How I Know We're Meant To Be

Back in early April, while I was dreaming of summer, I hit the mall to look for sunglasses and took this shot.

He picked them out himself, got a thumbs up from a hipster standing next to us, and the cashier even smiled.  I sent the pic to my husband.  Because why not. 

End of story.

It's the fall.  We've lived with our renovation for a year.  And we both decide we need to get on some art.  Like really need.  Minimal / Modern suits us well.  But we need something on the wall!  Especially this one. 

It's in the living room, opposite the TV.  You can see a tour and before/after of the room HERE from a year ago.  Where I mentioned we need art.  A YEAR AGO!

So, I finally put up some taped-together paper to get a sense of the size and location....for a little DIY idea that I found here.  Oh, how I love it.  It's totally my vibe.  But I live in the city.  There are no random large canvasses just sitting out on the curb. 

(Well, there was one.  In the spring.  I pulled over, measured it and started putting it in my trunk.  Then a lady walking by said, "Be careful.  That's a rooming house."  I looked at her with a question mark on my face.  She leaned in and whispered, "Bedbugs."  And walked away.  Then I saw dog poo on a corner of the canvas.)

Once I figured out the size, I looked into buying one.  The size of that paper is 5 feet wide by 3.5 feet high.  Any guesses?  $200.  For a DIY that might or might not turn out great.  I couldn't pull the trigger. 

So the paper stayed.  People asked if it was art.  I started saying yes. 

And then it was my birthday. 

My husband was sick of seeing the paper on the wall.  So he took a big gamble. 

And won. 

He downloaded a free app called Glaze, to give the picture a more painted look instead of a photograph.  Then he sent it to Canvas Pop, an online company that prints photos on canvas.  He had the canvas sent to our home address, and amazingly enough, our neighbor intercepted the delivery.  Then Steve ran it around the corner to our local framer. 

And funny enough, it matches the size of the paper.  He didn't even measure it.  He just went for the biggest canvas. 

It's not a DIY and it wasn't cheap.  But good, big art isn't.  What it is, is something better than a photo.  Or a gallery.  Or collage.  It's pop art of my own kid. 

(That the other two think "looks creepy.")

And I love it.  ;)

House Tour: Living Room (BEFORE Before)

Bonus!!!

Just when I resigned myself to losing the pictures of our house when we first moved in 10 years ago...I FOUND THEM.

These are so bad, they're good.  I had to re-post the living room, they're that good.  And they're gonna make the rest of the before and afters soooo much better!

The bad is so so bad because the house was staged when it went up for sale.  The stagers hung a painting in every room and chose a color from that painting to paint all four walls.  We called it the clown house because not only was every room a different color, but they were deep, bold colors that didn't work together at all. 

If that wasn't bad enough, we lived with it like that for seven years.  SEVEN YEARS!  I blame the first half on both of us working full time and not being home enough to care, and the last half to the blur of starting a family.  Two kids 19 months apart will do that to you.

Same room as the previous post, just a few different angles and much better befores.  Behold the "Sage Green" living room...

Entryway into Living Room

After

I have to justify my embarrassment, these before pictures were taken only a few months after we moved in.  Two young adults, not even married, hardly any furniture to our names and no idea how to fill our big new old house. 

The Old Fireplace

After

I didn't love that fireplace.  The side doors wouldn't close, it wasn't even functional and it took up a lot of space in the room.  But I did love the mantel.  It was the only place I ever tried to put anything decorative together.

I don't miss it at all!

View from the Dining Room

After

How bad were those room colors?  How bad was that old ceiling fan?  That floating yellow laminate floor?

And those blinds!?!? 

But notice that good old leather chair.  Still has it's place in the same room.  In the same spot.  Even after all these years :)

House Tour: Living Room

Oh, hello!  I'm back.  And I'm ready.

Since we've finally shown ourselves off at Apartment Therapy, I'm ready to unload the goods.  The before...and how and why and do and don't and this and not that...all the things that got us to where we are.  And in love with where we live.

Finally.

But before I show, I need to share.  Two people who made this all possible.  If you are local, I recommend them without hesitation.  Contact them.  Tell them I sent you.

