We got around to painting the doors in our bedroom this past weekend, and we replaced the old venetian blinds. At Home Depot, we found these neat cellular blinds that can open from the top or bottom. Which is great for letting in light but also having some privacy. We also changed the door lock to match the ones in the living room. However, we had to order the door knob online so we are still waiting for that to come in. For now it's still gold, but soon our bedroom will also be a gold free zone!
Before
I also tried to bleach the cream curtains to try and get them white. However, there doesn't seem to be any change other than being a little cleaner perhaps. I'm thinking they must be a polyester and therefore won't dye very well. I would really like white curtains for in here, but it would also be a shame to get rid of these ones as they are good quality and were custom made. Maybe I will be able to figure out a way to make them white. Any ideas?
This is one less project that will need to be done when we really start in on the bedroom. Exciting! 
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Last March I did a complete house update! How things looked, before and after, from the time we moved in until then. One year later I thought I would do that again and see much farther things have come, and what we would still like to do. Front Hall Before  After We are pretty well done in the front hall for now. There are some bigger projects we would like to undertake one day, but they are very low on the list right now. To Do:
Entertainment Room Before  After  After We have probably done the most work on this room, yet there are still a couple of things left to do. We really enjoy hanging out in this room in the evenings, it's so cosy! To Do:
Guest Bathroom Before  After One day down the road we will probably renovate this bathroom fully. I'd like the floor from the hall, maybe porcelain tiles, to continue into this bathroom. I'd also like to replace the sink area to make it more practical for storage as this will be the kids bathroom. We will most likely be getting a new toilet for our master bathroom, and then we would swop out this toilet for the one currently upstairs. I'd like a deeper tub in here and exchange the doors for a curtain. I think that will be a bit more accessible for bathing kids. Right now the doors are hard to get around. Lots of changes for the future, but for now this room is pretty much complete. To Do:
Guest Room Before  After This room was in bad shape. The walls were just covered in holes, and part of the baseboard was missing. The carpet is still pretty gross, but for now no one is sitting on it. One day this will probably be Elara's room, but for the next couple of years it will still be our guest room. To Do:
The Office Before  After Originally this was only Jeff's office and now we share it. It can be dark down here during the day, but it's quite cosy at night. I really like the bright green colour we chose. It really adds warmth. Not too much left to do in here, and I'm sure it will change in a couple of years too. It might become office / guest room. To Do:
Kitchen Before  Before  After  After In the future we are tearing out this kitchen and starting from scratch. I have been dreaming of kitchens most of my adult life and hopefully one day I'll get it. I love to cook and bake and would love to have a more efficient kitchen to work in, as well a place for family and friends to gather. For now I'm still dreaming. To Do:
Living / Dining Room Before  After  After  After We have done a lot of work on this room recently. We painted the whole space, including the staircase banister, and completely changed the fireplace area. We even have a bar/cafe with bar stools and a menu. There are still a few things we would like to do in this room, but it's coming along so well. It originally felt too large and echoey, but it is slowly becoming more cosy. I love hanging out in here during the day. To Do:
Powder Room Before  After We haven't done too much in here yet other then hang some art and fix the toilet. However, I plan to start working in this room soon. In the future we will replace the sink and vanity, but for now we are just going to paint and replace all the accessories. To Do:
Nursery Before  Nursery Before  After  After This room used to be my office when we first moved in. It is now the nursery. We took out a row of white shelves from this room that were attached to the wall and we replaced the carpet. Then we decorated for our new arrival, who seems to be enjoying the room very much. Nothing really left to do in here for now. It will probably remain a nursery for a few years yet. Master Bedroom Before  After We have done the least amount of work in this room. Although I have lots of ideas floating around in my mind for it. I'm glad we have waited, because now I think I know what I really want for our bedroom. Can't wait to get started! To Do:
Closet Before  After We are pretty much done in our closet, except we would still like to get some french doors for the entrance. I really enjoy this space, and the dark grey colour we painted it. Makes it feel rich and cosy. One day I'd like to incorporate the closet more with the master bathroom, and make it one modern space. To Do:
Master Bathroom Before  After We haven't touch this room, as I keep hoping we will rip it all out soon. Not sure when, but it will probably be our first major renovation project. So I'm reluctant to do much to it yet. Maybe this summer or fall we will get started. As always with this type of project you need both time and money. And a good plan, which I'm still working on as well.
