My New Upholstered Bed-By Simply Tufted
Tuesday, November 22, 2022 - Years ago I fell in love with a picture on Pinterest of an upholstered headboard. I pinned it and tucked it away in the little "someday" folder both on my Pinterest account and in my brain. Someday, I would have a luxe, sexy headboard like that. I don't know many people who lust after a headboard, but I guess I am one of them! Isn't it nice?
I stumbled upon a business page on Facebook called "Simply Tufted-Quality Hancrafted Headboards" and literally got lost in this page for over an hour, looking at her photos. I excitedly fired off a message with my inspo pic to find out what the process was to turn this inspiration into a reality for me. I got a message back with the request to chat on the phone because she found it easier that way than the ...
It Has Gotten Much Better-Bathroom Reveal
Thursday, June 2, 2022 - You may recall a blog post...from a few MONTHS ago...about my main bathroom renovation. This was supposed to be a three week job and well, it's June and the paint still smells pretty fresh and new because it was literally just painted a couple weeks ago. This renovation taught me the kind of patience I didn't know I had. And I can write about it fairly candidly now because, well, it's almost all over. Almost. Not quite, but definitely done enough to share with you the end result with a few pictures!
The jumping off point for my design concept of this bathroom was my retro green wall tiles. I touched on this in the previous blog post, so no real need to get into it again! But every product choice made went back to that wall tile and I would ...
It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better-Bathroom Renovation
Monday, March 21, 2022 - We had just nicely finished a major renovation in the basement when a new one came along. We had finished a big section of our concrete basement, added a kitchenette, a pantry and brand new bathroom (without any existing plumbing, so when I say a major renovation, it really was a big one!) When the plumbing in my main bathroom (and formerly our ONLY bathroom!) went wacky, I was unprepared but realized another reno was potentially looming. The water was taking forever to drain down the sink and the tub, sometimes getting completely stuck for days at a time. Our fears were realized when we called in the plumber and they told us that we needed all new plumbing in that bathroom and that the slow draining sink and tub were only going to get worse over time. ...
Burning My Mortgage
Monday, September 13, 2021 - I woke up this morning on a mattress I have owned for probably ten years. Once upon a time, it was cloud like and comfortable but now it is well past its prime and it has lumps and bumps and I toss and turn all night and usually wake up with aches and pains. It hit me this morning that I have owned my home for less time than I have owned this mattress. And over the course of my home ownership, I have been so aggressive with my mortgage payments that the idea of spending a good chunk of money on a new mattress has never even crossed my mind. I think it is time to go shopping for a new one though because this morning when I woke up, I woke up, completely mortgage free!
Eight years, two months, one week and two days ago we took on this mortgage and ...
Our Nautical Nursery
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 - This past year has been a bit of a blur. A ton of stuff has happened. But, for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to write. I was suffering from writer's block. I just needed to live life instead of live life and write about it. I am easing back into the blogger journey with an easy post and sharing my flair for home decor with photos of our Nautical Nursery. We were blessed with the sweetest little baby boy named Orry James and we made sure that he has the sweetest little bedroom.
I chose a Nautical Coastal theme for the wee man because I love the decor style and am a real water lover. As much as I love the ocean, I'm not too keen on swimming in the ocean, which is sort of funny! But decorating with this theme? I thought this would ...
Bookshelf Upcycle
Monday, June 22, 2020 - My Mom picked up this boring old bookshelf at a relatives house when she was helping them move. She knew I needed a bookshelf for one of my kid's bedrooms and this one was sturdy and wood, so she figured it would work. And she was right. It worked. It was functionble. It held books and somewhat kept my daughter's little library organized. But it was pretty much as boring as a bookshelf could be! When we moved the girls up to the attic and started the process of turning their old bedrooms into guest rooms, I decided it was the perfect time to take a wee bit of time and attempt to give this super blah bookshelf a little makeover.
I knew I could jazz it up with a couple coats of paint. But I wanted to do a little more than that. I had recently found ...
Headboard Throwback DIY
Sunday, June 14, 2020 - One of my favourite types of stores to lose myself in is a fabric store. I become enchanted with the punchy colours and prints. I envision projects that each pattern would be perfect for. I always head to the clearance section first and sift through the fabrics and never really know what I am looking for until I find it. Did I mention I do not sew?? Since I don't sew, I learned how to upholster. Sort of. I do very basic upholstery, like recovering dining room chairs, benches...the simple wrap and staple type stuff.
