Heritage as Art

Over the Holidays I had a lovely visit with my Grandma, "Ga", and she asked me to look through some of her old photos to see if there was anything I might like to keep. I loved looking through the decades and was so amazed at the memories that came flooding back as I looked at pictures from my childhood, not to mention the special photos from before I was born. Some in particular struck me and I was delighted when Ga offered them to me. Her wedding photos from 1953! 

I framed them as soon as I got back to the Parsonage and I love seeing them every day. They were so young and joyful and full of promise! What's beautiful is I got to see their marriage through the decades following and how it grew into something incredibly calm and steady and grounding for our whole family. My grandpa has been gone for over 20 years, making these photos even more special. 

I have never displayed many family photos in our homes. We do an annual Family Year Book, holding our favourite photos from the year, so we have lots of opportunities to look back visually, but not so much on the walls. I think it's just a design choice and depends on your personal taste. But these black and white photos were so striking and had such a heritage feel, I broke my own rule and couldn't be happier!

Mini-Cycle is Moving + 25% Off!

You may know I've worked at Boutique Mini-Cycle for a little over a year now. I'm so proud to be on the team of this women-run business, committed to sustainability and zero waste wardrobes. 

I have always had a small budget for my kid's clothes, leading to my passion for thrifting, which avoids the reliance on fast fashion and still keeps things affordable.  Let's face it, buying responsible brands comes at a cost. If you're paying the people who make the clothes a fair wage and the clothes are made with organic or recycled materials, that's bound to cost more than fast fashion. But not everyone can afford the cost, and I get that (and I am in that boat myself!)

Clover, Oli, and Lily, all in Mini-Cycle
(some pieces new, some from the Re-Cycle Shop)

Mini-Cycle believes in limiting fashion waste and opening up sustainable options to more parents, so they guarantee to buy back everything you've bought from them (see details here), significantly reducing the overall cost. What's more, you can shop their Re-Cycle shop, which is full of pre-loved (used) clothing, footwear, outerwear, and textiles purchased from clients. I see it as the cream of the crop thrifting. Everything in their Re-Cycle shop passes their standards of eco-responsibility and durability, but is much more accessible in price. 

Another way they're aiming to make sustainable clothing more accessible is the occasional sale, which I've learned is a big sacrifice for small businesses to offer. This week they have a big one, so take note!

June 28, 29, and 30 everything on their site will be 25% off or more. 

The sale is to prepare for their move to a larger, brighter studio space. I can't wait to do photoshoots in this airy, open loft! Mini-Cycle will remain in the same building, but is now suite 491 rather than 325. Enjoy the sale!

Mini-Cycle's new home: 

5524 Rue Saint-Patrick, Suite #491 Montreal, Quebec H4E 1A8

SHOP QUEBEC - Argile et Osier

Many of you already know about this Etsy shop because of my Instagram giveaway last month but I wanted to share about Argile et Osier here too for those who aren't on Instagram and looking to encourage Quebec small businesses. 

In fact Argile et Osier is a bit of a combination of two loves for me, because it's run by a mom in Quebec, sourcing pottery, toys, and baskets made by Tunisian artisans. Brad and I first met while travelling in North Africa and have sense returned several times, so to find a local business supporting other North African small businesses was a treat! 

I was gifted a lovely large basket which I use to store EVERYTHING - towels, toilet paper, books, toys, stuffed animals, groceries, things to be donated to the charity shop... it's perfect for all the things! I was also gifted two ceramic bowls which I use for salt and freshly ground pepper and always keep by my stove. I've always had this practice but the bowls I was using before weren't nearly as lovely, so I was glad to donate them and replace them with my Argile et Osier ones. 

Argile et Osier has some really lovely things and they're lifting up artisans in Tunisia so I'm glad to support them! 

This post was written in Collaboration with Argile et Osier

All opinions were 100% my own. 

To book a collab, contact me!

