the deer hunter

This guy is exactly what is missing from my living room. He'll live on the wall overtop of our obnoxiously large flatscreen television. I've been waiting for him to go on sale, or for an applicable promo code, for six months now (I just can't bring myself to pay full price, what can I say).

I really think Mr. Owl will like him! I can't wait for the day I can finally place the order. He will be mine. (That doesn't sound creepy, does it?)

master of the house

It is my great pleasure to be able to share with you some of the elements of the master bedroom, which is really the first room we are doing completely, top-to-bottom, start-to-finish, since we bought the house. I feel like we've done so little, and yet there are a lot of small things that we have been slowly changing to suit our tastes and our lifestyle. It's true what they say, it is such a wise thing to live in a space for a while before making any major decisions about what to change. The dining room/living room area, which is something we completely painted just days after getting the keys (before we'd moved any furniture in - we figured it would be so much easier that way, and indeed it was) ended up evolving into something I couldn't stand. We were in such a rush to choose the colours and get that part out of the way, that we simply chose something we ended up hating. Let me rephrase that - something I ended up hating. But, that's the beauty of rushing into paint - instead of say, knocking down a wall - it's just paint. So easily changed, and change it we did, although, surprisingly that is something we only did a few months ago, so I lived with the colour for quite a while. (I'll be accepting sympathy and congratulatory pats on the back after this post.) And then, unfortunately, we ended up painting over it with another colour we didn't care much for once it was on the wall. We had been so certain of our choice that second time around, it was definitely frustrating and somewhat disheartening. But, what to do, other than acknowledge our mistake and choose a new colour, again. Thankfully, it was a small space we were dealing with (just one wall in the dining room - that might sound more 'accent-wall-ish' than it really is, you'll see when I finally post some pictures) and the job went quickly, and now, we both love it. The moral of that story is... I can't stay on a subject to save my life.

And now, back to the master bedroom...

Here is a rundown of all the elements of the master bedroom, before I reveal the final "after" pictures. Unfortunately I forgot to take proper "before" pics, so you won't really get to see the full transformation this time. Don't worry, I won't let it happen again! I am now dedicated to properly documenting these things. In lieu of actual pics, I will give you a verbal "before" picture: beige. I have never seen so much beige in one room. Beige carpet, walls, trim, doors, windows, curtains, carpet, and ceiling. I thought I was going to lose my mind after a month of sleeping in there, it was so depressing. In the most literal sense possible. It felt like the room was closing in and was going to gobble you up into its beige abyss. (Dramatic much? Seriously, I know, it was just beige. Sorry. Back to the rundown.)

So I haven't actually done a budget breakdown of this room, and to be honest the thought of doing it now, for all to see, frightens me a little. Well, I'm nothing if not an over-sharer, so here goes:
(all prices listed include taxes, and delivery if they were delivered)

Calvin King Bed in grey stain, from Room & Board:
$1635
{A big splurge, but this is the first bed frame we've ever purchased, ever. And apparently that's how much things cost if you want something made of solid wood (this bed is maple) and made in North America. No regrets here, we love it more than we could have imagined.}

Natura - Harmony King mattress ($2,100) and Natura Classic All-Season comforter ($250):

$2655

{Another big splurge. It's a great company and the mattress is all natural - latex, wool, cotton, and plant-based (soy) foam - and no springs at all. We both really really love it. The all-natural mattress was important to me because I had done some research and found out about all the chemicals they use in most mattress (for fire retardant purposes). To put it mildly, I didn't like the thought of spending eight hours a night sleeping on that and breathing those chemicals in. So far it has been the most comfortable mattress I've ever slept on, and you can smell the difference right away (as in, it doesn't smell at all, the way most mattress do when you first get them). It also has a 25 year warranty so that's nice too. And the wool comforter is pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me. Both were so worth it, and a really long time coming, so we felt good about spending some serious money on ourselves for once. I figure when you spend a third of your day, every single day, on/in something (the bed) that makes it worthwhile to make sure you get something you really love, and that will be good for you.}

Ikea Lenda curtains in the straw yellow colour:

$34

Two bamboo roman-style blinds {Our window was too wide (72") to find one that was big enough on its own, and had the look we wanted, but we were lucky enough to score two 36" blinds on clearance at Bed Bath & Beyond - sorry, no link available}:

$79

Hampton Bay black chandelier from Home Depot:

$168

Unfortunately the link I had to this item on the HD website no longer seems to exist. I can't find it anywhere online actually, it's as though it has completely disappeared! So, here is the best I can do...



Chandelier found here.

 ... except that the crystals are black, not clear, and it has three lights, not five.

