Rambling Renovators: September 2011

Pinspirations! Vol.3

Its about this time of year when I start thinking about holidays and celebrations non-stop. Canadian Thanksgiving is in two weeks, then Halloween two weeks after that, and then the cool winds of Autumn shuttle us right into the Christmas season.

With all this fete-ing going on, the DIY projects start picking up too. Whether its putting together a fall mantle or starting on handmade Christmas gifts, I look to Pinterest to give me some inspiration and interesting ideas to set my hands too. This week's Pinspirations! feature some of my favourite DIYers and ideas to spark your creative bug.

Pinner: Kathleen Ullman
Kathleen writes a really lovely blog, Twig and Thistle, where she features her own simple but stunning handmade crafts. Her Pinterest boards read the same way - beautiful, unique, feminine, and slightly nostalgic. I really love her DIYprojects, Holidays, and Color Inspiration boards...

Board: Fall Seasonal Decor by Monica Nicholson

A great board full of fun decorating and seasonal food ideas. I love the look of pumpkins under a cloche!

Pin: A black and white fall mantle display that will look good throughout the whole season!

Source: bandbsnestinteriors.com via Jen @ Rambling on Pinterest

Do you have any fall or holiday decorating projects on the go? What's inspiring you?

Lullaby

There are no images in this video, just a sweet little voice. Being a mom melts my heart sometimes.

InVU Drapery Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the $100 gift certificate from InVU is...

Congratulations Maggie! Send me an email at ramblingrenovators@gmail.com with your address to claim your prize.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Barn Light Electric's Giveaway

More about the giveaway in a minute, but first...

After a year of searching and a few missed opportunities, we finally found the perfect harvest table to put in our basement craft space. Can I get a high five?

Isn't she lovely? She (and you can tell she's a she by her curvy legs) is just what we were looking for - a great chippy top, a working drawer, and a two-tone paint colour. The flea market gods must have been with us on Saturday because we found her in the first two minutes at Aberfoyle and her legs come off so we were able to fit her, Chloe in her carseat, and the stroller in the car. Serendipitous, I tell you :)

So now that we have the table, I've been thinking of lighting. My dream source for lighting: Barn Light Electric Company. Couldn't you just picture one of these hanging over the table:

Benjamin Industrial Pendant

... or a pair of these:

Laramie Pendant

This is fabulous too:

Minimalist Polished Brass Cage Pendant

as is this:

Barn Light Blue Collar Pendant

But I'm going to need more lighting in the basement so I'd put some of these on the wall...

Torrington Sconce

or maybe these:

Barn Light Appaloosa Sconce

Aren't they gorgeous? They fit my vision for our basement renovation just perfectly. Barn Light Electric Co. has soooo many to choose from! And guess what - they are having a contest and you (or I!) could win a $1000 or $500 Barn Light Electric Gift Certificate.*

How to Enter:

Look around online at Barn Light Electric and pick lights you’d love to own
Feature your lighting picks on your personal blog, and link to the lights if you can!
Copy/Paste these rules at the bottom of your blog article so others can enter
Once your personal article is up, you must email your blog link to: contest@barnlightelectric.com to be qualified to win. The contest ends Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Don’t have a blog? Find out how you can enter by reading the Official Rules

*I've confirmed that the contest is open to participants anywhere in the world over 18 years of age. If the winner is outside of the continental US, they will be responsible for any duties, taxes, fees, or additional shipping costs etc. that is associated with their country, as with any other order.

So what are you waiting for? Shop Barn Light Electric Co., blog about it, and you could win some of this vintagey lighting goodness!

Simple Style

I've encountered a few situations recently which helped me realize a lot about what makes a room comfortable. I spend so much time thinking about how to fill a room, how to style it just so , how to shape it to fit every function, that I rarely give time to the thought that maybe I don't need those things. Maybe I could be happy with less? Can simple be just as stylish?

HandyMan and I recently helped a relative move on to the next chapter in his life, a life with a new home and new routines. But new doesn't need to mean unfamiliar or cold so we spent a few quick hours putting the room together and filling it with those meaningful things that change a room into a home...

A welcoming spot to lay your head...

Places to store belongings and display memories and treasures...

Organized storage & pops of your favourite colour...

Areas for working...

...and a place to relax.

I'll admit I was surprised at how homey we were able to make the room feel with a small budget and using only a few furnishings and elements. But the design principles that are true for bigger spaces worked here too:

- Start with a visually pleasing and functional layout. Create a focal point. In this case, its the red bed and the throw really draws your eye.
- Use patterns and textures to warm things up. The rattan armchair, sisal rug, and throw work together to create a cozy corner
- Bring on the pretty! Mix books and art on your bookcases. Keep your office supplies in fun containers. Invest in wooden hangers which are not only kinder to your clothes, but make it easier to keep your wardrobe organized and put a smile on your face whenever you open the closet door.

In the end, our relative said the space felt like home. And whether you spend $10 or $10,000, isn't that the same feeling we're all looking for?

Do you decorate on a budget? Or do you prefer to fill your rooms with the things you love, no matter the cost?

