Depression Glass

I've never been much of a collector.  Perhaps of stickers, rocks and dolls as a child but, beyond that, I can't recall anything specific.  Despite this, I've always wanted to collect something, I just couldn't find anything that I cared enough about to track down, display and store . . . until I met depression glass.  

Depression glass was inexpensive dishware produced at low cost at the time of the great depression.  It was considered "low quality" and was sold very cheaply or given away for free as a sale incentive.  It took me a while to warm up to depression glass.  Some of the styles are very ornate and some of the colours are very unappealing.  It was milk glass that eventually won me over with my initial purchase of cream and sugar bowls and a little vase. 

My first purchase on the left and
my newest (3) purchases on the right.   

Twenty-five cents each!

Milk glass, however, is not my true love.  It is the jadeite and delphite that I adore.  Due to influence from Swedish Modern design, these two colours/styles have a simplicity that is lacking in the white and clear glass, which tends to be over-the-top in design.  Alas, these styles are very difficult to find and too pricy for my budget.  I did find a beautiful bowl set and a very cute lemon juicer locally, but at $200.00 and $60.00 respectively, I just couldn't do it.

Instead, I have settled on an "under $25.00 an item" budget and green and rose clear glass.   These two colours are widely available although it takes some dedication to find the right combination of form and function.  Of course, that is part of the fun!

I love the deep bowl of my lemon juicer and can't believe how much I've used it in the month or so I've had it.  It will be perfect for making Lemon Drop Martinis this summer, if the weather ever warms up!

Making lemonade!

My rose glass collection consists of two items, a bud vase and a pitcher.  The pitcher was originally outside of my budget and I waited semi-patiently for it to go on sale.  A risk that paid off!  Rose glass seems to be the most widely available right now and I am planning on focusing my attentions in this direction for the future.  While it does not compare to my favoured jadeite, I do love the summery look of rose glass and I can't wait to see what I can find for my collection next!

Pretty

I almost bought a house a few weeks ago.  Really, it was *this* close.

But, then I didn't.  It seemed like a good idea and then a bad idea and then there was just a void.

So, I went shopping.  I am forever on the hunt for strategies and decoration ideas for my condo.  My condo was built in 1981.  The early 80's was not a pretty time.  Nope.  It was a time of cheap constriction, weird angles and laminate everything.  I've done a lot to spruce it up, but it is a work in progress.

Last week, I made a few steps forward.  There is more pretty here now.

I went back and looked at this vintage print at least three times before I took it home with me.  I loved it more each time and finally ran back to get it, full of anxiety that someone else might have bought it.

Doesn't it look like it belongs here?

My biggest purchase was a new-to-me bed frame.  I have been planning to buy a twin frame for my second bedroom for a while, but I had no idea what I wanted.  Actually, I wanted this frame, but had no idea how I'd get it here.  Plus, it was a bit too pricey for me.

Then I found it:

I have no idea what type of frame this is, but the joints say that is about 100 years old.  I love it!  And, I will love it even more when it is painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (shhh . . . don't tell the seller I said that)!

The best part is, even with new slats, a re-paint AND a new mattress, it will about the same price as the original frame I wanted, above.

Last, but not least, I bought a 1840's clock case, refinished and sold by one of my favourite new spots in town, A French Touch.  I can't wait to find little treasures to display in side (and on the hooks at the bottom).

Lots of pretty.

Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving!

I haven't been feeling particularly thankful lately, but I do know that, all things considered, I have a lot of blessings in my life.  Today, I thought I'd document a few:

(1) A place to call my own, with all the fixings of comfort a person needs.

(2) My fuzzy friend, who is sweeter than I have ever dreamed a pet could be.

(3) Unexpected opportunities to make big changes and the knowledge that, sometimes, change can be a really good thing.

(4) The time and freedom to cook, bake, grow and create.

(5) And, last but not least, Thanksgiving leftovers!

All that we behold is full of blessings.

