My Favourite Room

At first we didn't quite know what to do with the family room. Having more than one "sitting" room was completely new to both of us and we couldn't afford to fully furnish the living room, let alone another 260 square feet. So the family room housed a couple of old recliners handed down from my parents and mainly served as a pass-through on the way to the backyard.

Finally we got tired of trying to watch TV in the living room. Although it's a pleasant and bright room, the glare of the afternoon and evening sun from the picture window made it completely unsuitable for TV watching. But before we could move into the family room, we had to tackle was the ugly fireplace.

Don't get me wrong; I love exposed brick—if it's great brick. This wasn't. A small windfall from my Mom went toward the TV, Ikea couch and rug. The recliners sold on craigslist to a sweet woman who was making a man cave for her husband for Father's Day. They netted enough to buy 2 wicker chairs, again from Ikea. Then, out of the blue, my cousin Dennis called to ask if I would be interested in a dresser and rocking chair that belonged to our grandparents. I had such a fascination for that dresser when I was a little girl, so of course we drove right over to pick the pieces up. That spurred us on to pull some of our art out of storage in the basement and actually hang it on the walls.

Last, I was forced to finish up the curtains I had started last year. Luckily, they were stalled in the last stages and within a few days I had them finished and hung. Decorating a room is job that never ends, I suspect, but I love, love, love the results so far:

Mr. D*S insisted on that big-ass TV, nothing else would do. He got such an amazing deal on it. Since I had my way totally with everything else in this room, it was only fair that he chose the television. Since we have no cable, it's mostly used for watching DVDs.

I'm dreaming of pale gray canvas/linen slipcovers for the chaise and ottoman, as well as some colourful pillows for both the chaise and couch. That's my next sewing project. I wouldn't mind painting the bookcase a lighter colour as well. (And, hmmm, refinish the floors, do something with that light fixture... the list goes on and on.) In the meantime, I like to sit here with my coffee on the tray I picked up yesterday, knowing I've foiled the plans of the poodle who thinks she's a person.

What a Little Paint Can Do

All it took was paint, a new curtain panel and rod, a few new towels, a candle, dollar store picture frames and an Ikea track light. Under $150 for everything.

Before—cringe-worthy, right? This is what it looked like before we moved in and for three (!) years after.

The new toilet was added last spring, along with another on the top floor. Hallelujah, we were finally able to retire the plunger to the basement. Home Despot was having a sale and the county was offering a generous rebate on water efficient toilets.
When the carmel colour went on the walls, I thought, Oh no, but the curtain over the shower pulled it all together in the end.

Kitchen Corner

I always know what I want, but sometimes it takes a while to put it together. For two years, we’ve used a corner of the kitchen for Moxie’s crate, but it was crying out for a smart kitchen set, and not just any kitchen set either. First, the table: French bistro-style with a marble top. I may never possess the kitchen of my dreams with marble counters and backsplash, but I can own a little piece, can't I? And how about that chair-of-the-moment, the French Thonet? Well, it turns out I can't actually have that. Sure, Crate & Barrel has a knock-off, but what a flimsy chair at $149. Fortunately, the search for our table base led us to the Chair Room of a restaurant supply store, where we found these beauties for $25 each. Comfortable and sturdy. Mr. D*S is so handy with a paint brush, and the soft vinyl is perfect for a kitchen—and cheap, too.

Here's the original chair from the restaurant supply:

And the finished table and chairs in our little kitchen nook:

I'm tickled every time I sit here for my coffee or with my laptop. It was worth the wait. And to make it even sweeter, I've spied similar chairs in a magazine lately for over $1,000 each. Yeah, I'm happy.

Next trip into the city, we'll look for bamboo blinds to warm that window up a bit.

