New Bits in the Shop

Vintage Handmade Knits (and a Baby Phat pink Leopard Print Blanket)

Ancient Barn Board

Pink Farmhouse Bed

Vintage Pink Crochet Blanket

Cream Italian Blanket with Satin Edge

Eastlake Pink and Green Scrubby Bed

Floating Home

I spotted this little Float Home while sailing up the Fraser River near Ladner, British Columbia last year.

It looks like a Hansel and Gretyl House with the weathered shingle siding and little turretted room. It has to be the home of an excentric, hippie, artist type, don't you think?

 

We were staying at the house right behind this one.  In this Floating community you see cats sitting on the docks with ducks, and sea lions come right up to your house.  The houses are all staggered to allow the best views, and so you can keep your boat moored next to your house in your "driveway".  These houses go up and down 16' with the tide.  Trying to navigate your boat in and out of your parking spot, meant 1 man driving and 2 people with poles making sure you don't smack your 18 footer into your neighbors living room.

Illegal Dumping on the Bluffs of Lake Ontario?

Have you ever seen seats like this in Church?  Could they be choir seats?
These old church chairs have flip up leather upholstered seats with gorgeous wooden backs and exquisite wrought iron detail. 
In a brief lapse of common sense, we photographed them on the cliff by the lake.....a near "Pee in Your Pants Laughing" moment as walkers and neigbours wrote down our license plate in case we illegally dumped them off the edge of the cliff!

Head on over to Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Friday.

Beach Cottage

At the cottage, I have a LONG mushy sofa that had a big BLANK wall behind it.  That wall faces the water.  I debated a wall of art here, but decided it needed something white and simple and reflective to capture the blues outside and bring them in.

                                                    I hung a collection of WHITE WASHED mirrors.

All of them are carved or beautiful plaster moldings........

The one on the right here, I bought in England years ago.  It was yellow pine.  I whitewashed it.  ..they add a little architectural interest too................

They are all slightly different shades of white......

Except for this little guy......a 1950's pea green. I like the juxtaposition of one lone wolf....and the fact that people get confused by this oddball....

Milk or DarK?

We went to an incredible salvage store the other day.

The door knobs reminded me shiny chocolates.

.....They were laid out like pastries in a Patisserie

All Gleeming  bright...and shiny in their new found restoration...

They were gorgeous....the display was captivating...

These door knobs were around $95.00 each

There were candy jars full of smaller treats...........

I Would Build a House Around These Doors!

I have been knee deep in city salvage shops (Door Store Toronto above) as well as Faffing Around the Countryside with Lorraine stocking the shop   We found some new haunts on the weekend including a place where we were invited into the dusty, creaky and dimly lit attic for a poke around.......  If it sounds like a scary movie, it was far from it.  An attic full of wonderful things, old trim, doosr, painted bits......  We loved the shop, and so we asked the owner if he had anything rougher, dirtier and scrubbier....Hence the invite to the attic.  We bought a huge farm table that is currently having the barn board top sanded down a bit, and the wonderful owner is taking down his barn and is going to GIVE me some of the wood soI can build a new top for my hideous Green Formica Cottage island.  That is why I love what I do.  You meet some wonderful people in the vintage/salvage/farmhouse business.

These doors pictured above stopped me in my tracks.......I would build a house around these doors....and leave them scrubbly and worn like this..

And my Kitchen would be built around this table.....

And then I would have to select a fireplace.....

This blue one would it....

With white Corbels to hold chunky shelves....

Some old ironwork for the garden fence....

And...perhaps these doors leading out into the garden.......

This is what happens to you when you visit The Door Store in Toronto...you start to dream and imagine what you could build with all the old, beautiful BITS...........

Anna Spiro at Canadian House and Home and Giveaway.

I fell in love with this home in this months issue of Canadian House and Home Magazine.  It is the home of Australian designer and blogger Anna Spiro.  What's to LOVE?  Her use of color. Pinks and yellows and blue and black and WHITE.  But she does it with such charm and freshness, I find it uplifting.  I think her dining room with the mismatched chairs is one of my favourites ever.  Love it when designers use old, mismatched, vintage.  This house looks real and lived in, rather like the photographer popped by unexpectedly and snapped a few pics, and not like it was styled and propped for a photo shoot. 

 Look at that wall of art.........

For those of you who are greatly missing your Domino, Canadian Home and Country or other magazines that fell victim to the Recession, you really should check this one out.....With the fairly new Editor Suzanne Dimma, it had a new feel......a bit younger, edgier and the rooms have a much artsier feel, less "decorator just left" and more evolved, collected and unique.  I am really proud of this Canadian magazine, and always take a copy to give my host when I travel, or as a little gift to visitors here from elsewhere.  Don't you LOVE reading the design mags from other countries when visiting.  They have even taken a new step in producing a new version in French called "Maison et Demuire".  Leave me a comment on this post and you could win a copy of Canadian House and Home in your mailbox.....

Did House and Home pay me for that little plug????

No.  But I hate that so many great magazines have vanished and I know you would love this one if you saw it, and I really, really want it to keep going and growing...........

Sorry, back to Anna Spiro

I am crazy about her mismatched mirrors and this bathroom vanity....

I could just sit on this pink and whte sofa and look at her collections and Readables on her coffee table with a nice cup of tea..........

You could get this look by ordering pillows from different Etsy sellers.....

Remember that old battered chair you have tucked away......Go Bold or Go Home

The Giveaway. 

This one is dead simple.  No need to add your little face to my sidebar, no need to create a big windy post about this giveaway, no need to leave your name once, twice, three times.  Just leave your name in a comment if you think you would enjoy winning a copy of this magazine to check it out.  On Wednesday I will pick a person and send you a copy pronto........and you Aussies (and other countries) feel free to enter if you want to check out your Gal. I don't mind mailing overseas....

If you love Salvage, check the blog this coming week, I have been in Salvage Heaven.

Photos from http://www.houseandhome.com/  

Anna Spiro Blog http://www.absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/

Sarah Richardson's Farmhouse-Boy and Girl Bedrooms.

A Boy Room, a Girl Room.  Toss of a coin.......

Sarah gets Girl........Tommy gets Boy

Tommy uses blankets from an Army Surpus shop for the Boy Bed....Sarah uses a chenille coverlet found in the original farmhouse and has the most gorgeous pillows made for the Girl Bed.

An alabaster lamp set off by bright floral drapery...........and the best feature of all in my opinion.....a barnboard ceiling that gave this boys room (that supposedly lacked features) a huge wow factor.  That was my favourite thing in both the rooms next to the flowery custom headboard whose shape was inspired by the "keystone" trim over a door.

All photos from http://www.hgtv.ca/ . Some people have asked about fabrics and paint colors.  Paint by Para, from the new Sarah Richardson line. You should be able to find other details on the HGTV site.

Milk Bottles & Pansies

You don't need to spend money buying fresh flowers.........

When there are Pansies in your garden....

3 little pansies......3 little vintage milk bottles......

You could use jam jars even..............

Or Dandelions.....

And your weekend Flower Arranging is Done............

Have a great Spring Weekend