Vintage Alarm Clocks

Recently I've found myself absolutely in love with vintage alarm clocks. I don't know what it is, but something has drawn me to them. Maybe it's because I hate waking up to the combination of B's cell phone and my old digital, black clock radio.

2-Clicks Antique Clocks

I particularly love this one that I found here.

Etsy has all kinds of shops bursting with these beauties as well...

This little number was is listed by ClockworkUniverse for $11.00. Non-working, but I picture it sitting atop a small pile of books in a bookshelf.

This copper plated working piece is the first one I loved, listed by Magark for just $9.95.

I've definitely seen more than a few that I love, but I'm continuing my search for one that I really want to take home with me.

How about you? Are you a fan of vintage alarm clocks? Or are you partial to some other sort of vintage piece?

Beautiful Basquiat Patina

My recent closet renovation has inspired a new project. It's nothing I plan to start right away, as I have way too many other projects on the go, but I found this fabric the other day that I fell in love with and I know exactly what I plan to use it for.

Gorgeous right? An absolute steal on Fabric.com too! It was on sale for only $4.98 a yard! It's called Robert Allen Basquiat Patina. I've ordered it, along with another fabric that I plan to use, but it will be a while before I get them (as they weren't shipped to Canada). I'm okay with it though. Still lots to do around here before I can focus my attention on this project. It's going to be a good one, and I still have lots of stuff I need to gather before I can start.

Don't you just love when you find the perfect piece that inspires a project?

(Is it just me - or is the fabric a more colourful version of the beautiful blog header that Brittany created for me?)

SPOTTED!

Well... striped actually! This playful orange zebra print, La Playa De Cebra large coal beach bag by Kate Spade - at the Winners at 110 Bloor Street in Toronto.

The bag originally retailed at $325, but they have it at an awesome $129.99! Would've been mine if I had the extra cash right now. Okay - that's a lie. The Classic Noel Medium Serena in Brown that I spotted while out shopping this weekend would've come home with me. B rationalized that one new bag was good enough for this weekend. Maybe next time.

Shipping Up To Boston

By the time this article is posted, B and I will already be in Beantown! Well kind of. We got in the car late last night to make our way to visit with B's family in his hometown, outside of the city. We will however be spending some time right in Boston, doing some things I've always wanted to do, and also going to see at concert at the Berklee Performance Center. Since we are on the road again, thought it would be a great opportunity to share some of my favorite photos from past trips to Boston and B's hometown! Enjoy, and I'll catch up with you when we're back!

Downtown Boston - February 2008

Spring in Boston Common - May 2008

More Boston Common - May 2008

Boston - May 2008

An old abandoned building in B's hometown - August 2008

A walk in Allston - August 2008

A beautiful park in B's hometown - October 2008

Definitely time to update my photos of the city and B's hometown! Happy weekend everyone!

Great Weekend Find

Even though B and I spent a lot of time this past weekend couped up in the house finishing up my closet (for the moment) and working on the basement, I managed to sneak out for a little while on Sunday afternoon to do a little shopping.

It has been a long time since I managed to get out to Home Sense on my own and just wander around, without someone rushing me through the store. The trip was successful, as I stumbled across something I've been searching for, for a while for my laundry room (which will one day be complete), and these:

A while ago I blogged about how I spotted these adorable drawer pulls at Anthro, and how much I loved them. Unfortunately, at $10 a piece, they were not in my budget - especially when I had no project in mind that I could use them for.

I was beyond thrilled, when walking around Home Sense I spotted these near the front cash, in a pack of four... for $10! YES PLEASE! Of course, when I got home and showed B my wonderful find his first question was "What are you going to use them for?". "I'll find something". That's all that matters, right?

Isn't it the greatest feeling in the world to find something you've fallen in love with for a great deal?

Ork City

I'm sure you're all familiar with Ork Posters. If you're not, then you will be!

I discovered them last fall, and fell in love with the Boston city poster. Thought it would be a great way to keep B's hometown close to us, in our casa here in Toronto.

I considered ordering the Boston one to frame and give to B as a Christmas gift, then decided to hold out when I learned they were working on a Toronto poster. I signed up for the email list so that I would be notified when the poster was complete. Well, the email finally came!

So many neighbourhoods in our lovely city! I love it! Especially this screen print in the sephia and brown tone. It gives it a real vintage look. I plan on holding off on ordering them until the basement is done. I'd like to incorporate them into a gallery wall I am planning down there.

Are you a fan of Ork?

The Lovely Bones - My Closet Reveal

After four weeks of having to shuffle through piles of clothes on the guest bed every morning to dress myself, I finally have a more functional and organized closet structure! Let's take a quick trip down memory lane and peak at my previous closet monstrosity, shall we?

Pretty bad, right? Looking at this actually makes me pretty happy that it collapsed, as it gave us a reason to give it some new life. And give it new life we did!

We started out by knocking out the back wall and building a cubby that would add some extra storage. It gave me endless amounts of joy to see us making use of that long forgotten space in behind the closet, and create a new home for my most beautiful shoes!

The next step was to paint the walls white, and get rid of that awful colour (whatever it was). Just removing that awful almondy colour from the wall really made the space a whole lot brighter, and seem so much bigger!

After painting, work once again ground to a halt as B and I stood back to check out the space and really plan out how my clothing rails would fit. Finally after much discussion, we headed out to buy all of the necessary pieces, and B got to work measuring, cutting and priming all of the wood for the new closet structure. Nothing much happened for a bit, then last Sunday, I arrived home from Brunch with a girlfriend to discover this:

What a wonderful, hardworking man my B is! Of course, as the afternoon wore on, I left B to his own devices and had continued on my quest to work on another project I have been working on (to be shared soon... I hope). However, by that evening, I was inside painting all of the wood, anxious to get my clothes back into their proper place.

Late last week the flooring went in, and over the course of the weekend trim was installed and painted, and my closet is finally being used again!

We're still trying to decide how to handle storage above the clothes rail on that second side of the closet. We have a general idea, but right now we are determined to make some serious progress in the basement. I also want to find some nice curtains to cover the opening of the closet, but I'm in no rush.

So just to recap, we went from this:

To this:

In FOUR weeks! Not too bad right? I love it!

Have you done a major overhaul of a storage space in your house? How were you creative with storage in an awkwardly shaped or small space? Would love to hear what some other people have done!