City.Cottage Giveaway

I'd like to welcome a new sponsor to our circle of friends here in the Fun Lane: City.Cottage. It was very exciting to meet and learn about Jenny and her City.Cottage because like me she is Canadian. And as all you fellow Canadian's know finding unique, cottage style furniture and decor can be a challenge.

City.Cottage is located just outside of Toronto, and on the web at both their website and blog.

Even if you can't stop by to spend an hour taking in all their treasures you can enjoy plenty of eye candy online. Each image has me checking the cost of flights to Toronto!

Looks like the perfect tea party to me.

Don't these tutus look magical?

There is no shortage of my favorite non-color: white!

If those images don't have you drooling, then this one will.

Couldn't you just imaging curling up in that fluffy bed on a warm Sunday afternoon with a good book? Jenny wants to make that day dream come true for one lucky person! One such reader will win a handmade City.Cottage pillow that features a floral front and soft chenile back a well as the lovely white button pillow in front.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us what you will be reading in that comfy bed before 8pm mountain time on Friday, March 5. The winner will be announced the following day.

We hope you have been having a great week so far! It's hard to believe it is already Thursday, where did it go so fast?

On Sunday, before the laundry room demolition began, Wren wanted to take everyone on one final tour of the old room.

Here is the view from the hallway, where the future shelves will hang above the dryer.


Coming in from the garage this is what used to greet us.


We are hoping to keep this room's budget under $1,100, not including appliances. We were actually forced to upgrade the appliances 1 week after Wren was born and the washer died. Thankfully it was a blessing in disguise because that was boxing day, so we scored this set at Best Buy for $800. Sean braved frigid temperatures at 5am to grab 1 of only 50 sets, but we haven't seen such a deal since so it was worth it!


This is our 1 and only light. It will be replaced by 6 pot lights to give us a nice bright spot to work.

Bye bye closet! I can't wait to see the hallway door from this door and get more natural light in here!

On Monday Sean ripped out all the cabinetry and dry wall on the closet. Here is what it looks like as of today:

We will be taking out the 2x4's today, and hopefully the tiles!

It always gets worse before it gets better, but wouldn't it be nice if it just got better???

Since I don't want you all to think I am neglecting you (I could never do that), I just wanted to pop in and say that I might be a little quiet this week. Not my real life, just the blog...

In fact this is shaping up to be the busiest week of the year, but then again we are less than 8 weeks in so the bar isn't too high.

Before we catch up on let's say Thursday or Friday we will have checked all the following items off this list:
-Sean picking up new car (actually an old car, but new to us)
-Holly to have completed painting 8 dining room chairs, 2 shelfs and dining table (Hi Annette!), 1 antique dresser (Hi Dennise!), a king and queen chair (Hi Julie!), another dresser (Hi Avelyn & Ryan!), 2 more chairs (Hi Debbie!). Whew! I'm tired just typing that~
-Sean to demolish laundry room
-Holly & Sean to deliver furniture
-Holly, Sean & Wren to pick up new tiles and beadboard for laundry room
-Holly & Sean to hopefully eat at some point
-maybe sleep.

But we should be back to our regular scheduled blogging by the end of the week~

Au revoir!

dining room progress...

I have a few things to shuffle around, depending on where our new (old) loveseat ends up at the end of the week. I think we are getting close to a permanent set up in the living room and dining room that I really love. Boy, did we come a long way from this.

Here is the big burden that had taken over the center of the room until yesterday.

And this was the HUGE armoire we magically moved upstairs. It is an unbelievably heavy piece of furniture, and it kind of took over the room before.

I still love this armoire to death but it really just didn't fit in here.

One new addition to the room is a couple of antique chairs. Last week I acquired a lovely antique pedestal table and 5 mismatched chairs.

2 were this style:

and 3 were a little simpler in this style.

It is very uncharacteristic of me, but I actually love the old patina the chairs have from decades of love in someone's kitchen. Perhaps they will see the sprayer someday, but not right now~

I decided to move my wingbacks into the living room right now, and 2 of the old wood chairs are the perfect compliment to the clean lines of the white dining chairs.

Since the dining set was not really complete, the table is in rough shape, and I have no use (or space) for yet another dining table right now, I am planning on cutting down the base, painting it and turning it in to a fabulous, huge coffee table for the living room.

