Fresh Starts

Well, hello there. It's been too long.

I hope you've all been well. We have been. And while I would love to catch you up on these past months in great detail - Christmas holidays, the starting of a New Year and all that's in between, let's just skip that, and start fresh. Isn't that what Spring is all about anyway?

Starting fresh.

The calender says that there are merely 9 more days until Spring arrives, however the sudden plummet in temperature and the rooftops covered in snow seem to be saying something entirely different. I mean we've barely had a Winter! What's the point in starting now? Bring on Spring!

Either way, if it feels like it has arrived next Monday or not, Spring is indeed coming, and ready for it we will be.

One of the things I anticipate most about this season, and I'm sure that most of you feel the same way, is the opportunity to spend time refreshing my home. After months of being closed up tight, I look forward to opening the windows and airing the house out. I look forward to doing a much needed, deep clean. I look forward to going through closets and cabinets and drawers and ridding the house of the unneccessary. 

Starting fresh.

I decided to order a few tools to help me begin this process and I thought I would share them with you. I'm sure many of you knew Jenny Steffens Hobick and her lovely shop Everyday Occasions.

I've had my eye on these items for quite some time, and finally decided to purchase them. I'm so glad I did.

I purchased two sets of her clear cleaning bottles. One set for the bathroom, to hold shampoo etc. I purchase the largest bottles of my favourite shampoo and conditioner as it's more cost effective and less waste, but I don't love the giant bottles. This way I have smaller, more manageable bottles on the shelves that can be refilled as needed.

I will do the same thing with cleaning supplies. I purchased a set of basic cleaning bottles - glass cleaner, floor cleaner and a disinfectant spray.

And while organizing my home is important, a big part of that is also being more intentional with my time. I love her tablets! Clean and simple. This weekly organizer will not only help me, but it will help my husband know what's upcoming as well.

Then there are two of her other tablets - a grocery list and a daily goals list. One of the ways I would love to be more intentional with my time, is by creating a plan for my day. Writing down specific goals is proven to help you achieve those goals.

And finally, her set of canvas bags. Perfect for the market, or errands, and perfectly simple.

I was thankful for the excuse to head over the river to pick up my package at my US post box. She does ship to Canada, but it's quite a bit more expensive. While there I picked out a couple new accessories for Spring from J Crew.

And I visited Target! Oh how I've missed having Target in Canada.

I couldn't resist all these dollar items in that front section... you know the one by the entrance? I will use them on our kids table at Easter.

And as another reminder that Spring is on it's way, my Lilac branches I'm forcing are in bloom! Delicate little white blooms. I can't wait! I've never forced them before.

So, to fresh starts! I'm looking forward to sharing more with you soon. In the meantime, follow along on Instagram: @growersdaughter.

Have a lovely weekend, 

Maria

First Day of Spring

Happy first day of Spring!

While the temperatures were still quite cool today, we enjoyed a day full of sunshine. The warmth will come, and when it does, I can't wait to throw open the windows and air out the house.

I haven't done much in the way of changing the house for the season, but I have added a few potted Hydrangeas (a favourite of mine) around the house. I also have some fragrant Spring bulbs planted as well. If you're local, you can pick up these Hydrangeas in Blue and Pink, as well as an assortment of bulbs at the shop.

I just couldn't get over how many blooms were on this one!

Aside from that, I'm looking forward to tackling some Spring cleaning, and hosting Easter dinner this weekend.

And while it's not cleaning, we've slowly been checking small items off our to-do lists like hanging artwork etc... This was a painting I picked up at Christie's Antique Show last Spring, I can't wait for this year's show at the end of May.

Isn't the sunlight just wonderful?

And as today is the first day of Spring, I took a walk through our gardens to see what new growth was popping up. This is our first Spring in this house, so I had no idea what, if anything, would pop up where. I was thrilled to find some patches of Daffodils,

Finally, in preparation for Spring Cleaning, here is a great little Spring Cleaning list I came across from Jenny Hobbick at Everyday Occasions. I plan to use it to organize my own list. This is her example, but if you follow the link above, you can find blank printables.

The Laundry Area - After

I decided to make the most of a quiet day at home today and checked a couple of items off of my to-do list.

This is my laundry area which is one corner of my kitchen - the sunniest corner.

After seven years of doing laundry in the basement (though thankfully not a dingy basement), a main floor laundry was one of my few "list items" I wanted in the home we were going to purchase. And as it goes, it wasn't a feature of the house we bought.

However, in the kitchen, there was a small corner area that was being used as an office space. It was too small for a breakfast nook, so we had our plumber come in and see if it was possible to plumb in a laundry area. Because water lines were already running to this part of the house for the sink and dishwasher, it wasn't complicated to do.

Originally, I had wanted side-by-side appliances in a built-in cabinet with a counter top and nice shelves above. But, due to the size of the space, a pair beside eachother wouldn't fit. So, we settled instead on a stackable unit which allowed just a small space beside for sorting bins. We sketched out an idea for a narrow counter with a pull-out drawer for the bins to sit on (similar to what you would put in your cabinets for recycling bins). Then I could still add a couple small shelves above for character.

But, as renovations go, we ended up spending a lot more on other more important renovations and for the sake of staying on budget, I had to re-think this space. 

Was it necessary to have built-ins right now? No. 

Could it still be functional and pretty without them. Yes.

So my inexpensive solution?

I simply installed our old shower curtain and hung two panel curtains I had in our linen closet. 

You know, it may not be a gorgeous built-in laundry area, but for now, it's simple and quite pretty.

I slide the curtain over to use my machines, which I love, and then slide them back to hide everything.

And it's okay that it's such a simple space, because there's enough going on in the same area to give it character. These shelves are across from it.

So once I had the laundry space taken care of, I moved on to my cleaning closet right beside it.

Now, while I don't mind cleaning, it's actually my husband that is the neat freak in our home. I do however, like cleaning just a little more when my tools are pretty.

I know. Completely ridiculous. I just can't help it. It's like pretty packing or an old piece with perfect patina - I'm just drawn to it. And I'm fairly certain it's hereditary as my Aunt Jeanette suffers from the same problem.

Don't they just make you want to clean?

I've found them over the years at Homesense and Marshalls, and while they are beautiful, none of them are really more expensive than regular old cleaning tools.

And before you go thinking that I flutter around my house dusting everything with a feather duster, this is reserved for my chandeliers. I just use a plain old rag.

And while I admit, I love the smell of a cleaners, I do try to use just basic cleaning solutions when I can. Like for windows, a little vinegar and mild dish soap with warm water does a beautiful job.

These plain spray bottles from the dollar store are perfect for it.

One of the reasons I needed to clean out this closet, was that I needed to make some room for my vacuum. To be honest, I was quite disappointed to leave my central vac behind. But I've actually come to love this new one. The suction is fantastic and the canister detaches to you can carry it on the stairs. And it pivots. (Pivot! Pivot! - I know that you heard Ross when you read that!)

The fact that it's white had absolutely no impact on my decision making... none at all.

Different baskets are also used for other things like garbage bags and my laundry supplies.

Here you can see the closet once I fit everything back in.

Ryan later pointed out that it's not functional having the vacuum on the left, rather it needs to be on the right so I don't have to move the mop bucket to get it out.

Why does he always have to be right...

And there it is. My most inexpensive makeover in this house yet! If only it would go this way more often.

And on another unrelated makeover note, I was thrilled to see that our interior house colour - Simply White - is Benjamin Moore's 2016 Colour of the Year. To be fair, I discovered the colour through Catherine Burke who writes the blog In The Fields.

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.