Art for the dining room? There’s A New Hope for us…

My recent purchase of art just arrived.

We may not agree on much in the household decorating area but this was a solid yes on both our parts. These, once framed, will grace the space over our dining room table.

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Finally decorating in a nerd-esque style is socially acceptable. These will go nicely with our Tintin triptych and my Valentine’s day gift of 2010. Most girls don’t want an A-Team action figure shadow box display but I am not most girls.

“Olive” the new colour in the bathroom

After many years with a great distaste for olives I have done two odd things this year.

First I started eating olives. I guess I got over that part. And second, we’ve just painted the upstairs bathroom an olive sort of green. Who would have guessed?

Now you might say, “Ariel, olives come in many colours.” And then possibly mutter, “Dumbass” when you think I am not listening. obviously that is true and it’s fairly evident given the picture above. Now who is the dumbass?

We looked around and both actually agreed on Olivine by Behr.
Behr, Olivine, 420F 5 – color-swatches.com.

That’s a sort of olive-green with a bit of sage thrown in I guess. It looks good I think. It isn’t as olive as the name suggests and it looks nice with our brown tile and black-brown cabinets. Watch for impending, non-olive related photos to support my case.

Photos: thinking “outside the frame”

We are going through old photos looking for something to put on our desolate condo walls.

I’m realizing I haven’t printed any photos in some time. I am going to have to get on that. In the meantime Pat is sorting through old frames we have collected and trying to come up with a photo wall “vision”.

He will hate all of these but I thought I would share my findings from a recent Pinterest search. I don’t like all of them either but they are definitely representative of thinking “outside the frame”.

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Source: ashleyannphotography.com via Ariel on Pinterest

Source: shelterness.com via Ariel on Pinterest

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Yellow bathroom yes or no?

I’ve been thinking about painting the schoolhouse bathroom yellow.

This would a quick and easy solution to its current bachelor board look and may brighten up the one room that has no windows.

I thought it might be cheery but all of the selections on Pinterest are paired with grey. I think that is weird. What does everyone else think?

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Or I could just do this for fun?

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The vestibule is “best”-ibule

OK so I made that word up.

But a vestibule is good. You can take your boots off in here and not mess up the rest of the house. It can be where the winter clothes live while you are in summer wear. It’s a great place to stand while you wait for the school bus or your ride to town.

We haven’t had a chance to paint the vestibule yet and I am itching to do it. There is some extra vacation time tucked away in my file so I may have to do it this fall. And while we are just painting now, eventually we want to make this small, square entrance way a useful space.

I’ve turned to Pinterest to see what ideas it can offer.

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Source: Uploaded by user via Ariel on Pinterest

Feeling blue? Maybe.

We are still working on condo paint colours.

Around St. Paddy’s day I started thinking about green. It would be great but now our kitchen is blue and I think maybe we should go with blue throughout?

So I’ve been looking up samples. There are light blues that work well and can still be paired with reds or greens. But a deep blue has impact. What does everyone think? I need ideas! Please comment and throw your ideas around. Especially if you have seen our kitchen blue.

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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.

The panel is in: But not at my house!

And now for a rant about wood paneling.

No, never, nuh uh will you see this at my schoolhouse. Of course I mean once we get it all removed. The place is stupid with it now but we’ll be painting it over until we can tear it out for good. Unless I get a call to tell me the folks from SCTV need a wood-paneled backdrop for a new Bob and Doug McKenzie movie the wood is outta there. I believe I made my opinions clear on this in my older blog post about “bachelor board.

So when I read this article on wood paneling on Apartment Therapy I was angered. Then sad that I was angry about something so stupid.

Wood Paneling: The 60s Favorite is Back

Seriously? Do we have Don Draper and his throwback crew from Mad Men to thank for this? I actually love that show but it doesn’t mean I smoke at the office now and wear a bra that could push through concrete. Some things are better left in the past to be remembered and laughed at in a future conversation about dumb things we did back then. So I ain’t gonna follow this trend.

Alright rant over. As you were.

Framed up for naught

Well my grand frame idea was a bust.

I went to the pile o’ frames we have stashed away in the office closet and found a gold gilded beauty. However I was squashed as soon at Pat got home as he has now taken up my idea to post up a wall of photos along the landing of the stairs in the condo. Which means this frame is spoken for.

When I mentioned my idea Pat thought it was a little too 90s “Friends” and I am beginning to agree. So for the time being until I think of something else, I picked up this tree ornament thingy at Dressers’ on Roncesvalles Avenue.

An inexpensive trinket that will ensure people can find our door until the creative gods strike me with an idea!

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.

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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!