A Little Kitchen Upgrade

 This weekend the hubs helped me install some shelving into our kitchen.  We have a pretty humble kitchen - the cabinets are older, and there isn`t a ton of storage.  However, the full kitchen reno isn`t going to happen for another year or so, so I needed to find ways to maximize the space we do have. 

Priceless Signs, Healthy Dinners, and some dissapointing news.

Next Saturday is the 3rd annual Priceless fundraiser.  It is an event to raise funds towards human trafficking.  I was asked to be a vendor, so once again I got busy and made some fun barnboard signs.  The great thing was, I had lots of help.  It's a good excuse to get together with some good friends, sip tea, and chat around the dinning room table, while we paint away.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 This week has been busy with Valentine's Day preparation.  On Monday a friend came over, and we did a home-made photo shoot with the girls.  It was challenging - getting them at their happiest time, getting them to stop squirming and smile.  But we managed to get a few.  Then yesterday I baked these festive cookies for tonight's small group.

Just Another Buffet...

 This blog post is just about another antique teal buffet that I milk painted.  It's lovely.  Very lovely.  What more is there to say?  I will let you enjoy the photos.

Master Bathroom Makeover

 Ahhh.... it's finally done.  I love our new master bathroom ensuite so much, last night I just stood there and gazed at it.  It's so romantic, so cozy, so personal.  It took a little while to do, but I have to praise Mark for getting it done.  Without his help - well, I'd still be painting the walls.

12 Weeks to meeting Miss Mustard Seed - Week 2

 We've been busy lately redesigning our master bathroom.  The bathroom was perfectly functional as it was, but it wasn't a beautiful space.  We toyed with changing the layout - adding a toilet, taking out the tub, and adding a shower instead.  But we really love our jacuzzi tub, and we use it regularly, so it stayed.

12 Weeks to meeting Miss Mustard Seed - Week 1

The other day, my sister-in-law asked me if I'd like to go meet Miss Mustard Seed in April when she comes to Toronto.  Of COURSE I would.  In fact, I got so excited about the prospect of meeting my mentor / role model / the-person-I-aspire-to-be, I decided to start a brand new blog series in honour of her.

The Waterfall Tallboy

This week I was hit by my fourth flu in 2 months.  Not fun at all.  Needless to say, it's been a pretty unproductive week.  But where I've been slacking, Mark's been picking up the paint brush.

I acquired this tallboy at the same auction I found that fabulous armoire.  As the auctioneer was helping us load it in our minivan, he commented, 'So, you're going to paint this thing a nice robin-egg blue'?  I laughed, and then thought, that's not a bad plan.  So, away we went.

Chippy Hutch and Porcelain Babies

 This was my begining-of-the-week project.  A gorgeous, chippy hutch.  This hutch is really chippy.  It's so chippy, it makes me chipper.  The thing I love about milk paint, is that you never really know how the end product is going to turn out.  I suppose if I had an A-type personality, that would bother me - but I don't.  Quite the opposite :)

The Loyalist Hutch

Loyalist Hutch

 To my great delight, my local milk paint supplier began carrying a myriad of new colours.  When I saw this light teal, I could hardly wait to try it out.  I found the perfect candidate for it - this stunning, drop-dead gorgeous antique hutch.

Help me paint my armoire!

I have been searching for this piece the day I started painting furniture.  I scored this beauty from an auction last weekend, and can hardly wait to attack it with a paintbrush.  The only problem?  I can't decide for the life of me what colour to paint it!

Side-of-the-road-find - My Victorian Dollhouse

For some reason, Sunday seems to be the day I take a walk down my favourite street in Hamilton - Ottawa Street.  Most stores are closed, but it's still fun to window shop.  Yesterday Mark came with me, and we carried the girls in their bjorns.  On our way, we found this adorable dollhouse, cast away on the side of the road.  How could I pass it up?

Surviving Auctions

Auctions.  You've heard you can score good deals at them, but have never had the gumption to attend.  They can be intimidating - there's a lot of people, the bidding goes up really fast, and there's a loud auctioneer pointing at you, stammering out words you can hardly understand.

The Purple Buffet

 Yesterday my friend Rachel was over for the day.  She has stunning decorating taste.  We've been working on reupholstering her couch this week, and it's turning out really gorgeous.  While she sewed, I tackled this lovely antique buffet.

The Yellow Tallboy

 This week has been a little rocky, due to Fifth Disease (aka Slapped Cheeks Disease) striking our house.  The girls have been pretty fussy, sleepless, and congested, but their cheeks are bright red which makes them super cute.  Mark found this little gem on kijiji, and decided (while I was upstairs, feeding babies) to go for the yellow.  Bold, I say!

The Vintage Wardrobe

Quite a few months ago, we picked up this piece from a guy out in Brantford who runs a business buying and selling on Kijiji.  Originally I thought it was spectacular.  As time went, I just couldn't envision the finish I wanted on it, so in the garage it sat.  And sat.

Side-of-the-road find

 Right before Christmas, Mark came home from work with this piece in his truck.  I know it looks gorgeous now, but it didn't then.  For some reason, I still have a hard time envisioning what the finished product will look like.

Coolest Christmas Present EVER!

We spend every Christmas Eve with Mark's family.  We make a day of it - we drive to Bowmanville in the morning, and spend the day going for walks down by the creek, knitting, caring for babies, playing with children, and doing all sorts of lovely relaxing things.  Our family is very warm and welcoming, and a fun part of Christmas with the Vanderherberg's, is that there are usually guests.  It's such fun to spend it with others who may be a long ways from home, or may not have family members to spend Christmas Eve with.

 I must apologize.  It's been far too long since I've written a blog post.  Well, this weekend as I got hit by a nasty flu, Mark once again picked up a paint brush and accomplished a few projects that we had sitting in the garage.