My opinion on marble counters in the kitchen , for what it matters

I have a little secret ....I have had my marble in the kitchen for about 5 months, and I haven't gotten around to sealing it , I was supposed to , but I didn't have time to make the 1 1/2 hr round trip to buy it .
And guess what, the universe didn't fold in onto it self. Of course we were careful , kept all the colourful food to the island but all is good . Truth be told there was one accident early on , someone who is a child in our house made lemon aid on my counter and it left a ring , well its acid and it is not going anywhere, but it was a learning experience and its only notice on occasion I got over it , its just a counter, right.
I finally made it a priority to get out and get the sealer from Marbletrend out in Vaughan. Oh my word , what a show room and what a knowledgeable staff. You should go if you are near. You can see a beautiful piece of carrera that is 12 years old as of its install and how gorgeous it is . I have made a conclusion after having marble counters , just as there will always be people who shriek at the mention of painting wood there will always be nay sayers of marble for counters, usually these nay sayers will have never owned or lived with marble counters keep in mind and keep in mind my opinion that the concerns and paranoia is blown out of proportion. I know I ramble...sorry. My counters are HONED this is the way to go for white and light counters so I have been advised by the experts, it is better wearing and takes sealers well.

Here is the safety insurance for white marble , it is the best sealer out there on the market. I will roll on with a foam roller this goopy paste and leave it over night, then buff it in the morning . Then 4 days later I will do it again and then again 4 days later again. Actually I will have to spread out the applications but you get it , three applications then that is it. FOR 10 YEARS ! OK so this is so worth the price which is $100 money well spent. Bring on more marble I say , I really badly want marble counters in our master sooner rather than later.

 Here is some of the eye candy you will find at Marbletrend just off the 400 at Finch.

 Wow , right.

 I was so glad I made my way into the washroom , it was stunning too.

grey drapes

 I got out to Ikea last week to pick up the linen look Ritva drapes in grey that I love , $29 a pair how can you go wrong? I hung them from a Martha Stewart rod from Home Depot with black beehive finials. I hung the rod 5 inches above the frame of the windows and I used rings with clips to hang the drapes. I decided to go with a long rod after much debate , with myself. If I used two rods than they would almost touch anyway. I thought that being able to close the wall completely with drapes when having a dinner party was an interesting option. For the above look I have used two panels on each side.

 I dug up some frames from the basement and put in some new black and white prints to fill the space in between the windows.

Next I will tackle the side windows with roman blinds. I hate the carpet let me just say that , it will be replaced with wood next spring , because we need a vacation and that comes first. 

I am now trying to decide how to treat the walls, I think some kind of millwork is in order, but which type?? that's the hard part. Using this room as our dining room has turned out to be absolutely the right decision. Maybe when we have loads of grandkids 12-16 years from now and if we are still here we can try the other larger room . I wanted a intimate cozy space and that is what we have.

One year ago today

One year ago today we signed on the dotted line and began the journey once again into new home ownership. It all happened very fast and unexpectedly , the idea of buying this house just down the street from our house hadn't even been in the plans. We had just finished building the backyard bunkie I had always dreamed of building , but a bunkie is no reason to miss out on your dream home right in your own neighbourhood. All I can say is that this spur of the moment decision turned out to be just the right decision for our family, we are oh so happy here. 

 We loved our beautiful little backyard with 9 years worth of gardens and finally the adorable bunkie. I am so glad I got to build it with my husband . I enjoyed a couple of nights in the bunkie , oh the fresh air and cottage feeling it had , just what I had dreamed of. I miss those lovely morning glories m they were so lush. We have so much planning and work to do here, in the spring we will build a fence and hopefully a big deck , time to do some design planning .

 Here is our home now one year later , home sweet home .

I think we can safely say I have established the sod , it looks so pretty especially after I mow it , I like mowing , it's a great workout. There is a lot of grass , especially compared to our old house . The front blvd of this house has more grass than our last houses entire lot, hilarious. I need to call the weedman.

 Now to plan that fence , it must be pretty , not too tall , great details. Off to think about it I guess....

mmmm cupcakes

I have seen a few pins about making cupcakes with pumpkin puree instead of adding oil and eggs. I had to try. Now we love carrot cake home made and Betty Crocker ( this is my own opinion I was not asked to post anything promoting any of these products) and I love pumpkin , so I had to try . I'm glad I did, actually while I am dieting I wish I hadn't , I have no self control. Good thing they are lower in calories and fat than the regular version. 