Catching Up

Instead of a traditional birthday cake, we celebrated Panda's 15th birthday with these Toasted-Almond Caramel Dacquoise. Yes, they are the same ones featured on the cover of the February issue of Canadian Living. I already had 4 egg whites left over from a dinner party chocolate pudding and plenty of almonds, so it was a stroke of serendipity. They were amazing.


What a disappointment when I realized that moving to Ontario would mean no more fresh herbs from my balcony in the winter. (Duh!) So my solution is a fluorescent tube set up in the basement on an old Ivar bookcase. I hope to extend our little grow-op to include salad greens and, of course, we'll start our seeds for the garden here.

This is my current home decorating project. It may be a long, long time before it is finished, but when we finally have new pinch-pleated drapes for the family room, I'll post another picture.

Apologies for the quality of this photo, but it's darn hard to catch something like this on film. So now you know why I must keep our kitchen counters absolutely clear of anything remotely edible. Or even chewy.

Things I have rescued from Moxie's mouth:

• $20 bill & $5 bill
• socks
• panties
• oven mitts
• kitchen towels
• chicken legs
• dead mouse (found on a walk, NOT in the house!)
• reading glasses
• paring knife
• CD's
• envelopes, paper scraps, toilet paper rolls
• guitar picks

Things missing in action:

• $12 worth of Oka with Mushrooms cheese
• three days worth of vitamins and anti-inflammatory medicine from pill case (found in pieces)
• bruxing guard (only some pieces found)
• many kitchen sponges, which do turn up eventually, if you know what I mean

Mox, we love ya, but man, you are one dumb doggie sometimes.

Evolution of a Home

Slowly, layer by layer, we try to make our home the beautiful haven we imagine. Patience is essential. For 20 long years, I struggled to reconcile my vision of domestic bliss with the reality of too little space and money, and a difficult landlord. Now we certainly have the space, the house belongs to us, but bliss must stick to a budget. Compromise is called for, but you will never again see me buy something because it’s cheap and I need something right now!

The dining room chandelier is a Home Depot knock-off of one we saw in a fancy shop. The bowl is a very treasured part of my new dishes, Sophie Conran for Portmeiron. (In my wildest domestic fantasies, I am a Sophie Conran-type of girl.) They were relatively cheap, but much better quality than our old discoloured set from Ikea. The stripes were painted by Mr. D*S, with two shades of grey and a coating of gloss on the darker shade. Did you know that high gloss shows every little flaw in a wall? Luckily, I'm getting very good at ignoring that sort of thing. The mirrors were, in part, a gift from Panda, and we're still searching for some smaller mirrors to fill out the wall. No hurry.

Interiors

More than thirty years ago, I pasted this cheap and cheerful paper onto the walls of my laundry room.

I couldn't have known that 4,500 km away, someone thought it would be just perfect for the long wall in their living/dining room. After bitching about it for over 6 months, we finally rolled up our sleeves and did this:

And this:


After Mr. D*S washed and primed the wall I was truly on the hook, so I picked my colours and invited the family over to help with this:


That's my incredibly hard-working brother Bob, cheerfully finishing up that evening. Thanks also to Emil, my brother-in-law, who was volunteered for the job, and laboured like Hercules nevertheless.

How I obsessed over that colour. For months I sat in libraries scanning decorating books and mags for colour ideas, worried that I would pick something and hate it later. I wanted a calm room with light colours, but felt hamstrung by our humongous black couch. When I found Shadow Grey and Sweet Innocence by Benjamin Moore, I worried that it would be too dark. But as it turns out, it was an inspired choice: greys with just a touch of blue. The long wall is a little darker and the lighter wall colour ranges from violet to charcoal depending on the light and angle but it's hard to see in the photos.




It's just the beginning, of course. I'm just starting on freshening up the paint on the baseboards and we have plans for stripes on the end wall in the dining room. Then it's fabrics for drapes and pillows, moving up the piano, looking for art, a mirror, side tables and lamps, maybe a rug. I don't know how long it all will take, but it feels so good to finally start to make this house our own.