Last Friday I attended IDS18 in Toronto.  I haven't been for quite a few years and figured it was time to visit the highly anticipated show!

I was thrilled to have a chance to view the two kitchens that Sarah Richardson designed for Monogram Canada (holy smokes, dream appliances to say the least!).  I'm pretty certain I gasped out loud when I turned the corner and first spotted the pink & grey kitchen.  This has been my favourite colour combination for as long as I can remember (our wedding colours!), so to see it in a stunning kitchen literally made my jaw drop!

The details were captivating, from the layout of the kitchen, style of the cabinets, the hidden fridge & freezer (the two tall cabinets in the second picture!), the wallpaper (which is part of Sarah's soon to be released collection with Brewster Home Fashions, the same company whose wallpaper I used in our powder room makeover) and of course, the appliances.  The woven chairs, hardware and lighting were an absolute hit as well!

Once I was done gawking over this gorgeousness, I visited the Blanco booth.  Their faucets and sinks are most definitely something to be admired.  I have an appreciation for beautiful pieces, but at the end of the day, they need to be functional and durable!  Blanco has undoubtedly done an amazing job combining all of these aspects into the design of their products!

There were plenty of clean lines and muted tones in this years show, which I did appreciate.  As per usual, I get home and I take a look at the #IDS18 hashtag on twitter and instagram and realize that I missed a whole lot of awesomeness!  I honestly think I need to go two days in a row, to ensure that I see all of the incredible vendors' booths!  Also, I wish I took more photos, le sigh.

In other news, we tackled a few items on our laundry room makeover to-do list this weekend!  The beadboard, chair rail and hooks are in!  I was able to paint out the trim and beadboard and today I'll be hanging art above the hooks!  Hopefully this new space will encourage the kids to hang their gear up....one can hope! lol

Now we wait for the delivery of the cabinets (mid February) and then we'll book the counter installers to measure the space and from then it's about another 2-3 weeks for the counters to be cut to size and installed!  I can not wait!

Of course there will be a massive before and after post once the space is complete, but check back often for small updates here and there.  Instagram is the best place to follow along for updates, I've been sharing peeks on insta stories regularly!

Have a great day, friends!

Cheers,

SaveSave

Week in Review (and a peek at an upcoming project!)

Hi friends!  We did it, we made it through the first week back after the holidays AND today is a snow day due to icy road conditions.  This means that the kids are home with me today, but now that they are older, I'm still able to get a good amount of work done before they start to go stir crazy!

print by KardzKouture (one of my favourite shops!)

On today's agenda: select a paint colour for our laundry room makeover!  That's right!  I'm so excited to share that I'm partnering with Home Depot to tackle this space.  This is a project that I've been eager to work on, so I'm feeling pretty thankful to have this opportunity!

I spent the first part of the week selecting and ordering cabinets for the room.  The space is actually a laundry room & mudroom as there is access to the garage.  It's not a big room, nor is it super small.  The key will be to add storage (there aren't any cabinets at all) and to make it functional and pretty!  I'm hoping that I may even be able to add a storage system to the closet for all of the kids' gear.

I wanted to share a photo of the selections that I made earlier this week (sorry, not the best photo, I took it in-store and placed all of the items on top of a washing machine lol).  There are the cabinets (a delicious grey!) two options for counters (I'll be making that decision next month) as well as two paint colours.  I'd love to add beadboard to the lower portion of the wall, the lighter colour will go on it, and the slightly darker above.  The room is East facing and is currently a dark grey, so the paint alone will have a huge impact.  I'll also be replacing the lighting, adding hardware to the cabinets.

I will of course share a before and after post, but from now and then, I'll also share updates on instagram!

Have a great weekend, friends!

Cheers,

Hello, 2018! A few favourites from 2017

And here we are!  A new year, new goals, new starts.  I hope you all enjoyed the most incredible holiday and that 2018 is treating you well so far!

I have to say that though 2017 definitely threw a few unexpected curve balls, it was a great year in terms of growth, blogging and more.  I mentioned on Instagram that you learn from the good and the bad and that I'll take those lessons and I'll put them in my back pocket for 2018.

I thought it would be fun to kick off 2018 by sharing my favourite home/show from 2017 plus a few items that I loved!

Okay, I have to 100% start with Sarah Richardson's latest show, Sarah off the Grid.  I have each episode recorded and have watched the finale about a dozen times, if not more.  It's just that good!  The show aired on HGTV Canada and it truly was a joy to watch.  Not only because it was beautifully designed, but because it was a dream come true for Sarah and her family, a well deserved dream come true.  That in itself is amazing and the gratitude was so apparent.  One of my favourite lines was when Sarah's husband, Alex, said something along the lines of how they can go to the house and "just be".  Ahhh...so good.

Sarah has been my favourite designer for as long as I can remember, needless to say, having her back on HGTV Canada was the biggest gift!  I could share every photo here, because I honestly loved each and every well thought out design, but I'll just share a few.  You can see photos of the entire home here.

photo credit: Jeremy Kohm

photo credit: Stacey Brandford for HGTV Canada

photo credit: Stacey Brandford

photo credit: Stacey Brandford

photo credit: Stacey Brandford

 photo credit: Stacey Brandford

photo credit: Stacey Brandford

photo credit: Stacey Brandford

photo credit: Stacey Brandford

 photo credit: Stacey Brandford

photo credit: Stacey Brandford

photo credit: Stacey Brandford

 photo credit: Stacey Brandford

 photo credit: Stacey Brandford

 photo credit: Stacey Brandford

 photo credit: Stacey Brandford

And if those photos aren't enough, take a look at this one that Sarah posted on her personal Instagram page from the holidays.  Just breathtaking!

Before I go, I also wanted to share links to a few items that I discovered in 2017 and absolutely loved!

I was introduced to Vancouver Candle Co towards the end of last year.  This Vancouver based company was founded and is ran by Nick Rabuchin.  I had the opportunity to test out The North candle and was completely blown away by the beautiful scent and how well the scent carried throughout the entire house.  I love everything about this company, from the product to the branding to the person and team behind the products!  You can check out the entire line here. 

I added Ole Henriksen products to my daily routine and I'm obsessed.  My favourites are the Truth Serum,  Pure Truth Activating Oil and the Fountain of Truth Facial Water (use this first, before olds, lotions, etc).

I wear my Birdie Slippers daily.  Whenever I'm in the house, they are on my feet.  So comfy and stylish too!  Can't go wrong!

If you're looking for a delicious chilli recipe, I highly recommend this one!  We've made it twice and it was absolutely amazing!

And if you're making chilli, then you'll need fresh dinner rolls.  This is another no-fail recipe!  Careful, the dough may be sticky when you take it out of the bread machine.  I like to have a bowl of flour on standby to stick my hands in if need be.

Today marks my first day of work in 2018.  I'm kicking it off on social by announcing a project that I'm crazy excited and thankful to be tackling.  You can find out what it is here.

And lastly, thank you so so much for your continued support.  It means the world to me that you take the time to check in.

Cheers,