New Spray Gun = New Projects!

I bought a spray gun for painting out my basement ceiling, but the ceiling is so daunting (I'll work on it tomorrow, I promise!) that I needed to do an easy home project to get me back in the swing of things.

I've been hanging out on the front porch a lot and it's on my list of summer projects to fix it up. It needs jacking up, new screens and a power wash, but it's very colourful and cozy. Yukon (the world's greatest cat) loves it, so I sit out with her and read anytime it's nice out.

I had a blank space in the seating area, just calling out for a table, but with looming house projects coming up, budget was an issue. I was gonna have to brush off the ol' DIY skills and make something.

I've had an old crate for a couple of years, which I picked it up at a friend's yard sale. I loved the faded Cascade pears label on the side, and thought it'd fit perfectly in the space. It was a little too short, so I went looking for legs. My original thought was to use retro hairpin legs, but I didn't see any in town, and I don't like waiting, so I had to come up with other options. I was at a hardware store and looked at castors, but didn't want to spend $40 on 'em, and I didn't need the table to roll. I looked at replacement bed legs, but they just weren't right. I looked at plumbing fixtures, thinking I could use short pipes and flanges, but they weren't what I really wanted for the project. Then I accidentally walked down the home organization aisle and found an interior cupboard organizer. Stainless steel, sturdy, simple...and 10 bucks. Just what the decorator ordered.

I went home, dug out some yellow exterior paint from an old project, hooked up my new spray gun(!) and went to work. All in all, the project cost less than $20. Here are the before and afters! (And yes, I KNOW I need to sweep the porch...)

Dusty old peach crate

Love the label, so covered it with plastic before spraying.

Your basic shelf organizer...made for a perfect set of legs.

Nice and cheery!

Starting to see it come together.

Staple gunned the organizer to the base....

And done!

Bug likes it, anyway.

Yukon couldn't care less. She just wants to nap on the couch. 

Bathroom Redo....again!

Alrighty, so although I really, really need to be working on finishing the basement, I spent the afternoon repainting my bathroom. I know I just redid it recently, but that was when I thought we'd be selling the house. So I set it up to look all home-stagey and normal. It was very pretty, and the farthest thing from anything even close to my aesthetic. When we decided that we would renovate instead of sell, I knew that colour had to go. It was a nice Robin's egg blue, but it just seemed so out of place (because it was...) that I had to start again. Frankly, I'm surprised I waited this long. Then again, I'm incredibly lazy. So, here's Bathroom Redo Number Two. Haha, NUMBER TWO! And it's a bathroom redo! Get it? I totally went there! (In addition to being lazy, I am also immature. I am quite a catch.)

First the "Before" photos (i.e.. Home Stagey)

"Aerial View" paint. (A CIL colour that I had done in Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint.) I still like the colour of the cabinets, but if I were to do it over again,  I'd never get a flat bottom sink. It gets soap scummy very easily, and I'm always cleaning' that thing.

The tree shower curtain, while really pretty, was a little too bleak for me, so I replaced that too, and am passing on the tree to a friend for her future bathroom update.

The floor (Allure Trafficmaster) has held up very well, and I love the grey.

If you know me, you understand how ridiculous it is for me to have anything so pretty. Passing the Laura Ashley (Yeah. I somehow own Laura Ashley items) baskets on to my cousin who I think will like them.

The faux art AKA  "Faaaaaaaaart" is long gone. The cabinet is IKEA. This is the best photo of the former colour.

And now for the "After" shots! (MUCH more my speed.)

That's a heck of a blue (Gem Turquoise, Behr)

Gringo likes it, but he likes everything.

Purple tub!

Crazy shower curtain (from Bed, Bath & Beyond a few months ago. I don't think they have it anymore.) IKEA chandelier, that my husband just noticed. ("That's been up for a year, dear." "Oh. Well, the blue really makes it pop.")

Now I'm happy.

The Good, The Bad and the Basement

I sure haven't been around here in a while! Looks like my last post was in May...it's February now, so it  would appear that I'd given up on the house and the blog entirely. Well, let's just call it a sabbatical.

