Kitchen = Success!

To round out the week, I have the "after" photos from last weekends hard labour.

The organized and now well functioning pantry shelf including shameless free advertising for a long-time employer famous for khakis.

Newly installed shelving & towel bar to hold Ikea storage bins for our cutlery.  Also note, the wall is fully painted!  Pepper Tree by CIL.

The 2 most important appliances we own, now not filling up all our counter space.

Our old stove - it gets the job done.  Also, put up the spice rack so it too would not take up all our cupboard space.

Magnetic knife strip & chopping station set up.  Part of the vintage Pyrex collection proudly on display.

On the wishlist for my birthday, a new camera.  One I can take nice fancy pretty photos with.  Ebay here I come.

Project Kitchen

As you may already know, a kitchen re-fresh was on the to-do list for this month.

I can happily and quite proudly say that it took 2 full days of work, but I am done! (For now!)

Because we're in a housing co-op, we technically can make whatever cosmetic changes we would like, including new cabinets/appliances/etc. as long as we pay for it out of pocket. That being said, we're not staying here forever and with no financial return on this type of investment, I'd rather hold off on anything of that nature until we're in a more permanent set-up. Paint, clean floors and a little organization magic are all I need for now.

Here's my kitchen before:

ugh... this just looks depressing. Having white counter tops was something I used to think would look so chic and classic - I now know better. They never look clean, they wash out the entire room (especially if you don't get much natural light) and I have also learned that maraschino cherries definitely stain.

#1 Kitchen conundrum = 9" wide drawers.
There is no cutlery tray that I have found on the western market that will fit inside this drawer. Which has led to the following....

Cutlery in a cupboard.

So many appliances!

A packed pantry shelf filled with just about anything but kitchen items.


Afters to come.

- Cheers!

Kitchen Refresh Inspiration

This weekend I plan to start tackling my kitchen refresh project.

I've already procrastinated somewhat by going antiquing this morning and am now choosing to write about it rather than start doing it but.. ah well. I'm also out of painters tape. This may never get done.

Some visual inspiration:

image via DesignSponge

image via Better Homes and Gardens

image via ignitelight.tumblr.com

January Project

Day 5's of the Apartment Therapy Cure assignment is to choose 1 (1? only 1?) assignment from the previous list and get it done by the end of the month.

This proves to be difficult for me. I am one of those all or nothing kind of project managers. I get into it but then burn out too quick because I'm just too into it. I'm turning a new leaf.

These are my 2 big problem areas:


The Bedroom

I cheated a bit by purposely opening closet doors, putting stuff all over the floor and un-making our bed (it's totally pristine 100% of the time!.. ahem). Our bedroom is basically a gong show complete with random splotches of paint on the walls because I was too indecisive about which colour of grey was just right and instead have left it looking like the resident has a pretty awesome drug dependency.

next up..



The Kitchen

In keeping with the random paint splotches, I bring you our kitchen. It's gotten so bad that people we have over have started to ask questions.
"Um... what's with the paint on the wall?"

yeah.. those are the kind of questions you want to hear when you particularly pride yourself on your awesome eye for interior design.

The kitchen is directly to the left of our front door and is in it's original 1988 style which is why I think the kitchen takes top priority for this months challenge. The bedroom will get done. Hell, it might even get done this month, but I'm carving out time for that poor little kitchen wall and making a date with my drill to put up some much needed shelving.

Photos (better ones!) to follow!

Happy New Year!

image courtesy of thelatestfind.com


We're in recovery mode today. I would take photos of my disaster of a home at the moment but I wouldn't want to look like a complete slob to the world. We had many of our closest friends over to gorge on all the leftover treats from Christmas and watch many episodes of 'You've Gotta Eat Here' (on Food Network) on mute while an 8 year old did "show and tell" with items from her backpack. Ah... we live the party lifestyle (please note my sarcasm..)

I tend to make the usual resolutions every year, or none at all, but with 2012 being so full of extreme change for us, I feel like change is in the air, and it may be time to make some solid, high expectation resolutions as they may be more feasible than once thought.

1. Work Harder
This one may need some explanation. I'm pretty damn good at my job; many say I'm a natural. Because of this, I've gotten a bit of a bloated head about my abilities and find I tend to coast on my "natural talent" instead of pushing myself to do more/try something different/research/learn from others/etc. This does not make me feel good about my work. I definitely want to kick this habit and can only see good to come from it.

2. Nest
more on this later

3. Take care of myself
I know, I know. Very cliche. I think this one encompasses a lot though. I consider taking care of myself to include finding a good balance of work and play/relaxation and productivity, keeping track of my finances to reduce stress, eating well, exercising, connecting with friends and family, taking time to connect with our new community, etc. So this is a big one but I think it's incredibly important and useful.

Back to work tomorrow!

a preview of what's to come this month..

My husband and I are just settling into our new apartment. We moved in early November, but with moving to a new city, trying to get our careers kick-started in said new city, Christmas and all that moving closer to family comes along with ("sure I'll eat copious amounts of cheese and watch Ink Master for 6 hours straight on your couch with you since we haven't seen each other regularly for 2 years!"), getting our house looking like and functioning like a real home has been a slower process than one might hope.

I'm a compulsive list-maker and I find writing things down to not only be useful but also incredibly cathartic in a stress-reduction kind of way. My hopes for this blog is that by documenting and talking to the internet (..... I do have friends. I promise.) about all my wicked ideas for my house, I'll actually need to be accountable and will DO them instead of just talking about doing them.

I have many projects in the works and I'm hoping to keep this up to date with all of those.

Apartment Therapy has been my go-to for design blogging for years yet I have yet to participate in any of their infamous 'Cure's'. I think now may be the time.

also.. this book is rad: