Holiday Update

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas with friends and family - and planning for an even better New Years!

This Christmas, 2 of my favorite cousins got engaged with weddings planned for just around the corner in 2010. I'm so excited. I've never been so excited for a wedding in my life, but these two, I love them so much and I'm super stoked to see them both walk down the isle.

I'm not sure how you feel about the up coming new year, but 2010 is a big one for me. I have a lot of changes happening, which means a lot of expectations going into this year and therefore lot to look forward too.

So if I don't get to say it later this week... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Christmas Madness...

if you have young children, nephews or nieces - or friends with young kids, you know just by looking at the image above what a craze these little hamsters are! Zhu Zhu Pets are the world’s first innovative, realistic, interactive, plush, and artificially intelligent hamsters that talk and move around in their own play sets. they are the newest craze among kids and one of the most popular toys of the year!

we just spent a good hour waiting in line outside of toys r us before 8 am to just grab one of these guys. tickets were being handed out, security was on site and it was all for the new shipment of the new zhu zhu pets before Christmas since we missed the last batch ordered. insane doesn't begin to describe what we experienced this morning.

i don't ever remember my parents doing anything like this for me when i was a kid, but my nephew this year wants nothing more than one of these little hamsters - so being the great aunt & uncle we are, we waited - ran - grabbed and bought!

mission accomplished with all our fingers in tack!

Curtain Dividers

I've always been fascinated with using curtains as a room divider but have never seen a space use it before live so I can't help but wonder how good it actually would look if ulitized. The concept is simple and great, but the error of making a space look separate yet chic instead of clinical and hospital like, I feel treads on a very thin line!

I'm trying to divide my bedroom into two separate sections and wanted to try out the curtain divider idea. Here are some of my inspirational images.

This room doesn't leave anything to the imagination. The curtains act as a backdrop but also a visual divider still sheer enough to see through. Its very soft and elegant.


This image isn't really of a draped room divider, rather to hide what's behind the drapes, the bookshelf. In this case, I love the color of the drapes and the mass size of it acting as a backdrop to the seating area.


What are your thoughts? Yay or nay on dividing a space using drapes???

Mellow Yellow

my husband found a yellow Kitchen Aid Artisan 10 speed stand mixer and he's really wanting to have it, mainly because it's yellow.

Him: i want something yellow in the kitchen because it's so bright! it'll brighten up the space.
Me: yeah, but all our kitchen accessories are red.
Him: but there's nothing much we can get that's yellow otherwise.
Me: what do you mean, like home accessories.
Him: yes.

and so this blog is for my husband. there are so many great, wonderful yellow accessories you can add to your house, outside of the kitchen!

Banquette Dining

There's something very warm and comfortable with banquette dining spaces. That one piece of furniture really brings the entire table together and acts as a binding agent to create comfort and unity. It doesn't matter the size, the look, or the style, the one common factor in banquette dining is a sense of comfort.

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Happy Friday Everyone!

Light It Up

As someone who loves to spend most of my time in the kitchen, cooking, entertaining, eating and just experimenting on new ideas - lighting such a very very important part of the process.

Not only is lighting a necessity, but it's affects your mood and the feel and look of the space you're in. For the kitchen, I love bright lights, especially over working surfaces. Here are some fantastic examples of great kitchen lighting. I'm all about the rustic, industrial, hard looking light fixtures. Great for modern farm house kitchens.


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Modern Country

I recently came across this great little shop on Queen East called Flik&Company owned by Stephen & Mario Howard. Owning their own retail store in one of Toronto’s trendiest shopping districts for home-décor was once only a dream for Stephan Howard. Today he and partner own two popular vintage-style shops, with plans of further expansion in progress.

Here are some examples of great pieces you can find at their shop...



Lately I've really been inspired by modern country. The blend of warm country home comfort with the luxury and chic style of modern design. If married well, it's the perfect blend.



This image is so great. The dining area has exposed wooden beams stained in a dark mahogany, but it's accented by a very modern chandelier and dining table/chairs. The entry way mimics the dark wood frame with a beautiful modified arch right into a stark white kitchen with stainless steel stools against the back drop of white wooden built ins.

I'm actually loving modern country so much that I want to rip everything in my house at this point and start all over again =)
Now if only I can win the lotto!

Happy Monday

Winter Bedroom

My husband shocked me last night ...

Husband: "I think we should switch up our bedding"
Me: "how come?"
Husband: "It's winter now"
Me: SHOCKED!
Husband: "We should use this bedding for the spring summer months and get new winter bedding to make the bedroom more cozy and warm"

If you know my husband, you know he's the last person to suggest anything on design or decor. He doesn't care what things look like, just wants it to be comfortable when he sits or sleeps in it. So the fact that he brought this up to my attention literally took me back a few steps. I must be rubbing off.

It started making me think, yes, we do need to warm up our bedroom a bit. So we're off to look for some bedding this weekend. In the meantime, I'll leave you with some great inspirational bedroom images.

Have a great weekend!


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Mirrors and Armoires and Chairs... Oh My

I can't believe it's been a year now since we first moved into the condo. Down sizing is definitely hard - especially when space is a factor. We have 1 hall closet which barely holds anything with our washer and dryer ... that's it! Now I'm looking into getting an armoire. One for the bedroom and one for the livingroom. Along with that, a large mirror to open up the space a bit and chairs... oh chairs!

Here are some great inspiration photos I found. This armoire is very art deco, but I love how it works in the space. I would never think of putting something like that in an all white traditional space but it totally works.


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How about this mirror! Stunning against the beautifully paneled walls. Talk about a beautiful blend of modern and traditional.


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And this chair I just fell in love with.

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Now I need to go shopping.

Sun Room Dilemma

dilemma dilemma...

i have a 5x16 rectangular sun room in our condo with floor to ceiling windows which we used to use as our "computer/office" area - but now that we got rid of our computer and we both work on laptops in the bedroom, this space has become somewhat barren.

now i'm thinking of transforming it into a reading/lounge area, and here are some inspirational images that caught my attention. i really like the idea of having a day bed in our sun room. a place were we can read and sit or just take a nap in.



this bookshelf and chair image is exactly what i'm thinking of. a big chair like that you can just snuggle into with a good book and a hot tea/coffee, whatever tickles your fancy.

i have some planning to do.
happy weekend everyone!