2013 wasn't without moments of joy, but the loss of many loved ones made for a sorrowful year. I didn't feel a lot of creative spark, or much desire to write, at least not about furniture and paint colours. I  don't believe that any creative pursuit is frivolous, but for some reason any time I thought about posting to the blog, it felt somehow insensitive. Of course I know that those that I've lost would never want me to stop doing things I enjoy, but hey, I enjoyed watching TV and stress-eating, too.

The aforementioned moments of joy included spending time with my friends, family, pets and fella, reading 101 books and spending three weeks in Mexico. The traveling was like all traveling is for me, 70% "This is awesome!" and 30% "Why the f*cK do I keep doing this?" Okay, maybe 60/40. But it did kind of get me back into the swing of things, and being surrounded by beautiful colours, friendly people and incredible artwork never hurts. We spent some time in the jungle, rented an apartment in my favourite town and spent a few days in Mexico City (where I only got pickpocketed on the subway once!) Well, out of all the times I've been in Mexico City, once ain't bad, and the guy was a total PRO. I mean, talk about a craft.

I came home to my basement renovation (still ongoing!) My Uncle M has been working on it (with a least a little help from us) any time he gets the chance. Of course, this means that everything that was in my basement has been in my living room (floor to ceiling, wall to wall) for 5 months. That's getting a bit old, but I'm happy it's getting done at all. This isn't a rec room type reno, more of a bonus-space spruce-up. Once we're done, my studio, C's office and the laundry will be down there. We stripped out all of the disgusting old insulation, and the ceiling coverings (that's a whole other post!) We've had the foundation fixed, 3 windows installed and M has rewired the entire basement, installed rigid insulation and is nearly finished framing. Once that's done, there's some plumbing to tackle, the stairs to repair, walls to put up, a floor to epoxy and an incredible amount of painting to do. So, hardly anything....

I can't wait to be able to show you before and after photos, but it'll have to wait til the 'After' occurs.
For now, here are some of my photos from Mexico, which will at least make me feel a little better, after suffering through this painfully long Winnipeg winter.

Toucan

Guacamaya Rojas (Scarlet macaws) in Chiapas.

Palenque Ruins, Chiapas

Baby monkey!

Resting mariposas at the Palenque ruins.

Talavera house numbers from the Mexico City Artisans Market (one of my favourite shopping destinations...)
Although the numbers look black and blue, they're all blue.

Huichol skull, talavera skull and two amber skulls with articulated jaws.

La Sirena nicho.

Dia de los Muertos painting with clay skulls.

Embroidered Otomi pillowcases.

Ink drawing.

Small beaded hummingbird.

Guillermo y Lupita, my beaded lizards from Chiapas.

My second favourite thing about Mexico City, the churros at Churreria el Moro. Best ever. And the hot chocolate is perfection in a mug.

My very favourite thing in Mexico City, Frida Kahlo's house, Casa Azul.

Staying Put

So, after MUCH debate we are about 99% sure we're actually going to....stay in our house and renovate it. This was NOT in my life plan! We bought the house almost 7 years ago, and my plan was to stay for 5 years, then move on to something bigger and better. If you've read this blog before, you'll know that I started to work on fixing up the house in order to sell it. The major stuff (plumbing, electric, new furnace, new water tank, new appliances) we did when we moved in, which I'm thankful about.

My plan for this year was to repaint all of my funky walls to a more stage-friendly neutral, dress up the basement a bit, and generally put a fresh coat of lipstick on my 102 year old house. There are so many little issues in a house that you know need fixing, but you either turn a blind eye to, or just get used to. I was going to fix those, sell the house, and move to a bigger place closer to work. This has been my goal for SEVEN YEARS. I have had brief moments of doubt (see this post) but was really pretty solid on my plan.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I thought about the realities of the market and about finances. (Boooo-urns! Reality is a bitch.) If we were to sell our house, we would definitely make a good deal of money on it. It's value has grown a lot since we purchased it, and it's a sellers market. Which would be great if we didn't need to buy another house. Another house that would be more expensive and in an area that's more highly taxed. Of course I realized this when I was planning my big move, but I was prepared to deal with the expenses.

