So we are experimenting with painting the wall above dark grey, the same colour as the fireplace and railings. That colour is Behr Asphalt Gray. We decided to just do the rolling on this wall to get a feel for it, as seen in the photo above, as the trim takes a lot longer to do. So it's still a bit hard to imagine when it's not complete. 

The look I am trying to achieve is having a contrast between the fireplace and the wall directly across from it, separating the living/dinning area from the kitchen. Don't mind the painting/curtain mess in the photo below, but you can get an idea of what I mean. I think it will look good, but it is a bit overwhelming going from a white wall to very dark. Any thoughts?

This company, Concrete Cat, makes neat artistic objects and architectural pieces for your home out of concrete. Concrete can be so versatile, as you can add almost anything you can think of to the mix to create something unique. Concrete Cat has some really interesting ideas and pieces! Check them out!

About:
Concrete Cat is a studio based in Edmonton, AB Canada with a multidisciplinary approach to concrete work. Through founder Matt Heide’s eclectic combination of skills and interests, a frontier in concrete has been discovered.

The canvases we ordered for downstairs have finally arrived. They look so great! Thanks to Courtney McIntosh at Precious Photography for taking these amazing pictures. They are close ups from the ice storm we had in Toronto last winter. I have had the images for this past year, but wasn't sure where I wanted to put them until recently. Now they are on canvas and have a home in our entertainment room. 

Over the weekend, we also got a fun lamp for the corner. We found it at the store Structube. At night with the new art work and the lamp this corner of the room is extremely cosy. I can see many an evening spent sitting in there with a hot drink (or feeding the baby at 2am). 

The next big purchase I'm hoping to make is a couple of stools for the bar area in the living room. I decided to set it all up to make it inviting to sit there. It will be even more so once we have our new shelves in and you can easily grab a book to read while enjoying your beverage. It's a coffee / traditional bar, perhaps depending on the time of day. Who wants to be it's first customers? What can I get for you?!

The lighting design over at Sasamat Creative are so amazing. They are located in Vancouver, and create beautiful glass lighting, that is just so unique. I would love to have this pendant light in the photo above!

About:
Sasamat is a creative studio that actively pursues possibilities for interventions to the traditional usages of materials for commercial products. The work strives to create a tension between sculptural form and subtle phenomena through the interplay of light, color and visual perception. Sasamat Creative was started by Robert Geyer and Rena-Li Kuhrt. Robert has a MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Rena-Li has a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

I got two great cookbooks for Christmas this year. I can't wait to start cooking from them. However, just glancing at them they look really good! Both very different from each other, but both look really delicious. 

Everything in this book looks amazing! The recipes go from breakfast all the way through to dessert. There are a great number of Mexican inspired dishes that are very much my taste. Can't wait to try! There is also a recipe for baked mozzarella sticks, which could be a great appetizer at my next dinner party. Lots of great and quick meal ideas. I plan to cook up a bunch over the next little while.

This cookbook is really interesting! On top of having some really amazing and unique recipes, there is an entire section dedicated to entertaining. It was so inspiring to read through, and makes me want to plan a hundred themed dinner parties! The author is a trained chef and wife of a Canadian diplomat, and so had to do lots of entertaining. Her dishes are inspired from the many countries they lived in all over the world. There is a ton of information on entertaining for different occasions and different amounts of people, as well as menu plans from her book. I see lots of fun dinner parties in the future!

We are slowly working on painting the huge upstairs room. We had painted one wall a couple of months back, and now are continuing throughout the room. I'm hoping to paint one wall a dark grey for contrast. Still working on convincing Jeff. I would like to paint the wall opposite the new fire place the same dark grey. I think it will really bring the room together. For now we are slowly working section by section on finishing this great room. So many walls!

Check out this super neat project by Höweler + Yoon Architecture. It was a public installation in Boston. You can see more photos on Contemporist.  Looks like a lot of fun to hang out on!

Project Description:
SWING TIME is an interactive playscape composed of 20 illuminated ring-shaped swings. The installation activates a temporary park between the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and D Street to create an experimental public space.

Custom fabricated from welded polypropylene, the swings are designed in three different sizes so that the community can engage, exercise, and play with SWING TIME as individuals or in groups. LED lighting within the swing is controlled by a custom micro-controller, signaling the swing’s activity level. An internal accelerometer measures the acceleration forces of the swing. When forces are static and the swings are not in use, they emit a soft, white light that illuminates the area. When the swings are in motion, the micro-controller switches the light from white to purple, creating a colorful glowing effect. SWING TIME’s responsive play elements invite users to interact with the swings and with each other, activating the urban park and creating a community laboratory for play in the Innovation District and South Boston neighborhoods.

We decided to finish the last wall in the entertainment room. We were getting tired of explaining the half finished wall. We took out the last of the white bookcases, and got some low shelves that match our media centre. These new cabinets hold all our board games, plus it's at the right level to put a drink down on when sitting on the couch. We are still trying to decide if we want to put doors on the cabinets yet, or leave them as open shelving. Also, we have ordered three photos on canvas for the wall above, and are just waiting for them to come in. Then all we need is a big lamp to go in the corner!

We started by taking out the white shelves and then adding in new baseboards, as they were missing behind the couch and shelves. We needed to decorate in such a way to cover up both areas, as the carpet underneath was the original, and different from the rest of the room. When the pervious owner changed the carpet he left the white shelves in place and now we have to deal with two different carpets. I posted more about it here. I really have no idea what he was thinking! After the baseboards were in we painted the remaining wall the same colour as the rest of the room. 

Above the couch is a flat part of the ceiling that we had left white previously. However, when we took the shelves out we noticed that the ceiling had only been painted white up to the shelves. The rest was left a dull drywall colour. So instead of trying to patch it up with white, we just painted the whole area the same as the walls. It actually looks a lot better now, I'm glad we decided to take the extra time to paint it. 

A few new changes, and more to come. I can't wait to see the new canvases on the wall. I think it will bring it all together, and it look less plain as it does in the photo above. Hopefully I can post those photos soon!

Check out these really neat stools by WITAMINA D. They are made out of a tree truck! So neat! They would be great to just tuck into a corner somewhere as an extra seat or a little table to put your coffee down on. 

Description:
The “1/2” stool is made of half of the tree trunk. The unique character of wood is contrasted with the technical, laser cut metal elements. The stool is very stable and durable. Thanks to the application of a protective sealing technique to the wood and metal the stool can inhabit both inside and outside. It can also be used as a side table.