Thinking of Christmas Decorating

 Christmas is coming and people are starting to put up their outdoor decorations. I have been watching videos on what is new in stores that we don't have in Canada (or at least where I live). It has me itching to decorate but not until Dec. 1 at the earliest. 

I have my cardinal display which I will put up again this year. Christmas without cardinals isn't Christmas. 

It drives the colour scheme for me - red and grey in the main part of the house. 

I also do the nativity scene. Most of it was bought in the early 1950's with the last piece bought in the mid 1960's. I have always put it out since getting it from my mother. 

And lastly, Christmas is not Christmas without Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore. I made them when the children were just starting school. 

I will be making a few changes this year. 

    Instead of a tree, I will be doing a tiered tray. I will add the Spousal Unit's snowmen to it and a couple of new items I will buy. I will be looking for snowflakes so I can add them for January/February. 

    I hope to have Elliott's cardinal quilt done for Christmas so I can put it on the couch. I have a cardinal pillow already made. My quilt will be done by the end of the year so I can display it next year. 

    I have an antique ironstone dish that belonged to my grandmother. I am going to put it on the dresser in the spare bedroom and fill it with blue and silver baubles. If I can find a pick or two, I will use them in that room also to give it a bit of a Christmas vibe. 

    I need to get a few small items like napkins so I can add some touches to the kitchen. I have a lovely cardinal mug that I will buy picks for and put it on the window ledge to add some festivity to that room. 

What I'm not decorating or decorating less this year:

    I am not touching my bedroom this year. I don't do Christmas sheets nor do I decorate the room. If I do it next year it will be a few items in blue and silver. 

    The bathroom. I could put out some grey towels with cardinals on them but we will wait and see. 

    Front entry (inside) will not be done as it is small and has no space for anything but a picture by the garage door. I may have to think on that one. 

    Outside will be less this year. Only around the front door. I don't put out a lot of items as it is one area that has to be shovelled when we get snow. 

I am still working my way through Christmas ideas as I want to add a few items the Spousal Unit loved. His cowboy snowmen were his favourite. 

This tree will come out but not be decorated this year as I'm figuring out how to use them in a gift for daughter. I realize that Christmas is not the same as before and that I need to continue to figure out how I want Christmas to look. 

Master Bedroom Update #2

The master bedroom has been purged. The room was cleaned and I have been thinking about decorating this room. I have realized that my style is cottage country style. I can keep it minimal for easy cleaning but have it feel warm and cozy. 

Stopping work on the bedroom and thinking has let me get my ideas and thoughts in place. It has also let me make changes. 

    The main quilt I want to make for the bed is still going to happen. My inspiration came from this picture. 

This is a double Irish chain quilt and I am making a single. I am also going to reverse the colours so the William Morris fabric can be seen. 

    The second quilt will be a fun one which has sheep on it. I may not put it on the bed but have it over a chair in that room and admire it. The background fabric will have to go with the William Morris fabric. 

    I bought a frame for a small picture to put on the bedside table that has nothing on it. 

I need to find a vase to put some flowers into so the space if balanced. The frames on the rest of my pictures are in oak and I am hoping the gold on this frame will pull the look together. Most of the pictures I want to hang were framed in the 1990's. 

    I still want to get a black metal headboard for the bed. I don't want extra pillows on the bed as I don't use them. A headboard will help give the bed the finished look I want. 

With ideas floating around in my head, I find that I am still stalled. I am spending a lot of time cleaning the house of unnecessary items. Between doing that and exercise/physio/osteopathy I putter at my plan when I have time. I am hoping to make the bedroom 2 quilts this winter so I can have change the quilts out seasonally. 

Master Bedroom Update #1

 The master bedroom is my focus at the moment. I am in the process of purging out what I don't need and organizing the closets to be more efficient. While I clean the room, I keep thinking about how I want to decorate the space. It needs to be peaceful so I can sleep well in it. 

One of the first things I did was change out the sheets to white ones. I have always loved white sheets and pillow cases. I have the light grey curtains hung which I also like and they will blend in with the grey wall colour (same as the rest of the house). The first step to decorating has begun. And stopped for a bit as I gathered my thoughts to move from spartan to inviting, cozy, and peaceful.

