M is already scheming great plans for “when we live on the farm” - riding his bike, getting a dog, driving a dirt bike, buying a horse.  Whoa, there, Little Buddy.  (I told him no dog until this new Baby’s bigger, dirt bike riding can wait until he’s 5, and a horse when he can pay for it.  I’m a bit of a dream crusher some days.)  But I love his excitement.  My kids are going to embrace farm life completely, and I’m delighted.

One of his favourite things to dream about is our garden.  He’s “helped” my parents with their gardens in the past, and he and I have done a few potted plants, but we’ve never had a yard for planting anything.  He can’t wait until we can grow our own.  He’ll pick up our copy of Farm Anatomy by Julia Rothman and we’ll draw up lists of all the fruits and vegetables we’ll grow.  

I’ve told him we won’t have a garden this summer.  I’ll be super pregnant and trying to set up the house.  Also, our yard will likely be a bit of a muddy mess from the basement excavation.  And Sean and I aren’t ready yet to sit down and seriously plan out our yard - financially or mentally.  I told him we could start our compost, though, and that seems to appease him.  (Thank you, Curious George for making my three-year-old stoked about composting.)  In the mean time, we’ll just keep dreaming.

Here are a few pictures I’ve collected so far:

Oh, there will be twinkle lights. (Bodine Street Community Garden in Philadelphia featured in Martha Stewart Living)

I love the simple boardwalk, beds, and lights strung from the poles. (Bodine Street Community Garden in Philadelphia featured in Martha Stewart Living)

(Home of Kathryn Windley, Photograph by Mikkel Vang for Country Living)

 I like this unobtrusive wire mesh fencing. (Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC via Houzz)

If our yard is still a mess next summer, I’ll likely opt for some container gardening to start out. (image from Martha Stewart)

I like the simplicity and symmetry of these raised wooden beds… maybe not that many when we first get started! (And we’ll need some kind of fence to keep dogs or stray cattle, pigs, goats, bunnies, donkeys, ducks, etc. out of the gardens.  Seriously.  My sisters-in-law could start a veritable petting zoo!) (Home of Neko Case, Photograph by Bjorn Wallander for Country Living)

You can check out the ideas I gather throughout the year on my Pinterest boards: Farmyard, and Let’s Plant a Garden.

Sometimes when I step back and think about us building our house out on the farm I feel a bit like we’re living a dream.  (Of course, we’re not living that dream quite yet… oh man do I have a doozy of a realty story for you when we someday hopefully finally actually sell this condo…)  It is not lost on me how blessed I am.

But let’s live a different dream for a moment, shall we?  I’m a bit of a daydreamer, I admit.  And I’ve said before that if I wasn’t doing this whole prairie farmhouse thing I think it would be really cool to have an industrial warehouse loft in a city like Chicago.  I’d be a children’s book illustrator, or graphic designer or something.  And I’d be very cool.  (Have I mentioned this is a dream?)

 Well, I’ve discovered another (completely fictitious/nevergonnahappen/but fun to think about) dream.  I’d live in London.  I’d have to be filthy rich, most likely.  And probably a tad bit eccentric, or at least quite quirky (it just goes with the rich in London thing).  Not sure what I would do.  But that’s part of it.  Nobody would know what I would do, or how I got my money, or why I’m so eccentric.  And I would live here:

(Photo from jj Locations, via Not My Beautiful Home)

Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  Did your breath catch like mine did?  I will no doubt decorate and redecorate this London townhouse a half dozen times while I fall asleep tonight.  Everything - those windows (oh, those windows!), the worn wooden floors, the mouldings, the fireplaces…

Even the mint green is working for me (though my very rich eccentric self would probably repaint those walls with the change of every season…)

I’d no doubt spend many rainy English days looking wistfully out of those windows.

And spend many days writing and drawing on a bench on this pretty street:

It’s actually a townhouse featured by a company called jj Locations, which finds venues for filming and photo shoots.  And I almost find that sad - it should be a home.

The other rooms are a bit more furnished, and are quite lovely - which is fine, but leaves a little less for the imagination.

Isn’t it just so lovely? *Sigh*  If you’ll excuse me, now, I’m off to drink tea and mentally decorate my pretend British home. (sorry, what was that about being eccentric?)

