So now that my website look has been redesigned I thought it was time to take a look at the whole picture. I have come up with a bunch of themes or segments that will happen each month. I'm excited, and feel renewed about the direction of the blog. I was starting to have a tough time coming up with new ideas, but now I have all my posts planned out for the next couple of months. Of course, if something amazing happens in-between I can tweak the schedule, but at least now I have something to post no matter what! 

So here they are, the new monthly segments!

• Inspiration Boards - Each month I'm going to post a photo board of inspiring things that sum of that month.
• Monthly Recipe: Something yummy to make and eat each month.
• Technique Tips: I'm going talk about how to do some of these projects we have been undertaking.
• Around the City: Fun and new adventures you can do right outside your door.
• Guest Posts: Hoping to showcase more projects from others.
• Top 10 Lists: And I'm going to end with a quick summary of things or ideas from the month.

Well, it was pretty cloudy last night but we managed to capture a few photos of the lunar eclipse. We also caught some of those pesky clouds in time lapse photos too. Even though we didn't get to see much of the eclipse, it was still fun to try and to take part. Especially with a glass of wine and cinnamon pecan buns I had just pulled out of the oven (more on that later this week). 

Keeping with the big changes theme, I have redesigned my website for the first time since it's conception. I'm really happy with the more open layout and bigger photos. I also tweaked all the pages as well, so take a look! Lots more posts in the works!

This wonderfully fancy dish set belonged to my grandfather. My mother had them in her care for awhile, but as she already has two other sets of dishes, she decided to pass these on to me. They are much more ornate than I would have chosen (not to mention a lot more expensive) but now that I have them I really like them! They are from Royal Crown Derby and are based on Japanese imperial design. I love the rich cobalt blue and warm red colours. 

There is still lots of pieces left to come from my parents place. I think there is a whole tea set and some more larger serving dishes. Then I'll have to throw a very fancy dinner party! And I will actually have nice dishes to use on special occasions now, like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can't wait!

As summer winds down, and fall begins, I thought I'd share this amazing city oasis. SVOYA Studio designed this outdoor retreat, which is located in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. I love the cosy atmosphere, even as the air gets cooler I can imagine sitting out here with a warm blanket and a hot drink. Bring it on autumn! 

See more photos of this stunning place at Contemporist. 

We got new curtains for our room. They are charcoal grey and are in four panels. They are quite similar to the ones we had in our condo. So, back to having lots of fun making different designs with the panels. Instead of sheers in behind, this time we have funky blinds that can be positioned from either the top or bottom. These curtains seem to be of a thicker material too than the condo ones, so our room is very dark now which is great since there is a street light that shines in at night. And they also slide a lot better along the rail than the condo ones too. All great improvements!

We ended up raising the curtain rod up higher on the wall, which gives it a more dramatic look, especially at night when they are closed. Now the windows are completely done in the bedroom. We have painted the doors, changed the door knob, added blinds and new curtains. One major part of the bedroom renovation finished! Lots more to go, but it's nice to see something in here accomplished. 

I really want one of these lamps! They were designed by Tel Aviv based Studio Cheha and are called BULBING lamps. They were made using an etched acrylic that give them a 3D effect. See more at Kickstarter. 

About:
We’re all about innovation! Our new lamps are inspired by classic and vintage-style desk lamps with a modern twist. By deconstructing their wire-frame forms and setting it against a flat, clear surface, Studio Cheha continues to develop our original ideas for cool and functional design pieces—that produce the illusion they are 3D, once switched on!

I don't think I have told you about our former dishwasher we used for almost two years. It was a beauty! It was black, in an all white kitchen, with big scratch marks down the front. The door hinge was broken so if you let it go it fell to the floor, and both racks were broken as well and fell off their tracks frequently. It left our dishes with rust marks if placed in a certain corner of the bottom rack, it was super loud, and to top it all off it leaked! We were always mopping up water off the floor. Two years we dealt with all of this. It's amazing what you can get used to over time. Even now I find myself using the new dishwasher with the old habits that were previously necessary. 

This is a Bosch dishwasher, with not many extra features. Just a simple machine, which suits us just fine, because who really needs 10 different run cycles. We only ever really use one, although sometimes the half load cycle is useful too. However, since it didn't have a lot of those extra features it was one of their cheaper models, but it didn't skimp on the things that were actually important to us. It is super quiet, shorter run cycle, and eco friendly on the water use. As for look, I knew I wanted stainless steal and I wanted the control buttons to be hidden (especially from little hands in the future) which gives it nice clean lines. 

Installation, of course, took longer than expected. However, it is in now and we are enjoying the convenience of it a lot!

We decided to spend the long weekend in Ottawa visiting family and friends. We saw so many people, most of whom had not yet met Elara. Practically every meal was spent with someone new. It was certainly busy, but fun too. Elara got lots of new toys to play with, like in the photo above. She was greeted with a play mat at her grandparents place. Elara was a good sport through all the excitement, except for the long trip home. There was lots of crying, and it was definitely a test of motherhood listening to heartbreaking sobs but being powerless to do anything about it. However, we made it! I hope everyone had a great Labour Day weekend!

I decided to rearrange Elara's room, and the result makes the space look so much bigger! I decided to change everything around to make it more efficient and to have more space for her to move around. Plus, now that the crib is on the other side she can no long see us when we are in bed, which seems to be helping her sleep longer. We also moved her mattress down as she was almost ready to escape. I'm liking to results! 

I need to add some kind of art above the purple shelf. I'm planning to frame this photo below to put up there. Maybe on a ledge shelf, along with the white E seen in the photo above. The room seemed a bit awkward before, as you encountered the crib as soon as you walked in. Now it seems so big and the arrangement looks more appealing. We have been hanging out in here a lot more now!

I'm loving this light wooden sideboard. So modern and funky! It's by designer Fabrizio Simonetti, who created it for Formabilio. It was inspired by and named for designer Marcel Breuer. Check out more photos at Contemporist. 

About: 
Marcel has very simple, linear line with no fancy details. The chromed tubular metal legs supporting and embracing the wood structure are inspired by Marcel Breuer’s genius, one of the leading exponents of the Modern Movement.