Our Living Room 2021

As I change up the objects on the shelves and placement of furniture and cushions in this room every month or so, so I thought I'd freeze time for a moment and capture our family room before it changes again. Winter 2021 has us in this room non-stop. Family game nights and homework time are more and more on the living room rug than at the dining room table, which I think is influenced by proximity to the gas fireplace and coziness of carpet over hard chairs. 

We've been slowly watching the Marvel Universe movies with our kids, one hour at a time every weekend and it's been such a fun pastime together. Next up is the first Avengers or the third Thor, we haven't decided yet. I'll always love Tom Holland as Spiderman more than any other hero in the Marvel world, anyone else!? This room has seen so many comfy nights with us five piled on the sectional or huddled around a bored game on the floor. To save room I've always opted for a small side table instead of a coffee table and this little guy from Prunelle feels just right. Just enough space for a candle and a cuppa. What else could I need?

Because our home is small and houses five people, I keep decorations on the minimal side. I feel that having less visual clutter helps me when the real life clutter of books and backpacks and toys and growing bodies are filling our space. Right now, that looks like a DIY painted vase with dried pampas grass, a thrifted statue, homemade art, and my favourite Alabaster Bible books (each magazine is a book of the Bible featuring stunning photography in a minimalist style). 

On the top shelf I have a new vase, recently purchased from a local florist and home to an origami creation made by my son. You can't really see what that tiny dish is, but it's a tea dish (for used tea bags) commemorating the Queen's silver jubilee. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Royal's memorabilia. The round mirror was a thrifted find for a few dollars. 

The TV, a gift from our brother Rob, sits on a locker completely full of board games. I don't know if we can welcome one more into our home without giving one away in return as we have completely used up our storage space. The basket below the locker holds some Lincoln Logs, which are still entertaining from time to time with 7-10 year old's. We got them as a gift from my sister when Oli was one or two and have used them ever since. I say this a lot, but it's worth repeating - buy your kids simple, lasting toys instead of gimmicks or trendy ones and you'll never be sorry. You'll own less, see them use and enjoy the same toys for years, and produce far less waste. OK I'll get off my soapbox now :)   

Thanks for indulging me with this little room tour. I've recently met many like-minded small space dwellers thanks to our Home Tour on 600 Sq Ft, and can personally attest to how helpful it is seeing how precisely other families make it work in a small space. If this helps anyone, great! But it's also for me as I want to remember this home and this stage forever.

What I Love About Our Kitchen & What I'd Change

Anytime I'm in a home, the room I'm most eager to see and the one I'm likely to spend the most amount of time in is the same - the kitchen. It's truly the heart of the home in my opinion. I love standing around a kitchen, glass of wine in hand, chatting away while something delicious is cooking. That's my ideal way to spend an evening with friends (Remember when friends could come over for supper? In Montreal, that's still a distant memory with Covid restrictions, but at least they're fond memories).

One day I dream of designing my own kitchen and making all the choices. Perhaps when we move in a couple of years to a slightly larger flat in the same neighbourhood. Anything larger than our current house in this neighbourhood will be a big price jump so we'll probably have to go fixer-upper style. Meaning I might get to realize this dream! Thinking ahead, and just because I love kitchens, I'm always noting what I like and don't like in a kitchen. My own kitchen being my case study, here are the things I know I love and those I just don't. 

WHAT I LOVE

I love a white kitchen. Food and spices and grains and cookbooks bring the colour I want - keep the rest white, I say! White cabinets will probably always be my choice.

I love our subway backsplash. We had it done years ago and it made a huge difference! 

I love that our kitchen is open. There are only three walls with the other "side" left open to the rest of our open concept home. 

I love having an island with stools. It's a natural place for the kids to take most of their meals, for homeschooling Oli, and for meal prep overflow. Under the island is also where I store our compost bin, recycling, and garbage (not shown) and a huge tub of our all purpose flour (shown).

I love our magnetic knife strip.

I love how I display my cookbooks.

