Currently Obsessed With: Minda Home

You guys know how excited I get when I discover new sources for cool home decor? Well I feel like I hit the jackpot recently when I found Minda Home.

It is a small online boutique that only features the creations of a lovely lady named Melinda, which range from art, to textiles and holiday decor. 

My package arrived last week and I was blown away by the quality and beauty of everything inside. Everything was wrapped so beautifully in burlap and lovely pompoms (in fact I've held on to every pompom just because they we too lovely to not put to use!).

Wren trying to check out the treasures first...

All her Moroccan wedding blanket pillows, poufs, etc. are made with authentic vintage wedding blankets and filled with beautiful down inserts.

A couple of her beautiful pillow creations.

I cannot even tell you how flattered I was when I shared this photo on Instagram and she then dubbed the pillow on the right the 'Holly pillow'! It's my first official namesake product LOL. Thanks Melinda! 

You guys already know I am addicted to cool, unique art. 

And this piece in particular just makes me feel so happy yet peaceful. 

You know when you discover someone/something that just speaks to you? That I exactly how I feel about Melinda, she is bursting with talent and I cannot wait to add to my Minda Home collection~

She has the perfect balance of neutral, light, bright and a pop of fun!

Tropical Holiday: Candle of the Month

I am one of those people who are not a fan of early holiday decorating...

BUT I am on board with early shopping so that I can avoid the crowds. And if I can steer clear of the mall all together at holiday time I am totally down with that. But that means shopping early so that everything makes it to me in time to wrap and keep safe under the tree till the big day.

The start of November is when I try to tackle my list online and get it done, so I've been checking out my options and decided to play it safe and order multiples of a few of my favourite things as stocking stuffers for my favourite people. I totally sound like the less exciting, and much lower budget Oprah LOL.

A long time favourite item is my trusty Rosie Jane candles, so I was thrilled to hear she did a holiday set this year!

A tropical holiday set with little hand sketched pineapples on the glasses, and the cutest box that shows why pineapples are a sign of good hospitality.

So, sorry for the spoilers people I am giving these to! I just can't keep a good secret.

(and I, of course, gifted myself a set for good measure like any good elf would)

About the house...

I know I've been spotty at best in the back end of 2014 with blogging, but it really has nothing to do with my love of making little changes about the house! Nope, that is alive and well!

I have been working hard (in between actually working hard LOL) at de-cluttering, simplifying and minimalizing the house. Less stuff, more space and more calming. But I have been lazy about taking pictures with the fancy camera, so I thought I'd dump all my phone pics here. My apologies if a few look familiar from Instagram!

Hope your November has started with lots of fun and the promise of a lovely season to come!

Laurier, Pretty Much Done

So this is the part I do this all for. The final comparison is always the most incredible to really get the full impact of all we managed to do over the course of a flip, and like all things that take time you always forget just *how* different things are from when you start.

The one thing I LOVE so much about this flip in particular are the people I've had the pleasure of working with. Many of them are old faces to me over the course of my projects but many are new as well. While I love sharing the pretty photos here, the true experience is soooo so hard to capture. And even though I couldn't explain the ups and downs adequately in just one blog post, or even 10 or 100 for that matter, the joy of experiencing them with people you genuinely care about and enjoy being with make my job a real dream job if there ever was one. We are like a little mini-renovation family of a team.

But enough of the sappy, lovey dove-y stuff. Let's talk before and after.

The one area we are actually still working on extensively is the exterior. But regardless it has come so far!

Here it was

Here it is today. We are switching to a board and batten vertical siding on the lower portion still, as well as a new roof and eaves, but the current improvements like trees removed, new paint, doors, sod and paved walk ways make a big difference.

Inside we had a lot of wood panelling, some of which I would have loved to save but damage over the years made it hard.

So we just went light and bright by opening up any non-structural walls.

The main level was divided up into kitchen/living/entry/dining but we went for an open layout since the house is a split level which tend to feel pieces anyway.

I think this is my favourite shot in the house because it summarizes about 80% of our efforts!

I had my heart set on these CB2 lights and they have been polarizing to say the least. Plus a real headache when they arrived and I discovered they were not nearly short enough to hang in anything less than 10 foot ceilings... so I had to get crafty and learn some highly intricate knots before the electricians came through to hang them!

The sun had a hard time penetrating the kitchen before...

But now it is bright! We still have to install the vent and cover for the hood fan but the kitchen is exactly what I envisioned.

The entry also got a lot brighter.

But my absolute favourite change has been opening up the upstairs to the main level.

On the lower level the media room needed very little other than some cosmetic work.

I am bummed that I don't have a before of the upstairs bathroom!! It is now floor to ceiling tile in the vanity alcove and half way up in the rest of the bathroom. The Ikea mirror and vanity look so clean and minimalist, I just love them together.

Another room I don't have a before of is the laundry room, mainly because it was just a hall before, but we opened up a couple closets to allow for large, bright room! Now there is cabinetry and counter space across from the washer and dryer. A big thanks to Wall Paper Direct for bringing some much needed charm with Marimekko's Iltavilli cow wallpaper by graciously providing it for us. I am actually thinking I need this in my own bedroom now too....

We still have work to do, and our other projects are on going as well, but I am so thrilled with how this project came together and how much love and support I've gotten for it on Instagram and on here. 

THANKS for all the love as always guys!!

xoxo