[dreaming and planning]

I’m so happy I can snap sunset photos from our new home too. This was taken from our bedroom window.

Saw this sign while we were on our Mother's Day adventure. 

I'm dreaming about gardening. Checking out the Vesey's catalog and visiting green houses. But I'm limited what I can do this summer. I have to wait and see what grows in the front yard before doing a complete overhaul of the yard. The flowerbed is very large and weirdly done. I'm going to save the plants I like and replant them where I want them (in front of the house instead all along the driveway). Then I just want grass where the flowerbed is now. 

I also have to wait before I can do anything in the back yard. Wait to see if we are building a new fence, a deck, etc. There are many tree roots all over the yard from the three huge evergreen trees we cut down. So can't do much in the back yard yet either. Patience isn't my strongest personality trait. Sigh. 

I want to plant berries and vegetables along the fence eventually. We need to do some sort of platform for the trampoline as it's difficult to cut the grass underneath it.

There is a long flowerbed (which the previous home owners had filled up with rocks) along the walkway to the front door. I want to plant Heather flowers only in it. But our hardiness zone is 3A and Heather flowers like 4. I need to do some research and see if I can find a variety that will grow in our zone. The Heather I want has deep purple flowers and they'd look gorgeous when there are many of them together. Kainuun tyttö olen kun tykkään kanervista niin.

I still love the pink lily of the valleys too. But they spread easily so I'm thinking of planting some in a large pot.

Hostas are great for shade. This yellow variety is kind of cool.

I don't eat corn but I love the colors of these ones.

How about a cute little house for the bees.

Happy Friday everyone! 

[home inspiration]

An add for Scavolini in March 2013 Canadian House & Home magazine.

The kitchen of former Vancouver Canucks captain Trevor Linden’s Whistler, BC, home.

Found in March 2013 issue of Canadian House & Home magazine.

Not as fancy as the above homes but I’m still super excited how our new home is turning out. The counter top (brushed aluminum laminate) looks more silvery in real life and has texture to it, it's not just one color. 

Check out the flock of birds flying by our house yesterday. A sign of spring perhaps?

[new home thoughts]

Now that Christmas is over, my thoughts are turning towards our new home we purchased recently. No, I didn’t get the house with a lake view. I also didn’t get the brand new home I wanted (no renos!). But it’s ok. Because I know that we are supposed to live in the old house we purchased (built in 1978, how’s that for brand new! J). I fought against the strong feeling that we were supposed to buy this particular house. I honestly did not want to do any renovating. But eventually I gave in. I knew this was THE house we were meant to live in.

It will require lots of tender care and ton of sweat inducing work, but I do believe that after all that, it will be a wonderful home. We will have good neighbors: we know two families in the same quiet cul-de-sac. Sienna will have a good friend as they will be the only girls midst many, many boys.

I can also see in my mind what the house will look like when it’s all done. Here’s a list of things we’ll have to do:

Rip down some walls.

Replace flooring downstairs.

Replace the brand new kitchen with a kitchen we like.

Paint all the walls.

Replace railing.

Get rid of carpet upstairs, replace with laminate flooring.

Replace all windows upstairs.

Redo master bathroom which will include ripping down walk-in-closet and replacing it with floor-to-ceiling closet.

Replace all the light fixtures.

Get rid of 13 huge evergreen trees.

Paint the house.

Build a deck in the front.

Landscaping.

New fence.

Build the basement: two rooms, replace windows, build a bathroom…

Replace the gas fireplace.

New lawn.

I know I’m forgetting something but you get the idea, right? Not a small undertaking. Sigh. But it will be great when it's all done. That's what I keep telling myself anyways. What is nice is that we won't have to move in until the basic renos are done. Thank goodness!

I’ve been collecting decorating ideas on Pinterest. Here are some of the pictures that will inspire our new décor. More here.

I’m returning to my Scandinavian roots and going with white interiors again. The home will have white, gray, silver, black, light wood, brown wood, some muted purple and green.

I will miss the warmth of yellow walls in the winter but look forward to a more neutral color palette. The warmth will have to come from fake fur blankets, the fireplace, etc.

The house won't be a minimalist, modern black home but we will paint it gray and make it as modern looking as we can.

I will post before and after pictures as the renovating progresses.

Exciting! I will miss this home too. So many wonderful memories made here. ♥

I'd love one of these. But our cat is old and no more pets after him. I will miss having a cat but mild allergies will prevent having another pet. We will have to visit pet stores often...

I want a fire pit in the back yard.

I'd love this wall clock but only if it doesn't make ticking sounds. Can't stand ticking clocks.

Perhaps a small sauna...

This would be fun!

We already have a mailbox like this but will need one for the new home as well.

No wonderful views from our windows but it's ok. What matters is the love in the home. ♥

[all photos via my Pinterest board "Home"]

[magazine clippings]

An ongoing goal of mine is to go through our house and throw away stuff. It's amazing how fast junk collects in your home.

These pictures are clippings from magazines. I'm just filing them here so I don't have to hold on to the magazines.

Cute font.

[miniature garland]

New in my Etsy shop: miniature garland printable.

I kept mine simple but the garland can be embellished in your own style. Can also be printed on colored card stock, instead on white, to change the look. 

This is the "cute project" I've been working on.

Much more to come...

{mustaa ja valkoista}

I bought a photo album for my Project life pages. Black cloth. I added a Marimekko Focus print on the front.

So many circles. I'm in heaven! :)



Finished another page for the album. I love the 6 x 6" pages.

Siis voi että miten paljon tykkään Finglishistä. Niin hauskaa. :)

We've had +10C days lately. Snow has been melting. Sun is shining, which is pretty typical* for where I live on most days. I'm sure we'll still get some cold & snowy days but I can't help but feel like Spring is just around the corner. So this morning I made some butterflies for our wall.

Talvinen temppelikuva odottaa edelleen vaihtamista. Liian kylmä kuva mutta kun sain sen anopilta lahjaksi... Mutta aion silti vaihtaa sen! Kunhan muistan ja jaksan tsempata. :)

*Last September we had ONE rainy day, for example. It was mainly sunny.

 Lately I've been browsing houses that are on sale. There's a great website where you can see the houses that are on sale in any area of the city. Pictures of the inside & outside. As I was browsing the houses, I couldn't help but get a bit bummed out. The houses here are so not my style. Everything is traditional. I didn't find one minimalist, modern house. :(

So I spent some time browsing Scandinavian blogs and dreaming of a house/home like that. Needless to say I've been having black and white on my mind a lot.

I don't know if I could ever have bright white walls again. I do crave for color in my life. For warmness since the winters here are usually cold and long. But if you asked me right now, I'd paint everything black or white. :)

Then I'd add some deep purple or olive green or warm smokey gray or wood to the mix. Silver too.

I could do a lot with our current house, of course. But for some rotten reason, I'm just not a renovator type of person. Wish I was.

Sigh.

Cute, tiny summer cottage. :) Would make a fun art studio as well.

Haluan mustan himmelin!



Click here to see my Home file at Pinterest. There you'll also find the links to these pictures.