The main furniture in the room belonged to my grandmother. I love each piece. The bedside tables are white and from Ikea and do the job that I needed them to do. They don't stand out too much. I hope to buy a black iron headboard for the bed. 

I have kept the knick knacks to a minimum and would like to add some flowers to the dresser and a picture to the bedside table which has nothing on it. I may even put a small flower arrangement on it also. The wash stand has a basin and pitcher which came from my grandmother's house. The white linen towels I use to put on the rail were in a box that went missing on one of our moves. 

I plan on making the Irish chain quilt for the bedroom. I have decided to use this William Morris print.

I am still in the process of choosing the white. Instead of a white background and blue chains, I am going to reverse it. The runners will be in the print and white. One for each of the main pieces.

I am working towards being able to sleep well in this room. I know the colours I am choosing are calm. I have added items to the room slowly and I am sleeping well with them in there. It will still be minimal but at the same time it will feel comfortable and cozy for me. 

I will update as I move forward and add pictures to show the progress. Right now it is getting this room clean and ready to be decorated. 

The Spare Bedroom Is Done and Ready to Paint

 The spare bedroom sewing is completed and I am happy with how it looks. It will look much better when painted and pictures are hung up. But the sewing part turned out to be what I wanted for this room. 

This room is small and it houses paper work in the closet along with Elliott's litter box. I haven't put it downstairs as I was struggling with stairs due to my hip being out of alignment. It is easier to deal with upstairs even if I hate the mess he makes. 

I took the duvet cover off the bed and will be replacing it with a white one. The white blanket I am using allowed the fabric to be the star plus it made the room brighter. 

The table runner on the dresser has spruced up the look of it. I need to buy new handles for it and will be doing that when I go to Home Depot. 

The flower arrangement was fun to do and the table topper was an easy sew.  

The rabbits are from the sewing room and add a bit of whimsy to the room. The conch shell I got from my grandmother's house many years ago and it has always been in a bedroom. It looks perfect in this room. 

The small embroidered picture is only pinned to the wall and will be hung after the room is painted and new trim put up. 

And the night stand is finished with its own table topper that is a bit too big. I may make it smaller this winter. 

I may paint the room myself this winter. The hardest part will be taking off the trim and getting new trim painted. The walls are the easy part. I may have to pay my neighbour to put on the new trim. I haven't thought about this for a while as I have been focusing on getting my hip and knee aligned so I can do things without having a lot of pain. 

Overall, I am happy with the country cottage/farmhouse look I am going for. This room is a combination of both but still has the minimal look I love. I find the room relaxing when I walk in and it has items in it that I cherish. Once done, I know it will be perfect for me.

Guest Bedroom Update #2

 The guest room is coming along nicely. I have made progress on the soft furnishings. I am getting everything ready to do a day or two of hand sewing down binding. 

I will have to admit that I almost gave up decorating this room. I really struggled trying to figure out what was wrong after I introduced the fabrics into the room and started sewing them. After walking out of the room several times in frustration I realized it is the colour of the duvet cover. It is the wrong shade of blue. I know it needs to be replaced as it has several holes in it. I now need to get a  duvet cover that is white. I may have to change one set of pillow cases to light blue. And maybe the sheets. I'm on the hunt for what I want. 

The soft furnishings are coming along and I have the cushion covers to almost ready to sew down the binding. 

The second cover is ready to sew together with the binding attached. 

I decided to make a small wall hanging to hang above the bedside table. The embroidery took 2.5 hours to stitch out. It has very dense stitching on it. It is ready to bind. 

I have a table topper or two to make and then I will be ready to set up the room. 

I purchased some flowers for the room and am ready to cut the stems down and arrange them in a vase. I need another container of white sand for the vase. I will add some glass rocks to the top to add a finished look. 

My next update should be of the room done but not painted. I have to do some shopping for pillow cases, sheets, and duvet cover. I will hang all the pictures so I can see how the room will look with the blue curtains or if they will need to be replaced. This has been a learning project for me as I venture into a new look for the house. 

Colour Trends 2023

 The colours of the year certainly change over time. We could update our houses every year to keep up with the trends. But should we?

I am a person who believes (for me only) to have one colour on the walls in my house. When I decided on this, I realized I had to make my colour choice wisely. The first time I did this was in our house in Kamloops. I chose Which Is Witch from Home Hardware.

It was a mid tone colour and went well in the house with bright white trim, white/grey counter tops, and dark floors. It actually help sell the house as it was updated and clean looking. 

This house I  am now living in is a challenge. The paint colours are a darker tan and have a yellow undertone. I hate yellow undertones in paint. Add to it an array of different browns in the house and you never have the feeling of restfulness. There is a mix of browns with yellow, pink, and grey in them for cabinets and flooring. You are always noticing how nothing flows in this house. 

When the basement flooded, we chose to have it painted in a light grey with white trim and a grey floor. The reason was to have it light and airy. I enjoy going to the basement as it is cohesive and my brain can rest. It also allows me to use colour in the soft furnishings. 

The colour does change during the day depending on the light. I love that. 

Though the grey is not a colour for 2023, I am going to use it upstairs to give the house a light airy feeling. It will be the base for the rest of the ideas I have. I don't need to follow trends for this year to have a home I love. The paint is the canvas for the soft furnishings which can be what I like or on trend. It is the base for having a look I hope to achieve in the next couple of years. 

Colours for 2023

I looked at them in the link above and cringed. But I started to relax when I realized I can use some the colours in soft furnishings. 

Vibrant Red - My Christmas colour of choice. I use a lot of red and cardinals in the main part of the house for 6 weeks. I don't have a lot of Christmas items, mainly cardinals which I love. 

I am adding two cardinal quilts and a cushion. I have placemats in the dining area and on the end tables in the living area. It gives the house a warm and bright feeling on those darker winter days.

Terra Cotta - Unless it is the orange cat in the placemats I use in the summer, it won't happen in this house. I know it is a great colour for autumn but it isn't one of my favourite colours. 

Natural Greens - I am not a big fan of green but am trying to introduce a bit into the house. I have green in the placemats I made for summer. 

The bottom green is more a mint colour rather than a dirty green as in the picture. 

I also made Elliott a quilt which has green in it. I don't really like it but it is appropriate for a cat. I think it is because the one green is too bright. 

I will put it away at Christmas as he is getting a cardinal quilt.

My biggest feat of the year is to add some green to the spare bedroom. I chose a print that I like and am using some green. Very hard for me as I am not a green person. 

Green Blue - just the dark in the cat placemats. Another colour I am not fond of in big amounts. 

Water Blue - 100% my colour. Anything from the palest blue to indigo. I want it in the house for most of the year. I am going to do my bedroom in blues using William Morris prints. I am looking at a quilt using white and blue. 

I can see this as a single Irish chain using white and this fabric or the lighter version. 

Or this fabric.

White (neutrals) - I like whites. I do not like creamy colours. 

Beige - though most have red in them they still don't appeal to me. 

Greige - One colour I don't mind. White with a greige undertone is fine. I like griege as it looks grey in one lighting but a nice off white in another lighting. I don't have it in the house but it is one I would lean towards if I wanted darker walls. 

Light Purple Grey - the colour I had in Kamloops and I did like it. The house had large windows which kept the colour light looking. Where it was the darkest was in the front entrance. But not too bad. 

In the end, I like most of the colours but not all of them. One of the main colours for this house will be all shades blue. The greens will come out at specific times of the year as will red. I have decided that I don't need to like all the colours that are on trend and to choose only those I like. 

Guest Bedroom Update #1

 I have been busy with the spare bedroom. It has been fun thinking about my spin how how I can combine the farmhouse and English cottage look in that room. 

I have had to look at several things when designing this room. One is my clutter thresh hold. At the moment, it hasn't been met in that room so I know all is good. But I do know it will come if I add too many pieces so I am taking care. 

