Freshening Up Our Bay Window

I've been taking full advantage of the bright sun these past couple of days by freshening up the paint in the living room. This is the room I'm currently working on in my efforts to make my way through my whole house, finishing projects up and getting everything ready for spring.

This lovely bay window is one of my biggest frustrations in my house. I love the light it lets into the room, and it probably makes the room feel slightly larger than what it is, but when it was installed by previous owners, and a front entrance was added, it really diminished the layout options for the room.

First, it's completely off to one side. This means that I can't put a couch or pair of chairs in front of it. And even when the love seat is on the far wall, it's still partly in front of the window. The problem is, due to it's size, and proximity to the front entrance closet, it wasn't possible for it to be moved more to the middle of the room. It had to be all the way to one side.

Despite all of that, it's part of my living room, and I won't be changing it any time in the near future. I've simply had to come to terms with all of this, and see it as a challenge that I need to work around.

But back to paint. First, curtain rod holders needed to be taken down. Hudson actually pulled one end out of the wall a while ago while swinging on a curtain panel from the couch to the floor. I don't even know how long this small task has been on my list, but it's been too long. Next, I needed to repaint all of the trim and sills to freshen them up. It's been three years since I've painted this room and it desperately needs to be touched up. Actually, it's beyond touch up... I just needs to be repainted. Our windows aren't new, but they're not ancient. They're easy to clean, and they're decent looking vinyl windows. That is, decent from a distance. When you actually look closely at them, they are disgusting.

I told you. I didn't even want to show this! I hope you appreciate my transparency here. Now, here's the thing - I clean my windows. Not as often as I should maybe, but I clean them. However, no matter how many times I took to them with soap and water, these ugly stains and spots just didn't come off. I thought they were some sort of glue that stuck to the vinyl and then dirtied over the years, and that the actual vinyl was just discolouring over time. One night however, while removing my nail polish, I had a brilliant idea. What if I used nail polish remover to get whatever it was off?

You can imagine how ecstatic I was to see what a difference it made! Above, you can see where I started and the difference. My excitement lasted for about 5 minutes, and then the amount of work I had ahead of me dawned on me, and suddenly I wasn't quite as ecstatic. It took my nearly an hour, and a great deal of elbow grease, to clean this one window. And now I have to do the same to all of my other windows...

They still aren't perfect, but it made a huge difference. They instantly felt newer, and it really helped make the whole room feel more clean.

I used q-tips to clean all of the corners and crevices that I couldn't reach with my rag.

 

Here you can see the hardware and how dirty they are. In the summer and fall, these windows are constantly open.

I'm not going to lie, at this point I felt a bit like Martha Stewart.

It couldn't get every little bit out, but it made an unbelievable difference.

The latches to open them were also disgusting.

A few minutes later and they were beautiful!

Next the trim and sills were washed down, and while they dried, I filled in all of the holes and spots that needed to be filled in.

You can see here just how bad the trim is in some spots. It's one of those things that when you get up close to it, it's kind of scary.

But what a difference a fresh coat of paint makes. Everything just feels so much more finished and clean. You'll have to wait to see it though until the rest of the room is finished.

A Surprise Package

www.yelp.ca

I came across this sweet bakery, Butter, in the pages of an old issue of Canadian Home and Country. (I wish they still published that magazine...)

It was the most charming looking store, with it's vintage-feeling rose wallpaper, pastel colours and stacks of delicious treats piled high on antique cake stands.

I just loved her attention to detail so much. Of course, owner Rosie Daykin is an interior designer turned baker, so it all makes perfect sense really.

Then, a year ago, I came across the most charming cookbook in Home Sense, and wouldn't you know, it was her very own cookbook - Butter Baked Goods. As soon as I started flipping through the pages I was reminded of that article, and realized that it was the same shop.

The only unfortunate part was that her lovely bakery was in Vancouver, and I'm not.

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Did I mention that one of her signature items are her homemade marshmallows? These giant pillowy delights come in different flavours like mint, chocolate, raspberry, coconut and coffee.

Another is this gigantic sandwich cookie called a "You-Know-What". It's the homemade version of an orea. According to her, they nearly made Oprah's list of good things! They're called You-Know-What's now, instead of Oreos, after a certain letter from a certain Mr. Christie.

Fast forward to today.

My youngest sister, Erica, is currently on the West Coast, studying cake and pastry in Vancouver. To my surprise, (well, almost my surprise... she was too excited to keep to herself that "something" was coming) a lovely little package arrived for me in the mail yesterday.