Are you having a hectic but good weekend? Me too. (if you are one of those lucky people having a nice relaxing weekend please don't rub it in...)

The day started off busy when we listed a TV we don't use anymore online and had close to 50 responses. It was off the living room floor 30 minutes later and I think I can finally take some pretty good "after" shots in there for our reno link.

Then Wren and I headed out to a couple fabric stores to pick up some white upholstery fabric for my latest transformation. If you have a really good memory then you probably remember me talking about slipcovering an antique sofa back in October. Well, I never actually bought the sofa I was talking about. While I love that look, I did want something a little less "frilly" and so I kept my eyes peeled for a sofa without the wood scroll work on the upper part of the back.

One lucky day in November I found this beauty:

It is the perfect style, but more importantly the perfect size! I was scratching my head as to how a larger sofa would need to be positioned, but this girl will work in our master bedroom if I can't seem to get it right in the living room. But my fingers are crossed that it will play nice and stay in the living room.

This is the general look we are going for with the cover. One large, down-filled cushion on the seat and a loose, relaxed fit over the arms and back. Legs still exposed.



And finally, I was given marching orders by Sean to clear out the laundry room. Monday is d-day, as in demolition day!!! I have to write it up and down my arm to remind myself, but I NEED to get a before shot before the damage begins.

2 steals, a deal and a splurge

I often get emails about 2 items of clothing you guys have seen in various photos. One is the shirt in the FAQ section, and the other is my ripped up, destroyed jeans. What can I say? I like my jeans like my furniture: distressed!

My absolute favorite-est jeans ever were purchased for $39 at Hollister, my second favs came from Abercrombie. Then there area my un-intentionally destroyed designer jeans that have become favorites thanks to the beautifully random holes acquired through various exploits. But you definitly don't mean to put a hole in pricey jeans!

Back to my steals.... If you are in the market for a pair of ripped up, comfy jeans to wear as the perfect foil to some glamorously feminine blouse, or just a white tee then run, don't walk to your nearest Hollister! I know, I know, you feel freakishly old shopping amongst all the 14 year olds but it is well worth it to snag a pair of jeans for $21!

Yes, $21! Oh, and the sweaters are $6.90. That's exactly 90% off the original price. I found this snazzy striped one and it is perfect for these last days of winter. I still cannot believe I only walked out with 2 items... so basically an outfit for under $30.



Today we braved an early morning to go and pick up this deal I snagged off Kijiji. But don't let it be said that we don't work for these deals! When we arrived to pick it up Sean braved a trip up the homeowner's treacherous icy front steps, and decided it had to come out the back of the house to avoid any broken necks. Well, we had it all nicely loaded up when the elderly homeowner asked if we could give him a lift to pick up his truck at a nearby garage. Sure! We are friendly people, hop in!

Well, let's just say he was very vague at giving directions and leave it at that. He insisted we commited highway robbery for paying him full asking price until we pulled out of the garage parking lot... I swear I could write a very entertaining book about the characters we've met along the way~



And finally, on to my splurge! As I have informed you numerous times, the charcoal wall in our master just isn't doing it for us so I have been pouring over interesting wall paper options. 3+ months of removing layers and layers of wallpaper all over this house really had us hesitatant to commit to anything, but today I saw this paisley silver and white wallpaper and knew it was perfection! At $150/roll it is a pricey change, but I am certain it is what I have been looking for.



Here are a couple bolder paisley walls, but I really love that you don't see paisley used very often as a wall covering. It is kind of a less dramatic option to damask I guess.

Can't wait to hang it up in 2-3 weeks when it arrives at the retailer!

Grey glass cabinet

Just as promised, I managed to get this guy moved into the house last night. But the bigger job was actually moving an even BIGGER armoire upstairs (finally!). I have been begging to move it up for months, but well, it was a big job! But with our trusted dolly the two of us worked it (him like a pro, me freaking out the whole time!). But it is nice to say it is done, and the other armoire will probably have to move with the house if we ever sell because we won't be attempting going back down!

