Orchids

I have not had great success keeping orchids in bloom in my last home, mostly because they didn't get enough light. Here, in the sunny and warm sunroom, I think I'll have a lot more success.

I adore Orchids, who bring such elegance and beauty to a room! Any tips for keeping these in bloom for as long as possible??

Have a wonderful day!  We have a preschool Halloween party, followed by some pumpkin carving fun!

Lovely Heirloom Pumpkins

I have seen so many of these Heirloom, or 'Cinderella' pumpkins all over blog land as well as in magazines. I adore them! The colours, the shape, they are so beautiful! I read, with jealousy, how they are even sold at Walmart in some cities, but alas, a Cinderella pumpkin was not easily found locally 'round here.

Images: Pinterest

I managed, after searching high and low, to find 2 orange Heirloom pumpkins. My hubby just about fell over when I told him they were $12 each, and we were NOT carving them...decorative purposes only =) He then started to think, that perhaps we should save the seeds and try our hand at growing them on our acreage. Apparently they do grow here, so it's worth a try!

Here's my very simply autumn front porch:

My Cinderella pumpkins sit in our urn, and look wonderful in all their lumpy, bumpy glory.

We just used regular ole sugar pumpkins for the rest of the space. The girls will carve their pumpkins this weekend. I don't expect many trick or treaters since we live on an acreage, but I wanted to decorate the front more for our sake (mostly the girls)

Did you use Heirloom pumpkins this year? Were they easy to find? Expensive? My guess is they will become more and more popular and readily available in the coming years!

Happy Fall!!

The Kijiji Stalker Strikes Again!

This past weekend, we did a lot of projects around the house, but none that are very pretty or blog worthy.  The hubby installed our speaker system in the basement, as well as set up our Hot Tub and our theatre room.  I tell ya, while I wouldn't have thought we'd really use a theatre room, we love it! The home builder already built one, so we wanted to put it to good use.  It is so much fun, and the girls adore watching their favorite movies on the huge projector screen.  I'll do a post on this room once we finish furnishing it (which honestly isn't a priority right now....there are too many other empty spots in this house!).  We did manage to take a trip into the city to pick up a few Kijiji finds. These could well be my favorite finds yet. I have always wanted a frenchy settee, and I lucked into this one:

It was beautifully re-upholstered for a child's room. We plan on using it in the playroom for now. How precious is it?! The pink, the bows, the french provincial style.....adore it! I am trying to resist the urge to reupholster it for my sunroom =)

The same person had this old pine table for sale. Perfect for our craft and games table in the playroom. My husband will make a leaf for it, so we can extend it out for those puzzle and game nights! We had a perfectly functional, but very cheap and ugly (an old college days dining set) table already in this space.  For not much money, we now have a gorgeous, solid, antique table (from 1910) with gorgeous patina and character. So much better!

Our playroom/gamesroom is in a large open area on the bottom floor. Although it is a space for the kids, since it's in such a visible area, I want it to be stylish as well. We scored a free wall unit this past summer, that we're now repainting and adding trim and beadboard to it. I plan to do a post soon all about the progress of the playroom so far.  Be warned, however, it's very much a work in progress!  This room is coming together slowly, but surely!

Have a wonderful day!
Linking to my Favorite Parties!

My Dear Friend, Kijiji

I had planned to do this post earlier this week, but my plans got foiled.  You see, it was shaping up to be a great week: I'd find out the gender of the baby (I am far too impatient to wait until babe is born, and I need to know how to decorate the nursery!).  I awoke on Tuesday with wicked morning sickness (when, for the love of God, will it end?), which promptly morphed into a migraine.  To top it off, hubs was away on business for a few days, so I had to tend to the kids solo (who were lucky they even got dinner).  Today, I'm happy to report, I'm in tip top shape.  I'm also very happy to report that come mid March, we'll be seeing more pink around here.  It's girl #3 =)))))  I was really hoping for a girl, but I also thought a boy would be nice for the hubs.  He's happy either way, and to tell you the truth, boys scare me.  Girls are all I know; they're in my comfort zone, and they are just so dang precious!  Anyhoo, onto the post at hand:

My new friend, Kijiji and I have been getting along so well these days. Craig's list isn't as popular here it seems, but I'm sure finding some great things on Kijiji. My hubby and I scour the new ads each day, and have been rewarded with some great finds.

Most recently, we found these over the weekend:

A sweet needlepoint chair that will be perfect tucked beside our armoire in the Master bedroom. It fits in well with the feminine vibe I'm going for in that room. (Master Bedroom reveal coming soon...I just need to get the fabric I ordered and sew the curtains, and then I'll show it off....it's looking so great!!!)