I love having clear canisters for grains and flours (buying in bulk saves packaging and money, plus it's pretty).

I love displaying my favourite tea pots and dishes (I'd love real open shelving, but since we aren't able to renovate this kitchen I removed the doors from our cabinets).

I love how there are a lot of drawers.

I love our appliances. We bought the stove and fridge secondhand off kijiji when we moved and have never had a problem. We won't move them though.

I love that we installed under cabinet lighting (cheap, from Ikea, provides a lot of light!)

I love our sink faucet - the head is extendable so the entire sink gets clean as well as large awkward things like big pots. Couldn't ever go back to a stiff faucet!

I love how we hang our pots and pans to save space and for ease.

I love our Montreal print (by Bess Callard)

Ahh, that felt good. I should do this more - listing all the things I love about something. Especially when that something is a kitchen I can find myself complaining about from time to time. Highly recommend! And definitely start with what you love, because next up is less peachy.

THINGS I'D CHANGE

I'd change the corner sink - it's so depressing washing dishes in a literal corner! No view, no space, no light. Whyyy??

I'd change to a gas stove in a heartbeat.

I'd change the range hood, as ours works very poorly (or maybe we just have bad ventilation living on the second floor or a triplex?)

I'd change the countertops in a flash. White or pale grey quartz, please.

I'd change our corner cabinets. The foldable doors are wobbly and awkward and corner cabinets are never used to their potential as the far apex of the corner is just way too far back! 

I'd change our cabinet faces to shaker style - ours are more traditional with some moulding that isn't my jam.

I'd change our island from the Ikea unit we currently have to a built in, real deal, matching countertops to the kitchen, island. I'd also make the island a bit longer so we could fit three stools across the one side.

The most major change I'd make is natural light! I really really want my kitchen of dreams to have a window. Seems like not much to ask, but you must consider that we live in a classic Montreal triplex, which means windows on the front and back only. But a girl can dream...

I loved hearing from you on this Instagram post all the things you'd change and love about your kitchens. Keep the comments coming over there!

Autumnal Terracotta Vase DIY x Astilbe

My interest in the terracotta painting trend started small. One lamp, some simple black paint, and some baking powder. But all along I had my sights set on buying some autumnal hued paint and going to town on a collection of vases, which is exactly what I did with a couple of girlfriends last week. 

Mixing 1 tablespoon of baking powder with about 1/2 cup paint makes the paint thicker and more textured and gives a matte finish reminiscent of terracotta pottery. It's incredibly easy and transforms your old vases - such a gratifying project! 

                    

I loved this project because it combined my three decorating loves: buying secondhand, DIY, and shopping small. All of our vases were bought for $0.99-$3.99 secondhand and then we filled the painted vessels with gorgeous dried florals from local florist dry bar Astilbe. 

                   

It was hard to choose just two colours of paint from the many autumnal shades available, but we wanted to keep things simple, so finally I narrowed it down to one terracotta orange and one warm dusty rose. At most paint stores, you can buy a sample size of any paint colour for $5 and between three of us one small sample size in each colour was enough to paint a dozen vases of varying sizes. Since we were also splitting the cost between us, this project was incredibly affordable! I should add that I had white paint and paint brushes on hand.

I was so pleased with how my vases turned out! I filled each one with dried florals from Asilbe which I'd chosen earlier that day, and I have to say it was a very hard decision! Asilbe is typically an events florist, but in our Covid world, they've pivoted to focus more on their boutique, which has the widest array of dried florals I've ever seen! Their dry bar has all sizes and types of dried florals, and you can make your own bouquet with as much or as little. I was after some pampas grass and a few delicate florals to add to smaller vases. Astilbe did not disappoint! 

                 

I love the pops of warm colour that these vases add to our mostly monochromatic home. A really fun project to do with girlfriends and a must for affordable Fall decor! 