I have also looked at prints I like and don't like. I was always choosing solids as I felt more comfortable using them. No worrying about matching prints up. I still like to have things coordinated. Having mismatch does cause me a bit of stress. I am learning how to play with it but it is hard. 

The fabric I chose for this room is Indigo Blue Kelp (Turtle Bay by Northcott fabrics). I did not like the collection as it wasn't me. But the kelp spoke to me when I paired it with the blue Crackle fabric. Adding the minty green Burlap fabric made it sing. The fabric reminded me of leaves not kelp. 

The starting point of the room was the colour. I decided on blue for this room but not a pale blue. Darker blue; almost what I call a denim blue. It would allow me to add other shades of blue that are in the print plus a bit of green. 

The first item I made was a runner for the dresser. It is ready to bind and I am pleased with it. 

I am adding 2 cushion covers that are quilt squares, table toppers, and a piece of the fabric stretched over an artist canvas for a wall hanging. 

For this room, I have 2 pictures; one is pansies that I cross stitched for my mom years ago and the other is a wedding wish my uncle gave my parents when they were married in 1945. I have 2 dark vases they got for a wedding present on the dresser. I will lighten up the room with white flowers and a few white knick knacks (rabbits from the sewing room). This room does need white or very pale blue in it to brighten it up. 

I am excited to add more posts on this room. 

What Is My Decorating Style?

 I have been thinking about my design style for a few weeks now and am not sure what it is. My tastes are changing now that I am alone and am no longer involved with the western way of life. I still believe in the values of that lifestyle but I am moving away from living in a ranch style home. I have dedicated the family room to having our favourite pictures and items that we liked and brought with us to Nova Scotia.

What is that I like?

First of all I love blue and want that to be the main colour in the house. I love grey as it is a nice neutral to use on the walls and if light, it brightens up the house. 

I am leaning towards the above colours for the house except the cream would be white. In areas I would add a bit of sage green to the mix. Not all rooms but one or two. 

I love things to be neat and tidy. Everything in its place and not a lot of clutter. Minimal but not minimalistic. Not industrial as I don't like the hard lines. Farm house? To a degree. English cottage? To a degree. Traditional? Contemporary? 

I still like the farm house look but not like it was pre-pandemic. I like white kitchen cupboards with a nice light counter top. But the farm house sink is not a priority like it use to be. I like the light colours that are a part of the farm house look but I don't want shiplap. I'm over having that in the house. I don't want billowy sheer curtains as they don't keep the house cool in the summer or warm in the winter. I still love dark hardwood floors especially narrow board hardwood. They still have a place in my heart. 

English Cottage look has come to the forefront in my thoughts lately. I love how they use heavy curtains to keep out the heat and the warmth in. I don't like print curtains but plain ones which are popular also. I don't like the clutter but a few well placed pictures and items are more my style. I like print fabrics but not all floral. I like to combine prints with textured plain fabrics. 

When studying fabrics for the English Cottage style, my first thought was how they used a lot of floral fabrics. I really shut down until I saw this print used. 

The people had bought the wall paper and put it up in their hallway. Then they showed it as a pillow in a place they stayed in. I was then on board to thinking about prints in the house. Not wall paper but soft decor like table runners, cushion covers, and wall art. 

So what is my design style? English cottage with some farmhouse thrown in. Everything will be chosen with care so it isn't cluttered but it is what I love. A few items will be included upstairs that the Spousal Unit loved (which I do love also). I am starting in the spare bedroom as I can experiment as I go. 

Here is to moving forward with a new design style.

The Master Bedroom

 The master bedroom is big. It is one of the biggest we have ever had. It is also painted in the yellow tan colour that I don't like. And, yes, it will be painted grey and have white crown moulding. 

Here is a picture of the bedroom when we first moved in. 

This bedroom has been kept very minimal as I have a sleep disorder. The room is to be peaceful so I can sleep. Because of that, I have struggled decorating the master bedrooms we've had over the years. 

I have decided to update the bedroom to something that is has a bit more personality. I changed the curtains to a light grey black out curtain and need to get one more panel to finish the window. They really help me sleep at night as the neighbours leave their porch lights on most nights. 