I’m really wishing there was a way I could catch HGTV USA these days, because Emily Henderson’s new show “Secrets of a Stylist” has begun to air.  I love reading her blog and especially like the posts where she goes out and shops the flea markets for vintage furniture and decor pieces.  She finds some really fabulous stuff.  And some really insane stuff, but she knows how to make it work.  

I also love those episodes of Sarah Richardson’s shows when she and Tommy tackle some cluttered old antique store or farmer’s market and find great old pieces for reinvention.  

(apparently wearing plaid is key to successful furniture shopping)

The thing is, they find things and are so stoked about the price.  And sometimes I’m like, “Seriously?  You’d pay that much for that thing?”.  Maybe it’s my Ukrainian roots always looking for a better deal.  Or maybe it’s because I live in the good ole’ 306 where people just seem to live simpler.  And cheaper.  I can go surfing Used Regina any day of the week and find deals that far exceed their “steals”, and I’ll still move along without buying them.

Of course I couldn’t buy all the deals I find.  I just don’t need them all.  That’s why I need to be a stylist or designer.  I could find these fabulous items and use them in other people’s homes.  Because I just can’t fit everything in my own place.  And other things are not my personal style but are still amazing pieces begging to be a part of good design.  Let’s look at Exhibit “A” found on Used Regina this week:

Check out this tufted leather beau…

I know, I know… the red carpet, wood panelling, old wallpaper.  It’s somebody’s ugly basement sofa from the 70’s that just won’t die.  But that’s a good thing.  Because they’re selling it for $385.  Now, cheap can’t fix ugly.  But let’s re-imagine this piece in a more fitting locale:

Yes, this is what I’m talking about.  Open, airy loft.  White-on-white surroundings.  Large scale rooms. And elegant but masculine accessories.

Or perhaps in a similarly grand, but more earthy and natural scheme…

(both pictures via Emmas Designblogg)

Can you see it now? This sofa has a sort of Ralph Lauren polo-club meets rustic Restoration Hardware vibe.  In fact, lookee’ here:

Are we not looking at pretty much the same thing?  Tufted leather, nailhead detail, low back, and scrolled arms… Except this one is $5,795 USD from Restoration Hardware.  So, anyone in Regina with a sweet loft space want me to do some decorating around this $385 sofa now? ;)

Of course there are pieces that I do want for myself.  So badly.  And I e-mail the link to my husband and talk about them incessantly and he gives me wierd looks and says “Seriously?”  Maybe that’s because he doesn’t envision them the way I do.  Maybe it’s because he really doesn’t want to make the drive and load the pieces into the Jeep to take home.  Probably both.  Sometimes this is OK, and I’m happy in the end I didn’t get them.  But some still niggle in my memory as “the ones that got away.”  One was an entire vintage bedroom set for $600 (it was a while ago so I don’t have the listing picture).  That’s $600 we didn’t have to spend on furniture we couldn’t currently use.  But I imagined each piece repainted and reused in different spaces when we have a few more bedrooms.  My inspiration came from a very similar painted piece used in Sarah’s House season one:

So pretty right?  Paint and new hardware go a long way!

And the latest escape was this pair of chairs for $50 a piece (OBO):

Sure they’re a strange pinky colour now, but can you not see them recovered and the frame painted?  Maybe like these dark frames with some fresh new fabric:

Or a pale grey frame with a linen-ish upholstery…

I hounded Sean about these chairs.  I was ready to delve into a 10-point essay on why these chairs are awesome (1. appear well-kept, 2. the rounded back means you can use them anywhere, 3. comfortable yet compact, 4. less expensive to upholster than other arm chairs, 5. they’re a pair which greatly increases their desirability, 6. the shape is classic and versatile, 7. They could be totally reinvented again and again with colour and fabric…  you get the idea) but before I got that far he caved.  And I e-mailed the seller.  They’d sold the week before, she just hadn’t taken the listing down.  Frussumgruffumgrrrr.

I’ve found a couple similar chairs lately.  Like this one for $25:

But it’s not a pair.  And by the looks of it, it’s not in great shape.