                  

A Warehouse Sale + a Dream Come True

You all know I love a bargain, which typically means I buy things secondhand but when I can't, I always look for a sale. Almost every store has a clearance section, and it's the first place I go. Today I struck gold at a warehouse sale, finding a long desired and special piece of furniture that makes me nostalgic beyond words and incredibly thankful. 

When I heard that Prunelle, a local Montreal small business with a wild selection of Scandinavian furniture was having a warehouse sale, I was there in minutes. Not kidding! Easy in this case since the sale is right in my neighbourhood, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. What I found was a lovely little tulip based white marble end table, which we'll use as our coffee table in the living room. Since we have a cosy living area, we've always used an end table as a coffee table surrounded by our sectional sofa. Small space living tip: always buy furniture to scale and not what you think you ought to have. But I digress... 

It's been a dream of mine to have a white marble table somewhere in my home since I was newly engaged, so over a dozen years. I've seen white marble in every kind of home from traditional to modern, which tells me it's a classic. It will never go out of style or not fit in my home. I distinctly remember writing a speech for my grandmother's funeral in an Airbnb in Stockholm on a white marble table. I sat for hours with my memories as Brad took the kids out to explore (we received the terrible news as we were flying to Sweden). I sat on the floor at the coffee table and wrote my speech. Every morning of that trip I woke early and had my coffee and breakfast at the same table. A significant number of our pictures from that leg of the trip have the white marble table in them because I was so drawn to it's beauty. Yes, it's just a table and my life was full and complete before Stockholm and before today when I became the proud owner of my own. But these little bits of beauty are worth noting, so I hope you'll indulge me. 

I would have preferred a white base, but at warehouse sales one can't be picky. I will likely paint the base white or even just a matte black as the current tulip base is rather shiny. Buying a marble table at full price isn't an option for us however, so I'll gladly take my slightly chipped black tulip base and dream up ways to perfect what already feels too good to be true. 

The warehouse sale has all sorts of items, priced from $19 to $499. There are incredible savings to be had! I saw our beloved tulip base dining table for 1/3 of the regular price and our dining chairs for 80% off. Everything is either discontinued or with minor scratches. Given the quality of these pieces, a small scratch doesn't deter me at all. The furniture at Prunelle is designed and built to last, which often means it's also expensive (and rightfully so), but not at this sale!

The sale is at 1589 Ave Mont-Royal East and they're open every day. If you're interested in going, I encourage you to hurry as the sale ends on October 4! All the information can be found here. 

Terracotta Lamp DIY

Have you seen the hashtag sweeping Instagram DIY land, #trashtoterracotta? OK so first of all, I wish I invented that hashtag because it's hilarious. Secondly, I jumped on the bandwagon hard last week. 

The idea is to paint your old house wares with a mixture of baking powder and paint to get a terracotta clay look. It's insanely easy and quick (we're talking 5 minutes!) and so satisfying to see the transformation! 

I was intending to do a few vases in the actual terracotta hue (burnt orange) but could only find black paint at my Dollar Store so I figured it would be the perfect project for my thrifted brass lamp. Originally from Zara Home but found at Salvation Army, this lamp is lovely but I was a bit over the metallic look. I've shared before about how I love incorporating pops of black in my living room, so you can guess what happened. 

 

I mixed 1/2 cup of paint with about 2 tablespoons of baking powder. The paint was black and a tiny bit of turquoise to give it a blue hue, but really it just looks black and I'm ok with that! The baking powder puffs up the paint and gives it a great texture, just like real pottery. I love the result! Coming up next, those terracotta vases!

The Kids' Shared Tween Room!

As always, our three kids, girls and a boy, happily share a room. I know this is scandalous to some, but it works for our fam! Over the years our kids have grown incredibly close and I think it's in large part thanks to them sharing their toys, books, and space constantly. Some day we do hope to move to a slightly larger apartment in the city and have three bedrooms, which would provide a bedroom for two of the kids to share, and one solo kid room, but that's not happening any time soon. Our kids understand this, and any of their friends who have siblings share a room too - it's city life! But as they get older we have made a few changes which culminated in this bedroom makeover with the goal to keep them as happy as possible in their shared space.

Decorating for a shared room with girls and a boy has it's challenges, but typically my style is quite neutral anyway, so it works for us. I've always aimed to keep their furniture and bedding white and let them add colour with their favourite objects, toys, and artwork. To see the kids' room before this makeover, see here. We used to have grey and white striped walls (which I painted nine years ago!) and mainly white bedding and furniture. It felt very personal and bright, but it was starting to feel a bit kidd-ish, especially since the kids' room hadn't seem any major changes since the kids were toddlers. Lily in particular, who is about to turn 10, has started wishing her bedroom was a bit more grown up. Oli, who's almost 9, is easygoing about their room, but he's starting homeschooling in the Fall so I was interested in making some sort of desk corner for his work during the day. Chloe, who is almost 7 didn't care what I did as long as I kept a place for her stuffed animals and her owl collection ♡

The biggest change was painting over the grey stripes with a warm white (Benjamin Moore's Chantilly Lace). I didn't realize what terrible shape the walls were in until I painted over the countless scuffs and stains. Nine years and three kids can do a lot of damage! Painting the trim was so gratifying! It's such an easy chore and makes a huge difference. 

Another big change was the kids' bedding. I teamed up with Maison Tess to try out their new kid's line of Muslin bedding. I'm usually kind of colour-phobic and keep things as neutral as possible, but their colours are so beautiful!! We chose the Amber Muslin Duvet Cover for Oli's bottom bunk and the Rose Muslin Duvet Cover for Lily's top bunk, both with a Whisper White Muslin pillowcases. Since the floor trundle bed isn't seen during the day, we've planned to keep our regular white duvet there. 

These duvet covers are incredibly soft and look even better with several washings. They're so soft we have no need for a flat sheet and even on hot nights the kids insist on using their duvets! You may remember that Brad and I also use Maison Tess linens so we already knew we'd love the product. They're handmade in Portugal and the quality is unmatched. I also love Maison Tess for being a women-led Montreal small business. Initially I wanted linen for the kids' room because it's what we have and we love it, but Muslin is truly the perfect kid's fabric. It feels like every kid's favourite blanket!

I also reorganized the kids' books and bought two new bookshelves to house their growing library. Tip: Making stacks of large book series saves a lot of space on the shelves and it's sometimes easier on the eyes than the rainbow coloured spines 😂

The large chest of drawers holds all of our Playmobil and some of our boardgames. Each child also has their own drawer for their personal treasures. Their closet keeps all of their clothing, costumes, and countless bins of Lego. The mirror on top is a new addition, something I found for $10 last summer while thrifting. It makes the room look larger and Lily especially loves it! The tall book shelf with two drawers is where the play food and doll clothes live. It may look like they have no toys, but they have a fair bit, just tucked away. I assure you, during the day it's never this clean, but we have a rule that around 3pm each day they need to pick up their room. With three kids in one room, it's impossible to keep it clean for long, but I also figure with three pairs of hands, the work to keep it clean should be light. 

This makeover took 12 hours and was a whirlwind (it's amazing what you can do when childcare is incredibly scarce and you find yourself with a few hours of it!) I painted the first coat of paint when a friend of ours offered to take the kids out for ice cream and some park time for a couple of hours. While the paint was drying, I fed the kids dinner, hung out with them, and tucked them in on our pull-out couch. With the help of Melatonin, they were all asleep very early (6:30pm) and far from their bedroom. I finished the second coat of paint at 8:30pm. I then painted the trim and did some touch-ups on their mid-century desk while the paint was drying. by 10:30pm the paint was fairly dry so I started moving the furniture around a bit and cleaned the floors where I'd dripped paint. Their new duvet covers were stuffed, beds were made, all furniture was placed and the room was cleaned by 1:00am. The next day I was literally limping! I didn't realize it at the time but painting is hard work!! I was in rough shape for the next 24 hours, but it was worth it to finish a burdensome project so quickly and surprise the kids in the morning. 

I'm thrilled with the end result and so are the kids! Their room feels more mature, organized, and fresh and at little cost of money or time. We still have another two or three years in this apartment before we'll be ready to leave and I think they'll be happy in this tween space until then. 

Sources:

Bunk beds, floating shelf, two bookcases, white lamp on desk, circle rug - Ikea

Oval couch (actually an ottoman covered with a spare linen sheet) - thrifted 

White chest of drawers - Goldtex Kids (see here for post)

Top and bottom bunk linens - Maison Tess kid's collection (coming Summer 2020!)

Bird wall art, mirror, accessories on dresser, Chloe's owls, most books - thrifted

Mid-century desk - roadside find (see here for the transformation!)

Desk chair - Prunelle (similar also on Amazon, Structube, etc)

Top bunk dress pillow - H&M Home

Bottom bunk dress pillow - Indigo

This post was in collaboration with Maison Tess

All opinions are 100% my own.

To book a collab, contact me!

Selah Paper

Today I wanted to share a small shop and dear friend that I know you'll love as much as I do - Selah Paper. Selah Paper is led by the creative genius Sarah Kim, who's soul is in every work of art she creates, and now she's selling scripture prints and compassion cards that I find not only beautiful but deeply moving. She was kind enough to send me a print of my choosing last week, along with some of her sympathy cards and I'm so grateful. 

Sarah is someone I met on Instagram (This may sound strange, but there are some true gems on there if you're willing to go beyond liking a picture and actually engage!) and she's been a constant encouragement to my faith these few years. She regularly creates calligraphy of what Bible verses she's studying at the moment and she very vulnerably shared the loss of her son earlier this year. This is a woman who isn't just making art, but sharing her soul and anyone who follows her is richer for it. 

Her prints make the perfect housewarming, wedding, or baby shower gift and the cards are a must for anyone who's ever found themselves at a loss of what to say to a grieving friend. We chose the Joshua 24:15 print in 8 x 10, which declares, "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" as a daily reminder of why we live and our deepest prayer for our children. 

G I V E A W A Y !

Today through Sunday I'm running a giveaway on Instagram that you'll want to check out. Selah Paper is giving away two scripture prints of your choice - one for you to keep and another for you to use to bless a friend. To enter you must be following me (@emmorrice) and @selahpaper on Instagram, and then tag a friend in the comments. That will give you one entry, but you can have additional entries by tagging more friends in additional comments (each comment = another entry). Sharing the original giveaway post in your Instagram stories will also give 10 additional entries! The winner will be announced on Sunday evening. 

The post was written in collaboration with Selah Paper.

All opinions are 100% my own. To book a collab, contact me!

Transitioning from a shared kid's room to a shared tween room *plans*

Our kid's shared room has always been my favourite room in the house, from when it hosted two under two, to a trundle bed and a crib, to the triple bunk they've enjoyed for the past several years. I know many of you visit this blog for tips on room sharing, co-ed decor ideas, and toy organization, which are all things I have in mind as we enter into this next chapter: a shared tween room.

Tweens, by definition aren't quite teenagers (in no rush, thank you!), but aren't little kids anymore either. Children, ages 9-12 fall into this tween category, and while only Lily is the only official tween, Oli is entering into tweenhood in October and Chloe just always does everything the olders do. My point is, my kids are growing up and slowly outgrowing their space. 

We don't have the option to give them separate rooms, so that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about the layout, style, furniture, and general theme of their room. Recently, it's been feeling a little too kid-ish. My plan is to give their room a mini makeover to usher them into the tween years. 

Transitioning from a shared kid's room to a shared tween room for us means a few key changes:

• Sorting through all of their toys and stuffed animals and deciding what to keep and what to donate.
  