A project I tackled a few years ago, with assistance from my ex-husband, was a Fabric Headboard for my daughter Izzy. I will say that this project was not the reason for the split, however it may have been a small step in that direction!! ...
If We Were Meant To Be Nude We Would Have Been Born That Way
Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - "If we were meant to be nude, we would have been born that way." -- Oscar Wilde
My house growing up always had a ton of nude paintings in it...Artsy ones. I remember one with a beautiful naked women lounging seductively on a bed with a sheet draped just over her hips, her legs and bum exposed. I also remember another one with a woman sitting in a flower garden, wearing a sheer dress that showed off her naked breasts. Because I lived there, I didn't find these pieces of art strange to have in my house, but I do remember my friends, particularly the teenage boys really getting a kick out of them! I never gave them too much thought, and never thought of the models in these works of art being real people. My Dad made a joke to ...
September 11th--Eighteen Years--Seems Like Yesterday
Monday, September 16, 2019 - Eighteen years ago. When I type it, eighteen years seems like such a long time, yet it seems like it was just yesterday. I was a Nanny, working just outside of New York City. I lived just a few miles from the World Trade Centre. It was a sunny, beautiful Tuesday morning and I was dressed and ready to start my day with Kamron, the sweet baby I was a Nanny for. He was just a toddler and we had plans that morning for a toddler music class, which was really a bunch of two year olds banging on toy instruments and an assortment of Moms, Dads and caregivers singing along and chatting with each other. Every morning I would head downstairs from my Nanny suite in the attic and pick up Kamron in his parent's bedroom. Usually he was laying on the four poster ...
Epic First Date : Part Two
Monday, September 9, 2019 - We left the patio restaurant and decided to take a walk and sit at the pier in Bayfield to watch the sunset. Of course sitting on a pier and watching the sunset without a fizzy beverage of some sort just didn't seem like as much fun, so we headed to the LCBO to buy some coolers. I had the brain wave to disguise our drinks in some Subway cups (it was a long weekend after all and needed to disguise these alcoholic beverages!) and my date was very impressed with my skills of heading into the Subway and sweet talking the kid working into letting me have a couple cups with ice.
We brought the beach blanket to the end of the pier and just sat and talked and people watched. It was an interesting night for people watching! We got quite the laugh when ...
Epic First Date : Part One
Monday, September 2, 2019 - Epic first dates don't come around very often. They happen in the movies, but in real life? Not so much. I went on a truly epic first date not too long ago and the memories of it are still flashing through my head as if they were scenes from a really sweet romantic comedy. And of course, I wanted to blog about it immediately, but I didn't want to jinx anything. It's been a month since this date and I have the blessing of the guy who took me on it to blog about it...so here goes.
When I say "epic" , I am not talking about exotic destinations or events that took a ton of preparation or planning. I simply mean that it was one of those days where it seemed as if the stars aligned, the human spirit was alive all around us and ...
The Heart of the House--My Kitchen
Monday, August 12, 2019 - I remember the tiny galley kitchen in my Grandma B's cottage in Sauble Beach. It was a happy place. It was in this kitchen that I would watch my Grandma bake her famous oatmeal cookies and she always saved me some of the cookie dough. It was in this kitchen that I discovered that I really liked to eat my Zoodles cold, thanks to a power outage. It was in this kitchen that I was bathed in the wash sink as a toddler. Kitchens are the heart of the home and if happy memories are made in them, things like uneven flooring and outdated cabinets really don't make a difference!
But cooking in a nice kitchen is quite sweet too! When I moved into my house, I knew my kitchen had some heart...but it needed a bit of paint and fairy dust to bring it to life! ...
Be Scared...Do it Anyway.
Monday, July 29, 2019 - I was scrolling through a friend's Instagram a few days ago and he had posted a poem that caught my attention. I skimmed through the poem and then I stopped the background noise and gave full attention to the words I was reading and read it again. Here is the poem and thank you P for sharing it. It spoke to me more than you possibly could have known it would.
I felt each and every line in this poem. I am feeling each and every line right now. There have been so many days recently that I have felt like giving up. There have been days when I continue to place one foot in front of the other and get out of bed, care for my girls, go to work, smile at my customers and wish them good morning. At the end of those days when I am tired and go to bed, ...
