I think I need to add in a little Canadiana into my home. I’ve started collecting some ideas.
What do you think?
Follow Ariel White’s board Canadiana decorating on Pinterest.
Oh Canada! Decorating Canuck style
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Category Archives: Soft furnishings
New beds for the boys
Not only do we need a new bed but so do the boys.
It’s time to upgrade from the cardboard boxes collected from the local grocery store. I’ve found a few on Etsy that are also a bit of an upgrade from the local box pet store.
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I like this teepee. I saw it recently in a magazine and it will be great if our fat cats can get out of it.
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This felted bed is cute but it looks like something that would get chewed mighty quickly.
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This one is great but alas it appears nicer than our current furniture. It will have to wait until we get new furniture as well.
Definitely some things to think about!
The feline details
Sometimes decorating isn’t about what works but what works for your cat.
All of our soft furnishings have been carefully selected by cats.
Finn our blind but agile feline likes to find comfortable spots and spend the day tucked into a warm and safe place. I discovered this spot not too long ago. At least I seem to have discovered it a few hours after he did.
Just pick a couch already!
Remember when you had your first apartment and this infographic was true?
From: Osgoode Properties
I actually think I didn’t spend any money on my first apartment. Unless some ice-cube trays from Honest Ed’s count. Well that’s not strictly true. I guess I hit Bloor Street for the ubiquitous futon required of all university students. The rest of our stuff was collected from friends and relatives and most of the decorating came in the form of Klimt posters and beer coasters.
Ah but that was 1994 and three of us were content in a little basement apartment in Little Italy listening to Ace of Base and Tragically Hip (for the record I was listening to the latter, not the former.) in our scrunchies and overalls.
Now Pat and I are on the hunt for new furniture and it costs a bit more. It’s the price for trying to leave Ikea behind and buy grownup couches and shelves and the other stuff that the hip people in magazines have and you want.
Our TV is too nice to trust an old wood plank and some bricks we stole from “the quad”. DVDs just don’t fit in milk crates like albums did. I want furniture that an Amish guy had to hand build, not stuff I can still not put together correctly no matter how many Allen keys I have.
Well after a year and a half of complaining we’ve started looking and are close. Another year or so and we should be able to pick a couch that pleases my design sensibilities (does it look cool?), Pat’s artistic vision (is it comfortable enough to play Halo on?) and isn’t totally wrecked inside a week by three cats (they will wreck it anyway).
Can it be done? Is there a magical store in Toronto where I can walk in and see my entire condo before me, totally furnished and within a reasonable budget? Sigh. Honest Ed’s here I come.
Bain taithneamh as an deireadh seachtaine
OK so I had to look it up but that’s gaelic for “enjoy the weekend”.
Given that Paddy’s day is Saturday this year, I suspect many people will enjoy it. So in honour of St. Patrick’s day, and in keeping with the theme of the blog, I started looking up green decor. I’d love a green living room but methinks the English/French guy who lives here might have something else in mind.
We know from one of my previous posts, Infographictastic!, that green inspires health and tranquility. Now who couldn’t use a little of that?
In our condo a nice cool green would look nice with our floors. And since we are going couch shopping this weekend, I’ll keep green in mind.
I have found some neat ideas that might work if I can convince him. We waffle between bold and bland colours.
Source: coastalliving.com via Ariel on Pinterest
Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Ariel on Pinterest
Source: frenchbydesign.blogspot.com via Ariel on Pinterest
Each of these rooms has its own unique charms. The colours are rich and bold and each of them also uses a white or cream to offset the deep green. I especially like the use of green as an accent in the last photo and that map is awesome. Though I suspect my map would have to somehow centre on Buckhorn and Belfast!
Something old, something new
So what do you do when you have a taste for antiques and modern design?
I’ve been wrestling with this for a while. I have some old stuff and I like a lot of new stuff. How do these things work together? Can I use an Eames molded plastic chair with my harvest table?
I think the schoolhouse will have a decidedly antique combination from various eras but the ol’ condo needs a more modern feel. I can’t Pat sitting in an old Victorian high back chair playing Halo can you?
According to House Beautiful I can if I don’t do too much in one space. I guess that makes sense. Half modern and half something else would look too cut and paste
The folks at 2Modern say if you have a plan and a theme (say a colour or other type of connection) then it can work.
More on mixing modern and antique
And over here on Blissfully Domestic, there are even two examples of modern chairs with traditional tables like I mentioned earlier.
Mixing antique and traditional furniture styles
It seems the running theme here is that you need to plan your style, choose carefully the type and quantity of each style you like, and be creative throughout the process.
The soft stuff
Maybe it is because there is more hard work ahead that I am starting to look at the easy changes first.
While doors aren’t getting painted and floors aren’t being repaired it is much more simple to look at the soft stuff like curtains and paint and the easier work that just requires money without labour.
I actually found some curtains at Pottery Barn I liked.
Now several people have tried to convince me that I can make these but do I really want to bother? They will have to accomodate those older-style hooks and I don’t think my sewing machine is up to the task of working on the heavy material I require. I’ll think about it but I have my doubts.
MySchoolhouseRocks 