I also put out the lovely knick knacks we acquired over the years. They were put away as Elliott, our cat, use to push them off the dresser into the laundry basket. He no longer does that. It is nice to have them out where I can enjoy them. 

Next I turned my thoughts to how I want the room to be like. I have white sheets for the bed and need to get a white duvet cover. I will put a navy throw on the bottom of the bed. 

Choosing fabrics for the room has been hard. I keep thinking what "we" want vs what I want. I know blue as that is going to be the common colour upstairs. I also decided I want some floral prints though I also like stripes. I have decided on the following three prints plus a white fabric for this room.

The table runners (3 of them)

Choosing the first fabric was a huge leap for me. I like that it has both flowers and foliage. 

The second fabric was easier for me. I am not sure if it will be this stripe or the lighter version. Both have been on my list for my bedroom for months. 

The white may be a solid though it may be a white on white tonal print.

The last fabrics I found is this one plus the navy version. 

One of them will be a cushion cover for a smaller pillow for the bed and something else. The other one will be in the dining room. 

I hope to buy a black metal headboard for the bed. I may paint the dresser and wash stand white. The treadle sewing machine will get cleaned up and waxed. I have fluffy mats on each side of the bed that breaks up the floor space. I will not have a rug in the room as I have to move the bed to clean under it. Allergies dictate the room is cleaned to within an inch of its life every 3 weeks. 

The room looks like this today and I am still not happy with it. 

It is still not what I want but it is a bit better than it was. At least what I want it to look like is evolving. 

The Guest Bedroom

 When we bought this house, the interior was painted a yellowish tan. A colour we both did not like. It was to be painted after we got the outside landscaping done but the upstairs didn't get done. A flood in the basement, the pandemic, and the Spousal Unit getting and passing from Alzheimer's prevented it happening. The upstairs will be done as soon as I can get painters and a carpenter to do the work. 

The house has 2 bedrooms upstairs and the focus of this post is on what we call the spare room. It isn't a big room and there is a queen size bed, dresser, bedside table, and accent table in the room. I have no pictures of the bedroom before I started to play with ideas. I do have one of it after I cleaned it and added the blue curtains and duvet. The given is the walls will be grey and there will be crown moulding. 

Ideas for the room came in waves. What colours did I want besides the blue? I played with a lot of colour ideas from pink to yellow to green. I looked at fabrics and designs and texture. What could I make and what did I need to buy. While cleaning up the fabric stash, I touched these fabrics and decisions were made. The brighter green fabric is gone and the light one kept. It is a more sage green and washes out in pictures. 

Ideas I have

• Duvet cover will be blue but king size and have a light weight duvet put in it. 

• Curtains will remain.

• Blue cushion covers on the bed are gone.

• Fabrics will be made into a table runner, cushion covers, and other table toppers. I did buy another .5 meter of the print. 

• Flowers on the accent table will be replaced with other flowers I hope to get at Ikea. 

• Two picture frames will become silver rather than gold.

• Dresser will be painted white and new drawer pulls put on. This dresser needs refinishing as it is in good condition. 

• Picture above bed as I won't buy a headboard.

• Picture on another wall. I have the two pictures.

I plan on working on this room as soon as I can. I need to cut the fabrics so I can sew the items and then it will be the dresser. It will take longer as I will need to clean it well before restoring it. I had hoped to get someone local to do it but she doesn't do custom pieces. I will hang the pictures as they will be easy to take down when the house gets painted. 

Landscaping The Yard

 One of the reasons we bought this house in 2017 was the yard. It had an aggregate cement driveway and a well maintained lawn. Two things that were important to us. 

The driveway continues to be a lovely feature though it needs to be washed due to dirt and dust. The lawn has had its issues over the years. Cinch bugs and grubs did a lot of damage one year due to the company scrimping on product. Since we have changed companies, had the lawn over seeded, and products put on correctly the lawn looks as good as it did the day we viewed the property. 

The landscaping around the house was basic or nothing. The Spousal Unit and I decided to tackle it and started with the shed. The grass grew up to the shed and it didn't look grounded to the property. 

