Welcome to the flamingo room! We have added a few more details, including two large flamingos that have taken residence in here. Also, we added a new mattress and a shelf for toys, both from Ikea. We still need to buy some blinds or other window coverings, and of course inside the closet hasn't been touched yet.

So far the bed isn't being used, and is in fort/cave form. The mattress we got is actually quite thick and covers the sides of the bed to the top in loft position, and makes it super high in bed position. So it has caused a bit of a problem. We are not sure what we are going to do yet, maybe buy some railing walls. In the meantime Elara can play under the bed with all her pillows. One of the pillow covers I bought came all the way form the UK and is by designer LucyMadeMe, you can see it in the photo below or here. 

We also bought some cute flamingo artwork for the walls from Montreal based artist Amelie Legault. They are super awesome, check out more of her work here.

See below for a ton of photos of the flamingo room so far!

We finally have the library in place on our newly constructed shelves. Jeff devoted so much care to making these. I'm so happy we decided to take the time to design this whole area ourselves. Even though it took so long to complete, we now have a very unique living room. They are so special compared to buying pre-made wall shelves (and they fit much better too). I just love looking over to this side of the room! 

Just like the first side that went up, these shelves are also built on angles. Each shelf alternates which direction the angle goes, from skinny to thick and from thick to skinny. The only difference is on this side they extend right from the fireplace to the wall. The shelves were each made to fit exactly with the wall. However, they fit too well, as we ended up having to cut a piece off just to be able to get them into place. It's not too noticeable but there is a piece missing out of each shelf on the fireplace side. Jeff plans to make small pieces to fit in there in the future. So I guess the shelves aren't 100% done, but they are at least now functional. 

To see how we created these shelves, and to see the process from the beginning check out my previous posts:
On making the shelves check out here 
​For the beginning of the process check out Weekend Project: Fireplace & Fireplace Update & Fireplace Done. 

We had almost finished this project, and then we let it sit for a long long time. We just never found the time to fix up the lines. Every time one of us would use that bathroom we would have a moment of "oh yeah, this needs to be finished". And then promptly forget about it again after leaving the bathroom. Well, no longer! It is finished! 

We had originally thought to add some yellow/orange lines to match the drawing of the scooter on the opposite wall, but then I had the brilliant idea to just buy a hand towel in that colour to give it an extra pop of orange. It was hard to find one that matched exactly, this one is a bit more yellow, but it still has the same effect.

A big thanks to my mother, who helped make the finishing of this project happen! She painstakingly fix up the lines that had bled under the tape with a fine paint brush. 

Everyone who uses the bathroom seem to be excited by the pattern on the wall. It is unexpected, and unseen until you are inside the room, which adds to the dramatic effect. I'm quite happy with it, and it is so original compared to using generic wallpaper. ​

What do you do when you see a modern chandelier you really like but it costs 1000s of dollars? Why, make it yourself of course! That's just what my father, Steve White, did at my parents condo. The new light hangs over their dinning room table, and it certainly is a conversation piece. I've already commissioned him to make one for us. 

From the designer:
A unique dining room chandelier was created by modifying standard under-the-counter LED lighting components. The LED lights are available from Lee Valley Tools on reels of peel-and-stick tape in any length.  Also available are one meter long aluminum tracks (to mount the LED tape), light diffusers, wiring, connectors, power supplies, and dimmers for complete kitchen counter or bookshelf lighting.

It was discovered that the LED tracks are made of a soft aluminum extrusion which can be gently curved or twisted into almost any shape prior to installing the LED tape.  The possible lighting designs are only limited by one's imagination.  In this case, 5 of the tracks were bent over a wine bottle into various curves, such that they all line up to be of equal lengths at the two ends.  The ends were then clamped by sandwiching them between two aluminum plates cut in a semi-circle shape and bolted together.  The space between the plates contains the interconnecting wires joining the LED strips.  

A 12 volt power supply, mounted in the ceiling box, can be dimmed using a standard AC light dimmer.  The chandelier is suspended from the ceiling box by 4 picture wires, which also carry the 12 volt power to the fixture.

I just love how unique it is, and even more special since it was handmade. It's amazing what can be done with a little imagination and hard work. Can't wait to have one hanging over our dinning room table!

I can't believe it, but half the shelves beside the fireplace are up! Do you remember that project we started, so, so long ago. I'm so glad we took the time to do it right because they look great. I had way too much fun putting all my long lost things back on display. It makes the room so much cozier, and less barn like. I can't wait to get the other side done (and hopefully it won't take another year to do).

Above are the "envelopes" that we created to go over a support system, making the shelves easy to remove. In the photo they are all put together and sanded, right before the stain was applied. 

These are the wall mounted supports that the shelf envelopes would then slide overtop. Each one is drilled into the studs in both the wall and the fireplace making the shelves super sturdy. 

Here we are sliding the shelf envelope onto the supports. They fit perfectly, so there is no need to attach the shelf to the support system; it's not going anywhere.

