bold2boss

Finally, after seven years of contemplation, I’m bashing down the walls surrounding our staircase.  Of course, I just finished the wall treatment surrounding the doorway (above) and now am tearing it down! …although, really, there is a good reason beyond satisfying my obsession for wall removal 😯 as this will provide a much better connection between our upper and lower living areas. Beautiful construction mess…this is what my family patiently navigates in one room or another…seems normal, no?

My love of light airy spaces has compelled me to increase the window space in our master bedroom sitting room…predictably, the window I’m targeting is the one I gaze out of as I’m having my morning coffee in bed (and dream of design projects)…

Madeline’s recent engagement party was such a fun way to start the celebrations for her quickly approaching wedding…and, of course, a great excuse for all sorts of decorating projects (not that I need an excuse!). My amazing sister-in-law, Sandra, joined me in the preparations, sharing her beautiful decorations and providing loads of inspiring ideas…like this adorable entrance arch made of Russian Sage and branches collected from our garden.

While my current master bath reno seems to be on a little vacation time while Doug and I are preoccupied with anticipation and preparations for Madeline wedding, I want to share with you one of our recent bathroom reno projects.

I want to share with you some pictures of the entrance sign I painted on this sweet little mirror for Madeline’s recent engagement party (yes – she’s engaged!!). You can see the sign here in the entrance way under the lavender arch …

After posting pictures of the adorable sea-tile I’m using for my current tiling project in our master bath reno , I want to share with you a little glimpse of our beautiful vacation cove on the Amalfi Coast where Doug collected these little treasures. …like sea-glass, these are worn by the sand

I spent the morning working on grouting the tile in the master bath area .

The last of my little treasures , gathered during my recent impromptu shopping spree , has finally found a home.

Yesterday the boys helped clear the construction mess from the foyer of Sam’s room…and I began decorating. We transformed the closet from a scary collection of 2×4’s, paint buckets and spiders into a lovely little reading-nook overlooking the back yard. …finally our dusty boxes of books have a home… The foyer is a beautiful space, with light streaming in from both sides – what a huge difference changing the back door to glass (although this door still needs some attention) and the side door to a glass french door . …we added a shelf to the cove for our collection of treasures and memories… Finally, no more obstacles and spiders to navigate through – instead a welcoming collection of treasures and favorite books.   have a beautiful week! xo shelley

here are some more of the treasures I collected on my impromptu shopping excursion… I love this elegant glass candle lantern mixed with the organic softness of these treasures my new favorite spot to start the day with my morning coffee

Change of pace yesterday!   I shed my reno gear and headed out into the big world to complete my errand list.  This turned out to be much more fun than I expected…as I just happened 😉 to bump into some tempting sales that ended up in very satisfying impromptu shopping and decorating! Look at these beautiful candle holders! I love the three of them together…so adorable with the fairy lights…

I love the textural organic rustic feel of brick…and big statement brick fireplaces, like the huge 14’ x 10’ mid-century modern fireplace in my living-room…but I don’t love how the dark brick color sucks all the lightness out of the room.  You know how much I love light, airy spaces! To lighten up our brick fireplace while keeping its beautiful textural feel, I needed a solution….so many options… …white painted brick; whitewash…kind of hard to keep from looking a bit pinky; and oh so many complete overhaul options involving sooooo much work….cement facade, tiling, drywall… …Hmmmm… I finally settled for my ‘tried and true’ plaster finish which I’ve used before and still love it.  It has the look of mortar-washed or limed brick (there is a proper name for this technique…anyone know what it is??) or of brick that has been exposed after having the plaster chipped away. I love that beautiful texture and distressed feel.

Finally, with the boys help, I’m finished the cement flooring in the living areas! Ever since moving into our new house, I have been trying to find the perfect flooring material for the upstairs living-room area – something that looks great with the marble flooring I installed elsewhere and that works with ambiance and style… something that has that tactile organic (and functional) vibe. While mulling, I painted the plywood sub-floor a creamy white with flowing paisleys (pictured below)…such a fun project with a lovely ethereal effect.