  Thanks to Covid-19, we've cleared out all of our closets, toys, and bookshelves and are just waiting for the thrift stores to re-open so we can donate our bags full. The kids have outgrown a lot of things that we'll be selling (Calico Critters, Lego), too. I love that at their ages my kids still love imaginative play with stuffed animals, Lego, and Playmobil so we'll still be keeping a good amount, but definitely less than we've had in past years.
  
• Giving the room a fresh start by painting the walls and baseboards all white
  
  We painted the entire interior of our condo when we moved in, almost nine years ago, but many rooms are ready for a fresh coat, and none more than the kids' room! I have loved the grey and white stripes we did, but there are endless scuffs and stains on their walls from nine years of life. Since I'm considering some more colour in the kids' bedding, I will definitely paint the walls bright white so keep is from being too busy.
  
  
  
• New bedding for the two main bunks
  
  Since our floor bunk (the mattress under the bottom bunk) is never seen in the day, we won't spring for new bedding for that bed as a way to save money. We alternate who sleeps where regularly, so no one will feel left out not getting new bedding, don't worry! With all of the furniture and the walls being white, I'd love to get some duvet covers and pillow cases with a pop of colour (until now we've always had white bedding, but in the past have had pops of colour in painted rocking chairs, art, etc). I really love the combination of amber and dusty rose and I think it can work well with a co-ed shared space.
  
  
  
• Larger toy and book storage
  
  This will make a big difference! With little ones, I love using baskets everywhere for storage. We have baskets of books literally all over our kid's room, but they're becoming annoying and aren't putting much of a dent in our massive library. With kids who read as much as mine do, I need more book storage and it's time to ditch the little baskets everywhere.
  
  
  
• Personal spaces for each kid
  
  Personal space is obviously not our highest value with five people living in a tiny two bedroom condo, but I still think it's important. I believe in any space you can have personal space, and I'll be looking to add some personal touches to different areas of the room for each kid. Bulletin boards are a great place to start! I definitely don't believe every child needs their own bedroom (I'm an adult and I don't have my own room!), but would like to find ways to make this shared space feel like theirs for each of my kids.

This will be a very gradual project so don't expect a reveal any time soon. I can't do much until Ikea opens up again (or at least until their curbside pickup opens again, because shipping is quite expensive for a large bookshelf) and the weather suits to have our windows all open for a paint job. Hopefully this summer we'll be able to tackle it all!

HOME TOUR 2020 living + dining rooms

As we all heed the expert's advice during the Coronavirus pandemic and STAY HOME!, I've spent more time than usual in these two rooms, which really are one big room. Our home is "open concept" in that the living and dining rooms as well as the kitchen are all openly connected. There are no doors, which helps with limited natural light. Every room (besides bathrooms and bedrooms) being connected also helps our small space feel a bit larger. Over the past month of being mostly home I've thought a lot about the style of my home as I clean and organize and purge items we no longer love or use. What works in my home may not work in yours, or simply just not appeal to you, so I'm not pretending to give advice - simply sharing what I've done and why.

First of all, in such a small, yet open space I felt like we needed to go with one neutral, light colour throughout. I decided on light grey but sometimes wish it was white (and I'll probably choose white for our next home). Either way, the light neutral works and I'm happy with it! 

I also like keeping a decor theme or vibe the same for every room so it's more the style of my home and not room by room. It simplifies everything and I think makes the home seem more calm and organized, though especially these days it's rarely either for long! Pieces you'll find in both rooms often have a lot of white, black, beige, grey, and natural materials such as wild flowers, rocks, paper, and wood. 

Our home is a big mixture of old and new, and I love mixing the two. Some examples of old: my collection of vintage tea cups are all thrifted or were inherited, the 50 and 100 year old hymnals and books of common prayer were thrifted and adorn our shelves and the big thrifted basket on the dining table (which also holds our English and French Bibles), the teak mid-century modern side table in the living room that I bought off Craigslist several years ago, and the knit doily which adorns our round wooden table in the right corner of our dining nook. 

