Proud Mommy Moment...

If you're not interested in the baby aspect that will sometimes make it's way into my blog... then this post is not for you! Just the other day we received the final photos of our little munchkin from our first session with Nicole from Bittersweet Photography. Our little Halle was only 1 week old when she had her first photos taken and I cannot believe how much she has grown since then (she'll already be 4 weeks old on Saturday - WHOA!).


So, being the proud Mommy that I am... I had to share with you just a few of our favourites from our session. Take a look...

She was wide awake when we arrived. Check out those stunning eyes! She gets them from her Daddy... I love that!

A sweet family photo. Love this one of the three of us!

This headband in mine and I knew I had to bring it along with me to get her photographed in it. B and I are getting this one printed. I think it would look gorgeous in our bedroom!

How sweet is her little face... and those little hands!? Kills me!

Our absolute favourite... and I think both B and I knew that it would be the minute Nicole put this little hat on her head! Melts my heart every.single.time.

Seriously - how good are these!? There is not another person in the world that I could imagine taking our newborn photos! We have some more coming soon from a second session we did with Nicole. I've also booked family photos for October with a long time photog friend (we used to photograph charity events together and he's photographed some family weddings... including my brother's this fall). I just can't get enough of our little munchkin - can you tell?

If you're interested in Nicole's work, or booking a newborn, child or family session with her, you can find all the information that you need over on her website. Make sure to check out more of her work while you're over there... if you aren't sold yet... you will be!

Etsy Love - trafalgar's square

While catching up on on my blog reading recently, I came across this post from Jenna Marie of design sparrow, and had to browse through her search for elephant artwork. As I browsed, I couldn't help but fall head over heels for the artwork from trafalgar's square! Such a variety of adorable prints and reasonable prices! How cute are these for a nursery, kid's room or playroom?...

Trafalgar Rabbit Catch Archival 5x7 Print - $8.00

Bunny Hug Print Archival 5x7 - $8.00

Baby Mine 8x10 Archival Print - $17.00

Bunny Parade in Bubblegum Pink 8x10 - $17.00

Golden Slumbers 5x7 - $8.00

This is a seriously small selection of the adorable artwork that is offered in this wonderful little shop! Make sure to head on over and check out more of what they have!

If Halle had a larger room, with more wall space I would gladly scoop up a whole bunch of these prints to hang in her nursery. Unfortunately, we don't even have room for a playroom for her... so these will have to remain on record as something to purchase a little further down the line. I just knew I HAD to share with all of you...

Hiding the Mess

Last week I shared with you some of the projects we were working on in the laundry room. While B was doing his stuff, I was off to the side snapping photos and working on a little project of my own. I decided that it was finally time to create my little curtain to hide the mess of supplies underneath our non-functional sink (yup... still on our "to-do list"). 


The week before Halle was born, we spent an evening wandering around IKEA and I picked up some of this fabric for our little curtain...

So last weekend, I pulled it out and got to work measuring and cutting...

I added a few extra inches to the width to ensure that it would gather nicely when the curtain was closed. Then it was on to making it look neat and tidy, which only required a couple of items...

Oh... and an iron, of course! Since my tape was 1 inch thick, I measured the hem of the fabric to be slightly bigger than one inch. As I measured along, I ironed the fabric to ensure that it would stay folded when I was ready to add the hem tape...

Next step was easy. Simply measure out my hem tape, and give it a good iron. I had some problems with this stuff sticking (no matter how well I followed the instructions). Thankfully, I had a clean edge on the fabric, so I left it as it was at the bottom and got our little curtain into place! Mess hidden! (We will eventually add some shelving in there as well, but this is good enough for now!)

I also decided it was time to do something about that box of oxy clean on the floor. I'd bought a glass apothecary jar for it over a year ago, but since we didn't have a finished counter until recently, I'd never been able to fill it! Here's an updated look at the laundry room...

I still haven't decided on whether I want to keep my print there or not... so for the time being it will stay. Up next for this room, finishing off our sink and doing something about those dryer vents! At this point, it's just nice to see this space finally taking shape... considering it was the very first reno that we began in December of 2009...

The Garage Sale Table

Good Monday Morning! I hope you all had some fun and enjoyed this past weekend!


Back in early June, I shared a few things that we had picked up at a local garage sale for a total of $17. We, of course, adore the little light fixture that hangs in our baby girl's nursery (which was a $2 score), but what I was really looking forward to, was transforming the round wood coffee table that we had snagged for $7!

It wasn't in the best of shape (someone did an awful job trying to stain it), but we saw past that and I knew it was exactly what I wanted for our otherwise very square living room. So, home it came, and it spent a great deal of time sitting around in the garage, before B took it upon himself to try and strip off some of that stain...

After this, it was once again left on it's own in our garage. Come mid-July, B's parents came to stay with us while we all anxiously awaited the arrival of Halle. While B was off at work one day, and his Mom and I were inside keeping cool, his Dad headed outside and started sanding this rough looking table (this was only the beginning of the projects B parents worked away on while they came to stay! Honestly, they were SO HELPFUL, I could barely stay caught up on what they were helping us accomplish from our to do list!)...

Of course, as soon as it was all sanded I realized I needed to decide quickly on what I wanted to do with this table. B was insistent that it would not be painted, as the table was far too nice, so I had to make a decision on a stain. After an evening walking around IKEA (back when we were still waiting on Halle to arrive), I spotted some furniture that had a greyish colour to the wood. I let B know it was what I wanted, and after our little girl arrived, I gave him the "Ok" to head out and pick out the stain. Him and his Dad spent a day working on it, and just last week he finished it up.