Fall Trends & A Giveaway

In the past few days, my inbox has been filled with designy marketing folks touting their takes on new fall trends. Its interesting to see how similar or differing the opinions can be. Have a look...

Here's four colour stories that InVU Drapery has built their fall collections around. I quite like what they've done in these ads, showing pairings of home and fashion much like some fab bloggers do in their "outfit to room" posts. {Click the images to enlarge}

And here's Style At Home's take on fall trends...

So if I look at the similarities in what the experts are telling me, what's really "in" for fall? Wood (from warm and natural or cool and washed out); Vibrant, rich colours; and Neutrals from cool greys to warm taupes.

I always take this trend talk with a grain of salt. Primarily because in three months there will be a whole new set of trends and secondly because you shouldn't decorate your home just to keep up with what's in - that can be costly and tiring! I guess the thing to do is take inspiration from the pros but fill your home with the things you love. That's one trend you can always bank on to give you great results :)

***

Interested in incorporating some of these trends into your home? InVU Drapery is making it easy by offering a GIVEAWAY to one of my Canadian readers! (Sorry, my American friends!) You can win a $100 gift certificate to be used at InVU by:

- leaving a comment and letting me know what your favourite trend is

- become a follower of InVU Drapery on their blog, twitter or facebook and leaving me a separate comment letting me know you've done so

The winner will be randomly selected on 9am Thursday, Sept.29th.

***

Psst... InVU Drapery is also hosting an in-store event, Decorate Your Home For Fall, on Saturday, October 1st between 11am-2pm at the Missisauga location. You just might see me there if you go :)

The Love List

I'm loving...

...this charming nursery

...this ultra-creative book release party thrown by The Nester to celebrate her sister's book release. Photo from Emily A. Clark.

...this entry, stunning in its simplicity

...this transformed kitchen

...this cheery office before & after. Photos from design*sponge.

...this office filled with vintagey goodness. I'm off to the Aberfoyle Antique Show this Saturday and hoping to find treasures just like this!

Have a good weekend!

Happy Bunting!

All those fall wreaths on Pinterest had me wanting to put one on my front door. But I couldn't find a style that was just right so I decided on something else instead...

Oh, how I love bunting. I've hung it from the ceiling, strung it on a cake, and put it on a wall. One can never have too much bunting, right?

It makes me happy when I walk up to my house!

{I know my door hardware doesn't match. We found the vintage doorbell and when we stripped the paint off of it, discovered it was a lovely bronze instead of silver finish. We couldn't bear to paint it again so left it as it was.}

Pinspirations Vol.2

Time for another edition of Pinspirations!, the series where I showcase my favourite Pinners, Boards, and Pins (and help feed your addiction to our favourite ~~time-wasting~~ useful tool, Pinterest)

Pinner: Doug Davis

Doug Davis is a designer with interior design firm Tracery Interiors. The firm is known for creating clean-lined interiors mixed with antique and vintage pieces. They create memorable spaces like these:

I'm pretty sure I have each one of these spaces pinned in my pinterest! Take a look at Doug's pinterest boards and you'll see a well curated collection of primarily white, comfortable interiors. I particularly like his Office board...

and the Big Sinks board...

Board: Memory Keeping by Design Editor

Now that I have a child, keeping memories is something I'm conscious about doing. Whether its taking photos, creating scrapboxes, or just journalling those special moments and sayings that you want to lock away, I think making an effort to capture these moments is important. Catherine at Design Editor has collected some unique ideas on how to keep and store these momentoes and photos on her Memory Keeping board.

{By the way, if you want to see memory keeping at its best, you MUST check out the Week In The Life album that Catherine created for her sweet twin girls. What a gorgeous and thoughtful hand-me-down for her children!}

Pin: Jar of Cupcake Liners

Source: flickr.com via Jen @ Rambling on Pinterest

This whimsical jar of cupcake liners is my fave pin of the week. Such a simple and fun way to add some colour into your home!

Fresh for Fall

There's a definite chill in the air these days. I don't mind it though. I love the change of seasons and dressing in layers. I needed to get things feeling cozy inside too so I decided to change out the beachy accessories on the dresser and get things looking more Fall-ish.

I call the look "woodland harvest". I'm not really fond of the typical autumn look with red and orange and lots of berries and dried flowers so I stuck to a palette of greens, browns, and yellows with hits of black and white.

I really wanted it to look overflowing and full so I busted out all sorts of accessories. I found the wood cut disks at Goodwill of all places but decided to paint the tops white to give them some pop. The cage filled with scented cuttings is from HomeSense and adds a chic rustic vintage vibe to the vignette (and it makes the room smell great!). The mini cakestand is a "black tuxedo" version of my DIY painted cakestand. I really love the look of flat black spraypaint. The thrifted urn made its way from the back deck to indoors.

The gourds, berries, pinecones, and leaves are all faux from Walmart. I usually buy real gourds every year but I like that these ones will last throughout the season and I can reuse them next year. The mini ginger jars are from HomeSense and so are the woodland creatures. They're actually candles, can you spot the four of them?

And since I'm still on a sewing kick, I whipped up some yellow green and grey bunting too. The green ribbon tied around the neck of the thrifted bust is a little detail but it finishes off the look and really ties the colour scheme together.