Kirsten Marshall of Palmerston Design and Nuno Teixeira of Caliber Group. 

Still with me?  Ready?  Me too.

Today, the living room.  Here's where we were before.

Before

Your typical box of a living room.  Front of the house, sharing width with the entryway.  The only thing missing was the faux fireplace/mantel we removed years ago.  Not original to the house = not a sin.

Demo

Framed

Drywalled

After

Is it the same?  You might think so, but look a little deeper.  It's all in the detail.

Like that couch...

Investment

A sectional.  I'm in love.  And I cannot sing it's praises any more than I already do.

We LOVED our old couch.  It was a hand-me-down, but a good one, and it pained me to get rid of it.  But that couch had it's day and Craigslist found it a new home.  It spoiled us for quality, so we knew we had to get a good replacement. 

Cut to us driving down the street from where we purchased our hardwood and noticing a sign in front of a warehouse that said "Barrymore" - we pulled in.  Hours later, we walked away knowing we found it.  Our forever couch.  It was a small fortune, more than we intended to invest, but worth spending most days and every night sitting on it.  Easily a top ten decision.  Hands down.

Now, the niches.

Before

Framed

Taped

Done

We are a TV family.  No apologies.  We had the fireplace debate and it lost.  My decorative mantel is a niche.  And it works.

You know what else works?

Wood

The coffee table.  With the niche.  I stumbled upon the table with matching wood after all the niche decisions were made.  It was meant to be. 

But not all our woods are the same.  The niche/table is different from the floor is different from the kitchen table.  You can have multiple woods in a space.  Just make sure they play together nicely. 

And use stuff you already have.

by Justice Darragh for AT

Find three things here from the two before pictures.  Stumped?  Leather chair, lamp and rug.  Big pieces.  Easily reused and still love.

Ok, there's a fourth.  The curtains.  I'll always love those curtains.

But my favorite part?  I thought you'd never ask.

Where's The Cable Box?

See that cabinet sneaking into the lower left corner?

Close Up

It's our media home base.  And I'm pulling the curtain aside.  That's an IR extender for an outdated cable box that whispers sweet nothings to our remote.  Also mistaken for a tiny spaceship.

If you take anything away from this room reveal, hide your cable box with this IR extender.  Do it now.  It will change your life for $40.


Lastly, as all good renovations do, putting holes in the walls now scares us. 

Holes Go Here

We think we need holes here.  We just don't know what artwork the nails in those holes will hang.  I'm on the huntdown for a "forever couch" worthy piece.  And it might take longer to find than the whole darn renovation did.

Finishing Up Is Hard To Do

Ok, well it is for me.  The post-reno decorating stops me in my tracks.  Then I'm in denial and I leave it for later.  Which turns into never. 

So why not put the pressure on and schedule get-togethers where people will come see the clutter and exposed wires and empty niches and poorly hung drapes? 

That will light a fire.

Clutter you say?

If there's anything great I can say about our new kitchen is that it's functional.  Wow.  Ikea kitchens are amazing for the organization options.  And I'm all about the organization.

That's my junk drawer on the right.  Junk drawer!  This is heaven compared to what it used to be: a shoebox shoved in a drawer with everything dumped in it.  Now I have a special section for the tape measure...I'm in love!!!

And so are the kids.  They have their own little organized drawer, too.

Moving on to those wires...

Now there's a chandelier in it's place.  Yowza! 

Ok, so this item wasn't hard to do.  It was just delayed a bit.  But getting the fixture and the installation coordinated ahead of company arriving was part of the denial process for me.  I was starting to enjoy the kitchen without the finish.  What hole in the ceiling?

I was skeptical when the fixture first went up - it's the only gold element in a very stainless steel kitchen...!  But the glow from the gold foil inside is perfection.  It's the warmth the kitchen needs.  And it covers the hole in the ceiling quite nicely.

(About the chandelier...it was designed by my friend, Kirsten, who took on the design of our whole renovation.  It was made by the very talented Dean, of Lampcage, in Toronto.)

Next?  Niche!