We did a lot of digging, and ended up with a border around the shed that we put river rock in. That allowed us to put pots in that area that now contain flowers. They use to have pots of cucumbers when the Spousal Unit was the gardener. The pictures show that. 

Though the bricks are somewhat hidden by the grass today, it continues to keep the shed grounded to the property. I may glue another layer of bricks on top of the ones that are there for a bit more definition. I need to add about 5 more bags of river rock to the bed. The bed does go around to the back of the shed where I have one rose bush - the first one the Spousal Unit planted. I may add two more next year. The other side of the ramp has been finished also but there are no pots due to it being shaded most of the day. 

With the shed done, we decided to tackle the front and one side of the house. The front was hilled up and eroding down into the lawn. The side was a long patch of dead grass. Heat caused the damage to the lawn. We worked very slowly fixing the front and side of the house. 

I am not happy with what we did as the bricks have been dislodged by the mower. I want to have this redone as a small retaining wall where we will add more dirt and river stones. The side will remain bare of plants as it gets too hot for them to survive. 

I have weeded under the deck. It hadn't been done for 2 years and was a mess. A job that needed to be done on my hands and knees. 

The left over decking will go to our friend so he can make planters for his place. I will have edging and gravel put under the deck so it will be easier to keep neat and tidy. 

The other area that I will be working on is the hedge. I need to weed and do some trimming on it so it can be edged and mulch put down for weed control. I will be buying a few rolls of weed barrier cloth and a lot of mulch and gravel this fall. The front and side will be done next year. Once done, it will only be maintaining it.

The garden boxes are still in the back yard and I will continue to plant vegetables in them for as long as I am able to. It keeps me busy and I get fresh vegetables to eat. I have planted less than we did in the previous years as my plan is for myself and family and not the neighbourhood. When I can no longer maintain the boxes, I will sell them and have that area put back into lawn. 

 

The Front Landing And Deck

 As I said in my original post back in 2020, we bought a builder's grade home that lacked in wow factor. We chose to focus on the outside of the house and came up with a game plan. 

Front Landing

In 2019, we started to look at getting the deck and front landing replaced. It just met code with some parts being under code. We found the composite decking we like for the front but not for the back. The quotes to have the work get done set us on our butts. Plus we couldn't get anyone to do it that summer. We put it on the back burner for that year.

In 2020, the pandemic hit and we knew we weren't going to get the work done for how long. But, our neighbour came over and said he would do it. The university had closed it doors and he had time to do it as his work load was lighter. So, with social distancing in place, he started on the front deck in late spring. This is what we started with. 

The front deck had its issues. The bottom step wasn't level and the deck boards didn't go up to the house properly. When the old decking was removed, we saw it was under code. We had to buy a stair stringer to add two more to the stairs. When done, we had the nicest landing at the front of our house. It added some contrast to the beige look the house has. Bonus - I can wash it clean when it gets dirty.  

The Back Deck

The back deck was done in the summer of 2020. The same person did it. It was below code in many places.

All the lattice work was removed, the railing gone as well as the decking. They weren't in horrid shape so some of the lumber was used to beef up the deck joist. It is really solid now. Hurricane solid. The Spousal Unit and I spent some time looking at decking and our friend picked it up after I paid for it. We were pleased with the colour of the decking and the white railing. We also had wider stairs put in. 

We were so happy with the results of this deck and to this day it is one of the best things we had done. The Spousal Unit enjoyed it up until he went into the hospital in Aug. 2022.

Summer 2023 

I have decorated the deck this year. I have not enjoyed the deck as much due to the heat and humidity. On the days I have sat out there, it is nice to listen to the pond and enjoy the flowers. The umbrella does give some shade for part of the day. 

I had kept the big bbq knowing it would be going next year. But family needed it this year and came and got it. The space at that end of the deck is huge. 

I am going to get a bbq table from Ikea for the bbq to sit on. I plan on having the table set up to eat at and may get another rug for that space. The area I want to have the table usually is shaded in the late afternoon. I am thinking of dinner on the deck when it is cooler. I want to enjoy the deck as much as possible when the weather permits.