She sent each of us girls a mug from the store, which she visited the other Saturday for lunch. She also sent us each one french macaron. You're probably thinking that the idea of sending a couple cookies by mail is quite ridiculous... They're French Macarons. Anyone who gets that, gets it. When she learned to make them in school, I received an entire batch of trial macarons in a few different flavours. It only takes a few days to ship them, and because they're macarons, they ship fairly easily, She just has to wrap them well.

Of course, the idea of taking a photo of the macaron came into my head after I had already indulged in it. It was yummy - Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin. To be honest though, I thought hers were just as delicious.

We're four girls, and we're quite close, and having her across the country has been quite hard. We skype often. but it's not the same. Fortunately, she's nearing the end of her program - she comes home in March! And with her, she brings her fancy white hat and will be a proper cake and pastry chef. I'm quite excited about this, though for reasons purely selfish. I just can't wait to get into the kitchen with her and learn to make a few things I've been wanting to know how to make.

French macarons, chocolate croissants, crusty baguettes...

Thank you, Erica!

A Display Cabinet

A couple of years ago I came across a posting for two display cabinets on Kijiji. A store in town was going out of business and the owner was selling off a few display pieces that her husband had built. While the cabinets were both similar, the one I ended up taking was in much better shape than the other.

My intention was to put it away for when my parents opened their store. I figured they would need something like this to display merchandise on. That summer, I didn't do much with it other than give it a good cleaning and paint it in Antique White. I used it for display at my tag sale, and then back it went into my sister's barn to be stored.

Later, the store was opened but the piece was never needed, so it remained in the barn. When we finished our family room in the basement, we dragged it home to use for storage, but it was literally half an inch too tall! (We had measured, but didn't take into account that the floor slanted slightly and wasn't perfectly even) So back in our garage it went, where it sat for another year.

This summer I dragged in into the house after scrubbing it down. I felt like I wanted a piece in the living room, but needed something narrow as there isn't much space. To my surprise, it worked perfectly! It added some much needed height to the room and helped anchor a wall.

I was surprised at how much I ended up loving it. It's not an antique, but it still has some simple character to it. The coat of paint really did wonders for it. Previously it was white and was quite worn.

It was $40.

I had intended to use it as a bookshelf, but because of it's narrow depth, it didn't fit my books properly. Now it houses some of my nests and displays some of my ironstone collection.

The bottom is a smaller cabinet with two doors. It's where I keep some books and a basket full of puzzles for Hudson - the little things that he plays with in the living room. It's the perfect height for him.

I'm glad my mom and I hauled her home.

A February Winter Morning

I walked out my front door on Friday morning and immediately realized that I was wrong. I had said something very wrong.

The other day, after many grey days with no sign of relief, I said that I was ready for winter to just be done.

Then I walked out my door. 

This brilliant white, sparkling winter morning greeted me in the most cheerful of ways. The sun was shining, it's rays reflecting off every perfect snowflake, making anything it touched glitter brilliantly. The sky was blue, and the birds were all aflutter, chirping happily and as loudly as their little lungs could allow for. It seemed that every tree branch was lined with snow, making the entire landscape come alive. It was so peaceful.

I was headed to a friend's for coffee, and I took the longest way around, going as slow as possible, just taking in the beautiful morning.

So I take back what I said. Winter, she can stay for a little while longer. Spring will come once all has had it's rest and is ready to come alive again. For now, let it sleep.

The Dining Room and a New Chandelier

Over the past couple weeks I've been trying to tackle some projects on my to-do list around the house. Usually January and February seem to be the most convenient times to do these things.

While it doesn't quite feel like it just yet, spring is coming soon. I don't know about you, but to me, Springtime around our home brings with it thoughts of gardens to tend to, spring cleaning, and organizing. Hopefully, if I can accomplish many of these projects now, that all might seem less overwhelming when March and April roll around.

So I've set to work, one room at a time.

The first room I started on was the dining room.

I recently read that the average home in Canada is around 1950 square feet, and about 2200 square feet in the United States.

Our home is considerably smaller at about 1250 square feet. In it's original state it was even more modest. Previous owners have opened the attic space and created a second floor with two bedrooms and a small bath. They also added a sun room off the kitchen, opened up the living and dining room areas and began finishing off the basement. So while that number might seem rather small, we do in fact have a comfortable home for a family of four.