That First Date I Was Nervous About? Yeah....About That!
Monday, July 22, 2019 - Here is the thing with online dating. We post the pictures of us looking our absolute best. We put our absolute best personalities forward. We match with someone and we make a date to meet. We go into the date with the highest of hopes...AND more time than not our high hopes plummet pretty darn fast, usually by the time the first drink arrives.
That didn't happen on the first date I went on a few weeks ago! My hopes were not immediately dashed and I actually ended up having a really good time. We met at a pub and each had a drink. The conversation flowed effortlessly and he was as cute as he looked in his pictures. He thought I was absolutely hilariously adorable (excellent taste in girls it seems....) We closed the bar down and when the bill ...
Upper Balcony Reveal-Making It So Pretty!
Monday, July 15, 2019 - I love tackling projects at my home. I love seeing the visions I have come to life. I usually encounter quite a few little bumps in the road along the way, but this Upper Balcony Makeover was relatively simple and smooth. Harriet, my basset hound enjoyed spending some time up there now that it is all colourful and pretty!
I talked about a few of my key pieces used to pull this makeover off in a previous blog post that you can check out here Upper Balcony Key Players On their own, the pieces themselves were pretty bland and boring as you will see. But together....wow. I love my Upper Balcony now. It is the perfect place to chill with a book, enjoy my morning coffee or a glass of wine and just be alone with my thoughts.
The biggest project I needed ...
Upper Balcony Key Players!
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Friday, July 12, 2019 - My upper balcony is kind of strange because the only way to get to it is through my bathroom. My house is over 100 years old and old houses do not always make perfect sense! (Oh but how charming they are and how I love old houses!) The deck itself has very nice and expensive composite boards. The railings had been in pretty rough shape when we bought the house and a few years ago, my ex put up some new ones. The new railings looked great and it gave this old balcony a bit of a fresh slate! I had mentioned wanting to put some outdoor seating out there and make it a fun and colourful balcony to hang out on. The only thing we ever got around to putting out there was a laundry rack. A laundry rack that never got any use because I never took my wet ...
First Date Jitters
Monday, July 8, 2019 - Dating is scary. Dating as a teenager is scary but dating as an almost 40 year old, working mother of two is a totally different type of horror story. It could have a happy ending of course. Buuuuttt, more than likely it includes an out of shape white girl running towards the woods, screaming, out of breath and very likely never again to be seen in the dating world! You know....the girl that is only featured in the movie for the first fifteen minutes before the villain claims her as his first victim? Yeah....that's me.
I already know the dating mistakes I made as a younger person and while I don't necessarily want to make them again, I have been out of practice for the past several years. Will I go back to my old dating habits (that really ...
Happy Birthday to Me!
Thursday, July 4, 2019 - Today is my birthday. My 39th birthday. I intend to enjoy this last year in my thirties before the big 4-0 next year! When I reflect back on this past year since my last birthday, wow so much has changed since I blew out the last round of candles.
I thought it would be fun to look at some birthday pictures from years past. Starting with this one. What an adorable little Miss Piggy. The cake is cute too! My first birthday. The year was 1981 and I obviously do not remember one bit of it. That was just the beginning little Brooke!
I will flash forward a few years to my 25th birthday. I was living in Waco, Texas with my cousin Michele and her family and they were sweet enough to get me a cute little cake. I remember thinking how old I was ...
Introducing Red Lips, Mom Hips!
Tuesday, July 2, 2019 - Starting a blog is something that has been on my mind for years. But I have never just sat down and started it! I have lived many lives. I managed to squeeze a lot of life into the years between college graduation and marriage and motherhood. This blog may have a few entries about some of my fond memories of past experiences. There is not a doubt in my mind that the experiences I had shaped who I am as a person, so there may be some blast from the past type entries here. But you know what this blog is going to be mostly about? A woman picking herself up, dusting herself off and starting over.
Where shall I begin? I guess a good place to start is introducing myself and explaining a bit about what I mean about picking myself up, dusting myself off and ...
Writing an "About Me" is not easy. How do I pick and choose the pieces of my life that molded me into the person I am or deem the milestones and memories as important enough to tell you about in this little "About Me"...Well, I often joke that I have Read more about me...