Displaying posts labeled "Kim’s House"

I had been trying to find a large piece of art for over my sofa for months and months and could not find anything that really shouted “BUY ME I’M PERFECT” or that wasn’t bank-breaking since my taste in art changes frequently. I had a photo printed on canvas as seen in this post and had no where to hang it but over my sofa in the living room (also seen here when I received a new sofa) which made me realize how badly I needed something BIG and BOLD and DARK because I am enjoying my monochromatic dark grey theme I have going in there. When I spotted this photo randomly on Instagram I fell in love. Now I generally hate art behind glass because glare makes me nutty and taking a decent photo of it can be difficult. I did some searching for options on printing photos (the photographer Amanda emailed me a high-res copy of the photo to have printed myself since she lives in Bali and I’m in Canada) and came up with printing it on photoboard (1/4″ thick, dense white material). Posterjack is based in Toronto and offered this at a really good price considering I decided to go 40″x40″. And no, this isn’t a sponsored post. I came up with this all by myself. 🙂 Because my husband is a very handy guy who is into woodworking, I asked him to fabricate a frame for the photo to make it look more weighty and less poster-y. The result is exactly what I was after. I think it is a dramatic addition to the space. It is in keeping with my dark theme, will not irritate me when I try and photograph it, the printing turned out fantastic and sharp, and the frame was exactly what I wanted. BOOM. 

(Sources for just about everything are in this post. Sadly the cats would not leave the new wool covered sectional sofa alone so it is now up in our 3rd floor storage-supposed-to-be-library space awaiting that transformation and the old sofa with 999 claw marks is back.)

Some time ago I received 2 sets of table legs from an awesome Swedish company called Prettypegs to make some tables from. I was really excited about this for a couple of reasons. First, finding cute/cool table legs is a serious pain. Second, my husband (Daff Design) has gotten into wood-working over the past couple of years and this was a great excuse to get him to make me some tables, because there are never enough tables! It took an embarrassingly long time to organize this project but I am stoked to say my tables materialized and they are DAMN FINE if I do say so myself. The first set of legs I picked out are the August legs (perfect height for coffee/side tables or sideboards). I went with the teak/blue finish but now I see they have an ash/black combo that would have been ideal in my grey room. YAY for options! The saffron yellow is gorgeous too if you’re looking for some spunky colour. 

Turns out my husband made the table top out of hemlock which I don’t love with the teak legs so I may paint the teak part black or dark grey eventually. Regardless I LOVE this! These legs are fantastic and have a funky Scandi modern vibe. It is now a table that houses this rather large plant next to my sofa. 

(The hanging light is the Aim pendant by the Bouroullec brothers for Flos, the kilim pillow is from the Third World Bazaar, the ferals have scratched the crap out of my leather sofa and we have yet to purchase and install trim since our floors were refinished because the projects in this house are never-ending so don’t look too closely)

I also picked out the Estelle legs in black ash/brass that are the perfect height for desks, kitchen tables and in my case, console/sofa tables. These come in 6 finishes but I think the black/brass combo I chose is my favourite. A few of my cats are always hanging out in my windows watching the birds and squirrels so I thought this was a great opportunity to make a table that fits right under the windows in my living room at the front of the house. We went to a local wood supply shop and I found the most incredible piece of spalted maple that had distinct black patterns and some worm holes. The table looks amazing, the cats love it and now I have a new spot to house some of my plants. 

(Cowhide is from eBay, the faux fur stool is from Homesense, the leather and wood chair is from Green Light District, the Jieldé lamp I bought off a DTI follower, and the clay vase is by le lou ula, walls are painted Downpipe by Farrow & Ball)

Thank you Prettypegs!

I recently found out about a new furniture company and was so stoked to learn they are Canadian – and their style is fantastic! Furniture Maison is an online furniture store specializing in clean design and simple aesthetic products. From their direct partnerships with independent designers, to their emphasis on use of high quality solid wood, they are all about curating thoughtfully designed, well-crafted pieces. Furniture Maison’s moto is to inspire a calm and comfortable environment — one of intimate sophistication and culture that is completely unique to each individual. I was really stoked to partner with them because I really do love everything they carry. Funky yet simple and stylish. Mid century modern furniture with a bit of a Scandinavian edge.

The lovely folks at Furniture Maison asked me to choose my favourite sofa and they would ship it to me. YES! It was an easy desicion for me because I have always wanted a mid century sectional. Husband and I love to spread out for movie night and a sectional is perfect for that. I went with the Ruby Reversible sectional because it has great lines and as modern sofas go, it has an edge to it I really like. And I went with the grey since my living room is all about tones of grey.