It's not as grey as I had initially envisioned but I am happy with it... especially happy to have a nice round table in our living room to break up all of the hard angles, and get rid of the old IKEA table that we've had since we moved into our first apartment in February of 2009. Here's a look at it all finished...

(Keeping it real here people... there was little to no effort on the cleaning / styling front for this photo... now you know why there are no living room photos in our home tour...)

Parker and Halle approve...

It's great how much less space it takes up! Makes our room look a tad larger and will be really great come Christmas when our tree is up! There will definitely be more walking space (Thank God!). I also realize that our living room needs a lot of TLC. We're not ready for a full on renovation, so for the time being I will be making small changes that spruce the space up. Next on my list - I'd like a new slipcover for our Ektorp couch and chair, and some better curtains for our windows (the ones right now are not long OR wide enough... they came with the house). So the hunt is on for both... and for a decent price! 

Are there any rooms in your house that you're just itching to change up, or a room that is evolving ever so slowly? 

Fancy Friday Love

Another Friday is here... and I've survived another week of being a solo Mommy at home. Things are starting to click and me and the munchkin are figuring things out! Thankfully, she does give me some time to try and stay caught up on my favourite blogs... here are some of my favourites from the past week...


I want (actually NEED), a lovely library like this. Clearly not in our current home... but hopefully in a future home! (featured on 79 ideas last Friday!)...

I know I need to enjoy the stages when Halle is really tiny... but I also cannot wait until she's older so that I can buy her adorable coats like this one... 

desire to inspire shared this quaint home located in Oslo - imagine getting to spend an entire summer living there? Just dreamy! 

Shannon added the perfect punch of colour to her backyard with some great potato printed cushion covers! Love them Shannon!

Loving these mugs from designer Reiko Kaneko, who was featured on this is glamourous on Wednesday. Is there anything more beautiful than those handles, and the heart shape they make? 

If we didn't have a yard filled with trees, in a too brightly lit city - I'd love to have an observation deck like this one (found on ohdeedoh) in our backyard. What a great spot for family stargazing and teaching our little one about space (when she's a little older of course). Who knows, maybe by the time she's old enough, we'll have a new yard to build one in!?

Another great idea from The Sweetest Occasion! Check out these DIY Party Animal candle holders... so cute... and not just for kids either! I'm sure you could try it with other little toys as well... hmmm...

Yesterday Sara shared her porch makeover and do I ever love what she did with it! So simple, but looks so inviting now... and a great place to enjoy some drinks on a summer evening!

Well, another weekend is upon us! Halle, B and I have another session tomorrow morning with Nicole from Bittersweet Photography! She'll be coming by our little home to capture some family moments of us, and we're so looking forward to it. We've got a glimpse at all of the photos she took of our munchkin at one week old, and no surprise, they are absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to share some of them with you.

What do you have planned for this weekend?

A Room to Love

Originally I planned to share another project with you today, but it's not quite ready to share... so it'll have to wait until Monday. So, instead, I bring you this gorgeous kitchen... 


The other week, after getting Halle settled into a nap, I took some time to flip through the September issue of House and Home. It's a great issue, but I was especially thrilled when I stumbled across the kitchen renovation of House and Home's very own Mark Challen. 

I, for one, love myself a white kitchen, but there was just something about this space that I adored! The dark cabinets and white subway tile are perfect, and check out the tile on the floor. The big windows let in so much light, and I think it's great that they used the small space to add in that gorgeous bistro set! Just stunning!

You can find the complete tour of the space, right here on the Canadian House and Home website. What have you been loving from the world of Shelter Mags recently?

Designer Love - Eileen Marcuvitz

Recently I stumbled across another super talented designer, Eileen Marcuvitz of Plum Interiors, thanks to one of my favourite blogs - House of Turquoise. You may already be familiar with her stunning work, but when I saw her portfolio, I just knew I had to share it (as well as keep this inspiration readily available to myself of course). 

I'm pretty sure that my jaw hit the floor when I saw the kitchen! So perfect! The light floors, walls and cupboard - grounded by the dark countertops and chairs. All of the natural light is so dreamy - I wish we could get that kind of light in our kitchen... next home!

A lovely warm sitting room, with fantastically huge windows! What's not too love? The high backs on the sofa and upholstered chairs are so welcoming, and the corset details on the wooden chairs is so charming and feminine. A great place for a group of girl friends to sit back with some drinks.

Love this serene bedroom. Soft, soothing colours and flowing curtains. I'm also a fan of how they carried they curtain rod around the room and used it to hang the artwork as well.

Another gorgeous bedroom, and this one I adore even more. I prefer the bold blues in this space, next to the softer colours... and how lovely does soft area rug look? Yes, I would take this bedroom in a heartbeat (and would like to have a solid night's sleep with it as well please)!

With a bathroom renovation on the horizon for us, I was of course drawn to these two gorgeous spaces. I only wish ours would look as big and bright as that first space, with room for a freestanding tub and a separate shower, but we'll just have to work with what little space we have. As for that second room, B and I both adored the cabinetry. B in particular has been talking about adding that type of storage to our space... so we'll see how that works out for us! Regardless, both of these spaces are just positively dreamy.

Have you discovered any new designers or rooms recently that have inspired you?