Still cleaning stuff

 

 

 

Console in the dining room - check! Look at all the stuff I've packed in there.

ps. Don't worry, I sent that fertility Buddha back into the dark before he got any big ideas! Ha
pps. Main floor coat closet also done! What's left? Bookshelves, foyer console, ledge in basement, basement bookshelves, basement desk, master closet, toy room closet, three dressers, office closet and tall boy....I better put down the camera and get to work!
ppps. I am saving our egg cartons to make this

Painting the dining room table black

Guys - when the weather FINALLY clears up (that has to be it for the snow! I don't think it's possible to snow in the second half of April! No, No...winter is over! You hear me winter? YOU are OVER!)

Ok, when the weather flips to spring*...I am going to paint our maroon veneer dining room table SUPER HIGH GLOSS BLACK.

Are you with me?

Any other colours you would consider?

I will probably go to the Home Depot (because they sent me a $50 gift card!) and buy a giant bucket of Tremclad and some sort of poly clear coat, oh and an oil-based primer....and small rollers...and just do it!

See more table & dining room photos here.


 *Weather needs to warm up and dry out, patio furniture needs to be removed from the garage, and we need to shop for supplies. Then we need to haul the table outside.  Someone needs to detach the kids from my legs. Then, watch me paint! 
ps. Thanks Razmataz! 

pss. this thought brought to you by a very strong espresso!  I will probably reconsider after the caffeine buzz wears off!

ppps. The table is Ethan Allen Ashcroft Dining Table ...except it's not really that colour, or that finish...in my house it looks dark purple/burgundy. 

Wrong table or wrong attitude?

I've been pining for a dining room table that doesn't need a table cloth. You know, a cruddy, old, scratched up, solid wood table that can be played on, coloured at, and used any day of the week - not just when family comes over! A table that can take some abuse!!

We treat our table as if it were 'precious'.  Yes, it came from Ethan Allen (on sale - floor model), and it's veneer, and it shows scratches in the glossy finish... 

but, there is something I tend to forget...

...it's our table!!

Let's use it for homework and craft projects...let's race toy trucks on it...and let's, maybe, have dinner sometime - without the table cloth!!!


Who actually uses their dining room? Show of hands please!!!



ps. It's a two person job to remove the center leaf...total hassle  UPDATE: Or a one person job -if I smoosh the table against the rad to close it!!!  

Blackboard on the dining room door

As a stay-at-home mom, I feel like it's my responsibility to make healthy meals for our family.  It is not my favorite part of the job. You see, I am not a very good cook - and when I suck at something, I try to avoid doing it every single night!*

What does dinner entail, anyways?  Research (aka web surfing), prep (aka shopping) and cooking (chopping, measuring and stirring). Sounds easy? We all do it? We all have to eat? Why do I still have so many misadventures in the kitchen?

My husband is great - he will eat anything as long as it is warm and served with rice. 'I love that there's so much ginger in these meatballs, ginger is good for my cold',  'It can't be too rich and saucy when you eat it with rice,' 'It tastes ok, since I like things saltier than you do'...my reply is always the same 'But I followed the recipe!'

The 10,000 hours rule must apply. I've logged, maybe, a couple hundred. (Pouring milk into the cereal bowl doesn't count). I have convinced myself that if I put in enough time, things will get better.      

The truth is, things are improving! I now have a full list of disaster proof meals (written on the chalk board). I also have a bunch of recipes to retry, only this time tweak them to our tastes. In fact, I am able to adjust a recipe, the first time, if I think it has a little too much of this, or not enough of that...I am really doing it! The more success I have, the more I want to cook! I've even stopped thinking of it as 'my job,' and I started to look forward to meal time! How crazy is that?   

What changed? I finally figured out that, even though I might make something only so-so tonight, there is always another meal tomorrow!

Tell me, what did you have for dinner tonight!? 

*Well, not every night, since my husband enjoys cooking.  He shares as much as the load as possible. Tonight I bought veal chops because I know he will slap the porcini mushroom dust on them and fry them up. My husband often makes dinner on the weekends too!


ps. 'One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.'  ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story....Seriously man, we have to eat every day. Why not eat well?  
pps. I didn't want to move the lily plant for the winter, I also don't want the heat of the rads to cook the plant. It already drinks a lot of water! Then I found the marble chinese checkers board, that I bought in November 2010! I hope it helps! I almost wrote the post about finding a home for another one of my thrifted treasures...

Plants and Flowers

This morning I moved a few plants around, and bought some fresh flowers.

I put the plant on the sideboard, so it doesn't cook on the rad (it was previously in the basement, severely neglected)

I am not sure if the spikey Ikea plant is going to make it...the other stem died months ago. I am reluctant to invest in a giant version, if I can't get this one to thrive.  I am almost certain it is goners.