I had no idea anyone made a sectional so compact – if you’re on the market for a small sofa CHECK THIS ONE OUT! It has plenty of room for husband and I to stretch out. The size is really quite amazing. I love the fabric (although wool with a bunch of cats was maybe not the best choice, so I solved this with a sheepskin) and it seems very well made. Also loving the fact that it only has 2 cushions, which makes it more modern in style. The shape of the back is pretty sexy too. They have several really fun sofas to choose – you can see their sofa collection page here. (And all at super prices)

(Coffee table: Daff Design (husband), Pillows: Fotofibre, Kilim: Kaya Kilims, Pendant light: Aim by Flos)

They have some other really cool collections as well – like their reclaimed and concrete lines. Their reclaimed wood furniture is just how I like it – not too rustic and with an industrial edge. I especially love the Eiffel sideboard and this Louvre coffee table made from reclaimed telephone poles and railway tracks.

I am also a fan of their concrete line. I like to think you can never have enough concrete or marble. 🙂 The Vega concrete coffee table is simple in its design and a perfect combination of concrete, wood and metal.

Also simple and could be used in any and every room in your home is the Vega concrete cube. There is the option of getting it with or without a shelf. This concrete table makes a great side table in a living room, bedroom, or my favourite – as a plant stand.

Furniture Maison is now a favourite of mine and on my to-watch list. Fabulous furniture at really great prices and even greater style.

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This post is in partnership with Furniture Maison. All opinions are my own.

The folks over at CanvasPop contacted us the other day offering a canvas print from a photo of our choosing. I jumped at the chance because as I have mentioned many times here, photography is my favourite form of art. I had a 16″x24″ canvas to work with and chose this incredible photo by my friend Tom who loves to shoot around the streets of LA where he lives. He kindly sent a copy to me in high resolution so the result would have good clarity. I am in love with the finished product! This company is fantastic and makes it SO easy – especially if you are working with a photo that is not quite up to snuff. You can print from any source – mobile photos, Instagram, Facebook or directly from your computer. If needed you can use their filters and effects to tweak the photo into exactly what you want. They even offer design services if you aren’t so photography saavy. When your photo is ready they have tons of options for layout and sizes – including triptychs and panoramic prints. And this is nuts – they have a love it for life guarantee, so if you don’t love your canvas they will reprint it or refund you. I hung the canvas over my new sofa (more on that soon) and the size ended up being a bit too small for the space so I hung some Puerto Vallarta finds around it to fill it in more. I think I will look for something a bit bigger for this space but I have other ideas for this awesome canvas when I do. Thanks CanvasPop!

Yesterday was a veeeeeery long day. I’m actually writing this last night after many hours of work and then many hours of dealing with a delivery of immense proportions. Having decent appliances is very important to me. On day 2 in our current house we bought a new washing machine because I was horrified at the age and condition of the machine that came with the place. The fridge and stove are another bone of contention. The stove is a cheap electric annoyance that takes forever to get the burners going (typical). The fridge was about as cheap as they come these days and one of the plastic shelves cracked after a couple of months in. I will even share a before photo taken not long after we moved in.

The other day I decided I had enough and the husband and I went to our favourite appliance store and picked out a new fridge, similar to the one I had bought when I renovated my last kitchen. 7 years later Fisher & Paykel appears to continue to be one of the few brands that sells streamlined, minimalist fridges that doesn’t cost a second mortgage. We went with a French door style (still not sure I’m into this but we’ll see) with water/ice dispenser and freezer drawer on the bottom.

I swear I wanted to burst into tears of delight when we pushed the fridge back and it fit PERFECTLY into the ridiculous alcove that a former owner built on the back porch. (That’s how small my kitchen is – it doesn’t even fit a fridge so it was relegated to the porch). We had a little hiccup when we plugged it in after 2 hours and tried sliding it back into place but couldn’t because the outlet was on the right side and the plug stuck out too much. Luckily I have a very handy husband who took off to the hardware store and came back with an inset outlet that worked like a charm. OMG I am dying over a freaking fridge! I LOOOVE IT!!! I cannot recommend Fish & Paykel fridges enough. Not only are they sweet looking on the outside, they are all counter-deep and have thin glass shelves. THIN! GLASS! SHELVES!

Sorry the photos are crap but it was late and all I could manage. In a couple of weeks our tile guy is FINALLY showing up to install the flooring in here and in the foyer and vestibule, and my little backsplash and fireplace tile. So once that’s done and we hopefully get gas hookup for the Jenn-Air range we found on Kijiji for $300 I will be able to take proper photos of the kitchen. As you can see, I went dark blue. More details on that to come. Now I need to get some sleep.