There was nothing but emptiness and now there's this.  The little 2'x3' space that stressed me out more than most of the renovation.  My goal was to get something gold in here to tie in to the kitchen chandelier...but no clutter and no competition with the walnut. 

Here's why I think what's here works for me: The frame works because it's not wood.  The print works because it's gold.  The candlesticks work because they don't compete and they have texture.  The little guy makes it a group of 3 instead of only 2...and he's kinda interesting & shiny, too.

(The sandstone candlesticks and tealight holder are here.  The frame is here and the print is here.)

Lastly, those drapes.

Here's a brief history.

Move In

First Attempt

Second Attempt

At this point, Kirsten came for a visit and I knew it.  The drapes were not right.  That window is not as big as the wall, nor is it centered.  So those drapes need to go wall to wall.

Fail

We lived like this again for a night because while rehanging the drapes, I lost all will to live.  True story.

Done Forever

But then I figured out how to go wall to wall while still screwing the bracket into the stud.  So I'm still alive and the drapes look much better.  Phew.

There's still more finish to be done in the rest of the house but...wait.  Hold that thought.  I hear the doorbell!

And We Didn't Even Get A Divorce!

Because that's what assembling furniture will do to us. 

My husband and I cannot put together anything from Ikea without coming incredibly close to a divorce.  It's not about the product, it's the process. 

When I open the box, I take it all out and make sure all the parts are there.  Down to the last screw.  Because everybody knows sometimes Ikea leaves you a screw short and then you are screwed.  When he opens the box, he flips through the instructions and gets annoyed.  How can anyone possibly understand this?  Words are said.  Blood boils.  Divorce...almost.

I'm the methodical step by step organizer.  He's the results oriented, conceptual big thinker.

He just wants to get there.  I like to enjoy the ride. 

You get it. 

So when it came to assembling the Craigslist bunk bed, I pre-empted the whole thing.  "We will not get a divorce over this bunk bed."  "If it gets to a point where we're both really pissed, we'll stop and walk away."  "The kids can always sleep on the floor for another night."  Hug.

That really happened.

And so did a successful assembly.

Before

I was so anxious about the impending divorce, I didn't get a shot of the bedroom with two twin mattresses on the floor before the husband brought the hardware up from the livingroom. 

More Before

Just close your eyes and picture those two mattresses side by side on the floor, feet to the window.  There, that's the real before. 

Helpers!

And these are the helpers who witnessed our no divorce promise.  See, still smiling.

Yes.

Then this happened.  Notice no more kids...they got bored about 2 seconds into the assembly.  Notice darkness outside the window...it took patience and time to follow each step accordingly.  Notice no husband...it was at this point he looked at me and said, "So, you got this from here, right?"

It was definitely pushing into dinnertime and definitely only-piddly-screws-left-that-one-man-can-finish-this-thing-up time.  So, no, that wasn't an avoiding divorce comment.

Finished

He helped me move it into place, snugly between the back wall and the door.

Too snug

And then I realized the dresser had to move, too.  A small room doesn't need a squeezed entry.

Done! For Now.

Ta da!  Ok, wait, yes, those are suitcases on the floor.  And no, that's not the final dresser.  The laundry basket is not an appropriate hamper.  And we really should get a rug in there. 

But at least the bunk bed is up and the boys love it.  #2 on the top, #1 on the bottom.  It was a compromise.  And it works!

So, no divorce.  I even pushed my luck and did this on the weekend, too.

More Assembly

Complete!

We got a call that our coffee table came in, so Steve drove over to pick it up.  I had him measure our trunk -in the rain- before he took off.  No surprises. 

He called when he got to the loading dock and laughed at me.  It came in a box (see the first pic) and we had to assemble it.  What!?  The loading guy wished him luck...after commenting how difficult it was to put together.  But it turned out fine.  I really took advantage of that no divorce talk.

So here's the table now.

Before - Lack

After - Pi

It really ties in with the room.

Especially the walnut in the niche around the black TV.

Just don't get too close to see all the fingerprints.  Ahh!  I'm letting go.  We didn't get a divorce :)