Niamh's big girl room

Seeing that we will soon be expecting our second child, Niamh will be taking on the role of a big sister.
Being a big sister comes with lots of responsibilities, like sharing toys, playing nicely, hugging and kissing and handing over her crib.
We still have a few months left until the crib changes hands, but once the exchange happens Niamh will be in need of a new bed.
While we are at it I thought we might as well update her entire room to suit the needs of this big soon to be big girl.
Here are a few inspiring rooms to set us on the right path to changing Niamh's baby room into a big girls room.

An old cast iron bed would look nice in her crooked, squeaky floored room. And I would like to keep things light and airy in her room and this image invokes my vision exactly.

Even a new cast iron bed would do. And I love the idea of having a double bed in there for potential sleep overs or for mommy or daddy to lie down with her at bedtimes. I think the small wallpapered section is so whimsical and wonder if I could make it work in Niamh's room.

Isn't this such a cute room. I love, love this bed which would work great with the old antique armoire we already have in her room. Also the painted floor reminds me very much of what we have to work with in Niamh's room.

The slanted roof is also something we have to work around in Niamh's room. This room shows us how we can be creative with our awkward angles.

My mom gave me a great antique quilt that I could see using on Niamh's bed or have it hanging on the wall as in this room by Sarah Richardson. The whole bed ensemble in this room is great, and while it was designed for adults I can picture it working wonderfully for Niamh now and for many years to come.

Niamh is the princess of the family, and what little princess wouldn't love a pink bedroom. This pink has  a mature, muted tone to it rather then being too cutesy, and just might win over my husband who has expressed extreme dislike for the pink ballerina theme I had started to go with for Niamh's room.

While I am partial to white rooms for kids, as you don't have to paint it out every time their favourite colour changes, the combination of these bright colours works really well. Maybe a little more colour wouldn't be so bad. The daybed is also another great option for a growing girls room.

The re-design of Niamh's room won't be happening at least until this summer, but at least I have a few jumping off points to get me started on making my little girls big girl room a reality.

All things baby

All this talk of nurseries has got me obsessing over all the beautiful baby products out there right now.
Being on a tight budget (paying off mortgage and going off on maternity leave make for a nice combo) I can't run out and buy too many new items for this new arrival.
I will have to make due with what we have for now.....which isn't much mind you. We have a basic wood Ikea crib, a change table refurnished out of an old bureau, and an old lazy boy my parents threw out.
But if I could update my baby essentials, these would be my must haves to buy this time around.

 I love this highchair by Stokke. The colour matches my kitchen and it grows with baby to become a toddler chair. 



As you know I love everything Sarah Richardson, and this Zoe glider chair is by far the prettiest one on the block. I almost convinced my husband that we needed to buy it, but then he saw the price tag.
So the old lazy boy it is.

 I love this baby bouncer chair by Oeuf. I wanted it with our first baby and I still want it now, but I must be content with daydreaming about it instead as the Fisher Price one we were given still functions perfectly and I can't justify the splurge.

This Millbrook iron crib and organic bedding from Restoration Hardware is timeless, elegant and classic. It would look wonderful in my old farmhouse and my baby would look so posh sleeping in it. However it is not meant to be, as my mother would say, and baby will look posh no matter where they lay their weary heads.

So while I may have a champagne taste on a beer budget when it comes to all things baby, reality has sunk in that I will never own any of these beautiful items.
Besides the most important thing is that baby and mommy are happy and healthy, and happy and healthy we shall be fancy furniture or not.

Nursery

I am expecting my second child in April and with the date fast approaching it seems all that I have on my mind these days is all things baby.

I didn't have a nursery with my first child, nor will I have one with the second as they stay in our room for the first 5 months. I don't feel like decorating a room that will hardly get used, only to redecorate it again when we turn it into a big kids room.
However just because I won't be venturing into the world of nursery decorating I can still window shop.
Here are a few looks that I love and would happily use as inspiration for my own if time and money were not an option.

 A nursery with a very modern look. I can't see myself ever painting my kids room black, but there is something about the clean, starkness of this room that appeals to me. Easily a room that can grow with the child.

                                       
 Magical!!! The combination of modern and romantic is great and  just looking at this room makes me happy. And a happy nursery is always a good thing.

 Can't go wrong with a Sarah Richardson design as this nursery proves. The fabrics are breathtaking and what I wouldn't do to get my hands on that glider.

 So simple, so precious, so perfect. Can I have this room please?

I love this ultra-girly room. What little princess wouldn't love waking up in this beautiful room. If this room was in my house I might be the one waking up in it.

Wow fabric and colour overload.....but I love it!! What a great way to use up extra fabric and what a wonderful world to envelope baby in.  Could work for a big kids room too.

Hmm all this nursery talk is really making me want one.......maybe if the mood strikes and I can get creative with what I already have, this little one might just have a room of it's own.

Storage for the Mudroom

My idea of a perfect mudroom is one with lots of storage and a place to put everything.
I don't want shoes and boots scattered about, jackets flung on the floor and backpacks blocking the door. I dream of everything put nicely away in it's designated spot, of a nice place to sit down and put on your shoes, of a closet nicely arranged to fit all the things we use on a daily basis.

