Our new Ikea tv unit

The other day I mentioned some changes in our living room, and it's all done! What do you think?



I am soooo happy. There is SO much storage, and it's enclosed which is my favourite kind. We ended up getting little glass doors for the top shelf as well, so great. I think we're going to put a little shelf in there above the tv, but for now I'm happy just as it is. 

I know wall units in general are kind of lame, but seriously, this one is pretty cool. And now I have a spot for my stacks of magazines! YES!

Living room changes

Did anyone get any crazy black Friday sales? It just so happened that we found a CRAZY deal on a tv at Best Buy, so we picked one up to replace the one in our living room which will now move to our bedroom. We haven't had a tv in our room for ages, and I'm pretty excited to watch Christmas specials curled up in bed this year! Yay! 

I've been wanting to replace the tv stand in our living room for a while now. We need more storage in that room badly, and I wanted something white (duh). 



This is how it is now. I do like it a lot, but there's almost no storage, so it's just not working. There is also glass in those little doors, and this tends to be a main play area for Ben, so it makes me really nervous.

This weekend we're planning on picking up this wall unit from Ikea and getting the new tv all set up. As you can see, there is WAY more storage. YES.


I'm so excited to have a better space for my magazine collection and all the little bits and pieces that end up all over my desk in the living room. I'll be sure to share a pic when it's all done!

Billy tv unit image via Ikea

Living room and dining room update

A little while ago we made a run to Ikea to grab a few things we needed to change up the living/dining rooms, and I LOVE how it turned out! Nothing major here, just a few new bits and pieces.



New textiles, new side table and coffee table (glass free, unlike the old one). And the little Ikea stool thingy that I've wanted forever.



The dining table has been put away to leave tons of room for Ben to play in. I also created a little work area for me, which is great for when I need to do a little bit of paperwork or add a quick layer to a painting. I also have more storage now for my paints/brushes/etc.





And you may notice that I got my Gran pillow the other day. LOVE. So happy I got it.



It's my goal in life to own everything from Fine Little Day. I feel like it's a pretty good life goal.

I still have more work to do in this room. I want to replace the current artwork with a HUGE set of three to span the entire southern wall, and I want to take down the curtains and replace them with nice tidy white wooden slat blinds. Oh, and we need a new tv unit too (without glass). I had wanted this one, but they changed it to this. Not a fan. Here's hoping the new Ikea catalogue comes soon and has something awesome. 

I hate having to break these projects up into bits and pieces, but I also know it's the patient grown up thing to do (greaaaaat).

Has anyone else been working on little updates in your homes? I need more inspiration!

Another living room update (because everything takes me 18 tries)

Now that I finally got that string pendant up...I can share our living room after pics, yay! First, a little back story...


When we walked in to our place for the first time...I thought that the living room was going to be such an easy fix. All it needed was paint, and I'd be done. And even though that's pretty much all we've done to this room, it's taken me three years to get it how I really, really want it.





The living room started off (NOT selected by us) a horrendous tan colour. Who picks colours like that? I guess the same people who buy plaid couches and hang floral quilts all over the walls (and never, ever, three years later, get their mail redirected). 

Anyway, I painted it light grey. I was in a real Sarah Richardson phase at the time (still am, I LOVE Sarah, but I've embraced a little more contrast in our home) and I wanted EVERY room grey at the time. And grey it was, until recently. I loved it. It was light and airy and a great neutral backdrop.


But...as time went on, it didn't feel right. I wanted some white. But not just white. And I wanted some black. But not ALL black. So, this is what I ended up with.





I painted the two long walls white, and the two short walls black (the same black that we have in our bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom). I love, love, love it. So much. It's just what I had in mind.











Don't mind our hideous dining room chairs that have been torn to shreds my our cheeky cats Finn and Arthur. One day I hope to have chairs that are hair/scratch/pet/kid proof. 


I do have more to do in this room...those white curtains are going to be replaced with white wooden blinds, or perhaps shutters. I actually like the curtains a lot, but they are not a good option when you have a dog that sheds ten pounds of hair a day, and makes a point of rubbing herself all over those curtains ALL DAY LONG. And I think I want to change out the tv area....but maybe not. I go back and forth.


I love mini-projects like this, they're fun and easy and so quick. And who knows, maybe I'll change this room ten more times. But designing your home is an ever evolving process...that's kind of the fun of it.

The perfect (non) black paint

I'm in the process of repainting my living room (yes, again, I know) and I've gone back to my favourite paint colour, almost black. I have this colour in several rooms of my home, and I'm madly in love with it. It's not 100% black, but it has a very subtle midnight blue tone to it. It reads black...but has a bit more depth. This is the paint colour info for anyone looking for the perfect shade of almost-black.

I will share pics as soon as it's all done, I'm pretty excited about it! Don't worry, I promise it won't look like a cave. 

Living room mini-makeover

Little changes make me happy. Oh yes, big changes would too, but until my lottery winnings come in I find a great deal of happiness in things like new pillows. Ya that's right.


My living room is pretty neutral, and I like it that way. I would LOVE it if everything were white, with maybe a really great back Eames chair, but this will do. Here is what it looked like before my mini makeover.





For a little change I decided to load up on black and white fabric from Ikea and make some new covers for the pillows, as well as a little footstool. Better, right?








I am pretty happy with it. You may have also noticed we switched out the carpet. The old one was beige, which really didn't work in the space, but we'd had it forever and just didn't think much about it. This new one is huge, and grey (my third favourite colour, right behing white and black obviously). It's also perfect for Benjamin to practice crawling on (and one day spilling juice all over). Love it. I can't seem to find it to link to on the website, but we bought it from Ikea, and it came in this grey and a tan colour. 


Also, a word about this footstool.

 


When I bought my first house back in 2001, the lady who I lived there previously left this little green footstool, and it's travelled with me ever since. I'm sure some people out there will appreciate the weird green vintage vibe it had originally. Not this girl. When I first inherited it I gave it a badly sewn white slipcover (second image) that actually wasn't even hemmed along the bottom. I'm that awesome of a seamstress. Well now is has a very cool black and white (still badly sewn) slipcover. But it has a hem, so it's at least 50% of an improvement.

Ben's Stuff

I fancy myself a bit of a minimalist when it comes to the colour palette of our home. I like white, grey, black, the odd bit of dark blue. That's about it.


For those who fall in the school of thought that every home must have pops of colour...I feel that Ben's stuff classifies as our home's pop. And this is about as much pop as I'm comfortable with anyway. 








Also, how cute is Ben on his little play mat? 


Just love that kid. In case you hadn't noticed.

In need of a new project

I have been doing little things here and there around the house, but I'm running out of ideas, and I have a serious itch for a project. Our living room, in particular, I think is missing something. I'm thinking of adding a new light beside the couch (the one in the picture is an oldie...but it works for now).

I was hoping to squeeze a side table in beside the couch as well (with a table lamp on it), but we're pretty sure it will be too cramped. Luckily, my tea seems to balance quite well on the arm of the couch, so it could be worse.

We've also been contemplating those ikea book case lights, like these ones. Still debating that one.

Possible home project ideas I'm mulling over:

- Storage solutions for living room (possibly on wall to the left of bookcases)

- Re-vamping our cd storage (currently a card board box)

- Repainting our bedroom (yes, seriously, so what?)

- Flooring in blue guest room (may be more than I feel like taking on, I'm eager, but not THAT eager)