Showing posts with label Our House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our House. Show all posts

Monday, October 31, 2011

Day 31: Our Halloween Home

Tonight on this Halloween evening, we had a visit from a delightful dinosaur...





He was quite polite and instead of proclaiming "Trick or Treat", he shouted "Please!"






As bedtime drew near, he traded in his dino green for a devilish red suit.
And even though the matching hat made a mess of his hair...





...our little devil still had a few tricks up his sleeve!











 Now before we turn out the lights, let's take one final look at Our Halloween House...





...complete with Spooky Spider Silhouettes and pumpkins with A Little Bit of Magic...





 And although I absolutely love our house...


"What I love most about my home is who I share it with."

- Tad Carpenter







Sweet dreams and thanks for stopping by.






This post is part of my blog series, "31 Days of Words to Live By".  For the month of October, I will be sharing my favourite quotes and sayings while incorporating them into daily life and art projects.

This series was inspired by The Inspired Room, where you'll find other "31 Days" series among many other wonderful things!




Day 28: Shoot for the Moon
Day 29: Happiness is Cheesecake
Day 30: A Little Bit of Magic
Day 31: Our Halloween Home










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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Day 11: The Barefoot Rule

When I saw this saying...


"Beach House... No Shoes Required"


...on a hand painted sign, I new it was a perfect slogan for our house.  First of all, I love the relaxed coastal, beach house style.  Secondly, when the weather is nice, you'll usually find my husband walking around the neighbourhood in bare feet.  So after I cleaned up the footprints left all over the house (for the umpteenth time), I decided that the Jute Calendar required a little transformation.

A simple dry erase marker turns this once schedule supporter into...





...a place to display our home's barefoot rule.







So come on in, take your shoes off, relax, and stay awhile!

If you'd like to see how I made the framed weaved jute, check out this tutorial.



Thanks for stopping by.








This post is part of my blog series, "31 Days of Words to Live By".  For the month of October, I will be sharing my favourite quotes and sayings while incorporating them into daily life and art projects.

This series was inspired by The Inspired Room, where you'll find other "31 Days" series among many other wonderful things!




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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Day 5: Sail Away

This is one of my absolute favourite quotes...


“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

- Mark Twain


So of course it was the first quote to go up on our chalkboard wall.




Check out this mini tutorial to see how easy it is to create lovely lettering with stencils.



Thanks for stopping by.




This post is part of my blog series, "31 Days of Words to Live By".  For the month of October, I will be sharing my favourite quotes and sayings while incorporating them into daily life and art projects.

This series was inspired by The Inspired Room, where you'll find other "31 Days" series among many other wonderful things!



Day 5: Sail Away


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Sunday, October 2, 2011

Day 2: The Mess

For today's Words to Live By, I've chosen to share a saying that I found while perusing Pinterest.
I couldn't help but pin this image of a lovely hand painted sign...


Source: etsy.com via Andrea on Pinterest



"Please excuse the mess.  The children are making memories."

During the day, those words have become our family motto.

Over the past 18 months, I've learned that it is in my sanity's best interest to leave most of the tidying up (except for spills or hazards) until the evening... after our little memory maker is in bed.

So if you happen to stop by our home for a visit during the day, you just might encounter something like the chaos, disarray and toy explosion from Welcome Wagon Wackiness... although at least now we have upgraded our living room furniture!

Most evenings I find myself putting away, wiping down, and sweeping up remnants of the memories made during the day. 
As I go about this nightly routine, I remember the giggles, the games, the stories, the smiles, the snacks, and the discoveries...






...and look forward to doing it all again tomorrow.


Thanks for stopping by.


Interested in purchasing a hand painted sign like the one above?  Find the artist's Etsy store HERE.


This post is part of my blog series, "31 Days of Words to Live By".  For the month of October, I will be sharing my favourite quotes and sayings while incorporating them into daily life and art projects.

This series was inspired by The Inspired Room, where you'll find other "31 Days" series among many other wonderful things!