There are just some details about our home that make it more of a challenge when it comes to layout and functionality. I joke that it's like a puzzle; if I could just crack the code and figure out the perfect placement of everything, it would feel as though I've gained an extra 200 square feet.

One of these challenges is the dining area. It's actually half of a long, narrow room with the entrance and stairs in the middle, and living area on the other end. Due to the size, we cannot fit a normal dining room table. It would entirely fill the space, making it impossible to walk around, which is necessary for getting to the kitchen and back of the house. This means that our table must either be smaller or round, and it has to sit off center in the corner.

For a year now we've had our dining room in the sun room. It wasn't bad, but it still wasn't the most practical. As well, the original dining room area had become sort of wasted space. And in a small home, it's necessary to maximize space and use it as efficiently as possible. And so, back the table went into it's original spot. 

I was pleasantly surprised. We had never used our current dining room table in that space before. It's small, but it extends with a leaf to a larger square giving us lots of room at the table, and ample space to move comfortably around it. 

The next issue was that there was no light fixture. After much searching, and sourcing and trying to decide on a fixture, I found this chandelier at Home Depot.

I had searched online and in local antique stores for a beautiful antique one with not luck. At least not within my small budget. I also loved the look of a farmhouse style lantern, but again, nothing I really loved the shape of, except a beautiful Pottery Barn lantern for $399! And that was before shipping. I also felt that a black lantern, while stylish, would have just been too much for this small space. I felt that it would have drawn too much attention, and added too much weight. I wanted something that was lighter, and blended rather than become a focal point.

I felt that this glass chandelier achieved that. It's not antique, but I think it lends to the space quite well. Being glass and crystal, your eye tends look beyond it. This makes it feel lighter and less obtrusive in the space. It was also $199, and I had a $50 gift certificate. This was a lot more practical than the other lanterns I had sourced, and the expensive antique chandeliers, most of which needed crystals replaced and rewiring at additional costs.

Another issue with this space is that we do not having wiring to allow a fixture to be hung from our ceiling. It has to drape over to the corner, and plug into the wall outlet. It's possible for us to have an electrician come in and fix this, but for now, Ryan purchased all the necessary parts to make it plug in. The only thing I still need to decide is whether or not I am going to paint the candlesticks. They are silver and I don't know if I should paint them white, or dark, or even keep my eye out for antique covers I could replace them with. Ryan also needs to add a few extra links to the chain so it reaches the floor.

In the end, I'm very happy with this space. It's bright and airy, and that's what I was hoping for.

The only other pieces in the room are this buffet, which is to the left of our front entrance, and a large antique cabinet that I use to store all of my extra glassware and dishes and entertaining things in. I'm still looking for a painting to go in my antique frame on the wall. Until then, I think it's beautiful enough to hang on it's own.

Cheery House Plants and Chicken Quinoa Soup

The sun, with it's bright light and warmth, seems to have made only a few appearances in the last while.

The days are either grey, bringing with them damp, dreary rains, or they're bitterly cold.

It's this time of year that can seem so long and drawn out. A lot of what makes winter so cozy has passed - the tree all aglow, the holiday festivities, and the pretty white snow... And now we're left with dull days, a yard of muddy old snow, and no sign of relief. 

Unfortunately, there are still enough weeks until any signs of spring begin to pop up outside, so we must do what we can to make the most of these last weeks of winter.

Like this beautiful white Begonia I brought home from the store, we take full advantage of any sunlight we're blessed with. While reading in the pleasant warmth the other day, I couldn't help but notice it's delicate petals were turned completely to the source of the warm light. They were basking in it!

Adding potted plants that remind me of my gardens helps cheer up a home as well, like this Hellebore I found at our grocery store in town.

Hellebores are such brave, spirited flowers in my opinion. Did you know that they can brave the heavy frosts of late winter and early spring, and they aren't bothered by the snow? 

(photo from www.macgardens.org)

How beautiful is this? This particular variety is called Ivory Prince - even it's name is valiant.

Candles and cozy throws also add warmth.

And what brings more warmth than a cup of homemade soup? With everyone fighting colds in our house, a bowl of Chicken Quinoa soup was the perfect remedy. We haven't been eating pasta, and a handful of quinoa was a great substitute.

The boys got to enjoy theirs with ones of Nona's homemade Cheddar and Chive scones.

How are you making the most of these wintry days? 

I've actually been working on the living and dining rooms - rearranging and doing a few projects to keep me busy.

I hope to be able to post more on that soon.