Putting It All Together

ONE OF THE MANY PAINTINGS GOING ON THE WALL

A BEGINNING OF AN ACCENT WALL

SOME BAR CHAIRS

DRESSING UP THE BOOKCASE

My manta is: You can never have too much art in your house. Anything can be made into art: wine bottles, old wood, anything. You don't always need to go to fancy art galleries to have a huge impact in your space. You can find art in the most creative places: empty glass jars with unique shapes, flower beds, old stones--even painting something that is plain and mundane just to add that extra spark. I am always rethinking ways to make our space homey, cozy and artsy...Think outside the box and go crazy. Even if you think it's a ridiculous idea--it's still your idea and that makes it unique and original.

In Love With My Place

So now I'm moved in and some things have been unpacked I'm ready to do the funnest thing--PAINT! Yesterday I headed over to Home Hardware to pick up paint for the living room/kitchen--the first rooms we are going to paint today. The color we chose is called "Gaucho Brown". It was a close call between that and a lovely light gray but we just felt we had a lot of brown/white to work with in the house so it would be natural to go with it. Chocolate and white is such a lovely pair--the white pops against the chocolate colour and adds a homey, cozy feel. Luckily, our couch is brown as well so with a few bright white accent pillows and a white rug...well you can imagine how lovely it will all go. I'm excited/nervous to paint because I've never done it before! Hopefully I don't screw up!

I wanted to work with the walkway\hallway and a door-less closet near the front door. Right now we are storing the mop/brown etc in it but I am going to paint, add a mirror and a chest of drawers and some sconces. We will use it to put our mail, car and house keys, dog leash/collar, poop bags and miscellaneous items you have when you're walking in the door like a place to put a box of delivery pizza while you pay the delivery guy. I forgot we had a walk-in closet and plan to add lower drawers from IKEA for shoes and add some mirrors/art and a rug to lighten it up. It's a fantastic closet and I think if we unclutter ourselves, it will work for us. The bathroom just needs a new shower curtain, window curtains, some art, some nice soap holders, etc, candles and it's ready to rock. The kitchen is perfect we are just going to get a wine rack. I'm going to hang up some paintings today after the paint dries so it's coming along great. Can't wait to show the before/after!

Decorate the Kitchen!

I was perusing the supermarket the other day and taking a look around. What makes the supermarket so welcoming? Well, I'm pretty sure it looks as appealing as it does because of the decoration. Fruit is not simply just slapped onto a shelf. No, they are in neat rows or spheres on trendy bamboo baskets and they look good. Why can't we decorate our kitchens with fruit and vegetables like the supermarket does? Wait, we can. 
Even if you don't eat it, decorating your kitchen with food is a great way to make your home more appealing. And maybe if you're really hungry, you'll eat it! Think of the fruits and vegetables that have an interesting aesthetic appeal and stack a few against the counter or in a basket hanging from the wall or somewhere neat. Fruit I'm thinking of is pineapples, lychee fruit, persimmon, bananas, lemons, papayas, avocado and eggplant. If you don't eat them, make sure to get new ones when they begin to go bad so that they don't rot. You can use it for compost or just throw it in a dish. 

I think I'm going to have two medium size baskets filled with pineapple and lemons. Not only is it appealing but citrus fruits also really brightens up your day and put you in a good mood! Try fruits and veggies with different colours to keep it interesting like yellow zucchini, orange carrots, turnips and red tomatos or green broccoli!