Robert Blonski (Canadian Artist)

I've admired Robert Blonski's art work for several years now. I love his asian-inspired look. It's so delicate and pretty.

You can check out his website here. I also know Art Interiors is at least one of the places his work is available for purchase.

These are some of my favourites. Perhaps someday I'll hang one of them in my home. So very lovely.

Stencil Love

I found this stencil company on Isabella & Max.  So...for all you DIY Girls, check it out!  A little glam for an affordable price! And...what a fun little weekend project! Ha Ha!

Beautiful House Tour via Apartment Therapy

I stumbled across this beautiful house tour in my blog travels recently. It was so pretty I had to share it with you. You can check it out here.

There's nothing like a well put together home, and homeowner, Angelique Hoffman, has put her home together oh so well! I really like the architectural elements of the old house. It gives her great "bones" to work with.

Here are a few photos to whet your appetite but be sure to check out the whole tour at some point. (Tour via Apartment Therapy)

Summer Thornton Interiors

A little inspiration for you by designer Summer Thornton. 

I love her work. She creates beautiful interiors. I like her mix of traditional and modern elements. The pieces she uses often have traditional or classic lines to them but her overall look is modern. I also really like her colour choices. Her interiors are definitely glamorous which is the look I tend to like.

You can check out her website here. 

Natural, Neutral, and Xpensive

Sooo, over at KMI were working on this little 1350 sq. ft jewel box by the beach.  It's costing a pretty penny to build.  Check out the tile for the kitchen back splash. Gorgeuo$!  I can't wait to start it only took a year plus to get the permits.  The bummer is... I need to cut the budget  back by A LOT!  Where the heck do I start???   Did anybody say BUDGET CUTS??? Stay tuned.  Hopefully we don't muck it up by pulling some of these fab tiles.   There's no way I'm getting rid of the French Oak floors.

Like it's my final decision! LOL

kitchen back splash

glass tile - field tile for master bath shower & cabinet finish

Hardwood Floor - French Oak

My Favourite Nook

This is my favourite nook in our current home - the feature wall in our kitchen/dining room. The wallpaper makes it I think. It reminds me of a sunrise or rolling hills laden with ripe wheat (but perhaps you need to be from the prairies to appreciate that).

The pink flowers and blue/green crystals on the candelabra are a nice compliment too. Oh, and don't forget the lovely mirror... that's why I say it's my favourite nook because I R-E-A-L-L-Y like all the pieces collected there. A big thank you to my hubby for doing the papering for me.

Do you have a favourite "nook" in your home?

Mirror, Winners; Wallpaper, Home Depot; Tea Pot and Cup, Peridot Decorative Homeware; Hutch, IKEA

Soup to Share #1

I remember my brother telling me about a guy he had tree planted with one summer who really liked soups. In fact, he liked them enough to host soup-tasting parties!

We like soup at our house too just not quite that much. We eat it pretty often during the winter months; it's the perfect meal on a cold Saskatchewan winter day. 

I have a few recipes that are favourites of ours so I thought I would share one a week with you over the next little while (until the spring dawns upon us). They will all be meatless, nutritious and easy to prepare. Hope you follow along and get a chance to try some of the recipes for yourself or for your next soup-tasting party if that's what you're into! 


Soup to Share #1: Cream of Spinach Soup

1 large onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cups water
2 tsp. salt
1 lb. spinach, cleaned and stemmed
5 medium cloves garlic, peeled only
1-2 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups hot milk
white pepper and nutmeg, to taste

For a lowfat version simply skip Step 2.


1) Place onion, potatoes, water and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Remove from heat, add spinach and garlic cloves and set aside. 


2) Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Whisk in flour and keep whisking over low heat 5 minutes. Drizzle in the milk. Continue to whisk and cook until smooth (about 5 to 8 minutes more).


3) Puree the vegetables in their cooking water; return the puree to the saucepan. Stir in the white sauce (or just the milk, if you're making the lowfat version). Adjust the salt and add white pepper to taste. Serve hot, topped with a subtle sprinkling of nutmeg. 


Source: The New Moosewood Cookbook, Molly Katzen

A New Look for our Master Bedroom

When we moved into our current home I took the opportunity to give our master bedroom a new look. The old look had been rather feminine which I liked, but I was pretty sure my husband was ready for something a little less girly. I wasn't able to spend much so I had to work with what we already had as much as possible. Here are some before and after shots to see what I came up with. We both like the new look and it was relatively easy to achieve. 

(Click on images to enlarge)

 

In case you're wondering, the headboard is a door cut to the correct size and covered with paintable wallpaper. I had originally painted it a light pink but went with the dark grey to add that masculine element. I like how the pattern of the wallpapr is feminine but the colour is masculine. The pillow is from Winners; the lamps from Urban Outfitters; the side tables, wall decals and dressers from IKEA. (The feather wreath was also a DIY project.) Out with "girly look" and in with the "happy mix" look! 

Kid's Play Area

We had a productive weekend at our house. Saturday was spent organizing things down in the basement. The space was in desperate need of a clean up and we needed to make room for our new treadmill... yes!

We have designated one corner of the basement as the kid's play area. Obviously they aren't relegated to only play in that one corner, but we wanted to make a special place for them that could be their space.

The area is complete with storage bins, craft table, play kitchen and dress up corner. There are still a few finishing touches that need to be done but I thought I'd share a few photos of how it looks so far (and a few shots of the mess it was before). 

I still want to replace the curtain, paint the toy box and get a few more things up on the walls but for now I'm enjoying the work we've done and am looking forward to putting the final details together. Play, Create and Have Fun! That's what this space is all about.

Before

Before

During

Avery's Art Work

Needs to be Replaced

Needs to be Painted... Red? Blue? White?

Meal Plan (February 22-28)

Tuesday: Cream of Spinach Soup; Sandwiches

Wednesday: Spaghetti with meat sauce; Caesar salad

Thursday: Beef Roast with Root Vegetables

Friday: Chicken Kiev; Cheesy Potatoes; Asparagus

Saturday: Away

Sunday: Pita Pizzas; Veggies and Dip

Monday: Thai Chicken Salad

SHINE

OMG!   If you don't know who Susan Hornbeck Ortiz, is do yourself a favor and check out her amazing furniture and accessory line.  This chick isn't afraid of color or stepping out of the box for an unexpected surprise!   A true artist and a HUGE asset to the Design world!!  Take time to go through her Look Book.  AMAZING!! shinebysho.com

Stylish Toys

I'm no math whiz but here's a little equation that I'm sure you'll have no trouble with (whether you're a parent or not)...

Kids = Toys (LOTS of toys)

Can anyone relate? I'm not at all complaining. I'm very glad and thankful that my children have lots of toys to play with. Living in Saskatchewan means we have many house-bound days during the winter months and without a good supply of puzzles, dolls, blocks, stuffed animals, books and more we'd really be at a loss. 

You'll find toys in almost every room in our house. We try our best to keep them tidy and organized. We always do a clean up at the end of each day. Most of the toys I just don't want left out but there are a few that are actually pretty stylish. What makes a toy stylish? I'm sure people have different ideas on this, but for me, it needs to be made from some sort of "natural" material like wood, cloth, felt, or paper. Plastic usually doesn't cut it (although there are some exceptions). IKEA has some great options along with Dwell Studio (of course). 

Some images for you to see what I'm talking about...

Dwell Studio

IKEA

Dwell Studio

Dwell Studio

IKEA

igloo play

IKEA

IKEA

IKEA

Melissa and Doug

IKEA

P'Kolino