The space I am looking to fill is right between the doorway to the kitchen and the wall with the closet. It is not a large space and the closets doors would open up onto it so whatever arrangement I go with can't be too big. The closet itself will house most of our jackets and items not used on a daily basis. So what I need is essentially a place to put the jackets in season, backpacks and shoes.

Here are a few of the looks I love for that seating and storage combo I think would suit my mudroom needs.

I love the idea of a nice country style bench, with a few hooks on the wall above and maybe some storage bins underfoot.

This shaker style bench is beautiful. I love the clean, organic lines.

Wow talk about the perfect bench. I love the colour, love the shape and could definitely see myself and the kids putting on our rain boots on this bench.

Same great colour (which would work great with our fabric choice) and I like the storage idea. No need for any baskets underneath as everything would be tucked away inside.

This could be an option for some upper storage. Same great country feel as the benches and room for some baskets to hide away the hats and mitts.

I think that this seat and storage unit are the perfect combination of what I am looking for. I think I just might have to recreate this look! Oh and can I have the dog too?

Or I could go with the complete built in look and build a unit that addresses both storage and sitting needs. Here are a few examples of what might work in our space.

This is a more built in look which might work. Although I am not sure if it might be too much for our small space.

Great colour and I like the closed cupboards to hide away the hats and mitts instead of bins.

Simple and practical, but not sure if it's too simple for my liking.

If we can't find anything we like in stores I am sure I could find a few handymen around (my dad being one of them) who would be able to recreate any of these looks for me.

Mudroom Decore Ideas

Our first room on our list of many to finish and decorate is the mudroom.It is the very first room everyone sees when they enter our house. While we have many other bigger and perhaps more lived in rooms, this is the one that provides everyone with their first impression of our home. And if it's finished....who's to say the rest isn't.




So here are a few ideas I would like to see come to fruition in my mudroom.
- Wallpaper or paint the walls
- Seal or whitewash the paneling
- Install closet doors and closet system
- Find the perfect seating/storage
- Add umph with pretty fabric curtains and a nice rug.

To be completely honest I am planning on totally knocking off my favourite designer of all time, Sarah Richardson and steal the design scheme from her farm mudroom.

It is perfect in every way and I will try and use as many of her ideas as possible in my much smaller room. I will give her complete credit for the curtain fabric, the red on the closet doors and if it fits, the Ikea rug.

How gorgeous is this Flower Paisley fabric from Robert Allen! The colours go perfectly with my Cow poster, which is the inspiration for this room.

I don't think I will go with full on drapes as my room is so small, but maybe some simple country short sash curtains will do the trick.

As for the closets I don't want sliding or accordion closet doors, but with the width of the doorway I can't just use one wooden door.

But after seeings Sarah's mudroom I had my solution, two small wooden doors. And of course they need to be painted red too! The red used by Sarah is by Para Paints (SR53 Orchard).

My mudroom is much smaller than Sarah's as I have already mentioned, so I am not sure if the rug she used from Ikea will fit. If not I now have a jumping off point to use in search of one similar.

Now I just need to figure out what colour to do the wall. Maybe I could go with a putty/beige colour similar to what colour is in the fabric.
Or am I brave enough to experiment with wallpaper? I was thinking a very neutral grass cloth wallpaper but I have not found the perfect one yet.
Also do I leave the paneling as is or do I white wash it out?
So many questions to ponder, but I know everything will come together all in good time.

I can't wait to get back down south and get started on finishing off the first room in our house.

New Years Resolution

I am not very good at keeping up my new year resolutions so this year I didn't really make one. Now looking back over last year there is one resolution I would like to make......finish off some of our rooms.


Our home is mostly complete and we just have a few construction projects left:

Finish the bay window.


Finish the pantry.




Finish the basement
(I actually haven't taken a pictures of the actual basement as it's a messy, dark and cold place which haven't warranted documenting with photos.)


And build our decking.


However these projects need a bit more than a lick of paint and some decorating so we will have to leave those to the pros.... aka my old man.

Neil and I on the other hand want to start finishing off rooms that are essentially already finished. We want to add the finishing touches to areas of the house that we use regularly. Instead of trying to do them all at once......talk about overwhelming! We are going to go room by room and slowly get things done.

Our first room, as it is the first room everyone sees as they enter our house, is the mudroom.
Stay tuned as we start to put this little, but very important room together.

First Christmas

After an agonizing wait we finally made it home for the holidays.

As we pulled into our drive after a days worth of travelling we were excited to see our Christmas tree already up and lights aglow. My mother and sister had snuck in and gave me a head start in my decorating. With only 3 days until Christmas I didn't have much time, nor did I have many decorations, but I truly enjoyed decorating my very first Christmas tree.



Christmas morning was such a beautiful moment. My daughter was old enough to want to open presents and it gave me a warm happy feeling inside knowing that there were many more of these magical mornings to come in our home.

As beautiful as it felt inside, outside that morning was even more breathtaking.

I feel truly blessed!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!!!