~ William Wordsworth

Attempts at Interior Design

I've been on vacation for the past few weeks and one of my projects has been to make some decorating decisions for my condo.  I bought my condo in May 2010 and hired contractors to complete some major renovations for me.  The contractors fully renovated the kitchen and bathroom and replaced all of the doors and frames.  I took on the project of repainting the ceiling, walls and doors (bifold and regular) myself (with the help of some friends!).  I thought that my end of the project would take a few weekends, but in between the working and the moving, it ended up taking about nine months.  By December 2010, I had run out of patience and money and could not stand the idea of doing one. more. thing.

I was left with  a lot of blank blue walls and some mismatched furniture.

My walls: Benjamin Moore, Morning Sky Blue

By the time July 2011 arrived, I was finally ready to start thinking about decorating again.  I did a major clean-up and reorganization and bought a couple of new pieces of furniture.  I thought about the decorating style I want and determined that it is not really one style, but some sort of mishmash of West Coast Casual, Shabby Chic, French Country and Beach Cottage.

Once I started reorganizing and planning, I was on a roll.  While I am still unable to bring myself to do any more painting (my new-to-me kitchen table needs refinishing), over the past few weeks, I decided on a tablecloth, accent colours, artwork and kitchen tiles. Phew!

The tablecloth was my first project.  This might not seem like a big deal but, because of my very distinct wall colours and the fact that the cloth will be in constant use while it covers up my dingy table, I had to pick carefully.  I knew I wanted a white tablecloth, but it was difficult to decide on an accent colour.  I love red in combination with my wall colours and even bought a red teapot and planted red geraniums in an effort to go this direction.  But, honestly, red is just not my colour.  And neither are orange or purple.

After about 36 hours of scouring ebay and Etsy for vintage table cloths, I finally stumbled on Ma Maison Francaise.  French Country!  Vintage!

I found my tablecloth!

It was only after I bought the tablecloth that I realized that it shares something in common with my bedspread:

My vintage chenille bedspread

The embroidery on my new-to-me tablecloth

I am pretty sure that matching your tablecloth with your bedspread is not cool, but at least I am consistent!  

In any case, picking out the tablecloth helped me to decide on my accent colour, the raspberry tone of the pink-red embroidered flower.  I even bought some coordinating fabric remnants to make napkins!  

I really hadn't wanted pink as my accent.  A pink and blue apartment, how tacky does that sound?  But, I like pink.  And blue.  And, it's just an accent colour, right?

I decided to map out my colour palate using Benjamin Moore paint swatches to make sure they all work together.  I don't planning on painting with them all (the blue is my wall colour, the rest will be in fabrics and art), but wanted to see how they look.  The are pretty girly, but I like them - the colours of skies and waves with a sprinkling of flowers.

Having my colour palette picked out out also helped me choose some art:

Blenda Studio

Jelly Beans

Little Brown Pen (I haven't bought these, but I want them)

And my tiles:

I am hoping to have the tile installed in October.  I can't wait until it is done!

Next projects:

Framing all my art and saving my pennies for a new couch!

How to Turn a Wardrobe into a Desk (and other transformations)

Last year, I bought a condo and, over a 6 month period, fixed it up. By the time I was done with the the renovations, I couldn't afford any new furniture and planned to slowly update my old furniture over time. I have most of the items I need but, my old furniture is reaching the end of it's life. Most of it was purchased about 12 years ago from Ike@ and, while Ike@ furniture certainly fulfils a purpose, it is not known for it's longevity. In addition to dealing with increasingly wobbly tables and some punctured particle board, I am so done with pine. I want to get rid of it ALL.

But, I have no money. And, because I have a big project in the works, I am not likely to have any money for a very, very long time. One day, as a was feeling sorry for myself and my "college student" furniture, I had a brain wave. I realized that I could transform my underused white wardrobe into a desk, thereby starting a chain reaction of furniture rearrangement that would allow me to, not only sell my old pine desk and make some money for a new piece of furniture, but to repurpose a lot of what I already own. Win-win!

