Jill Stuart's living room is ever so lovely.  I especially love the gorgeous photo hanging above the couch and the couches themselves with their beautiful straight lines.  I've also recently discovered that I'm a sucker for cut hydrangeas, I need more in my house.  Thankfully I planted two hydrangea bushes in our backyard this year, watch out!

As mentioned in the title of this post, I'm having one helluva time trying to pick a rug for our entry way.  Well, the space just off of the entry. 5x8 won't fit nicely and 4x6 is too small.  Friends suggested going with a round or square.  Brilliant.  But now I can't decide if I want something modern, something with a geometric print or something traditional.  Oh.my.goodness.  This girl seriously just needs to pick something.  You should see my "floor candy" pinterest board.  I'm all over the map.  Also need to take into considering that you can see the rug in the living room and eventually (once I find one), the one in the dining room from the entry, so I'd like all of them to go together nicely.  There are also the fabric covered ottomans in the entry.

Vent over. Seriously. I just need to pick something.  Hoping to make a decision this weekend, cause I would really like to move the rug that is currently there to the upstairs reading nook so that I can then finish that space.  It's all connected. ha!

Happy long weekend, friends.  Make it a good one.

Cheers,

Master Bedroom Makeover

If you're following me on either Pinterest or Instagram, then you probably already know that I've started to think about decorating our master bedroom.  Let me say this, when it comes to decorating the house, I basically have free rein, except for two rooms: the basement and the master bedroom.  For the master, hubs has asked me to not make it "too feminine".  Justified.

That being said, it's a sad state of affairs.  The only problem is the budget is small, super small.  So for now, I want to work with what we have with the exception of the side tables.  For those, I plan to find something vintage that I can refinish or I'll join the Ikea hack club (probably what I will end up doing) and paint one of their super dressers white and I'll also add some gold hardware.

Here's what our room looks like now:

The headboard we bought years ago from Superstore. Yes. Superstore.  There's nothing really wrong with it, but it needs to change, I don't love it at all.

At first I thought of painting it white, safe bet, but I dunno...the idea just wasn't sitting well with me.  Probably because the headboard itself isn't too interesting.  If it had more character, I'd be all for the white.

Then the lovely Alexandra suggested painting the headboard navy with a glossy finish.  Bam!  I had considered the idea, but I like to play it safe so I dismissed it pretty much right away.

Now I'm back to thinking I should at least give it a try. Why not, right? I can always paint it white afterwards if I don't like the way it looks.

The kids and I headed to Lowe's and I picked up a few paint chips and you know what?!  I think I'm gonna do it!

I picked a few with grey undertones and others with purple undertones, thinking that they would have a softer feel.  But I'm also really loving the crispness of the pure navy.

Super hard to get a great picture, but I'm leaning towards this guy:

it's showing up darker than it looks in person.  the white is for the bedside tables

This project will be pretty inexpensive, so I think it will be fun to have it nearly all complete relatively quickly.  I also have a gorgeous vintage slipper chair that we inherited from hubs Grandmother.  I'm going to reupholster it myself (oh geez, here we go again!).

Cheers,

Homesense Roundup! Dining Benches, Mirrors, Woven Baskets and More!

Would you believe that I hadn't stepped into a Homesense store for over a month until last week?! I know!

Well, my visit (with gift card in hand....my friends know me well!) didn't disappoint.  It was great to get caught up and to see what's new.  Of course, I have to share a few items with you all here.

The first item I spotted was immediately after I walked in the store.  Beauty in an ottoman:

If only I had someplace to put it. Really gorgeous.

Then there was this lovely that I would have no problem using at my kitchen or dining room table:

This spring, Ralph Lauren ginger jar motif lamps hit the shelves.  They've been followed by these white porcelain beauties:

If you're in the market for a rug be sure to stop by Homesense, they usually have an amazing selection in varying sizes.  This wool & cotton 5x8 caught my eye:

I've been looking for a mirror to hang in the hallway to the laundry room for a while now.  Though I didn't find anything on this trip,  there was still an impressive array of choices available:

I may not have found a mirror or rug, but what I did find (finally) was a round woven basket.  You guys, I've been looking for the perfect one for months now.  Seriously.....months.  The wait was finally over and I'm one happy camper.  My plan is to use it in the living room as a planter for either a banana leaf plant or perhaps a hibiscus.  I'm all for a fig leaf but I haven't had any luck finding one around here and to be honest, I absolutely love hibiscuses (say that five times fast! ha!).