Beadboard Paintable Wallpaper by Martha Stewart Living, at Home Depot (two rolls):

$50

{When we removed the old wallpaper - the right way, we even rented the steam machine from HD - it unfortunately removed a fair bit of our plaster wall with it. Probably because of the super-industrial-strength glue they were using back then when they put wallpaper up (our house was built in 1960). Thankfully, it was only one wall, but we needed an inexpensive and, above-all, attractive solution to our wall problem. This wallpaper is a-may-zing. So great looking and SO easy to put up (we've never touched wallpaper before) and super easy to paint (we did prime it first, since we were doing the rest of the room anyway, we figured it couldn't hurt). I really can't say enough good things about this product.}

Paint (two gallons) and primer (one gallon):

$97

{Both paint and primer are CIL Naturaliving from Home Depot.

Paint colour (walls, trim, ceiling, all doors - the entire room) is Cloud White by Benjamin Moore.}

I thought it might be fun if I post all the elements of the master bedroom on their own for two reasons - first, it is definitely the best way for everyone to know where everything in the room came from, and second, sort of in the same way as you make your own "head-movie" (that's how I like to refer to it) when you're reading a book, this will allow everyone to creat their own picture of what the room might look like before you see how it all came together in real life. I thought maybe it would be a nice way to allow a bit of personalized inspiration to come from the individual elements, before subjecting you to my own vision and how that manifested itself. Unfortunately, after this lengthy post, I am still in the process of putting some final finishing touches on the bedroom (mainly, I am having a lot of trouble finding the perfect bedside tables that don't cost an arm and leg. If money was no object, two of these would be in my room already:

I have loved these Saarinen side tables for I don't know how long. Such a perfect bedside table in a small space, with so many straight lines and right angles... the curves on this table are just perfection. Unfortunately for me, even a much more inexpensive replica version of the table is $295 (at Zone, for anyone who is interested) and I just don't have $600 to spend on two bedside tables. Oh, but how I wish I did.

So, for anyone counting, that adds up to a grand total of..........................
(that was a blog-style drumroll):

$4,718!

I know, that is a lot of money. Believe me. But the majority of that was spent on major investment pieces (the bed frame and mattress). And that comes after five years of having just an old boxspring and mattress directly on the floor. Let's just say it was a long time coming, and it was well worth it. The transformation has been incredible, and I can't wait to share the photos with you... as soon as I find some proper bedside tables, that is. So, with that, I suppose I should really get back to the business of trolling kijiji for the perfect pair.

the introduction

When we bought our house, we had a the great fortune of buying from the original owners. That is something that really made a difference for me, and looking back now, I think it was actually one of the top deciding factors when we finally sealed the deal and bought the place. Especially the fact that we got to meet the lovely woman (she had been widowed a decade prior) and have her show us around the place and give us a rundown of everything.

Not only was it a really great experience to get to see the house through her eyes (this place had been her home since 1960, there was a lot of history for her) and hear a few stories about sing-a-long parties around the piano in the basement (she left the piano for us - how sweet is that?!) but we got to learn a lot. As first time homeowners, the little things that she showed us, and the handwritten reminders she had posted everywhere, which we asked her to please leave up (things like a note on the furnace explaining how to bleed to humidifier valve and when and how to change the filter) were absolutely invaluable to us.

That kind of interaction between the buyer and seller is something that real estate agents do their best to prevent (and perhaps understandably so) but I will always be so happy that we just went for it, knocked on her door, and very fortunately for us, were warmly welcomed and invited in. *Just to clarify - this all happened after the deal was done, but before the closing date, during that 60 day gap - I definitely would not recommend doing this during the short conditional sale period. I'm no expert, but it could cause some trouble for you and you can never be too careful with these things.

The grand tour that we ended up getting was definitely not part of our plan going in - we had no expectations at all. We were really just hoping to say hello, and to let her know that she was free to leave behind any small furniture/yard tools/workshop items, etc., as we were just starting out and we knew we could use all the help we could get. It helped that we also knew she was moving in with one of her children, so we had a pretty good idea that she might not need/want to take a lot of that stuff with her. If you were wondering, she did leave us shovels and rakes and sprinklers (oh my!) along with the piano I mentioned earlier and a few other little things. We were so grateful! We could have easily spent hundreds of dollars trying to accumulate all that stuff, not to mention the time it saved us.

I'm so sorry for the terrible photos (especially this front shot). This is all I have right now. These were actually taken by our insurance company a week or so before we moved in (part of their standard procedure for home insurance).

And here is our little backyard shed, which was built by the owner's husband before he passed away. As was the carport, and the mudroom, and the sunroom. He was actually a civil engineer - he designed bridges all across Canada. (Our shed even has eavestroughs! I don't know, maybe that's totally normal but I've never seen it before and I find it so cute!)

So, there you have it. Internet, meet house. I hope you two get along.