From the side you can see all the lengths and neat angles of the shelves. We wanted to design something unique, and I think we have accomplished it. Can't wait to get the other side up on the wall.

I have been playing with the idea of adding wallpaper to the power room on one wall, but that stuff is expensive! Not to mention I have never put up wallpaper, but I have heard it can be a reason to file for divorce haha. So we decided to create our own design by simply using painters tape and paint. We knew we wanted a geometric design, as those were all the types of wallpaper we were drawn to. So we stuck different widths of painters tape all over the wall. Then added a silver grey paint by rolling overtop of the tape and wall. The result is quite dramatic, as you can see in the photo above. We still need to do a few touch ups as some of the paint bled under the tape (of course), but overall I think it looks good. You can't see it until you go into the room, so it's a bit of a surprise.

We are thinking of adding yellow/orange paint as well, that will match the picture of the scooter (seen below). We might paint in a few of the shapes on the wall or add extra lines in the new colour, we haven't decided yet. The colour that matches perfectly is called Behr Splendor Gold (seen below).

I'm really liking this effect! The wall was really plain before. This new pattern brings interest and brightens up the room.

Painting walls is such a chore, yet it is a great way to change the look and feel of a room for cheap. The prep work of taping all the edges is time consuming and doesn't aways have great results. Most tape at some point will bleed under, making more work for yourself in the end. I'm proud to say we have done away with taping in our house, and after so many paint jobs we are now painting pros. Here are a few techniques for painting tape free!

• Make sure you have a good, clean brush, with no fraying bristles. We also like to use a large brush.
• The brush should be angled.
• Dip the brush into the paint about 1/2 an inch deep, so that only the tips of the bristles have paint on them.
• Knock some of the excess paint off  by using the side of the paint can, but still leave a fair amount on the brush. Just so it's not dripping.
• Grasp the brush lower around the metal that holds the bristles. Not by the handle. This helps with control.
• Place the brush against the corner where the two walls meet, and angle away from the wall you don't want to paint.
• Slowly, with consistent pressure, glide the brush down the wall. 
• Add more paint as needed and continue. 

We spent this beautiful weekend exploring new parks in our area. Each morning we would walk a distance, and then the next day drive to where we left off and continue from there. So much fun, I can't believe how many wonderful places there are around us. We have been following the Waterfront Trail. Starting from our public beach, Rouge Beach, and heading east. It has been lots of fun, and we plan to keep going each weekend! 

At home, we still can't decide on the bathroom paint colour. It's hard to match the pinks. So in the meantime we actually got back to working the shelves in the living room. I'm so excited to get this project going again! We have been talking about it for ages, and now it's happening. It's going to take awhile, but I think they will be amazing once complete. 

The bathroom project is very slowly coming along. We work on it a bit and then often find ourselves outside enjoying the wonderful weather. And I'm not even going to apologize for it, because we only get this weather for a short time, right? We have been enjoying walks, beach days, BBQs, and swims, and we have had a lot of great people visiting over this past month. So much fun! Just last night baby got to go for her first swim. She seemed to really like it. Can't wait to take her again!

Back to the bathroom update. We did manage to replace the sink. We took out the old one and simply swapped it with the sink from the powder room. As they are exactly the same so it didn't require moving the plumbing around. Even though we are essentially using the same sink, it is in much better shape, so it feels new to us. 

We also took all the various bars off the large wall and filled in the holes. We still need to get a new toilet paper holder, but that's all. I'm not going to to get a new towel rack, instead I'm going to hang our hand towels on the safety bar attached to the bathtub tiles. We can't take it out unless we want to leave giant holes in the tile. So I decided to use it as a towel rack instead of leaving the bar as an eye sore. 

Next we need to pick some paint for the walls. Originally we were planning to use the same grey as on our stair railing. However, after doing some test spots the colour actually looks tan in the bathroom, and we aren't sure if it really matches the pinks. So it's back to looking at paint samples for us. Hopefully we can get started on the painting this weekend (in between hanging outside on this gorgeous long weekend). Hope you have a great holiday weekend!

Over the weekend I hosted a baby shower for a good friend of mine. This required a bit of out-of-the-box thinking so to speak. For one, it's the middle of the summer and I didn't think the traditional afternoon tea would be best, and my friend has a lot of allergies so I wasn't going to be making little sandwiches. I ended up going with a summer picnic theme, while still keeping with a baby theme. Everything went well and the mama-to-be seemed to have lots of fun!

I also created little milk cartons, decorated with stickers and ribbon, for the prizes. A little different design to the regular gift bags. 

We made an appetizer with apricots soaked in orange juice, topped with goat cheese and peanuts. Then I piled the veggie fresh rolls in a boat salad bowl for a fun look. And who doesn't like ice cream at a hot summer get together. These little lemon and mango sundaes disappeared very quickly! I had lots of fun putting together this summer baby shower, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.