An oak desk, with great lines to it. I'm not a fan of the golden oak colour, and the finish is peeling up in spots, so it will be refinished. I'm not sure yet if I'll paint it, restain it, or a combination.

Original circa late 1800's engravings:

We bought them from a dealer who was selling everything he owns and moving to Europe.  He had some fabulous antiques, and literally thousands of these engravings, which he'd collected over the years.  My hubby was there alone, so I asked him to look for animal/farm type themes.  He did very well! They were $2 each (!!!) and $30 each for the framed prints (these are the $2 prints which I framed myself). 

It's become a habit of ours to check Kijiji every night for that special find. Have you found any great deals lately on Kijiji, Craig's list, etc??

Linking to my Favorite Parties!

Home Tour: Our Entry

Our entry really isn't a huge space, but I thought it was worth showing you anyhow.

Come on in....

I love the architectural detail that the builder (who was the previous homeowner) did in this space.

The wall colour is the same as most of the rest of the main floor, Horizon Grey by Benjamin Moore. I love this colour; the perfect shade of grey/blue with undertones of green depending on the light.

I bought this rug at Pier 1. It still is a bit 'wrinkly' but they say that should work itself out.

The only other thing we have is this rustic farm style bench, my wrought iron coat rack, and my umbrella stand.

That's the extent of this small but functional entry, but I'm happy with how it's turned out!

Thanks for visiting!
Linking to my Favorite Parties!

The Sunroom Part 2: The other side

Our sunroom is almost like two separate spaces, separated by a corridor. You've seen the one side, many times before. I found this area easy to decorate as it had such a fabulous focal point in the stone fireplace. I've struggled with the other side. It is a larger space, and I really didn't have much furniture for it, so I was starting fresh.

Here is the 'corridor'. I have a fireside bench here, which is a perfect spot to sit and storm watch with these crazy lightening storms we get here!
Over the past week, I bought a chair and chest for one side of this area. Both are from Pier 1. I was actually drawn to the chest when I saw it on the blog, Between Naps on the Porch, in Susan's fab new office. I also loved her Pier 1 chair, but it wasn't in any Pier 1 store that I checked. It may have been in the US only as none of the stores I looked in had even seen it before. While looking at the chest, which luckily is in our Canadian stores, I saw this chair. I immediately loved it, and it was so comfy. Perfect for the space, and the soft blue/cream ticking would look great with the colours of this room. I was originally looking for a chaise for this space, but the only ones I loved were very expensive. I went for the chair, and am happy I did so! I have two lovely ottoman's downstairs, ready for a redo, one of which will eventually be paired up with the new chair.

Sorry for the bright picture, but we're getting so much lovely sunshine!
I also have a small secretary desk in here. Another piece from Grandma's house (I think at least 1/2 of all my furniture is from my Grandma's!).

I have yet to finish the other side of this space. The furniture in there is temporary, being stored there for now. I'm just not sure what to do with it yet. I do have my collection of orchids in here, and am looking for a nice table to display them on. Other than that, I may do another upholstered chair, or perhaps a round table with two wooden chairs. I'll know it when I see it, I suppose! I am also looking for a small round rug for here.

If you have any ideas on how I should finish this area, I'd love to hear it!

Thanks for stopping by!
Linking to my Favorite Parties!

A very simple fall mantel

My mantel in the sunroom had a autumnal flare to it already. Natural wood tones, curly willow branches....it just reads fall. I did very little to it to give it a slightly more harvest feel.

I added this simple bittersweet wreath:

And my newest addition to this room is my outdoor weathervane. I just love it in here. The patina is gorgeous. My hubs is going to build a base so it doesn't have to lean against the stone.

So that's it. Told ya it was simple!

Have a wonderful day!
Linking to my Favorite Parties!

Newly Framed Art

I was recently given two old prints that I fell in love with. Although different subject matter, they both are similar in their grey/black and cream tones. The frames were very old and falling apart, and there was water damage on the old matts.

I took them to get professionally re-framed (and was shocked at how much this cost!!!). Here they are now:

I always love farm type scenes, such as this one of a lady in a field.

I'm also drawn to old, classic, romantic prints. My husband particularly likes this one....I wonder why? Sheesh, men!

The prints will no longer degrade, and I'm so glad I splurged and got them professionally framed. They are only prints, and I'm not sure if they have any value, but I love them, so they're valuable to me!

I haven't hung them yet as I'm waiting to get the walls painted in the rooms they're going in. I can't wait to show you once they're in their final spots! In fact, hubby is busy painting now as I type this (what a good man!).

Linking to my Favorite Parties!