Home Gym

Home gyms should be all about drama, shouldn't they?  Well, mine is!  I let the walls do the talking and left the workout gear out of the pic.

Consoles - IKEA; decal - Etsy; Mirror - West Elm; lamp - Home Depot; bull horns - HomeSense; flower photograph - Etsy; chair - Inmod

Office Redo

I redid the downstairs office after my ex moved out.  I liked the Route 66 theme but wanted to make it more feminine, with a lounge vibe.  I started by painting the walls cream, then I applied a Route 66 wall decal from Etsy.  The simple, dark desk anchors the room.
Desk - IKEA; chair - ZUO Modern; side table and lamp - Bouclair; silver tray - IKEA, dandelion photography - Terri Ellis Photo, through Etsy; cow skull - Etsy; arc lamp - Structube; desk caddy, mirror, and LOVE pillow - HomeSense; street signs - eBay 

Outdoor Living

For the patio, I wanted a cool, casual feel, LA chic, with deep, comfortable cushions - perfect for stargazing at night under solar-lit umbrellas, with a warm fire.  I designed the pergola and lattice myself - I had a handyman build it according to my sketches.  I couldn't be happier with it.  It provides shade and privacy.

Sofa set, area rug, and firepit - PUR Living; dining table - ZUO Modern; cedars - Silk Plant Warehouse; solar umbrella (not pictured) - Strong Camel; swing - Maison Bertet

Dining Room and Pantry

In the dining room, I went for drama with a crystal chandelier and oversized mirror installation - it creates a very romantic ambience.  Keeping the table and chairs as simple as possible helps to balance the room.

My pantry has been a labour of love this past year, with many shopping excursions to get the details just right.  Working with California Closets was amazing.  They are so efficient!  They come right out to your house and are able to give you an on-the-spot 3-D computer model with a final price, with installation within a week or two.
And is this not the most beautiful microwave you have ever seen?  It's just so modern!

mirror - Finesse Home Living; table - Konto; chairs - Inmod; drapes - custom, Jayse Phillips; chandelier - ET2, through Euro Style Lighting
pantry shelves - Pamela Stollery design, California Closets; bamboo boxes, popcorn shakers, and Anchor Hocking cracker jars - Bed, Bath & Beyond online; hermetic jars, floor bins, and vinegar bottles - IKEA; metal tins and white sugar jars - Urban Barn; label designs - KreativeCorner, Etsy; microwave - BRADA, through The Brick

Purple LUV

Morphy Richards UK kitchen accessories, through Amazon; "Hot Couture" by Jeff Beier

Guest Bedroom

In the guest bedroom, I carried the colour scheme from Tom's office, and we went with simple, stylish accessories. 

bed - F2 Furnishings; bedding - Anthropologie; mirror - Urban Barn; bus tram - Transit Design, Etsy; pillows - Cowhides International; ceiling fixture - George Nelson; nightstand - West Elm

Tom's Office

In my husband's office, we wanted it to feel masculine but not be too much of a departure from the rest of the house, so we chose neutrals (with a splash of red!) and accessorized with trendy furniture and art.  We also painted a feature wall with black chalkboard paint.  His desk is not pictured, as we are looking for a new one in walnut or black.

sofa - Inmod; Route 66 painting - Finesse Home Living; "X" painting - unknown artist; licence plates and Caravelle sign - Antique Mall; vase - Torre & Tagus; Drink-O-Matic - Kalorik, through Hammacher Schlemmer

Basement

Our basement is a mix of styles - transitional chairs done up in pearl faux croc and lounge chairs in purple chenille, a mid-century modern card table and an ultra-low contemporary coffee table, and bright, modern lighting.  On the shelves you will find an eclectic mix of vintage radios, chic pottery, magazines, agate rocks, and various eBay finds.  I wish I had a beautiful porcelain surround fireplace as a focal wall and hardwood, but there was no point in investing that much in a starter home.  So we are happy with what we have down here - a trendy and functional space.
(You may think this table looks too fancy to do anything on, but it is totally functional!  We have pizza parties down here, eat Chinese takeout, I fold laundry here, do paperwork -- everything!)

