectly in the other shelves. In a perfect world it would be slightly wider, but the depth of this piece works perfect for our space.

So now here comes the question - to paint or not to paint? The piece needs to be refinished at some point because it has a few scratches and marks on the finish. Should we stick with a stain to keep the warmth of the piece (and tie into our staircase), or should we paint - in which case, light or dark?

Opinions welcome!



Happy Thanksgiving - Just call me Martha

Hello friends! What a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend this was...highs near the 30's and pure sun - couldn't ask for better weather.

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our place this year for the first time! We had a few friends over since our families are in Ottawa and we didn't make the trip back.

I litterally felt like Martha Stewart - cook cook cook, clean, cook! I definitely think we succeeded in our first Thanksgiving feast (even made turkey soup today!).  Here's my weekend in food:

Stuffing is probably my favourite thing about turkey dinner...the Mr. was worried we wouldn't have enough bread but I think once it was cut we both saw the huge amount we had to work with!

Yes, I still put the stuffing IN the turkey. In my mind it's the only way. (PS - we had the PERFECT amount of stuffing for the 7kg turkey we had!)

All cooked up! YUMM

I made the pumpkin pie on Saturday night to save time. I am not sure what caused the crack in the middle (slightly over cooked??) but it tasted delicious. Our guests brought 2 pies from Yitz's deli here in Toronto and they were top notch!

Remember how I posted on Saturday about how to decorate your table for Thanksgiving? Well, as I was setting my table, it dawned on me how much room you have to leave for the good stuff - aka food. So, I kept it really simple with some tall candleholders and gourds:

The dinner was very fun, and delicious! Everything went really well and we were happy to have such great company for our first hosted Thanksgiving dinner. To top off the weekend, I made cinnamon buns for this morning:



This is how they look out of the oven...then you flip them over and you get:

Yummy.

Just to clarify, we hit the gym on Sunday morning and went for a long bike ride today in the Don Valley- definitely had to be active with all that food!

Hope all of you in Canada had a nice weekend! FYI...my posting might be a bit light this week, it's a short week so bound to be busy at work and I'm out of the office on training Thursday and Friday. Have a good week everyone!

Table decor for your turkey

Happy Thanksgiving for all my Canadian friends!! It is a GORGEOUS weekend here, and definitely warmer than normal for Thanksgiving (NO complaints here).

We are having some friends over for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, and it will be our first turkey cooking experience! Wish us luck...I'm thinking I should make the table look pretty so even if the food doesn't turn out perfectly at least people will be distracted by nice decor? (and wine, lots of wine).

Style at Home has pulled through again with some great ideas for Thanksgiving table decor. Here are some of my faves:



Autumn Berry Napkin Rings

I won't be going as far as having my guests sit on hay bales, but gourds in vases is definitely a simple possibility - via

And some more inspiration:



via Pinterest

I hope we will have too much food on the table to do this one...but like the look of it! via Covetabledesigns

This looks dead simple (aka right up my alley...) - via On a Whim and a Broomstick

Friday faves - feeling pampered

I have spent the last 5 nights at my parents' house...I came to Ottawa last weekend for a wedding (a beautiful, beautiful wedding!) and stayed for work until Thursday night. I have to say...being here during the week was quite a bit like being at a resort. When I got home I had nothing to think about - didn't have to come up with ideas for dinner, didn't have to think about home projects, and didn't have to do any chores. Amazing (thanks mom!).

In honour of this resort-type atmosphere, for today's Friday Faves I'm sharing some seriously luxurious hotel spots around the world (unfortunately I haven't had the chance to frequent these yet, but let's add them to the list, shall we?).

Happy daydreaming...



The Waikiki Edition, Hawaii - via EnRoute

 Sentosa Resort & Spa, Singapore - via

Sovena Kiri Six Senses, Thailand - via

The Old Bank Hotel - Oxford UK via

via

Taylor Hotel, Paris - via

The Nines (Luxury Collection), Portland - via

The Outpost Kruger National Park, South Africa - via 



Ok, so this isn't a hotel - however it is on an AIRPLANE. Just think of how lovely it would be to have a "seat" like this on a long overseas flight...ahhhh..... Singapore Airlines via

Porch project - floor

As the final leg of our porch project (you can read more about that here, here and here) the Mr. painted our porch floor. What was supposed to be a really simple project turned into about 5 trips to Home Depot (seriously, can anyone do a home project with just ONE trip there!??!). The main problem was the colour of the first paint we got, it was way too light...we would have been blinded every time we walked up to our house. So, we took the paint back and they actually just fully exchanged it for a new can (amazing), and then we had to go to another Home Depot to get more "sand" to put in the paint (anti-slip medium).  Long story short, the floor is painted and now we're on the hunt for some more comfy chairs for the porch. If anyone knows anywhere doing patio furniture clearance let us know :)

Not the sexiest of projects, but one you just gotta do :)



Getting crafty with a salad spinner?

Last week I was home one day nursing a very annoying cough and cold. The good part was that I got to catch up on some fun daytime TV! I definitely soaked in CityLine, some OWN Season 25 and some great cooking shows (I can never seem to catch them in a normal week when I don't get home before 6:30). All in all a great day, despite a coughing fit in the middle of a teleconference (had to do SOME work...embarrassing that I was coughing so much I couldn't talk and no one on the line knew what was going on? yes...) Anyhoo...I decided to watch the Marilyn Denis show because I loved her when she used to be on CityLine.

One of her segments was on art...specifically, art made with a salad spinner. Yes, you heard right! So, for all you crafty folks out there, get your art on. Here are some examples:



via

via

via

Marilyn's segment focused primarily on black and white final products, which looked really sharp. I think this could look chic if you stick to a specific colour palette. If you have kids (or just love crafts) and have an old salad spinner, give this wacky art a try!

Here is the how-to from the Marilyn Denis show:

Step #1: Cut paper in a circle to fit inside the salad spinner

Step #2: Splatter various colours of paint on the paper

Step #3: Put the lid on the spinner and spin!

Step #4: When it's stopped spinning take lid off, add more paint if you'd like a different pattern. Otherwise, allow to dry for a few hours and frame.

Simple isn't it??