Lighting Love - Lamp Goods

Recently I've been thinking a lot about all of the horrible, ugly light fixtures in our home (among a million other things). I'd love to replace the ugly boob lights on the top floor and the not so nice fan that we have in the living room. It may not be in the budget at the moment, but that hasn't kept me from looking around at different options. During one of my "browsing sprees" the other day, I stumbled across the Etsy shop Lamp Goods. I instantly fell in love with EVERYTHING...

I'd love to see one of the below in our tiny little upstairs landing (yes a tiny patch of carpet off of which are the doors to both bedrooms and the bathroom).

Cary's Mill Clear Holophane Ceiling Light - $89.00

Island Falls II Clear Globe Made Ceiling Light - $89.00

There is also a beautiful selection of Milkglass / Schoolhouse fixtures that I absolutely adore. Just were to put them...

Ellisworth Vintage Milkglass Pendant - $69.00

Vintage Art Deco Milkglass Pendant - $69.00

In all, I just loved browsing through all of the lovely fixtures that they had on offer...

Industrial Original Mix Media Pendant Light - $89.00

Vintage Canning Jar Chandelier - $169.00

Vintage Canning Jar Ceiling Light - $149.00

I'd say the price is pretty good for these creations! Where is your favorite place to shop for beautiful or unique lighting options? I'm always on the look out for new sources, with reasonable prices. Who knows... maybe if I were to stumble across the right light fixture at the right price, I may be able to convince B of replacing some of the fixtures in our home! (A girl can dream)

Dream Home - NYC Pied-a-Terre

It's been a while since my last Dream Home post, in which we escaped to the countryside in Spain. On that post I got a comment from Tara saying she dreams of a pied-a-terre in NYC... so I thought I'd go back to find another gorgeous NYC home (you can check out my first one here). My search this time, brought me back once again to trusy ol' Sotheby's Realty and I was so happy with what I found...

I think the description from the listing captures it pretty well...

"Deluxe apartment in superb condition by top interior designer, and with every amenity, including a view of a beautiful cupola reminiscent of the rooftops of Florence. Grand, elegant living room, with beamed ceilings, herringbone floors, glorious light, and mirrored dining area. The charming and whimsical master bedroom, its walls canvassed with a scene from an 18th century Italian painting, has an entire wall of mirrored closets, and en suite sophisticated master bath. The kitchen, in addition, to top gourmet appliances, encompasses floor to ceiling bookcases. A lovely powder room completes the apartment. This spacious-one-of-a kind residence is in a premier Park Avenue building in the best Park Avenue location, and near Central Park. Concierge services, daily maid service 5 days per week, all utilities, and private storage room are included in the maintenance. There is a fitness center, and the Park Avenue Café is in the building. Sorry, no pets."

Is there anything this place is missing? Just check out these photos...

Love these mirrored walls in the living room... and check out the furniture...

The soft, muted tones of everything really brightens up the space and makes that huge art piece the focal point of the room. Looks like the perfect spot to enjoy a few cocktails before a fabulous night out in the city, no?

The mirrors in the dining room, and those fabulous chairs won me over immediately. Staged so perfectly, how could you possibly say no to this space?

The bedroom looks like a perfect retreat as well, away from the hustle and bustle of the city...

Again, the muted tones and mirrors just make the room feel so airy and bright. I could probably do with a little less of the mural on the walls, but it does add character to the space.

And not to be out done by the glamour on the interior... the view is just as gorgeous...

What a dreamy place to escape to, in such a large busy city! The perfect little retreat! Where do you dream of living or taking off to? I love searching out these little gems and would love to search one out for you. Just leave a comment or shoot me an email, and I'll do my best to find your Dream Home!

Testing the Turquoise

This past weekend, B finished painting trim in the baby's room and we're now ready to tackle the dresser that will become baby's and double as her changing table. We'll be using the red dresser that resided in what was once our guest room (now our bedroom), and will be giving it new life with some fun paint and hardware. 

You may remember from my fabric post, that I plan to accent the all white room with some pops of turquoise. The other week, B and I headed over to Home Depot and started looking through all of the paint chips. This was one trip that I was not making easy at all. "That's too blue", "No, too green", "Too dark", "Way too bold". Poor B. Finally we landed on a paint chip from CIL, and narrowed it down to two colours. I was leaning towards the lighter coloured one, and B was certain we should go more bold for a baby's room, especially with all of the white. Finally, I agreed to get a sample can of the brighter turquoise and home we went.

I knew we wanted to test out the colour somewhere, but I wasn't ready to put it on the dresser just yet. So what to do? Then, I remembered this great little DIY project from House and Home last spring, and knew I had the perfect bottle to test it out with.

It was a little messy, but I managed to get the inside of the jar covered and instantly, I fell in love with the colour. When B saw it later he agreed... HE had chosen correctly. I must give credit where credit is due, and he surely hit the nail on the head with this one.


Unfortunately, the bottle I was trying to "paint" was once an oil/reed diffuser... and it appears all of the oily residue had not quite cleaned itself out of the bottle yet which left the bottle looking a lot like this...

 

FAIL! Oh well... live and learn. Loved the shape of the bottle but we've tried running paint through the bottle many times and still no luck. At least we can be pleased that we have found the perfect colour for the dresser.


I'm also pretty sure that the Rosy Knob in yellow from Anthropologie will be the perfect pulls for this piece...

Progress is underway on this piece, and I can't wait to share the outcome! So excited to see our red dresser transformed!

