A nod to romance....

The question of love has been an eternal one....my thought is, it should permeate our lives every day, every second.....filling our homes and living our lives with it at the forefront, is unquestionable...

Little tokens of love every day....a warm cup of tea, a comforting, simple meal, a hug, a smile, expecting less and giving more and remembering, for me, to take joy in everything I do, no matter how humble...

I know I am an incurable romantic...and am always drawn to those images and objects...flowers, putti or cherubs...and the colours of romance....red and pink!

Scenes of faraway castles on my tea cups and tea pot, hold promises of romantic escapes...

Repurposing furnishings from another time, like this dining table, I cut down to coffee table height...was it set for a romantic dinner at one time? I think I am loving here in our kitchen/gathering room....it's beautiful oval shape makes a statement...

It is filling this large, open space at the moment...I have been on the hunt for a coffee table since our move in, and decided to use what I already had....just giving it new life...I think a sisal rug will look just perfect underneath....

The porcelain, putti figurine is a vintage find....and I move it around every season....

The sunshine streaming through my windows today, prompted this short, quick post....my nod to romance...

Wishing everyone a Happy St. Valentine's Day....N.xo

FYI.....The rose sap bucket is an Acorn Lane design and the grapevine basket is from our local Niagara vineyards and is handmade by local artisans....

 

The Collected Home....

One of my favourite designers is Charlotte Moss....her interiors are collected, not decorated...infused with character and charm and that haphazard look of uncontrived elegance...

....layers of the stuff of life....meaningful momentos acquired over time...

 

...interiors that shun clutter in favour of symmetry and balance, but still offer comfort and personality...

With my decorating challenges here at Acorn Lane, I strive to employ some of these design principles in my own home...

What seems to work for me....is decorating in layers....like below in our kitchen/sitting area...

I begin with fabrics and colours I love to live with...the colour green taking top billing...the blue export china I have collected for years...consistent throughout with Cake Batter paint on the walls and Cloud White trim by BM...

Layering with collections and different textures like silver, glass, baskets and of course, flowers from the garden, helps me to achieve the look I want, without the clutter...

One of the design principles I learned in retail....group and seperate....it has been working for me! Below..looking from the kitchen into the sitting area...

In the master bedroom below...the colours of alabaster and blush are working well with the painted French provincial furniture acquired at an estate sale over twenty years ago...there is a wonderful story associated with it's purchase...for another time...

Many more layers required here!! I am thinking Mole (a mousy brown) velvet pillows and linen bedding....a small slipper chair..bedside lamps...personal touches....

The downstairs guest bedroom is acquiring the collected look...here looking in from the ensuite bath..

...because this room gets limited light, I decided for a happy, yellow colour scheme...I think I have about six different patterns going on here...but I like it...they are colours of the garden! Petit print quilts have found their way into my heart..

....a romantic at heart... I added this small plaster relief over the iron bed....which was in an upstairs bedroom for several years...

The small chest, below, belonged to my Mom...handpainted through Acorn Lane...

Layering with vintage pillow slips, lamps and hand painted furniture and china...the lamp shade is made from vintage fabric...I sold them in my shop at one time...I love the English term for anything handmade...bespoke!

It just sounds so lovely and proper...

A vintage bark cloth toss cushion, with bottle brush fringe....bottle brush fringe...my sewing obsession at the moment! It looks soft and pretty on cushions and works just as well with upholstery...

Decorating in layers, for me, helps me to visualize more clearly in achieving the look I want, and ultimately avoid costly mistakes...especially when you are on a budget! I can wait...for just the right thing!!

Finding your own personal style can be a harrowing, daunting experience....but like anything else, I have found, that decorating from the heart makes it a little less difficult, and ultimately more pleasurable..employing basic design principles and layering with objects of affection, loved and collected over the years, creates an inviting and interesting home reflecting the people who live there......

This is a view from my window today...grey skies, chilly and snowing....I hope this small post helped brighten up your day!!

N.xo

 

First impressions...the entry.

The weekend after New Year's Day, the painter left....he was the last of the workers to finish up with the renovation. It felt wonderful to be able to wake up in the morning and not have anyone coming into the house...finally!

I thought I would share some glimpses of our front entrance...foyer..it is very small, and my grand vision of what I would do here, from a decorating standpoint, quickly vanished...

It is actually no bigger than a landing, and you are immediately forced to go either up into the open kitchen/sitting area, or downstairs to the family room...below.

I decided to reuse a vintage mirror which I had saved from my shop...it is a bit like a trumeau, but not really.

It is from Belgium and we painted and antiqued it, like I did all of the pieces I sold...I like the lines and scale and thought it would make a statement in my small foyer..

The bench was fashioned from a coffee table....my upholsterer resized it to fit, and added the small back from the piece that was cut out of the middle. I only had approximately 14 inches of width to play with and it was the perfect length to sit under the mirror...40 inches...

The pretty Louis XV legs on the bench add a bit of softness to the angular lines of the mirror...

The cream coloured damask fabric came from a local thrift shop...I had been saving it for just the right project..and it works well with the tone on tone colours of the stone floor tiles...

The cushion is attached to the upholstered base so it won't slip and slide when you sit on it...

This mirror probably sat on a console table and went straight up to the ceiling in a former life...

It fits the small space, yet gives it a sense of grandeur as well, and because of the 12 foot ceiling it reflects the light from the hall fixture...

I can't really do much more with this space...I plan to add a few more framed prints on this wall, a rug and a some homey touches....I love the English country look...

Perhaps a vintage suitcase under the bench to hold gloves and scarves....

....or a basket and top hat on top of the bench....just for fun....

A la W.C. Fields....

Here you can see how very small the space really is....

I have so much yet to do...thinking ahead, but thinking back, the best decision I made was painting the entire house in one colour, both upstairs and down...Cake Batter by BM....it looks like the colour of an old alabaster lamp here in my home, with our diffused light...this decision has enabled me to reuse most, if not all, of my old furniture and collections...with a little bit of tweeking...making for a very happy husband!

Till next time, N.xo

 

Choosing life.....

Yesterday, I was asked, if I had to choose one word to define the past year, what would it be ?

......a feeling of gratitude is what comes to mind.....

Last night, I watched, like so many of you, the opening episode of season four of Downton Abbey...it was wonderful....but the scene that resonated the most with me was when Lady Violet, in a poignant and endearing moment, told Mary to choose life, over death, after the loss of her husband Matthew. It touched me, as only a great actress like Maggie Smith, can touch us. She is a master at bringing her character to life, in all it's fabulous glory. Her wit, but best of all her intelligence and wisdom that only comes from age and maturity.

As I age, this time of year brings about a fair amount of contemplation. Where I have been and where I want to go...never one to make resolutions, I just charge ahead with all the " to do " things on my list...

....the things of life...living. What we as women do every day...looking after our families, friends, and if there is any time left, ourselves. I have tried over the last several years, to rid myself of negativity, and instead focus on a more simplistic approach to living...listening to my inner voice...as well.

Karen Tran

 

So....the prospect of new projects which life has brought my way, are exciting and inspiring....I look forward to creating the most beautiful weddings this summer....living up to my own expectations and more importantly, my clients...

 

" live the life you imagine"

 

How many times have you heard the phrase? I imagine a life full of challenges...that is inevitable...but also a life full of the rewards of honest hard work...of aspirations to create a beautiful and inspiring home..to give a small part of who we are to the world and those in it..

...whether growing a garden....

...creating whimsy.....

Or...just living in a simple, happy moment...

 

Like Mary, choosing to live our lives with purpose and meaning, and in the moment, is the best reward...

 

 

 

I really believe that! N.xo

 

The Holiday Kitchen

This was the first Christmas celebrated in our newly renovated home...

The kitchen has now become the hub of activity and center of entertaining....this past week it proved it's worth, and then some! I still have one more little gathering scheduled this Friday....

I love to host a gathering at my house...growing up our home was always open to family and friends, and my Mom could feed 4 or 20 at a moments notice...fresh pasta, sauce and other homemade specialties were at the ready...our home hummed with activity..that is what I want to happen here...

With the two islands, it has become so convenient to prep and then serve a variety of dishes...casual or more fancy....

The adjoining dining/garden room can take an overflow of guests from the kitchen...but it seems, everyone loves the kitchen best...

 

Ricotta cakes, iced with cream cheese frosting with edible gold leaf, a raspberry lemon mascarpone torte and other Christmas favourites stood waiting to be sampled....

Small reindeer moss in cups, embellished with moss stars were my gifts for the ladies this year....

 

This new take on a dining room has fulfilled all of my expectations....

......sipping my morning coffee in the wicker chairs in this room....watching the snow fall.....

 

....and some mornings, the view is magical!

Because I love Nature, and am inspired by my surroundings, I kept our decorations to a minimum, and very simple.....but mostly due to the fact that they are still stacked up somewhere in the garage :/

I added a few of my doll ornaments to the kitchen....still a child at heart!

 

I crafted them from tissue paper and bits of vintage lace and other findings....

A vintage tea cart, paired with the extra dining chairs, warms up a window nook.....and the coffee center holds all the necessities for a cappuccino on your way to the wicker chairs!!

 

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my kitchen this New Year's Day, 2014... It has been a year full of twists and turns, unexpected setbacks with the flooding this summer, and unexpected developments because of it....we installed a gas generator...our quirky, capricious climate almost dictated it....it has been an unsettling, disorganized year....but I am full of hope and promise...surrounded by our beautiful woodland, family and friends, and the newest addition, Bella.

 

....nestled in an evergreen wreath, on the front porch....what a little beauty.....!!

I wish all of my readers the very best the New Year holds, love, health and happiness, and a quiet and gentle heart to embrace all that life holds in store.....Happy, happy New Year.....N..xo