UPDATE: The plant on the dining room sideboard was moved into the office...it was too close in shape to the lamps....I added the glass/crystal stuff back to the sideboard, hmmmm....I think I should get a tray

The spider plant went into the master bedroom...it needs some love.  The roots are so massive that even watering it as much as I do, the soil can't hold onto the moisture.  Time to transplant it.   

i

Thinking about putting this tree branch in the corner

I am pretty sure I am doing something wrong here....

hmmm...that chair is supposed to be under the picture...
...and the stack of white tiles should join the boxes of tiles in the garage. If you need about 60sq ft white ceramic subway tile, 4x8 (same as our basement bathroom)...email me!   

Don't miss the Vintage Pyrex Giveaway!!! 

Welcoming a New Year!

2011...I am so predictable, right?  I pulled out the diet & fitness journal....and I am putting one of my new Bonnie Stern recipe books to good use (which doesn't count as diet food in any way...more like 'family food')

I have packed up everything festive and hauled it down to the storage room...I even gave away a little box of little snowman (curb-side donation)...I am left with the following sideboard-scape...Lots from Goodwill!

Today I have art on my mind, I want to make a small purchase...but I had planned on having my passport photos taken, I am not sure what direction I will take...

ummm...don't zoom in to the first picture to see what I ate...I will just tell you (in case you are curious)...3 turkey bacon, 3 egg whites, espresso, and a handful of strawberries...and one slice clementine....and i managed to pull off the first 15 minutes of my "Best Butt" fitness DVD before I had to be mom again.

ahhh...the painting I wanted to buy has been sold! Good thing I checked...I shouldn't have waited so long!  Oh well

inVU Pillows!

This morning I received the news that I was the very lucky winner of Jordana's giveaway! Greige velvet cushions with lovely cream rosets from inVU Drapery...

I can't decide where they should go...what do you think?

All my thanks to inVu Drapery and Jordana...they are fabulous pieces!

ps. its only 4:20pm but it is D-A-R-K in here! Is it supposed to blizzard tonight?  

UPDATE:
I went with this... behind the copper colour pillows! 

"You're sooo close to really displaying good taste -- don't give up!"

I stole the title from a recent comment that was left anonymously on my dining room post.  The person criticized my dining room, citing that the wood tones were fundamentally wrong (as if she sensed my dining room table was a compromise), my lamps would look better if they tied into the chandelier (is this a rule? We tried other lamps, but we needed something that sat below the window), and I am pretty sure "Though maybe garage sale chic is still hot in your area?" is a backhanded insult to everyone in Toronto, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt...

Still the comment has me wondering, what is good taste?  What does it mean when someone says "you have good taste"?  I found myself asking this question when I first started blogging...and here we are again.

I love reading blogs for two very different reasons, the first is to be inspired by others, to absorb images of homes that are beyond perfection, above reproach, and to enjoy.  To gather ideas from crafty/handy DIYers who are making small (sometimes big) changes in their homes every weekend.  The second reason I love to read blogs (maybe more fun than the first reason) is viewing rooms that are really really UGLY.  Every once and a while you stumble upon an image taken from the pages of a magazine and you can't help but be repulsed by it. A space that is so over decorated, so contrived, so uncomfortable, and so WRONG.  I am not a harsh critic, still I have my tastes (some might call them bland), preferences and opinions as much as the next person.

So where am I going with this?  I guess I have realized how important it is to decorate a room for YOU.  It is impossible to please everyone out there.  Sometimes, like in the case of my dining room, you make a compromise (you find furniture with the perfect scale, although not the perfect wood tone), so that you can stop shopping and start hosting wonderful family dinners (with a table cloth)...Its not about proving to an anonymous person (or persons) that you "have good taste" its more about creating a home...a home that makes you feel good, and a place you want to share with family, friends, and of course, your blog readers!


- The above image is of Claudia, the large charcoal drawing on the opposite wall of our dining room...she is an 1960's Italian movie star...we share all of our family dinners with this minx!
- We had a designer help us put together the dining room, the living room, foyer, master and guest room.  Her name is Maya Carvalho and she is, in my eyes, AMAZING! We were probably nightmare clients, because we have a fairly set style...still, we couldn't have done it all without her!  Maya also introduced us to the works of many local artists, including Olexander Wlasenko, the artist who created Claudia.
- I call that carpet 'the crumb catcher'...its all nubbly and everything gets into it...not to mention the chairs snag on it ...worst idea ever.... it happens

UPDATE: March 2013: I don't even want to re-read this post!!! I was tempted to delete it, but that's not really cool either!  I leave it up to remember how I was SUPER touchy when I started the blog. Lame

The best part of renos: putting your rooms back together

I have started to untangle my house. We used the living room and dining room as storage/dumping grounds during the renovation.  The living room will take quite a bit of muscle to take back.  Therefore I started with the dining room...

It looks like a room again! Yeah!!


Note: I am only showing one view since there are still a few boxes (that contain recent purchases intended for the basement) along the other wall.  Oh and I will eventually have the chairs flanking the sideboard recovered...I have several things I need reupholstered so I will do them all at once...maybe in the fall.