A Long Distance Baby Shower

This weekend was 100% focussed on my final project. The finishing touches were put on, and I'm looking forward to presenting tonight, and then being off to enjoy this time and prepare for the peanut (a.k.a kick my nesting into high gear). Thankfully, B made some progress in the nursery, so hopefully something to share with you as the week goes on.

In the meantime, I've been meaning to share this great idea with you ever since B's family came up for our 3D ultrasound. With B's family living down in Massachusetts, they knew it would be a bit of a challenge to throw us a traditional baby shower. On top of that, B's lovely Mom was also aware of our limited storage space, so in lieu of the traditional shower she came up with this fantastic idea...

B's Mom and her best friend (B's godmother) put together some little cards to send to family members and close friends, asking them to write a little note to B and I about becoming parents. Whether it was advice or well wishes, and I must say - we got some very sweet sentiments!

Along with the little card, she asked that in lieu of a gift they send along a cheque that we could use towards items we need for the baby.

Once everything was back to B's mom, the two of them worked diligently to piece together a beautiful photo album full of family photos and sweet words that we will one day be able to share with our peanut. Almost brings me to tears to think of how loved we both are, and how loved this little peanut is (who hasn't even arrived yet!)

Baby B and his Mommy

Baby B

The time and thought put into it was so much more than either of us ever could of asked, and the generosity from our family south of the border was immense! Rather than receiving all kinds of cute clothes and other little odds and ends, we were able to put the money towards baby's crib, mattress, stroller and car seat... and we still have enough left over to go shopping for a nice chair for the baby's room. YES! I KNOW! We're so incredibly lucky to have such great family and friends.

Oh... and when they presented us with our lovely gift... we were noming some delicious cupcakes that B's sister brought from a bakery called Sugar Bakery.

There WERE six... unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to snap a photo before a certain Man in my life had already grabbed one. Boy were they DELICIOUS! (The top right was my favorite... it was a raspberry flavoured one. You'll always win me over with anything lemon or raspberry!

Have you ever been thrown a shower or party that was a little different than you expected? Would love to hear of other unique shower / party ideas! 

Fancy Friday Love

Happy Friday everyone! I know that I've been pretty MIA this past week. My evenings are just filled to the brim with finishing up my final project for my class. It's going really well though, and I cannot wait to share it with you. I love not only the knowledge, but also the confidence that I am gaining in each of my classes. I can't believe it was only about a year ago that I made the decision to go back to school and here I am now, more than halfway done the program! So exciting.

Anywho... even without any time to post daily, I of course had time to throw together some of my favorites from the past week... so let's dive in....

I adore this nursery from Rue, that Crystal shared on her blog early this week. The curtains have inspired me with how to tackle adding my fabric to the white panels we already own and plan to use in the nusery! 

Holly recently added a pink bamboo table to their dining room... and I think it was the perfect addition! Don't you?

An Ice Cream Wedding Reception from 100 Layer Cake... YES PLEASE! (Baby loves ice cream... but I'm doing a fantastic job not indulging... all the time).

After seeing this image on desire to inspire... I am wanting blue floors. In particular, I would like a summer home on the beach with white walls and blue floors. B... are you reading this? :) 

This post from the LENNOXX also has me inspired to throw a fabulous dinner party with some very "spring-y" table setting. How great is the idea of using egg shells, oranges and lemons as a way to display flowers?

I love maps... and I love decorating with maps. We also have a lot of french doors in our home (both bedrooms and both bathrooms... yuppers! To date we have frosted the glass on both bathroom doors and have been waiting to do the same for the bedroom doors. Then, the other day I spotted this idea on pinterest...

May not be a bad option for the peanuts room when she get's a little older? Hmmmm...

This past week I finally joined Pinterest... and I'm officially addicted! If you are on Pinterest and want to follow me, you can find me here!

This weekend... well the weather is to be rainy, but I'm okay with that. I'll be spending mine couped up inside putting the finishing touches on my final project. I hope to be back into the swing of regular posting in the next little while... lots of projects will be underway, and I cannot wait to tackle and share them all. Hope you make the best of this weekend! 

Crazy

Yes... I'm MIA. My evenings are completely filled with finishing my final floor plan / concept board for B's dream bachelor pad. I'm nearing the end, and as much as I've enjoyed this class, I'm looking forward to some down time and prepping for the little nut thats constantly rolling around in my belly...

We also woke up this morning to a sick pup...

Yes... the ridiculous one that is sleeping standing up. Love him to death, and makes me so sad when he's not feeling well.

I have a ton of projects and going on's to share once I wrap up this class, so just bear with me! Also... thank you to those that commented on my last post and my "picture issue". Flickr seems to be the answer (I already had a pro account).

A First Birthday

As I mentioned on Friday, I spent this weekend up near Ottawa visiting my friend and her little man. It was his first birthday on Friday, and Saturday we celebrated. Mommy was a regular little Martha Stewart and prepped all the decorations and did all of her shopping... me and her other friends just helped lay everything out for her. Here are some details of the party...

Loot Bags (with the birthday boys hand print) and a Candy Bar...

Other Fun Details...

Cupcakes in a Jar... great work Mom!

... and I had more to share, but according to blogger I've run out of storage space for photos! UGH!... so more will have to come later once I figure this out. How have you handled this issue? Did you purchase more Picasa storage or did you go another route? Would love to hear some suggestions on how to take care of this....