I'm proud to have the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with Talbots, to help spread the word about their latest collection.  Talbots and O, The Oprah Magazine have partnered together to create a gorgeous limited-edition seven piece capsule collection benefiting Dress for Success.

Dress for Success is an amazing international not-for-profit organization that helps women re-enter the workforce.  They provide women with a network of support, professional attire and career developmental tools that will help them in their journey.

When deciding on how to style the pieces, I thought of the importance of having staples in your closet.  Items that can easily be worn with a variety of outfits.  A classic navy peacoat can easily be accessorized with a colourful scarf.  Nude pumps are a must have as far as I'm concerned.  These heels have most definitely gotten the most wear out of any of the heels that I own.  They go with everything.  There was a gentle snowfall happening while we shot this look, so a toque helped to keep me warm!

The pants from the collection are so wonderful and can certainly be dressed up or down, which makes them the kind of piece that you want to own.  The detail on the blouse is beautiful!  I love the tuxedo front and I promise you that it looks just as amazing when worn with a pair of jeans!  Done!

30% of the net proceeds of any pieces purchased from the collection between February 22nd - April 3rd, will benefit Dress for Success.  Talbots stores will be accepting gently worn clothing from March 3rd - March 6th (a great time to do some spring cleaning!), as well as monetary donations until April 3rd.  All monetary and clothing donations will go directly to Dress for Success.  Last year, Talbots raised $500,000 and collected over 4,000 boxes of clothing for Dress for Success!  The goal is to double that this year!

More information of how the collection came to life and behind-the-scenes photos can be found here.  There is also a feature in the March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.

shirt (c/o) / easport drawstring pant (c/o) / coat (Old Navy, n/a) / heels (similar) 

I'm so proud of Dress for Success, Talbots and O, The Oprah Magazine for what they are doing.  The videos of women who have benefitted from Dress for Success are powerful and touching.   It's just amazing to see what can happen when wonderful companies come together.  They have created a collection that is not only versatile, but it's beautiful and comfortable.

Cheers,

Blue Rug Love

In keeping with the family room & kitchen discussion,  I went out looking for a new rug the other day and at this point, I've fallen hard for this rug.  Part of me feels as though I've gone completely crazy and the other part of me feels as though I've found "the one"!

The idea of having a blue rug is something that is sitting really well with me and I love the shade of blue that is in this particular rug.  I also love that it has a few other colours mixed into the pattern.  Picturing it paired with a stunning teak credenza and I get the warm and fuzzies.  I do also like this one from Serena & Lily as well as this one from Lulu & Georgia.

The stone fireplace is fabulous but it is a large and demands attention.  I feel like the rug is the perfect balance.  Add in a tufted ottoman and we are good to go!

I'm taking my time and will continue my search for "the rug", but seriously, mad love for that one there.  I've pinned several more over in Pinterst, you can see them here.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Cheers,

Family Room and Kitchen Plans

I'm currently working on finishing up the family room & kitchen.  If you've seen my boards for these rooms on pinterest, then you probably already know that I'm all.over.the.place!  The one thing I know for sure is that I want comfort and coziness.

The family room has been, by far, the most difficult room to decorate for me.  I think there's a combination of reasons for why that is, but the primary reason is that I never really had a plan for the room.  Even though I probably thought I did lol.  I've been trying to fix bits and pieces and really, that's only a temporary fix in the end.  I need to make decisions.

So here we are, nearly four years later and I'm not touching a darn thing until I figure out the space.  We've considered creating a library with cabinets and shelving along the long wall, but we just can't seem to bite the bullet on that idea.  Though I would love to replace the couch and chairs, because they are on the large side, we just aren't ready to do that yet, dolla dolla bills yo!  One day I shall have a gorgeous velvet rolled arm sofa and stunning chairs across from it.  

I did almost buy some wingback chairs to replace the brown leather ones, because even that change would be amazing!  But I wasn't sure if wingback chairs would be the best for watching tv? 

The plan is to try to locate a stunning mid century modern credenza, similar to this (my husband loves this).  I've already lost out on three on kijiji!  Gosh those things go quickly.  The one pictured below almost came home with me out of desperation lol, but we need both cabinets and drawers to hide the stereo equipment, so I left it behind.  Plus, it wasn't all that sturdy, which of course, is no good.

The credenza also needs to be long enough to hold the tv and two lamps, loving this look and then I'd love to hang gorgeous art around it.  Then in the corner, next to the window I'd be happy with a vintage bookcase and a cozy seat with a lamp for reading.  The rug also needs to go, I'm considering jute or a blue or grey one.

For colours, I'm leaning towards blues and purples.  Since the rooms are north facing and the walls are grey, we need a bit of colour to add warmth.  Maybe some splashes of yellow and green?

We also need to replace the stools at the kitchen peninsula.  There isn't much space between the chairs at the table and the stools, so I'd prefer to have something that took up less floor space and that would easily tuck under the counter.  Again, until I finalize the plans for the family room, I'm not quite sure what it is I want for there.  BUT!  I'm loving, these A LOT.

Finally, I'm planning on replacing the IKEA dressers that are currently flanking the fireplace with cabinets.  For more of a built-in look.  The dressers will move up to our bedroom and be used as side tables.

So yeah, lots to be done!

This past weekend I found this fabulous tufted ottoman (at an incredible price) and thought that finally the room was going to start taking off!  I knew that it was on the small side, but thought that it may just work....sadly, it did not and back to the store it went.  That being said, it felt great to know for certain that a tufted ottoman is indeed what I'd like to have as a coffee table so that we can easily kick our feet up.  I love the idea of it being square, I'm nervous that a rectangular one will be too much for the room and I'm not certain that oval is the answer either.  So square is currently in the lead.

To help myself create a game plan (a little ode to the Super Bowl) I've dismantled the bulletin board in my office and I will be adding a slew of images and fabrics to help me decide and visualize what it is that I want to do with that room.

In other news, I've been in the process of getting rid of things that we don't love.  This was long overdue and it feels great!  Anything from decor, to clothing to kitchen gadgets.  I'm even taking pieces off of the walls and leaving empty spaces because as I mentioned on instagram, there's no sense keeping items that we don't love just to fill voids.  I'd rather look at the empty wall and wait for the perfect piece!

Phew!  Okay, after all of that, how about we finish the post off with a dose of pretty?!  I'm loving the colour of these flowers!

Cheers,

#AFxFAT Giveaway Winner!

A huge thank you to everyone who entered the fabulous giveaway and a mega congrats to Julie from Try Small Things for being the randomly selected winner!  I'll be in touch shortly!

Cheers,