The New Apartment- The Before Photos

As promised- here are some pictures of our new apartment. FYI- We have not moved in yet so the furniture in the photos is not ours.

Building front entry

Our patio

Kitchen 

 

Living room

Dining room

Bedroom

Bathroom

New Apartment- Finally!

I have been talking for a long time about us moving into another apartment and it is finally happening. Both Stu and I have new jobs (in a new city) and we bought a condo in an old bankers mansion that was renovated into 7 apartments. In the photo below our place is the main floor left hand side of the building. More pictures and details to follow.

Water Hyacinth Baskets

This may make me sound a little crazy but that's okay.
I was given a water hyacinth basket for my bridal shower a long time ago. It has been in my bathroom for years and was starting to show its age. So one day I decided that it would look new and fresh if I put a coat of stain on it in a little darker colour than the original. So I stained it and I was shocked to see that it turned out great! So, fast forward a few months and JYSK is clearing out the baskets below.

 

I love a good deal and I did not pay any more than $5 for any one of them! Just a side note- I also love that water hyacinth is a green choice since it growing time is quite short, they grow like a weed (actually are quite problematic in some areas) and the fibers are strong.

I used the Minwax Wood Finish stain in dark walnut (below) and put a single coat on the outside and inside of each basket using a paint brush. FYI- This is an oil product so you will want to do the staining in a sheltered (they take at least a few days to dry depending on the humidity) and well ventilated area (I did it in my garage).   
  

The finished product is worth the effort!

When we move into our new place I will take a picture of them in their rooms. I think the darker colour stain just takes them up a notch.

Sarah Richardson Design Website- New!

 

Sarah Richardson Design has launched a new website and it is definitely worth checking out. She has included lots of portfolio (i.e., inspiration) photos and even an outtake reel from her various shows and television appearances. 

Just to give you a little taste...

Bathroom- Before

Bathroom- After

 

 

Another Online Thrift Find

The above chair is my latest find on Kijiji. It has a solid wood frame (including legs and back), is really good quality and has olive green (difficult to tell in the picture) velvet upholstery in excellent condition. Best part- only $35!!

Just to compare-
High end- Restoration Hardware $200

Low end- Target $85 (only sold in pairs for $170)

Things Still Left To Do At The House...

I recently spent some time at a friends house where she is notorious for beginning jobs around the house, but never completely finishing anything. So when you look around you don't see, for example, the new kitchen they installed, instead you see the fact that the crown moulding and trim are not painted and that you can still see nail heads and sanded down putty. I think that once you live with something for so long you get used to it and after a while you don't even notice those types of things any more. Either way, it convinced me that I need finish off what is left to do around our house (large and small jobs). Especially since we may have another apartment to decorate soon and that will inevitably take up most of my time and effort. 

To start, here is the "official" list:  

Mud room

- replace broken light switch cover with wood plate painted swiss coffee and cut to fit beside the door trim

- cut & add shoe shelf to cabinet (I already bought the shelf and it is in the front closet)

- remove boot tray from under water softener

Dining room

- repaint threshold between mudroom and dining room

- clean off all tape glue residue on window (we already have the Gu Gone)

- clean-up/repaint trim where the dog has scratched the paint off
- finish floor between dining room and nothing room

Kitchen

- finish wood object gallery wall i.e., find the wood spoons!!

- add new wood counter-top with breakfast bar, under mount stainless steel sink & country-style brushed nickel faucet

Front entryway

- finish the front closet/ pantry (e.g., paint, redo shelves, finish flooring, etc.)

- replace front door with one with large window

Living room

- repaint hearth

- lower mantle and touch up fireplace surround

- touch up paint on quarter round on fireplace

- have chair reupholstered- finally!

- have coffee table re-finished (darker stain colour)

- new art for behind sofa

- repaint ceiling

- new crown moulding & paint swiss coffee

Hallway

- replace frames with larger ones

- replace pictures in frames

- touch up ceiling around light fixture

- repaint walls

Guest bedroom

- finish painting trim

- repaint walls

- paint ceiling

- repaint bedside table

- add lamp to bedside table

- new duvet cover

- paint shelves in closet

- replace bed with one from Mtrl apt & paint frame white

- replace ceiling fan with smaller version

- replace curtains

- add blinds (darker stain)

Bathroom

- finish painting trim

- touch-up walls

- add moulding around sink plumbing on wall & paint out to match walls (swiss coffee)

- replace shower rod

- fix shower curtain hook

Office

- finish painting trim

- repaint walls

- paint ceiling

- replace ceiling fan with smaller version

- replace curtains

- add blinds (darker stain)
- replace closet doors

Master bedroom

- finish gallery wall

- find something for large, currently empty frame

- finish trim on floor in closet

I believe that covers everything... Where to start?

Latest Online Thrift Find

At this point, I'm sure everyone knows that I love mixing in mid century modern furniture. My latest find on an online thrift store (Kijiji) is this set:

I picked it up two nights ago and it was $50 for everything!! It is a relatively medium-small table (i.e., around 5 ft in length with the leaf in) but I was thinking that the table top could be replaced with a larger one (maybe adding 1 foot on each end and stained to match). Something like this...

Adding 2 different styled chairs (+ the 4 that came with the set) at the heads of the table would allow for more people to dine.

Below are pictures I created to give an idea of what I was thinking for my "dream" apartment (i.e., small) dining room:

 And a few variations on it...

 

I'm not sure which one is my favorite yet.