I want to share with you the results of our redo on these adorable children’s bedrooms.  I love the soft airy lightness the rooms have and their simplicity. The dormer ceilings lend a lovely cottage-like vibe perfect for a child’s room The rooms are situated side by side, joined by a jack-and-jill closet, so the little ones can have their privacy or leave the door open between them. the jack-and-jill closet, with sliding barn doors, provides a perfect peep-a-boo view into the second bedroom soft fluffy pillows and stuffies provide a snugly reading spot I love these pineapple lamps with their soft grey shades, perfect for the simplicity and airiness of the rooms …all that’s needed now is some messiness…a wee bit of real life. I still have so much more of this little rancher reno to share with you… livingroom, bathrooms , kitchen and more!) have a beautiful week! xo shelley

I hate hate hate popcorn ceiling (although truth be told, I am trying  to embrace the popcorn texture in our master bedroom…and I don’t cringe at the delicate popcorn on our high vaulted livingroom ceiling, but maybe that’s my poor eyesight). I think popcorn-texture ceilings are one of those design ‘features’ that instantly makes a space look dated and UGLY…but it’s sooo much work to remove – not too terribly if it hasn’t been painted, but oh my, after it’s set with paint!  And let me tell you, I have removed way too much of it (the ‘silver-lining’ is the amazing shoulder work out you get removing it!). spraying and saturating sections about 3′ wide with water.  I have researched (and researched…) and experimented with oodles of approaches to removing the popcorn-texture once it has been painted over (if it hasn’t been painted, it’s super easy – light water spray and scrape!..*Remember to wear protective equipment as most popcorn-texture contains some asbestos product whi...

Wow!  I have finally started tiling our master bath and it feels amazing to have conquered the looming fear that has kept me procrastinating for weeks. …that looming ‘ugh’ sensation during the planning/prep – recognizing that once that thin-set is mixed, there is no turning back from hours of careful and heavy work…the first tile needs to be set right…the slope accounted for…the unforgiving nature of the tile…the ‘time-crunch’ of thin-set… Somehow, despite all this procrastination and pain, I do actually love the process…and the beautiful inspiring results (made easy with the bonus of Sam’s expert thin-set mixing and encouragement). got to talk through the planning:) not at all messy I absolutely love the mix of Carrara and Rosa marble; the taupe and white combination is amazingly fabulous…I was hesitant to mix these until seeing the array of mixed-marble flooring at the Vatican…and I love the effect.  This is the view from the entrance area.   These little heart-shape t...

do you have these??  Dirty smudgy fingerprints on your walls and doorways?   I have a life hack – a simple design technique that works great for dealing with all those dirty little smudgy finger prints and making your home look even more beautiful…and as a result, stress free and zen 🙂 . Dirty smudgy walls…help me! Dirty, smudgy fingerprints adorn my walls. I don’t know why, but my adorable children (…maybe not just the children but us big people too) are compelled to leave dirty finger prints all over my beautiful creamy white walls…long smears up and down the stairwell, little lines around door frames and flowing swirls around the pillars. Although these little smudge lines do make me smile …memories of the kids doing their acrobatic dances… …playing ‘catch me if you can’ through the house… Laughter music and dancing feet. however…they otherwise are a bit embarrassing (no, I haven’t gotten over having a messy home). In an effort to disguise the mess in the stairwell, ...

My beautiful dining room table arrangement is gone…it’s found new friends and playmates in another loved corner of our home. That’s perfectly fine with me since I have new-found treasures that I’m adoring and inspired to create a new arrangement…my adorable rooster which reminds me of my sweet little hens who now live at the neighbours; a big fat pitcher that I can’t resist; an elegant white and gold tray that found me during my latest ‘window’ shopping trip; and, as always, my treasured collection of shells collected beach-combing with my kids – a collection of beautiful forms and memories all. Adding candles to create a collection of five adds balance…although I can’t resist adding a sprig of lavender (so actually a collection of six!).  I love the opposing effect of the organic soft grey creamy tones of the large shell filled with beach rocks with the smooth shiny finish of the china pitcher and rooster. Arranged on the white tray, the items are drawn together as a collection an...