Monday, January 30, 2012

No End to Decorating... After

After- The new mirror above the dining table. In the end I did not paint the frame black. I decided that the dark stained oak was actually quite nice and it brought a natural element to the room.


After- The pictures lining the hallway. I am very happy with how the hallway turned out. The pictures really dress it up.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Inspiration

I'm always showing pictures of used furniture talking about "the possibilities", well here I have put together something to show you those possibilities...










Sunday, January 22, 2012

No end to decorating...

I realize I just blogged about being finished with decorating the Montreal apartment but I am already making one more change...

The apartment is a semi-basement (half underground) and can lack natural light at times (afternoon/evening). It has really large windows throughout but never really gets any direct sunlight. The one large window in the main living space is opposite the dining table. I was thinking that by placing a large mirror (purchased for $10 from Kijiji and painted black) above the dining table it might help reflect the natural light from the window back into the space. I doctored up the previous dining area photo to see what a mirror would look like above the table.

I like it!

Bonus- By doing this, the four pictures that were hanging above the dining table can be redistributed to the empty walls in either the hallway or the bedroom.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

More Finds Online Thrift Shopping...

More reasons to love online thrift... and so much potential!

desk chair $10


dining table $30


end table $18


chair $40


coffee table and 2 end tables $50


end table (goes with the above coffee table)


desk $80


wardrobe/armoire $200


sideboard $200


brass sconces $95


trunk $50


trunk $150


teak hutch $40

Friday, January 6, 2012

Apartment Status

I thought I would start off the new year with updating the status of the apartment and cottage and listing the jobs left to be done.

Starting with the apartment before & after...

Before- (These pictures include the last tenants belongings- yikes!)







After- (These pictures are as of January 2012.)













I am thinking that the apartment is done! It is a rental so the only changes that need to be done (e.g. new kitchen floor) are large jobs that tenants don't do.

Although the furniture in the apartment is not what I would choosen if I had all the money in the world, but for hand-me-downs I think it looks pretty good. Some of changes we made to the apartment include:

- replaced/repaired almost all of the permanent light fixtures in the apartment
- removed all the old caulking in the bathroom and re-caulked
- re-grouted the bathroom tile floor
- added a long floor runner to the kitchen to disguise the broken tiles
- added larger (and more functional) furniture to the living/dining rooms (including a 3-seater sofa and dining set) to make entertaining possible
- added a small seating area to the kitchen where I can sit while Stuart cooks
- reversed the door on the kitchen fridge- you would not believe what a big difference that makes to the functionality of the kitchen

All-in-all it is actually a very cute (and more importantly functional) apartment now!