To Do:
 I'm loving the designs from this company oato. I really like the simplistic shapes and neutral colours. Their designs are very calming and natural. Check out more by oato. here. About: In 2012 Stefan Tervoort and Pim Snijdoodt both graduated from the University for the Arts Utrecht as Product Designers. Three days after their graduation they founded Oato. It was created on the premise that two people with different qualities and personality know and can do more than two people with a similar skill set. Oato. therefore means: One And The Other.  We are thinking of starting on the powder room. I'd like to change the sink out one day, but I think that will have to wait until we decide on the flooring for the kitchen which flows into the bathroom. That might not be for a few years yet. However, for now I'm going to paint, and change all the accessories. The toilet is still in good shape, and we actually just replaced a couple of parts in it too, so it's like new. I also want to change out the ceiling fan as it is really noisy. Right now we are in the planning stage, and shopping for all the pieces.  For the walls, I'd like to paint them a dark navy blue. Something like the colour above which is called Behr Inked. Then on the one wall you can see from the living room I'd like to add a stencil in a soft silver. Maybe in a Moroccan style, or something more funky. Here are some ideas below.    I'm also going to take down the large, glued on, flat mirror and add a fun one. As this is the powder room the mirror doesn't have to be super practical. I have seen a couple I really like from CB2. One of the mirrors I have posted about before, and still really like it. And a second mirror that might look really neat as well. Both shown below.   I'm not sure about lighting yet. I have an industrial look in my head, but I have yet to find anything I really like. Might use track lighting, similar to what we used in our closet. I also saw a neat sconce at CB2 which could also work.   We had a look at Home Depot at their towel racks and toilet paper holders. However, we didn't see much that inspired us. It was all pretty plain and boring. I came across this towel rack, from CB2 again, but it's just so modern and fun! Lots of planning to do, but it should be great. Looking forward to making that room a little nicer. I will keep you updated on our progress!   While attending to the 5 am feeding last night my mind started to drift. When Jeff and I were originally looking for a house we thought it might be fun to add an indoor climbing wall to the place. Since buying our home, and living here for a year, that idea escaped my mind until last night. Jeff and I used to do a lot of indoor climbing, and belonged to a club downtown. Since moving out of the city we haven't been climbing, and then I got pregnant. I'm starting to really miss it. How amazing would it be to have a climbing wall right in your home! We have a giant wall over the staircase that could possibly work. The climbing wall could actually be longer too, if one day we changed the stairs out for a neat curving stairway. Then the climbing wall could start all the way down on the lower floor. If we chose particular climbing holds in monochrome, we could make it look like a neat art installation. I came across this website, Home Rock Climbing Walls, which shows you how to, and inspiration for climbing in your house. Hmmm, it could work!   Check out this amazing house posted on Contemporist. This place is so unique, I love the different shapes used for the exterior and the main stairwell. The house was designed by iSTUDIO Architecture as a farmhouse near Mumbai, India. For more photos click here! About: The Brick House, situated amidst rural settlements in Wada, near Mumbai,India, is a 2500 sq.ft. farmhouse set within hills and farms. The impact of the architecture of the structure is strong, leading the viewer to a new observation, not allowing him to be complacent about the space which he occupies. The organic form emerges from the ground and flows into the skyline, following curved dips and peaks. Each space flows into another along curved lines, leading into a seamless space held by the central courtyard. The observer begins his journey along the curved jali brick wall offering tantalizing glimpses of the interior, thus drawing him into dramatic compositions of light and shadows. As one enters into the structure, one is greeted by the soft sunlight falling to the central body of water and the coolness within the structure. The interior space is dominated by the two huge arches of brick and stone, opening to vistas of farms and hills. The furniture seems to rise and fall from the walls or floor dramatically leading one’s eyes to play of materials against each other. Zoning of activities responding to the climatic conditions and views was acheived with the use of levels leading to a single yet distinct living room, kitchen and dining. South-west position of first floor bedroom provides shade to courtyard and keeps water body cool. The positions and sizes of the openings are dictated by climatology, ensuring natural light, cross ventilation and passive cooling. Taking inspiration from architect Laurie Baker, we used techniques like rat-trap bonds brickwork, filler slabs, brick jalis, brick arches, built-in furniture and use of local material. These proved low cost and eco-friendly technologies, allowing this 2500 sq ft structure to be constructed in INR 20 lacs due to reduced requirement of steel, cement & bricks.   When my parents came to visit a couple of weeks ago, they brought with them a stained glass ornament that hung in my bedroom as a baby. It's a cute little bear flying through the air on balloons. It was actually falling apart, but a family friend fixed it all up for me. I decided it would be a nice continuation to hang it up in my daughter's room. Perhaps a little out of date (apparently very popular when I was young), but I still like looking at it and knowing the history behind it. And it's a story I can tell Elara when she is older.   Take a look at this amazing modern cat bed. Functional, yet still looks good enough to be left out in your living room. This bed is by designers Martin Zapata and Susana Mejia of the company Lord Paw. We don't have a cat, but I would love to one day. Maybe in future when the kiddo is older. Or when she asks for one, then it will seem like her idea! However, if you do have a cat in your life check out Lord Paw. About: We are two Colombian designers based in Medellin Antioquia. Everything is produced by hand, side by side with different independent artisans in the Valley. Each of them very good at their own craft, Metal work, Wood work, Textile manufacturing, Ceramics Etc. We work alongside, until we reach the point where we feel the product needs to be. The concept behind Lord Paw is For The True King. Pets have always had a privileged place at home emotionally and spatially but more often than not their furniture, bowls, toys etc, are not coherent with the general aesthetics of the space. That´s our intention through design, to bring functionality and aesthetic coherence between the pieces and the relationship with the space both for the owner and the fur ball.   We bought our very first piece of real artwork. And it fits perfectly over the fireplace. We actually have been admiring this artist, Robert Slivchak, since we saw his work on display at one of our favourite restaurants downtown, C'est What?. While eating, were joking about who buys art while out for dinner. However, after glancing at the art on display we decided it was actually really neat. We both really liked one of the pieces and I wandered over to check out the price. And then while we were eating someone came in and bought the piece! So that answered our question of people buying art while having dinner. Turns out they do! I have never had the experience of liking art so much that I actually thought of purchasing it. We decided to check out his website and see what other artwork he had for purchase. It wasn't until months later that we ended up splurging and bought a piece. Figuring that we still liked his style after all that time meant that we would probably like it forever. This piece is called Relief NO. 4 and it is by Robert Slivchak. Check out more art by him here.  
How is it possible, my little one is a month old already! I don't know where the time went, but she is longer a newborn. She is becoming a real little person, more awake, and full of curiosity. We are still enjoying her so much, even though she keeps us very busy. My posts might be a bit more sporadic, as some days I have no time at all. But I'm hoping to at least post once, maybe more, a week. I have a few topics in the works and will share them with you soon!
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