sofa - Sarah Richardson; both croc and chenille chairs through Sage Furnishings; black table - EOS Modern; coffee table - All Coffee Tables; arc lamp - Crate & Barrel; console lamps - HomeSense; console - InMod; city art - "Sleeping" by Parvez Taj, through HomeSav (I heard about this company on "Dragons' Den"); faces pottery - Jonathan Adler; plate - Torre & Tagus; walnut boxes - West Elm; tryptic - Norma Reyes; starburst - Marlow & Thomas

Front Entry

The first impression of someone's home should provide the nuance for the rest of the house.  You should feel welcome and at ease but also have an organized area to put down the mail and put away your shoes.  I stayed with the neutral palette throughout the first floor - muted greens, black, cream, and white. 

cubes - West Elm; white shelf - IKEA; paintings - woman:"Processes" by Rhianne Boa, painting: unknown artist; bowls - Home Outfitters

Master Bedroom

For the master bedroom, we stayed with the previous homeowner's Baffin Island green - it had grown on me after our first year in the house.  It also coordinated nicely with the grasscloth wallpaper we hung in the living room, so we wallpapered the focal wall.  I really like the sleek look of low-profile modern beds, but I opted for comfort with a dramatic velvet headboard.   The end result is restful and gender neutral.  

bed - Urban Barn; drapes - Chic Chic Readymades; starburst and vases - Chintz & Co; ceiling light fixture - Y Lighting; nightstands - Inmod; Rorschach paintings - Originals by Lynne; grasscloth - through Benjamin Moore; Beatles - Etsy; vanity - Urban Barn; vanity light fixtures - Bouclair Home; perfume - Chloe 

My Office



The Pretty

I work late nights from home and I wanted my office to be feminine and modern, but it had to be functional for my very expensive captioning equipment - this room is actually a home studio.  I wasn't a fan of the traditional wainscoting in the room, but I reluctantly worked with it.  This room reflects one of my favourite colour combinations - warm beige, black, pure white, and walnut accents.  The desk was a splurge, but I couldn't be happier with it.  

The Pretty Techie

To show you that techie can be pretty, I am attaching a picture of the adjacent wall with all of my equipment exposed, cords and all.  This is a rather complicated setup - I need two TVs - one with captions and one without, so I can see if I'm blocking any graphics with my caption placement.  I use two computers to view webcasts for shows that are not available on my channel lineup.  And that's my blue stenography machine - "the Passport" from Advantage Software.  I caption live shows, and this machine is amazing.  The light touch of the black keys gives me incredible speed and accuracy, and it was well worth the investment!  The black box on top of the computer is a 56-K modem from the '80s!  I had to buy it off eBay, as all captioners do.  It's the industry standard, believe it or not, and that's how all live captioning is done (well, some stations use IP-based captioning).  It goes from my steno machine to the software through the modem and out a landline, to the station's encoder, where it appears on the screen four to five seconds after I first heard it.  We now have to use special phone lines to cut down on this delay, as per the CRTC.  So this means I hear the audio seconds before it goes to air, and the delay is cut in half, which is a big deal in an industry where every second counts.

In the closet, I decided to use the wallspace to display some odds and ends I had from other projects, as I found a lot of it fit nicely into the design of this room.


desk - BDI Furniture; lacquer console and round mirror - Urban Barn; lamps - Kartell; sofa - Henry's Purveyor of Fine Things; flower mirror and artwork- Finesse Home Living; cushions - Pike's Market, Seatte; bird - Jonathan Adler; cloud art - online retailer; sputnik fixture - Festoon; white cubbies - IKEA Expedit

closet - cubes, West Elm; wood accessories and tin boxes - Urban Barn; vintage car art - Salted; orb - Antique Mall

My most patient, loyal viewer <3

Living Room

In the living room, I chose a neutral, understated palette with calm colours that carry easily from room to room, with clean lines and modern accessories.  The silk drapes were custom made and coordinated with the grasscloth wallpaper, which is also in our master bedroom.  In the hallway leading into the kitchen, I applied anise wall decals that carry into our dining room.

velvet sofa - Urban Barn; walnut coffee table - Melia; mongolian fur rug - through Sage Furnishings; mirrored side table - Urban Barn; pouffe - Casbah Decor; graphic pillows - West Elm; tryptic - Jonathan Luckhurst; arc lamp - Revolve; side table lamp - IKEA; bowl - Home Outfitters; antique horse collar - Antique Mall; city painting - Janice Muxlow; butterfly painting - Jeff Beier "Union"; wall decals - BLIK