Follow Me on Pinterest





Day 1: The Courage to Start
Day 2: The Mess
Day 7: Motorcar Magic
Day 8: Beautiful Moments
Day 9: A Little Boy



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Monday, May 30, 2011

Our Chalkboard Wall

I think it's time to show off our finished chalkboard wall.

Here's a look at what we started with...


 BEFORE


...and how it looks now...

 AFTER


Check out this post for some in progress pictures of our board and batten entryway.

We've had a lot of fun doodling and writing messages on it, but last night, I tried something a little bit different and I think that it turned out quite well!

Here's the how to...


Letterrific
A little stash of old stencils...



... is perfect for getting creative with a favourite quote.





Hold up!
Just hold the stencil up to the wall and draw in some chalk.





Smooth it over.
Blending with a finger does the trick.





Footloose and Fancy-free.
Smudges and marks are inevitable.  A damp paper towel works well to clean up some areas, but I think some imperfections add a bit of character. 



Fun.  Simple.  And if you make a mistake - it's just chalk!



Do you have a chalkboard wall?
If so, what's written on it at the moment?


Thanks for dropping by.



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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Back to Civilization and What I've been Up To

Well, I'm back to civilization.  The past 4 days working on the new house were exhausting and exciting, yet peaceful.  I actually enjoyed the quiet that comes with no television, radio, or internet.

The big project that I've been working on is almost complete, but I can't wait to show you what I've been up to...

So here it is... a look at our Board and Batten so far...


Front Hallway Before

Front Hallway so far

Front Entryway Before

Front Entryway so far

Entryway Closet Before

Entryway Closet so far

Chalkboard Wall Before

Chalkboard Wall so far

Another coat (or two) of white paint and a few touch ups left to go!
I'll be working on a more in depth post about it all.
But first, I'm off to catch up on emails and my favourite blogs... :)


Thanks for stopping by.

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Thursday, April 28, 2011

Let the Big Project Begin!

Well, tonight Oliver, Roxy, and I are headed off to spend the night in the new (empty) house!  It'll be like camping, complete with blowup mattress.  Maybe I should pack the marshmallows!
Tomorrow I am starting this weekend's project.  It's a big one and I'm so excited to get started!

Since the new house doesn't have the internet hooked up yet, I won't be posting this weekend.

But if you want to see what we're up to, head on over and Like the
I'm hoping that I'll be able to post some quick updates over there.

In the meantime, here's the story of how we found our house that I wrote about a while back...


And finally, I just had to snap a couple pictures of Oliver today.  He learned how to climb onto the couch by himself!


That was where he found the Wii remote... into the video games already...
He's changing from a baby into a little boy, right in front of my eyes.


Thank you for stopping by.


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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Home Sweet Home

Today was the day that we've been waiting for...
We received the keys for our house today!

Since we have until the end of May to move out of our condo, I'll be painting {among some other exciting things} this weekend.  So today we went over to check everything out and drop off a few essentials like soap, toilet paper, and Diet Pepsi.  I brought along my camera and tripod hoping to get a nice picture of us on our new porch, but it was pouring rain.  Maybe next time!

So in the meantime, here's a snapshot of the house from a previous visit...


Thanks for stopping in.


I'm sharing this with...


Good Life Wednesday at A Beach Cottage


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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Winds of change from the East . Part 3

If you missed the beginning of the story, you can catch up with

Part 1


Part 2


To refresh your memory, this is where we left off...

I was in love with this village.

I was in love with this neighbourhood.

I was in love with this house.

There was only one problem... I had no idea how long it had been on the market.

Was it even still available?
If it was, what would we have to go through to get it?

I knew that it was listed at a good price and that we would have to act quickly...
After sending an email to our real estate agent, all I could do was wait.

I went to bed that Sunday night and as I fell asleep, my thoughts kept repeating...

oh please, oh please, oh please let it be available!

The next morning, our agent had replied - she was going to try and get us a viewing.

All day long, in my mind all I could think was...

oh please, oh please, oh please let it be available!

Over and over again, I found myself thinking...

oh please, oh please, oh please let it be available!

All of that positive focused thinking may have counted for something, because we got in to see the house on Wednesday.

The village, neighbourhood, and house were even better in person than in any photo.

It was settled - this was "the" house...

Our house.

We drew up the offer that night and presented it the next day.  It's a good thing too - there were 4 more viewings booked for the following day!

Thankfully, the negotiations and home inspection went smoothly this time around...

... and although I won't be able to breathe a sigh of relief until those keys are in our hands, at least I can breathe a little easier in the meantime.

The other day, I stumbled upon this description of our new neighbourhood in a Visitor's Guide to the area...

"Located on Lake Ontario, its marina,
restaurant and playground make it an
excellent place to stop. Not to mention,
look at their newly-built dream homes
located directly by the water."

It feels like a dream come true - not only do we get to stop there, we get to stay for awhile.

I've learned that things sometimes have to fall apart (the first house deal) in order for them to fall into place.

Sometimes the answer is waiting just a little bit farther from where we're looking...

And the next time that I am searching for something I will remember to look just a little bit towards the East.


Over the course of this 3 part story, I have been struggling with the ending of this final post and I think that I've finally figured out why.

This is not the ending - this story has only just begun.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Winds of change from the East . Part 2

If you missed the beginning of the story, you can catch up with

To refresh your memory, this is where we left off...

As usual, I was browsing the MLS website - looking through all of the same old listings that we'd already been through and crossed off of our list - hoping for a new one to miraculously appear.

There wasn't anything.

So, on an off chance, I scrolled the map over to the East just a little bit.

Just a little bit farther East than we had been looking...


source


There it was.

Wrapped in dreamy shades of light blue, grey, and white was a beautiful Cape Cod inspired home.

My heart skipped a beat.

With a little bit of research
(Google Street View was invaluable during this house hunt),
I discovered...

...a sweet little village...

  • The downtown had unique little shops and restaurants.

  • The Elementry School won me over instantly with the no nonsense "school rules" posted on its website.

  • The homes looked  well cared for.

  • The village just had that feeling... a good place filled with good people.

...a lakeside community...

  • Just a few minutes walk to the waterfront.
  • A marina, a little river, and nature trails were just steps from the house.
  •  The whole neighbourhood - right down to the lamp posts - had a coastal, nautical, beachy style  (my absolute favourite).

 ..."The" house...
  • The pictures looked lovely with a nice white kitchen, hardwood floors, and balcony off of the master bedroom.

It was all I could think about.

I was in love with this village.

I was in love with this neighbourhood.

I was in love with this house.

There was only one problem...
I had no idea how long it had been on the market. 

Was it even still available?
If it was, what would we have to go through to get it?

I knew that it was listed for a good price and that we would have to act quickly...

...To be continued...
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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Winds of change from the East . Part 1


source


I have fallen in love...

...the head over heels... absolutely smitten... heart pitter pattering.. kind of love.

Here's how it happened.

For the past 2 months we've been house hunting.

After looking at close to 40 different properties we thought that we had found the right house.

So we put in an offer, and after some negotiations back and forth, they accepted.

We were excited!  I was really looking forward to updating the house to make it something really special.

Of course, we went ahead and paid to have a home inspection.
 We were so lucky to have an amazing and thorough inspector who found a few issues with the house.

They probably wouldn't have been deal breakers had it not been for the conduct of the sellers.
(I'm not going to get into the details - all you need to know is that it was a nightmare).

The red flags were flying and after much discussion we knew what we had to do.

We had to walk away.

So here we were starting our search all over again.

I was beginning to feel frustrated - I wanted to give up.

Then it happened.

It was a couple Sundays ago.

We had just been out looking the day before and none of the houses had been quite right.

As usual, I was browsing the MLS website - looking through all of the same old listings that we'd already been through and crossed off of our list - hoping for a new one to miraculously appear.

There wasn't anything.

So, on an off chance, I scrolled the map over to the East just a little bit.

Just a little bit farther East than we had been looking...

...To be continued...

I linked this post to

Beach Cottage Good Life Wednesdays
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