House & Home: 2012

A House Tour with Parisian Flare

I absolutely love the home of Effie Genovese, a Vancouver designer who runs the firm, The Space Agency Design. It was featured recently in Style at Home. It blew me away to find out that the home is only 3 years old! It was built new to look old. The owner lived in France for nearly a decade and wanted her home to feel like it was plucked right out of Paris, filled with charming, old world details.

I think it's simply beautiful. Have a look!

Lovely. I could move right in!

-Sarah

All Images via Style at Home

House For Sale

Hi and how are you? I hope you had a nice weekend and a happy mother's day. Sorry I wasn't around much at all last week. I was busy transforming cupboards and closets that looked like this...

Into this...

Not to mention scrubbing walls and bathrooms that were so bad I could have done before and after shots too (but that would have been slightly embarrassing).

Anyway, it's all done and the realtors came yesterday afternoon to do the appraisal. If you want to see the listing you can do so here.

While the house was all perfect, I shot a few pictures myself. The lighting in the master bedroom was just right but the rest of the house was a little dark. You'll get the idea of what our house looks like though. We've lived here almost 2 years. When we purchased the condo it was in good shape so we didn't feel like we needed to do much to it. If we were going to stay a little longer we would probably do some more work to it, but it's in great condition and has been perfect for our little family.

I'm going to miss our first place. While we haven't lived here long, there are still many fond memories attached to this home. Our son has gone from 3 week old baby to busy 2 year old boy here. Thankfully we have lots of pictures and videos to help us remember and re-live our time here.

Now, to keep it looking this way. Wish me luck!

-Sarah

Today I'm Thankful For...

Washable Markers.

Sweetest boy ever made this mess. He just wanted to make sure I wasn't bored. He's thoughtful like that.

Keep truckin'.

-Sarah

Checking In

Hello, friends! I'm on a major "get this house ready to show" kick right now. My husband just finished his last big exam (whoot!) and now that it's over, we can focus on house stuff a little more. Our place is more or less ready to show but it needs a good clean from top to bottom and some tidying up. Last night we went through all of our kids' toys which took forever. We purged a little and then packed half of the toys away. This will make it so much easier to keep the house tidy for showing purposes, and some of our packing is done!

I also had a burst of energy and decided to dust the chandelier in our stairwell. (As an aside, black chandeliers are not the best choice. They show the dust so easily.) Oh well. It looks all sparkly now.

And I've been tackling the closets today. Boxes and piles of things everywhere, but I'm getting 'er done.

If you don't hear from me too often this week you'll know why. I'm dusting, sorting and scrubbing.

And to leave you with something pretty (since a stack of diaper boxes likely didn't do it for you). Love these colours.

And a lovely link to House of Fifty's Anniversary Issue! Congrats to Janell and her team. Read it here.

Catch you later!

-Sarah

Image via pinterest

Skirted Tables & A Sketch

Skirted tables are just plain good. The skirt amps up the style in big way and can make any sort of table fashionable. It saves you having to decorate or "fill up the space" under the table too, while offering some hidden storage. I'd love to do a skirted table in our new house foyer. Here's a little inspiration I've gathered.

I like the deco ribbon detail on this table. Not the colours so much but the ribbon is great.

The look must be very tailored to work for me. Topping the table with a piece of glass or mirror would be the perfect finishing touch.

This is where I'm thinking of putting the table.

And here's a quick sketch of what it might look like. (Poor quality but you get the idea.)

With this light fixture hanging above it.

So pretty, right? Sigh.

-Sarah

Image Sources: via pinterest; Jeneration Interiors; via decorpad; Palmer Weiss; via Houzz; via pinterest; sketch & house plan mine; via pinterest

Mother's Day Gift Guide & Real Life Mothering

Here's my attempt at pulling together a few gift ideas for mother's day this year. If you don't see the perfect thing for your mother here, perhaps you'll be inspired or get some fresh ideas to gift to your mother dear on May 13th. At the very least, you'll be reminded that that special day is fast approaching and mothers are to be celebrated.

1. Hattie Flat at ShoeMint. Somehow this shoe is completely adorable and yet totally classy.

2. A Statement Necklace is always in order. (Stella & Dot)

3. This simple open front cardigan would be perfect for cool summer evenings. Everyone loves comfort clothes. (GAP)

4. Fold over clutch at Zara. So stylish.

5. Colourful nails are definitely in order this summer. Get this coral shade "Tart Deco" at ESSIE.

6. Tea just tastes better in a dainty cup. Get this water colour prettiness at Anthropologie.

7. Get a little trendy with this gold and white bangle from ALDO.

8. Some new pillows for her sofa or bed would likely be welcome. (ZGallerie)

9. A tray is both useful and decorative. I like the classic look of this wood, brass cornered tray at Crate & Barrel.

Hope you find something lovely for your mom. She deserves it. And be sure to write her a nice card; that will mean the most to her.

Being a mother means dealing with bumps along the way...