Also, I wanted to give a big thank you (and high five) to Style At Home for featuring one of my instagram pics of our living room on their blog!  You can see it here.  So awesome! Thanks so much, Style At Home!

Cheers,
  

Summer Vacation Recap!

Hey,  hey, hey!  We are back from our summer vacation.....you guys, it was awesome!

We spent 13 days on the road and in hotel rooms, but we really and truly had so much fun.  The trip started off with a three day trek through southern Ontario then we crossed the border and drove through Michigan, Illlinois and Minnesota.  We added North Dakota to that list on the way back.  They were long days, but the kids did well and I didn't have to drive, ha!

First was the wedding. Oh.my.goodness.  The wedding.  It was amazing, just amazing.  Honestly one of, if not, the best wedding I've ever been to.  My brother in law and now sister in law planned a phenomenal event.  Everyone had so much fun and was simply in awe.  I just wish I had taken more photos.

The location was just gorgeous.  Outside, surrounded by trees, gardens and lovely water features.  The bride was stunning and the groom as handsome as can be!  I'm so happy for them.

Her dress was made of beautiful lace and had an open back.  It fit her so perfectly...she looked so gorgeous:

After the ceremony we enjoyed the most delicious dinner in a perfectly decorated white tent:

All of my boys looked so handsome:

photo courtesy of Don Weixl (aka hubs awesome uncle! be sure to check out his site and to book him if you're in the Vernon/Okanagan, BC area)

Our kids were asked if they could make a ring box out of lego.  They thought a plane made out of lego would be more fitting...it was perfect!  (Mad is holding it in his hand in this photo).

After the wedding festivities were over, we played tourist in the city we used to call home, Winnipeg.  How funny is it that we visited places and ate dinner at local restaurants that we never went to in the five years that we lived there?!

We tested out Unburger, which turned out to be absolutely fantastic!  I highly recommend it if you are ever in Winnipeg.

I of course rocked my Hudson's Bay Company jean jacket to dinner...it was the right thing to do, ha!:

We not only played tourist, but we also took advantage of living a hotel life.  Which meant hitting the pool as often as possible:

 After Winnipeg, we headed off to Moose Jaw, SK...another city that we once called home, to watch my brother in law (the same who was married the weekend before!) receive his Air Force Wings.

en route to Moose Jaw, somewhere in SK 

If you've ever lived in Saskatchewan then you'll know that the winds can be constant and strong....my hair stayed pretty much just like this the entire time we were there! ha!

That night we had an awesome time celebrating his achievement at the mess.  Goodness, they had fun! Again, I wish I had pictures of everyone dressed to the nine's that night, but alas, I've got nothing.

The drive home was long, so long....we just couldn't wait to get home....

It was such an awesome trip.  I haven't laughed as hard as I did the past week in a long time. So good for the soul.

Now our focus turns to enjoying the last couple of weeks of summer vacation and prepping for the upcoming school year.  I also have Blogpodium coming up (which I'm super excited for).

Time to get serious! ;)

Cheers,

 

BlogPodium, Here I Come!

Oh.
Yes.
I.
Am.

I'm so excited about this.  Things are moving along nicely over here and it's time for me to take a leap of faith and pursue blogging, it's what works best with our totally unpredictable military life.  Little J will be going to school in the fall, which means that I will have time I need to make things happen.

I am in the midst of trying to figure out a game plan, but you can probably guess that the posts will have something to do with decorating & styling interiors along with inspirational spaces.  I also have to talk about fashion and beauty here and there....who doesn't love fashion inspiration.  September will be the start of something new over here at elliven.

So here goes nothing.  I'm excited to meet everyone and looking forward to a day full of inspiration!

Cheers,