Or there’s this pair for $50 (OBO):

I really like the legs, and I’m pretty sure those are removable covers on the arms.  But I’m not sure about the shape and height of the back, and it’d have to be reupholstered without the strange diamond pattern on the back.  I’d have to check ‘em out in person.  And maybe I still will…  I can see them looking sort of like this:

or this:

And here are a few other pieces that have inspired me (all available in the last week):

How about this great little chandy for $30?  I love the look of chandeliers painted bright white or poppy colours like aqua blue or lime green, but this one looks like it has a cool bronzy patina that I’d probably keep as is.  It’s a bit petite to go in a dining room, but I think it would work fabulously in a bathroom (I love chandeliers in bathrooms) or even a pretty little dressing room (if you’re fancy like that.)

And this weathered sideboard piece?  They say it’s antique, and want $175 for it.  Not sure I’d pay that much, depending on how sturdy/clean it is.  But that worn turquoise finish is kind of gorgeous, don’t you think?  

I’m imagining it reinvented with a carrera marble top as either a bathroom vanity a la Sarah’s Farmhouse:

or on casters as a portable island in a country kitchen with this sort of vibe:

And who doesn’t love a little Frenchy chair?  This one’s $50:

I kind of think the tapestry upholstery is sweet, but I would never keep it.  Nope.  This baby’d be painted white and recovered in a graphic fabric lickety-split.

Or maybe in a pale fabric, depending on my imaginary client. ;)

And finally, how about this dining set?  $500 for the solid cherry table and 6 chairs.

Unfortunately the seller recently recovered the seats (in a fabric I wouldn’t keep).  I’m always bummed when they’ve recently refinished the furniture, because that usually drives up their price and I want to redo it my way.  But it’s a delightfully curvy little set. The chairs would be painted white or pale grey (or maybe a bright colour… hmmm…) and recovered.  The table could be painted or refinished in a darker stain or even used somewhere else to mix up the set.

So if anyone has a warehouse for me to store all this stuff.  And a list of clients.  And a way to give me more time.  Let me know, and my career as a thrifty stylist will commence! ;)

So I’ve had something on my mind lately.  Let’s see if you can guess what it is… ;)

(P.S. I’ve pulled some of these pictures from my archives, so help me out if you know the source and I haven’t credited it.)

The nice thing about waiting 2 or 3+ years to build your dream house is that you have lots and lots of time to consider just how you would like it.  You can also try out living in other places and learn from the good, the bad, and the ugly.

This pleases my husband, because it’s taken this long for me to finally concede.  You see, I always knew tile or lino in the kitchen is much smarter than hardwood, but I just wouldn’t give in.  I looove the look of hardwood, and dislike a lot of floor tile looks (especially in many kitchen applications).  Furthermore, I just can’t handle the transition from one kind of flooring to another in an area that is not a doorway.

But now I have a baby throwing his bottle around and tossing food on the floor.  I want a floor that’ll clean up better (and look better when a little dirty) than hardwood or laminate flooring in the kitchen.  *sigh*  So I give in.

The thing is… I’m still not 100% sure how I want a tile floor to look (dark, light, big, small…)  I can definitely tell you what I don’t like (tiles in diamond pattern, or distinct grout lines, to name a couple).  But what I like has yet to be discovered.

Needless to say I was interested to see tile that I liked in two of my September magazines:

This month’s Martha Stewart Living features an article on Martha’s Bedford kitchen.  The tiles on the floor caught my eye - long slabs that look like wide-plank wood flooring.  The article says they were actually 4”-thick marble slabs from an outdoor path that were cut down to 1” and installed indoors.  I like the rugged look, and love the long-slab look.

(I’ll post some more pictures of her Bedford kitchen later.)

And one of my favourite articles from September’s Canadian House & Home features a vacation home with tile flooring throughout:

While I could never put stone tile throughout my home, the article explains that it works well for summer vacation living since it’s cool underfoot.  Makes sense.  It would also be great for lakeside living when kiddies come in all wet and drippy.

Again these tiles are large, and rugged looking, which appeals to me.

And recently Kim over at Desire to Inspire blogged about tile flooring.  While her inspiration pictures focused mostly on living rooms, there were still a few floors that I think would look good in my kitchen too:

So now I’m on the hunt for some good tile floor inspiration pictures…