I Can See Clearly Now

**HOUSE UPDATE !!!!!!**

I’ve been waiting a long time for this.

This piece of the puzzle has been the biggest hold up in ‘finishing’ our kitchen renovation.
And now – it is done!!

Our kitchen was installed over a year ago and Lee and I had poured over tile samples for our backsplash for a long time. We then had our tile guy, Derek, come over to quote the work and a small little question that he asked made everything grind to a halt.

“You’re planning on replacing the window, right?”
“Yup!!” [With big smiles turning slightly less toothy]
“Good – when? Because it would be a bad idea to install the tile before replacing the window.”

[Cue head smacking]

Of course. The window. We knew that all of our old, leaky, single pane windows would need to be replaced eventually but for whatever reason we didn’t think about the order of installs. Duhhh.

Or the dolla dolla bills associated with window replacing.

[Cue wallet clutching]

After a bunch of window quotes and style changes, we realized that this pricey endeavor would put the entire kitchen on hold for a bit.

And a bit ended up being over a year.

The initial quote we got was $1200 for supply and install of a new window. It blew our minds. We were scraping bits of our jaws up off the floor for weeks. We realized windows were pricey but the install was going to cost us even more than the window itself!!!

So, we decided we would tackle a window install DIY style instead, so we could “pocket” the $700 plus instead of throwing it out the proverbial window.

But $300-500 for a window was still no chump change when budget cuts had recently been made due to an addition in the fam jam and curveballs that life throws our way sometimes – so it took a long while of saving pennies for them to finally add up to somethin’ somethin’.

Which brings is to March 2014.

On one of the sunniest weekends we’ve had in the great white north lately, my dad and my man went to town removing the old window and installing the new one.

My nerves were going – quite fearful that the window we had saved for would accidentally fall and shatter – but lo and behold, all went so well you’d think they were pro’s.

 

I don’t even care that I have yellow spray foam as part of my kitchen decor right now. It serves as a reminder that the step I’ve been waiting for for far too long is just around the corner!!

Bring on the marble backsplash, baby!!

Down to Earth

It’s coming together.  Slowly but surely.

We didn’t find out ahead of time what gender our baby would be, so I couldn’t narrow down little details.  But now that Miss Brinley is here, piece by piece, our gender neutral room is becoming a wee bit more ‘girlie’.

I’m a sucker for classic nurseries and not super keen on cartoon themes.  My eye is always drawn to rooms on Pinterest that the little person can grow into rather than having to fully change out the decor over time.  I decided on a colour scheme ahead of time, based on the owl artwork I found at Winners / Home Sense.  The gray from the owl pic matched the walls perfectly and incorporated navy and teal, which could easily be in a girl or a boy room.  Once little miss was born, I added in a touch of pink in the room.

Truth be told, I typically despise pink.  I’m not exactly a girlie girl.  I enjoy wearing jeans and a t-shirt and my hair is almost always in a pony tail.  I didn’t even plan on putting any pink anywhere.  I thought “how cliche”.  But now that Brinley is here, something about having a girl has changed that.  Just slightly, mind you.  I haven’t gone overboard by any means… but I’m not vehemently adverse to a little pink here and there anymore either !

I found the cutest pink fabric antique chaise at a garage sale for $30 (it was actually already sold and … well, I managed to talk the owners into selling it to me.  Long story !).  I just love it – although I’m still figuring out the layout in the room – so things may move.  Add in a beautiful bird cage (another garage sale find! Score !) and the chandelier (that was an original light fixture in our house … from our dining room) and there is a nice, feminine feel to the room.

I tried my hand at making two terrariums to bring in some greenery and life to the nursery.  Love succulents instead of love ferns, perhaps !?

The only thing I bought were the succulents… making this an inexpensive addition as I used vases I already had and pebbles and dirt from my yard.

I also made a mobile out of … wait for it … pine cones !  This room has a down to earth kinda feel and I wanted a little less consumerism in it and a little more creativity thrown in.  To make the mobile, I bound two pieces of drift wood together and then strung up some pine cones with fishing line.  I am contemplating painting the pine cones but for now they are maintaining their au naturel vibe.  B just loves staring up at them when I change her.  So I guess it passed the bosses test!

A little bit of sentiment and older pieces are currently in there.  Like the distressed, vintage cabinet that the succulents are on, Isaac’s old crib, Lee’s grandmother’s La-Z-Boy that i happen to fall asleep in at least 5 times a week during the night time feed, and the dresser/change table that my dad built when I was born.

I thought it would be cool to incorporate the dresser somehow (plus our budget was too tight to buy anything else!) but it was a orange-y yellow stain and needing a bit of an update.  I painted the sides of it with Cowboy, which is the darkest paint on the swatch that the walls are painted (Skeptic and Turbo by General paint are the stripes colours) so that it still ‘matched’.  And then I painted the fronts of the doors and drawers with a plain ol’ white that I had sitting in the basement.  It’s not perfect.  It’s not consistent.  It now has a weathered look – done by accident – but I love it.  Now begins the hunt for new knobs and pulls !  I’m thinking crystal knobs… an Anthropologie shop will be needed but for now, I just spray painted the knobs so they weren’t totally in yo’ face.

There is a lot I still want to do in this room.  I would love to do some sort of a patterned paint on the plain Jane white curtains and I really want to do some sort of a gallery wall above her bed.  We shall see.  Like everything else in our house, it is a work in progress and will forever be changing.

But for now, it’s exactly what it needs to be !

Momma of Two

Brinley Corianne was 9 days overdue when she finally made her debut on July 21st, 2013.

And since that day, my heart has grown.  It is stretched every day – with every smile, snuggle and sigh.

I used to wonder how in the world my heart would be divided between my two little people.  But it isn’t divided… the love that I have now has just been multiplied.

Now if only the time in the day would be multiplied about 10 times !  It continually blows me away when I realize how many days have passed by and how little I accomplish each day.  So, excuse me while I adjust to being a stay at home momma of a newborn and a two year old.  The projects may be fewer for the next little while, but the hilarious two year old quotes are increasing, along with our adventures as a family of 4.  So, please stay posted 🙂

Isaac Quotes

“Goodness gracious, child !”

“Mommy, baby Brinley is crying ?  Again ?  She cries lots, and lots, and lots, and lots, and lots, and LOTS !”

“Hi !  I’m Isaac.  I’m TWO !  And two months !”

 

Coming Soon – Brinley’s birth story 🙂