My Secret Project

Well, not so secret anymore if I'm posting this haha. Actually, I'm not even doing this project. I'm calling it a 'secret project' because I secretly REALLY want to do it in the house, but I know I won't get the OK from J because he'll think I'm nuts! So I'm not gonna bring it up to him, unless of course he reads this post (lets see how long it will take him to notice this post). I just know it. His immediately reaction will be NO WAY. Well, I will just share the inspiration I guess.

Presenting my Secretly-Want-To-Do Project inspiration:

The Painted Black and White Staircase

Image from Your Home Only Better by Susan, along with great FAQ and tips for the project

Image from House and Home

Image from Decor Pad

Image from Eclectic Revisited

Ahhh, aren't the images so pretty? I would love to paint over our current stairs. It would look so great especially if we repainted all our current dirty trim with brand spankin' new white paint. Right now our yellowed trim makes me cringe. Oh well, one thing at a time. I think we are suppose to be working on the kitchen, or something.

Painted Kitchen

After over a year of moving in we have finally tackled the task of painting the kitchen this weekend. When we moved in we immediately painted the living/dining room. At that time it was necessary to do it right away because the previous owners left us with some wallpaper that we were sure we didn't want around. We picked out the colour 'Gentle Rain' by Behr. However, we only got the living/dining room painted last year and left it at that, because we were lazy people.

More recently we have been talking about how we're ready to add some cabinetry to the kitchen. We've had the idea for a while, but just wasn't ready to make the move the past year. But we finally want to get 'er done, so I said we must paint first! Off to Home Depot we went yesterday and picked up another can of 'Gentle Rain'. 

This is what our kitchen looked like before this weekend. What a mess of a 'pantry'! Very embarassed. Oh and also please ignore the jibberish written on my blackboard by some house guests. LOL

We moved everything out to the dining area, which was so quick to do. Seeing nothing in this space just feels so open and airy! We plan to sell off those old shelves and start fresh. We like enclosed storage where you can hide all the clutter... stuff... kitchen things.

There were the two big walls in the kitchen, plus we extended the color out to our hallway as well, so this whole floor will eventually be 'Gentle Rain'. Later down the road we will have to tackle the stairway(s) to tie the whole house together. For two days of painting (with meal breaks, NFL breaks, nap time, etc in between), which includes taping off all the edges and doing two coats of paint, we are happy with this weekend's accomplishments.

Here's a closer look at the color. The photos are probably not the most accurate depiction though. It is a grey with what I'd say is a lavenderish undertone but can also look blueish depending on time of day. Honestly I was not in love with the purple-ish hint, but I think it will grow on me and I'm sure my opinion will change once we add some more wall art and decor.

And here is the corner in our hallway. This is one place where the purple undertones in the grey really works as it ties in with the colors in the sticks.  *heart*

Hope to get working on the cabinet project we have in store. Stay tuned!

I Thought It Was The End

Here's a last peek at my tomatoes that I've been trying to grow since April. The plants were nice and big and leafy. Tomatoes started to grow a few months back, but they just kept growing but never ripened. Mind you, I've never grown anything in my life, so I have no idea what to do or what to expect. Pick them off or not? I just kept waiting, checking on them everyday to wait for them to turn red on the plant, but they never did, and some even started to shrivel up on the skin.

Since it started getting colder, I was pretty sure this was it for my plant. I finally plucked some green tomatoes off and left them on my kitchen counter for a coupla weeks. I just thought it was better than leaving them on the plant to die away in the cold. I really thought it was the end, that I wouldn't get to eat any of my tomatoes this year. And what d'ya know, some started turning red! Silly me, I should have done this months ago. Well now we know for next year.

Cyprus Lake

We drove about 4.5 hours north this past weekend up to the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario and camped out at Cyprus Lake. It was the most perfect sunny fall weather (although we were a bit under-prepared sleeping at night *shivers*) and hiked to some of the most breathtaking views we've seen in Ontario. Weekend well spent with J and the girls!

Ghost Chair Wedding

Isn't a reception with ghost chairs just lovely? I saw one photo of this online and thought 'what a unique idea!'. Then I googled it some more and it seems it's been done quite nicely by many. Can't imagine how much this would cost even for a small party!

Style Me Pretty has a small gallery of some more ghost chair receptions. They also look quite neat for a ceremony!

Images from Manolo Brides and One Stylish Bride