Here was the original pine cabinet. It is so rare to find a nice cabinet with nearly all glass doors, and this one is just the right size, since it isn't too deep, for most rooms.

after a few coats of grey paint:

I LOVE the combination of light wood poking through grey and white paint!! White paint and dark wood is a great combo too, but this one just feels so beachy.
The beadboard back is so charming and adds a lot of dimension to anything displayed inside. You probably noticed that the bottom shelf is a little sparse compared with the other 3, that's because Wren is in love with that shelf and takes everything out. So it will have to be a little bare for now~

Have a great day!

By now I am sure you are well aware of my love affair with grey. Most people consider it a cold, depressing color, but thankfully that it slowly changing. I usually associate grey with soft, romantic old swedish furniture and fluffy clouds and worn down pebbles at the bottom of a stream. It is very relaxing to me.

In my studio yesterday I had a blast working on a set of antique nesting tables and a darling old dresser, but my heart skipped a beat when the first coat of grey went onto a tall pine cabinet I had sitting on the outskirts of my pile. It is tall and features glass paned doors from top to bottom, with a sweeping arched top, and I hope to share it with you all tomorrow!

But until then (I say that way too often, don't I?), here are some great grey cabinets floating around.

... before I take off I want to also thank a local reader by the name of Colleen, and her boyfriend Ryan! Remember this glorious antique dining set I had recently acquired? So many of you commented and emailed me about not painting it, and well, Colleen rescued it unscathed from the grip of my paint claws. So sleep a little easier tonight knowing that thanks to Colleen it will continue on in it's glorious ebony-stained life.

Whew! I just finished updating your Frequently Asked Questions, for the second time. I was 90% done yesterday afternoon when Wren hit the power button, and well there went a lot of hard work....

But of course that didn't stop me! I think I covered pretty much everything that was specifically asked in your comments, and all of the most commonly emailed questions, but if you see anything glaringly absent please let me know. Afterall, it is all for you guys!

And now I am off to play in my studio for the rest of the day~

WARNING: Gratuitous pictures of Wren to follow!

Yesterday while daddy was at work Wren and I decided to enjoy a "ladies night" (converted from baby time it is more like 3pm normal time). On the agenda was a trip to my new absolute favorite destination, Duchess!



It just recently opened, and I had never heard about it until Angelica blogged about the goodies her girlfriends brought by last week. EVERYTHING here looks like it came straight from the set of Marie Antoinette, (which is my favorite-est movie of all time) and is almost too pretty to eat. But eat we did!

And it was heavenly...


Afterwards we hit up HomeSense, and while I walked out empty-handed Wren snagged an adorable dress for Spring.

Now we are awaiting Sean's arrival as he left earlier to pick up some interesting items for WhiteBerry (what would we do without him, I ask you?!), then we are off to sort through some wallpaper samples and paint colors for the *possible* painting of the living/dining rooms at Expressions.

But until then we are playing!

"if a tree falls in the forest...."

Wren is SUCH an animal lover, it is so amazing how you can see little snippets of their personality at such a young age. She is gentle with the dogs and just loves hugging on them all. the. time!

And if you want even MORE pictures of Wren, and a little painting action as well, head over to see Frugal Contessa and part two of her cabinet transformation!

Whew! It may be taking a lot longer than anticipated, but I am hard at work over here updating the links along the header bar up there ^^^^

I am now happy and proud to say the DIY section has been fully updated to the end of 2009!!! And at the request of several lovely readers I have been diligent in adding pictures to each link so you can sort through it a little easier.

The next frontier? Frequently Asked Questions. Boy, will that be great to check off my list of jobs! Then onto updating the renos section because lord knows the two links to Wren's Room and our Master aren't even current these days...

Ciao bellas!

Happy Valentine's Day

Do you have a Valentine? I hope so! Everyone deserves a Valentine at least one day a year. I can't help but being thankful for having 4 of them 365 days a year.



Even though it would be nice to go out on a fancy date to a nice restaurant, our "date" will be in the kitchen at 10am. You see, Sean works at noon (usually until 10 or 11pm) so we will have a romantic party of 5, comprised of three humans and two dogs, a little earlier than most.

We will be toasting to "us" over Shirley Temples (orange juice+ginger ale+grenadine=heaven!).



Savouring pink meringue cookies.



And ripe ruby-red strawberries.

Not to mention opening a card or two (thanks mom & dad!).

From our family to yours, have a wonderful Valentine's Day.