 All you do is take a box cake , carrot , vanilla or chocolate , what  ever you like and add 15 oz of pumpkin puree , mix well and bake for 20 minutes at 350. I can only tell you they are moist and delicious.

Eat alone for a 120 calorie treat of heavenly goodness or spread on a little cream cheese frosting or perhaps to be safe just a little confectioners sugar , I will never make carrot cupcakes any other way , that is how good they are.
Seriously try it !

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Have you heard ? Jennifer and Sean from Rambling Renovators are writing a book a Blogger-style book of interiors ...

I was very early on hooked on their blog as I'm sure you are .

They are looking for DIY bloggers , are you proud of your design achievements ? Go on and submit an entry if you think you have what they are looking for.

HURRY on over and SUBMIT your home because the deadline is September 15th ...good luck.

CLICK HERE to find all the info .

dining room gets a little attention

 I have made a few little changes in the dining room , I took a few hours today and sanded off the blue paint of this old dresser I am using as a side board . The veneer under the paint was beautiful and there is even an inlay but it is in terrible shape so I just sanded it down smooth. I wanted to create a worn out look, nailed it ! ha ha

Now I know why it was painted by the guy who sold it to me. It was $60 and I love it still , the drawers are in perfect working order and I love the legs and the lovely wheels , and now I love its charming character. 

We loved how the dresser wood compliments the chandelier and the mirror wood compliments the two x back chairs. 

 I removed the lamp shade slipcovers , glad I had bought the grey shades that were underneath way back when. I also painted the lamps a semi gloss black spray paint. Much better , simpler quieter. I wish I has 4 of those wicker chairs I just love them . I do want to replace the ladder back chairs with some simple white slipcovered dining chairs , maybe for my 40th birthday...???

A look back at the lamps and dresser before. 

Can you see how the bulkhead above the windows and the fact that the window is so close to the back wall , this is making for a tough decision for me as far as draperies. I want drapes and I have 4 windows in this room , I'm thinking I will have to do roman's on the side windows and drapes on the front windows ... 

 I am going to try these grey drapes from Ikea , Ritva $29.00 . I can do two windows like these with roman's covered in the same grey drapery fabric , luckily I have two roman blinds that will work perfectly for this . I love this dining room so much , so calm and earthy.

What makes this room so wonderful ( besides all the beautiful things within in)  is that the trim around the windows are painted out the same color as the walls , lovely. I am thinking of a grey taupe shade that will work with the grey drapes.

 Here are the chairs I long for    HENRIKSDAL Chair, brown, Blekinge white

$109.00

So back to normal tomorrow , back to school for both girls . I will have more time to do some client work and hopefully some projects around here. Summer has been great , the weather has never been better . I am a summer person for sure , I will miss it . 

I need a break

I tried and tried to be more daring with color in the laundry room. My plan for this house was to keep the main parts of the house quiet and simple with dark floors and white walls and of course lots of trim.

I want to save color for the washrooms and bedrooms and I was thinking it may be fun in the laundry room. Color that makes anxious was not the goal. I got testers and tried Martha Stewarts Peony and a Soft Gold by Cil, but they were jarring, I wasn't going for jarring. I went instead with a tone on tone soft grey blue Martha Stewarts Heavy Goose. 

Thank you for all the great coral colors , I love coral but I will admit I am too chicken to use it properly.

I decided to keep the beachy vibe in the laundry room , I do love the calm dreamy look and I already have items to decorate , it just made sense to me. It now feels calm and soft with a little playful touch.

I added lots of hooks for drying cloths and storing utility items, even ugly items like my plug in vacuum and the drying rack, it is a laundry room after all , not everything is pretty.

I am going use white drapes for the closet and the backsplash is going to eventually be white also.
That's it for now with the laundry room. Because I need a break from projects.

The floor is now done , yeah!! stained and top coated three times, its funny how slippery it is to the dogs , sometimes it seems as though they are walking on ice...funny. I love the look , it makes me happy to see it all completed and not to see any sub floor, that stuff is so dirty.

Time to take a much deserved break .