My old pine desk (it looks like a wardrobe, but was secretly a desk). Sold to a good home.

Once I made the decision to make this change, nothing could stop me. I spent three whole days reorganizing, moving furniture and selling my desk. The furniture domino the sale of my desk created was huge. The desk was replaced by my white wardrobe (now desk), the white wardrobe (which held quilting supplies) was replaced by a dresser I kept in the front hall, the hall dresser (which held bags and hats and mitts) was replaced by an empty chippy toy box that I had stored in my bedroom closet. I was able to sell my old desk for a decent price and I used the funds to buy a kitchen table and a bookcase (both used, solid wood and painted white). Getting a new-to-me kitchen table allowed me to move my old kitchen table (actually a large night stand) to where it belongs, the bedroom. The new-to-me bookshelf allowed me to remove one more pine-like (*not real pine*) item out of my main living space and into the spare bedroom.

Wow! I feel like I have almost all new furniture, at absolutely no cost to me. I do have some more replacements to make in the living room before I will be satisfied, but I am very happy with the outcome!

The biggest change I made was the wardrobe to desk transformation. Because I never actually sit at my desk and I loved the tidy and pet-proof nature of my old wardrobe-style desk, turning a real wardrobe into a desk was a no brainer for me.

My wardrobe, about to be transformed.

I cleaned out my quilting supplies.

And then I sawed a hole in the back panel to allow cords and cables to exit.

Easy peasy!

Once that was done, I loaded my new desk.

I even added some magnet and cork boards onto the doors for notes and keepsakes (this was an additional expense, but it didn't cost much).

The bottom drawer of my wardrobe/desk now holds gift wrapping supplies and the top drawer holds desk supplies such as some old letters, paper, envelopes, markers and pens. As you can see, my laptop, printer, lamp and some other miscellaneous desk supplies fit easily on the shelves.

I am so happy with the airiness my "new" tall and white desk provides. And, I love that thinking differently about my current furniture allowed me to make the changes I wanted without spending money that I don't have. In the picture below, you can see my "new" wardrobe style desk along with the new-to-me table and bookshelf that the sale of my old desk allowed me to purchase.

I won't be able to make my next series of changes (new coffee table, couch and TV stand) without some money, but now that I have managed to get a bit closer to the beachy, shabby-chic look I am after, I know that I can eventually make it happen.

Hopefully white furniture won't go completely out of fashion between now and then!

Milk Glass

I love milk glass. Some of the styles are a little "much" for my taste, but the cool white simplicity of pressed glass is right up my alley. And while milk glass has increased in price as it becomes a collectors item, it is still fairly inexpensive. I have been admiring several pieces of milk glass on Ebay and Etsy for the past few months, but couldn't quite justify the shipping costs, which were usually more than the glass itself. Happily for me, my favourite consignment shop, Good Things, has just reopened after a long (very long) closure for renovations. And, they usually have a nice little selection of milk glass. My recent purchases included:

This sweet little creamer and sugar bowl set.

Aren't they cute?

And this little vase.

I think the vase would look lovely with some very full tea roses or a couple of peonies. Unfortunately, I am allergic to pretty much every plant on the planet and cannot tolerate flowers inside, but I feel that just having a few vases around gives the suggestion of flowers, which I love.

I can't wait to expand my collection!

It's Time for a Dance Party!

All of my closet doors (22 panels) have been painted and hung. Let's dance!

The Bathroom: After

So, my bathroom is now complete and, overall, I am very happy with it. It has the classic romantic look that I was going for. Despite the fact that it was supposed to be finished early on in my renovation, it ended up being the final project my contractor completed.

Here is the bathroom before:

And here it is now:

I replaced the old laminate hollow core door with a beautiful five panel wood door. My only issue with this door is that I painted it myself and just can't get a good finish (I can't seem to paint it fast enough and it goes all funny where my brush strokes meet at the vertical and horizonal junctions). I am going to try one more time!

The old tub was removed and replaced with this beautiful soaker tub by Hytec from Kohler. I knew exactly what I wanted for a tub and it took a while to track this one down. Persistence pays off!

