Home and Fashion Collective: October 2013

Saturday, 26 October 2013

A Very Busy Month

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. We decided to go on a road trip and redecorating a couple of rooms in our house all in the same month.

Last weekend, we went to Montreal to visit friends. As usual we had a fantastic time. We used to live in Montreal and miss the city and our friends so we try to visit regularly. The city is like little a mini trip to somewhere exotic where everyone speaks French, home to great fashion and shopping, amazing bike trails, fantastic food (especially cheese and baguette), extraordinary restaurants, and great culture. The city has that beautiful European like charm.

Montreal Recap
One stop we have to make every time we go is the Atwater Market , one of the best markets I have been to with incredible selection. We tried cannoli for the first time and it was very delicious. Another thing we started to do now is to always bring a cooler so we can stock up on different cheeses, baguette, my favourite olive oil La Belle Excuse. It's my special olive oil that I use for dipping baguette, drizzling on pasta, or as salad dressing. After the market, we took a ride on the Metro (subway) downtown to go shopping at my favourite Quebec store, Simon's. My friends made meat fondue (one of my favourite special meals) for dinner on Saturday night. The fondue with wine, cheese, baguette, and great conversation was the perfect end to our day of shopping. Fondue is a great way to slow down. You cook one or two pieces of meat at a time leading to lots of conversation.
On Sunday we went hiking up Mt. St. Hilaire, QC which took about 2 hours and was 5kms. After our hike we had amazing Poutine at Le Fringale. Once we were stuffed with then went to my favourite supermarket called Marche Adonis before heading home. Marche Adonis predominately specializes in Mediterranean foods with connoisseurs in each department of the supermarket. I came away with fresh pitas, Greek feta, oregano from Greece, and a selection of Baklava.

It was really great to see our friends again and enjoy one of our favourite cities in Canada.

Atwater Market in Montreal, QC

Mt. St. Hilaire, QC

I am currently designing three rooms (My Office/Studio, Our Family Room, and my son N's big boy room) in our house at the same time. Crazy! We are slowly getting there. Right now we are painting two rooms at once, my studio/office and the family room. I still have to pick out the wall colour for my son's room, buy his accent pieces, and decide on drapes or Roman blinds. Can't wait to show you more of the details.

This weekend we are continuing to work on our design projects. Hopefully by tonight we can have my studio painted and start to move everything back to normal. Have I ever told you that chaos makes me crazy? Well it really does especially when you have been in the middle for a few weeks now.

Stay tuned for pictures and details of my newly redesigned rooms.

Thursday, 17 October 2013

Recipe Challenge Update #2

The next recipe I made in the Recipe Challenge is the Chocolate Madeleines. They were really good and easy to make. The hardest part was finding a Madeleine pan in my small town. I wanted to have the true Madeleine shape that you get with using the special pan but I think I may have filled mine with too much batter {noted for next time}. Very delicious and would make them again.

Saturday, 12 October 2013

DIY Project Weekend

So excited it's Friday! My husband has been away on two business trips back to back spanning almost two weeks so I am soooo glad he's back. We both are super to stoked to do some DIY projects this long weekend.

Here's what our plan is for this long weekend.

- Paint our rec room in our basement. We replaced the carpet almost a month ago because we wanted to turn it into usable play space. I think we have decided on Benjamin Moore Gray Timber Wolf - 2126-50 but we are going to do a test sample to see if the colour is too dark.

Benjamin Moore Gray Timber Wolf 2126-50

The colour is not as dark as it appears here.

-Paint my studio. It is so in need of a update with yucky, yellow walls which remind me of a hospital and no one wants their studio/office to remind them of a hospital. We are also moving my office into the basement so that we can move our son into his big boy room. I still have to do a colour test but I am thinking Benjamin Moore Sea Froth 2107-60. I am thrilled to have full say on all design elements since this is my work space.

Benjamin Moore Sea Froth 2107-60

The colour is not as dark as it appears here.

- Make a wooden slate headboard for the master bedroom. I have spent months flip flopping over an upholstered headboard or a wooden one. A couple of weeks ago I thought I had made a decision on making an upholstered one but as I thought about it some more I wanted something that was easy to clean (remember we have a cat and a two year old) so back to the wooden one. Then, yesterday while looking though one of home decor magazines I found a picture of the wooden headboard I want to recreate for our room. So excited to start that project.

-Make a fabric covered cork board.

-Spray paint some old desk accents gold.

Can't wait to get started and share some pictures! Happy Thanksgiving! How do you like to spend your long weekends?

Friday, 4 October 2013

Quick Fall Home Decor Updates

Every day it is feeling more like Fall which makes me nesty. If you are like me, you love to change things up in your home at the beginning of each of the season with a few new items or repurposed ones. I especially love Fall because I love being warm and cozy in my house.

Here are a few things you can do to update your home for Fall and not break the bank. You could do just one update or all six (completely up to you and your nesting desires).