Of course, we do have some new items as well. The Structube metal mirror, our oval dining table and beech wishbone chairs from Montreal furniture store Prunelle (see more about that collaboration and learn more about them here), the white Eames-style chairs from Amazon, the glass hanging pendants in the dining room from West Elm, the Ikea lamps throughout, the round wooden table was a gift from Bois et Cuir, and our white rug in the living room from Rugs.ca. 

As much as I do aim to keep these spaces clean and I love an orderly home (gosh that was easier before the Pandemic brought us all home 24/7!), I want to fill these rooms with useful items. These rooms are for living after all! You'll always find tons of books in both rooms, and the basket of Bibles and hymals never leaves our dining table so we can always grab them. There's always a chess board nearby for Oli and Brad's duals, and the white metal cabinet (Ikea) which supports our TV is full of boardgames. There's also a black metal basket on the floor in the dining room that houses all of our family yearbooks and albums from our trips over the years, which someone always seems to be looking through. 

Let's talk about art. I've collected many pieces over the years, mainly from secondhand shops. My theory is that it takes years to have the art you love and best reflects you, so don't try to rush it. When we first got married I was in such a hurry to make our house put together and "finished" that I threw up anything - regardless of it was my style (what was my style anyway?) or reflected us. The longer I gave myself, the happier I am with the end result. We have never spent a ton on art (I'd love to, we just can't afford to), but I've found some real treasures over the years. The geometric watercolour above our TV was made by me, the South Pole map hanging in the dining room was a gift from Bold Tuesday, the black and white flower sketch on the shelf above my couch was a gift from Juniper Print Shop, as was the pink NYC buildings print, which I had printed by Photo Wall in a collaboration. Juniper Print Shop is a great budget-friendly option which I've used long after our collaboration. You download the prints that you buy, so you can print them to be whatever size you want. Every print is the same price (around $25) and there are so many gorgeous options! On the top shelf above the couch there's a framed book cover that reminded me so much of our neighbourhood. Do you ever buy books just for the cover? When thrifting, I love looking for beautiful old books that I can frame or use as decorations. There's also a print of Eve being comforted by a pregnant Mary that I gave to Brad for Christmas this year, by Scott Erickson.

Adding meaningful touches are what makes a home different from a hotel room, but it's not necessarily my style to have family photos on every wall or a lot of trinkets, so the way I aimed to do this was by adding a few meaningful pieces here and there. The teacups are heirlooms and speak to my deep love for all things British. The pussy willows on the fireplace were picked by my kids last March on a visit to Morgan's family farm. The Eve and Mary print is a remake or an older piece that Brad has loved for years. He's often pulled up the original image online at Christmas or Easter and it's always moved him greatly, so when I saw Scott Erickson's version which fit so well in our home, I knew it would be the perfect gift. The old books and hymnals speak to our faith and the various quotes on our letter board above the couch speaks to our values. I'll also rotate in some small pieces from recent vacations every few months, too. You can see a black sculpture from the Greek Island of Milos.

I do love the "open concept" though it poses some challenges, namely that we're always together and there isn't much alone space! From the front door you can see right through to the back door. From Brad's office, which is in our entryway, you can hear the TV. From the living room you can smell what's cooking in the kitchen. Noise and smells and chaos travel as fast as the children who tear through this home day after day. I'm not trying to complain, just being realistic about what a space like this means. I never want to paint a picture of perfection on here!

Despite the challenges, I do love our small home. We're five people in just over 1,000 square feet, sharing two bedrooms and two bathrooms with no garage or basement, and we truly use every centimeter of space. In 2-3 years we'll be hoping to move to a slightly bigger three bedroom condo in our neighbourhood and will miss this space enormously. Honestly, if we had just one more bedroom and maybe 500 square feet more, I'd want to live here forever!

Up next, a kitchen tour! Thanks for reading and looking!