Large subway tiles were used for the tub surround and I also added an accent band of recycled glass tiles. I love these and wish I had gone for a wider band. They were ridiculously expensive though!

For the vanity, I wanted something that looks like furniture so I tracked down this piece from American Standard. It is a bit large for the space (actually it is the same size as the old vanity, but couldn't be tucked into the corner due to an angled wall) and I think it overpowers the space a bit, but I still love the piece and it gives lots of storage. I replaced the original drawer pulls with sparkly glass knobs. I love glass knobs.

The faucet I seleted is modern and I chose it for it's simple and clean lines. It is hard to find faucets without swirls and swoops.

And last, but not least, there is the floor. My beautiful floor! These lovely Carrera marble hex tiles set my bathroom remodel back by about 6 weeks. The original tile seller I selected was TERRIBLE and it we waited about two months before we finally gave up and bought them elsewhere. I almost gave up on these tiles a few times, but I am so glad I didn't.

I love them! I think that they are my favourite part of the whole renovation.

With my pretty new bathroom complete, I had to update my shower curtain as well. I originally bought this one in pink, but it was too much in both size and colour. So, I returned it to the store and begged the owner to order in this one for me instead (this took a bit of convincing, but now that she has seen it I think she will be carrying it at her store). It is so cute.

Overall, I love the materials, fixtures and furniture I selected for the bathroom. The tub, the vanity and the floor are exactly what I wanted. Things that I would do differently include:

(1) Think about the position of the vanity in comparison to the position of the lighting! Mine are a bit out of sync.

(2) I love my vanity, but I wish I had chosen something smaller. This time I chose the style of a single item over the space usage in the room. I think I would do the reverse in the future.

(3) It is hard to paint a flat ceiling! I don't know how to fix this so I am getting painters next time.

(4) Don't paint a small room white unless you have a window. I thought that white would keep my bathroom clean and fresh, but without a window, it feels a bit too sterile. I think a warm colour could help.

My last tasks are to (attempt to) repaint the door and find some art. Then I will take a nice long soak.

The Bathroom: Before

My renovations are *almost* complete. I feel a bit funny about showing pictures at this point as things don't look quite finished yet. However, I am unsure when I will ever have the (a) motivation, (b) time and (c) money to finish things, so I might as well post now, before everything is passe.

When I purchased my 1981 condo in April, almost nothing had been updated. The original floors had been replaced with laminate (not my favourite, but it will do) and it had been painted at some point, but otherwise the cabinets were ugly melamine, the stove was 30 years old and the bathroom was . . . . just gross.

Here is what the bathroom looked like when I took possession:

I am not sure if the ugliness comes across well, but let me assure you, it was yucky! The counter top was stained, the sink was almost rusted though, the floor was 30 years old and pockmarked, there were TWO medicine cabinets, the shower wall above the tiles had small holes and the whole thing smelled like mildew. And, to top it all off, the housing inspector told me that the toilet was in danger of exploding (apparently it had been recalled many, many years ago). None of this mattered to me however, because I wound't have bought this place if gutting the bathroom wasn't an option.

Here is the bathroom during the renovation:

The wall removal revealed some gross insulation which had to be replaced. I used the fancy blue cement board around the tub to prevent future mould damage and now I wish I had replaced all of the gyp-rock. The two medicine cabinets and counter top removal caused major wall damage and, no matter how much patching I do, more holes and lumps and bumps continue to appear.

As a first time home owner, this was my first renovation and it taught me a lot. First, that no matter how good I think my taste is, I am not a decorator and things probably won't look like the cover of a magazine. Second, it is better to leave small issues alone because attempting to fix them will probably make it worse. Third, stick to the products you really want. Waiting a few weeks (or months) for something to arrive won't matter in the grand scheme of things. But (fourth), don't stick to things you want when something is "off" about them (I made this mistake with my paint colour).

The "after" pictures will follow shortly, but here is my bathroom at the midway point: