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.

New Apartment Inspiration

Now that a long term, new apartment is most likely in our future, I am starting to plan my dream city apartment. These are some of my favorite inspirational photos that I have come across so far:

Master Bedroom Makeover- Gallery Wall

As I posted (a while ago), I am in the process of giving my master bedroom a makeover. Most of the work was done very quickly (paint, vignette, etc.) but I have been stuck on the gallery wall for a while. I have all the frames but can't decide how to arrange them/what colour 2 of them should be.

Here is what I have in mind...

The options:

1) I could simply paint them black and leave them empty?

2) I could sand them down and stain them to match the other wood pieces in the room? Obviously this would be the most work since they are currently painted white.

3) Maybe the problem is not the colour but the arrangement. I could make the gallery wall more symmetrical?

4) Maybe the problem is both- colour and arrangement.  I could paint the frames black and make the arrangement more symmetrical?

What to do?...

Bathroom Vanity Project

This is a project that we have been thinking about doing for a while. We would love to take an old, wood washstand or dresser and turn it into our bathroom vanity.

My bathroom as it looks now:

The pedestal sink functions fine but obviously lacks storage. We have a small cabinet next to the sink which manages to hold all our bathroom necessities but it would be nice to have a work surface for my make-up bag to sit when I am using it, etc.

The plan-

1) I need a washstand or dresser. I have been monitoring the online thrift sites but so far everything I have seen is overpriced. I am looking for a deal but something similar to this...

... clean lines and cottagey. I would probably want the stain to be darker but I am flexible.

2) A nice vessel sink. I found a ceramic, square one at Rona for $150.

via www.rona.ca

3) Transfer our old taps. I actually like the taps we currently have so I would just move them to the new sink.

4) Instructions on how to do it and inspirational photos via Painting the Roses White.

via www.pantingtheroseswhite.com

My hunt continues...

Homemade Curry Mix

In my first post about handmade gifts, I gave the suggestion to include a curry mix in a jar gift.

via RachelCooksThai.com

Since then, I have actually perfected the curry mix! It is one of the best curries I have ever had and anyone (even people who do not like/haven't tried curries) will love it.

It is a baked vegetable curry with a cashew sauce.

The recipe for the dry mix is as follows:
1/2 tsp dried garlic flakes
1/2 tsp ginger slices (cut into small pieces)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground sea salt 
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 cube vegetable bouillon 1 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you want it to be really spicy!)
The following ingredients are ground down using a mortar and pestle:
1 cup roasted cashews
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander

Combine the above ingredients in a mixing bowl and transfer the mixture to a small glass jar. If space is left in the jar, fill it with more ground cashews.

To finish the gift, add a card with cooking instructions. Below is the one that I made to go with the above mix: