Nailpolish storage

Mason was on YouTube and saw a small version of a nail polish holder/display , it was easy enough for me to make for her , after all when you have this much polish it is nice to see all you really have.

The perk to having so much nail polish in the house is having plenty of colours to choose from or is that a curse ??

Confined spaces

I spend much of my weekend making the most of my walk in closet ...

I started out without a real plan, I really just wanted to improve the quality of the wall on the right , there were so many holes it resembled cottage cheese , but that is an easy fix ...
I have an "extend it" rod system which doubles my hanging space , it also comes with shelves if you like but I needed more hanging , it is a great solution because it is very flexible and actually hangs off of your exsisting rods , it can be made quite narrow or you can strech it out to its maximum , a quick and easy solution .

I added these three shelves on the fly after some cardio , the saw dust was flying , turns out it is just what I needed for my jeans and comfy pants ...

I am a huge fan of hooks I couldn't live without them , in a pinch they help keeps things tidy , this wall would be otherwise useless , this is a narrow closet but functional for me.

A fresh coat of white paint , new shelves and hooks and a little jigging sure has made a huge difference.

I have some more trim plans for these shelves , don't you love a freshly cleaned closet , I purged I tried on lots of new things that fit again , very full filling project.

Getting dressed is becoming fun again .

Oh and I dragged my two daughters to see Never Say Never 3D so that I could see it, I have always like Justin Bieber thanks to my oldest daughter and seeing him perform in Toronto two summers ago with my girls , he is very talented indeed I can attest to that seeing him perform and play guitar and then all of the sudden she was over him , but I didn't turn on him , I still like him , and now if possible I like that kid even more , LOVED the movie , if you don't get it , the whole Bieber thing go see this movie, you will GET it and you will love him too , you may even catch a little Bieber Fever ...what a kid and I am so impressed with his Mom Patty , well done Patty , its hard not to put yourself in the shoes of a Mom when you watch this , its cute its touching and inspiring too...good clean fun . Oh and I think Mason likes him again , he is hard not to like...

I have been spending much of my time here on my elliptical machine , adding up the miles , I have done as much as 10 miles in one day , so far I have lost 13 pounds , so happy with that , but I seem to be plateauing right now which is entirely annoying , I am sure it will resolve itself soon as long as I stick with it and trust me I am NOT giving up.

I found a better mirror for my dining room on clearance , it's larger and clean lines , it was an incredible bargain and it brings in so much light .

I should have shown you the cake my husband made me for my birthday , didn't he do a great job this is his first cake ever.

Sorry I have been so neglectful of my blog lately I have been very busy working out and I have also now added a part-time job so I have had little extra time to blog , but I am still here , and hopefully I will have some time to tackle some interesting projects around the house to share with you in the spring.

I now need two new lamps , one solution causes one problem , darn , I moved these lamps onto the buffet and I just love how they pop here but that leaves my living room without lamps , they are much better here really , it had to be done . I'm now on the hunt for new lamps , any suggestions...?

I am planning on adding some small plates around the mirror .

I had a great birthday , thank you for all the lovely wishes , the cake my husband made was really good I am pleased to say .

The things we do for love

I wanted to show you how my husband stepped up , today is my birthday and I am one of those people who likes to have birthday cake ....my husband would love apple pie for his birthday but I want cake , just one piece , but with Sophie's peanut allergy and Todd's tree nut allergy there is really no where to just pick up a cake , so I make all our cakes obviously and last year I even made my own , which was fun, you can find a picture of it in my header , but this year Todd said he would make me one his very first cake, I wanted lemon with blueberry filling , and that is what he made me , I look forward to having a piece tonight after dinner .

On a side note I met my husband on my birthday my 19th birthday , which is 19 years ago today which means I have spent half my life with my husband , wow , that is really something ....especially in today's day and age.

I'm likin' the "lichen"

So I will start off with the most recent before , pretty but icy and I am really tired of that blue since I have had it for 8 years now and I was just in need of a change , so after a day of painting I now have a new look and there is nothing like a new look to livin' things up ...

I really hope I can find a lantern this year...

Here is the before of my dining room , this is from way back when we moved in here , notice the lack of trim , is there any trim around the door into the kitchen ? yes believe it or not there is trim there , you can see right into the kitchen , no island , I love looking back at how far the house has come

I spend the day yesterday filling holes and imperfections and sanding stripe edges to prepare for painting the dining room , front entrance and hall with the new Sarah Richardson Para paint called "lichen" which is a grey green , it is so nice and neutral I am really happy with it thankfully ...

I think it is really nice with all the white trim work and the hits of black .

At night it really looks mostly grey which is nice a cozy too .

So I have never used Para paints before , which I picked up a Lowe's for $29.00 for a gallon , what did I think ? well I am very impressed actually , it went on very well , it was a good consistency it wasn't thin or runny , I hate thin runny paint , it covered perfectly so much so that I only did one coat and it covered incredibly well , it covered over stripes , that is truly amazing...

I have big plans for the ceiling in this room , and on my wish list is a square lantern to hang over the dining room table , why are nice lantern fixtures so pricey?

Last year I got the buffet for my birthday this year I will be looking for something new for the blank dining room wall.

So there you have it my little not quite finished makeover ...so far so good , dare I ask ...do you like it ...?

Inspiration for change

When I saw these pictures I knew it was time for change , the wall color was just right and my wheels started going , and while at the Interior Design show I decided to find the right shade , I grabbed a few paint ships from Sarah Richardson's Para collection I finalized on a shade called Lichen , it is a grey green blue in my dining room, now I have never used Para paints so this will be a good test , I picked it up at Lowe's and I was pleasantly surprised at the Price $29.00 for a gallon ...so here we go for a good before and after .

Goodbye old , hello new...

Photo Stonecroft

The door bell rang...

Today is a snow day of sorts here in Canada today , I was just making some soup after a workout and the door bell rang , who could this be...who would come over on a day like today ....well it was the UPS man , and to my surprise it was a package for me , from Woman's Day ....I knew just what it was , my March issue....

It was so nice Sophie and Todd were both here to see it for the first time with me. It is lovely , I am so thrilled .

What an honour and a dream come true too . Big thanks to Robin Stubbert for making this happen and to Woman's Day for seeing something in my decorating that they wanted to share , it's an awesome feeling and was such a great experience.

Adding some contrast

I almost forgot to show you my new blinds , I love bamboo blinds , they are affordable and add nice texture . These are roman bamboo blinds , I was waiting for them to go on sale , and they finally did , and my husband found a gift card while cleaning out his office so these blinds cost a total of $14.00 now you can't beat that can you ?

I think it makes a huge difference , it really warms things up , it was feeling too icy and cold for my liking .