A recent Graduate’s adventures into dining room furnishing

When I finished school the thought of moving back home and into my parent’s basement was not very enticing. Instead I scrolled the internet for the perfect pad to compliment my newly graduated status. The endless search resulted in a great place right in the heart of the city and I couldn’t have been any happier.

I took possession of the place half way through the month. The place was sparsely furnished with the previous tenants broken cast offs and panic set in. How was I going to afford to be able to furnish my place? How could the previous tenants have left all of this stuff behind? I pulled myself together, used some elbow grease and cleaned the place until everything sparkled.

Then I once again turned to the internet, I found myself a nice chair some couches and a table or two. Slowly the place was transforming into my home. I painted the walls a soft green, figuring, hey it’s a colour that is neutral enough so that if I did move out of my amazing new home I would be less likely to have to paint the walls back to white if I ever moved out.

Now that I had the living room organized, it was time to turn my attention to the dining room. I had a very specific vision for my dining table sets I wanted something solid, elegant and understated. That would compliment the nick knacks I had spread around my apartment, but wouldn’t overshadow everything else. I scrounged vintage stores, big furniture stores, and the trusty internet for my dining table. I eventually found the perfect table. Elated I spent even more time trying to find the perfect position for my brand new piece of furniture. Once in place I realized I hadn’t bought any chairs, but that’s a story for another day.

-RL

Traditional Fireplace Out of Service? No problem!

My best friend and I moved into a new place together a couple of months ago. It’s a beautiful space: an old Victorian home divided into 2 apartments on separate floors. We occupy the 2^nd floor and attic, with my room being in the attic. Roommate and I put a lot of elbow grease into making our place home: painting, thrifting for the perfect furniture and knickknacks. One great thing about these rambling old houses is that they are almost guaranteed to have a fireplace, finished with gorgeous original features. Lo and behold, ours does have a fireplace - in the den! Bonus! Not so much of a bonus: the fireplace doesn’t work and let’s be honest, while our landlords are great, I highly doubt they’re ready to spend the money in order to bring the fireplace up to working code. As we transition from summer to fall, I can already feel the chill in the air and can’t help but think to myself how nice it would be to have a working fire place this winter.

So why not save everyone time, and money and get an electric fireplace for the living room? They are budget-friendly, attractive and you can move them around. Problem solved! Plus, in the off-chance that my landlord DID agree to update the tradition fireplace, the months of renovation means that I’ll miss the winter benefits of having one anyways. An electric or gel fueled fireplace is definitely the way to go if you’re looking for both style and convenience during these upcoming cold months.

-M

New Nursery Trends – Simple, Sophisticated and Modern

Have you noticed that more and more urban, professional and hip parents are having their children reflect their own personal taste and style? I wouldn’t go so far as to say that babies and children are becoming the latest accessories, but you have to admit that these days, we’re seeing little ones sporting less cutesy prints in favour of more sophisticated designs.

One needs only to look at the high-end wardrobe selections of Suri and Shiloh to think what stylish parents Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt must be, respectively.

Of course this trend of trickling sophisticated and modern design for adults down to children is also noticeable in recent baby nursery décor trends.

While pale blues, pinks, greens and yellows are still the most popular colour choices for nurseries amoungst parents and interior designers alike, gone are the busy wallpaper patterns, ruffles, frills, and mountains of stuffed animals. Baby crib toys are few, but high quality, intended to become keepsakes that will last throughout the baby’s adulthood. Plus, the demand for the convertible crib is growing, as are motifs and patterns with simple, clean lines.

Due to these new trends in nursery décor, the baby’s transition from infant to toddler to child becomes easier – with this new trend of sleek simplicity, and increasing popularity of convertible cribs, there is less need for drastic design changes to the nursery as the baby grows.

Who says that parents can’t be trendy and practical at the same time?

-M