Recently, though, I started thinking about how great I have it. My husband and I are dual income, no kids, car-free and in a house that we can afford. We're not close to wealthy, but in the long run, we'll be far better off financially if we stay here. Which means I can keep the lifestyle I like ie. working 4 days a week instead of 5, travelling, and spoiling myself and my loved ones.

It was a hard choice to make, as I had to reconcile what I want with what I can comfortably have, but hey, this is like, the second most responsible decision I've ever made! (The first was to stop dating musicians.)

There's a lot more to share, like about how on earth I'm gonna make this place really work for us, and of course I'm scheming away and have come up with lots of ideas, but more on that next time.

Hey, wanna see my bathroom? It's finally done!* (*Wellll, I still need to install the new light fixture.)
But, whoa, is it ever different.

My new bathroom floor (Allure planks, available through special order at Home Depot.)
This colour is called white, but is clearly grey.

All done! My Lillangen sink and upper cabinet are from IKEA. 

Sylvester

When I was a little girl I lived with my Grandpa Dave and my home was cozy and warm and filled with aunts and uncles who spoiled me at all times. One of them (I'm going out on a limb and guessing my recently departed Auntie Ali, who took it upon herself to spoil me the most...) gave me a set of children's cutlery with Sylvester the Cat on them. Up until recently I still had them (the spoon is now my preferred chocolate-soy-pudding-eating-device) but last month my fork went mysteriously missing.  Searched high and low, can't find it. Now I know this is not exactly a crisis, but it's one of those things, tied up with childhood memories. I really hope that it will eventually turn up, but just in case it doesn't...I bought a vintage set from VarietyVintagebyALD on Etsy. The seller really went above and beyond to ship it to me here in Canada, and I thank her for the kindness!

Kantha Quilt

Finally! The quilt I ordered at the trade show last January has arrived, and she's quite the beauty!

A Brief History:

Kanthas are embroidered quilts from Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. Kantha making is a form of folk art and has been created in rural Bengal for centuries. It's likely that patchwork kanthas were the first form of this style of running-stitch quilting, and it's the kind I purchased for myself. They've evolved to include many different designs, but for my purposes it was patchwork all the way. I was really struck by the colours I saw when I was sourcing mine. As with almost every folk art and fabric art done in India, there are *more than a few* colours to choose from. Or you know, you could just throw every colour together and see how that spins out, which is pretty much my approach to decor in general.

As soon as I received this one I thought I might need another in a different colourway to cover a couch I don't even own yet. Always thinking' ahead, I am. ;)

Traditionally, old saris and recycled fabrics were used in kantha making, though today new silks and cottons are used more extensively. Many Bangladeshi and Bengali women were adept at making kanthas, and would do so in their leisure time, especially during the rainy season, so it was not uncommon for someone to spend months or years making one kantha.

The striped pillows are a little much with the spread, but I just had to show you my new kantha.

             Here are a handful of kantha images from around the Interwebz. Loving the loveseat!

Hot damn! Buy it for $3500 at VivaTerra

Frida's Fiesta Ensalada

A quick recipe! Tonight I made what I'm calling Frida's Fiesta Ensalada. It is muy bueno. This recipe made enough to feed 6 people, or 2 people, if one of those people is my husband. You could add leftovers to a rotini or fusilli type pasta for a southwestern pasta salad, or toss in a tortilla with refried beans and cheese. Or you know, whatever you want. What the hell do I care? ;)

Ingredients:

Greens
1 diced mango
1 diced avocado
1 cup of corn
1/2 zucchini
1 pepper (I used an orange pepper, but red would be good, too)
2 cloves minced garlic
About a cup of tomatoes (I used baby tomatoes cut in half, but like, whatever)
1/4 cup crunched up tortilla chips (I used black bean garlic ones, which are goddamn delicious)
Your choice of salad dressing (I used avocado chili dressing with cumin and lime added)
S & P, to taste

Mic everything together, except for the greens and crushed tortilla chips.
Toss with dressing.
Add greens and tortilla chips.

Eat yer damn dinner!