Merry Christmas

Susan's House at Christmas

I am posting a few images of my house this year. As it turns out we had a snow storm today and no one was going anywhere. We couldn't open the store, no one could travel on a day like today. Who doesn't like a storm day? Especially on Monday morning? Well, there are probably plenty of people who have yet to finish their shopping and I'm going to bet tomorrow will be crazy at the store and around town. I know I still have a few last minute items to pick up.

My house has been undergoing renovations over the past 4 months, really slow renovations due to my schedule. I have a house that is about 100 years old and luckily for me it has fantastic bones... including high ceilings, wide trim moldings, nice built-ins, beautiful crown moldings on the windows, some hardwood flooring, solid wood 5 panel doors and on 3 very private acres inside of town. So far I've had the entry and down stairs bathroom tiled, added new wallpaper to the entry and new roman shades to the downstairs bathroom. The upper bathroom has been totally gutted and redone with new everything including shower, tile, countertop, faucets, lighting, toilet, flooring and beadboard wainscotting. The laundry room has been repainted, new wainscotting and new lighting added.

I still have quite a few projects lined up for the new year. The maple flooring in the kitchen and diningroom is being torn out and replaced with a darker hardwood flooring. A couple of years ago I had wool sisal carpeting installed in my livingroom and that is also being ripped out and replaced with the dark hardwood flooring. I will have my ceilings, which currently have ugly tiles torn down (I'm assuming they are hiding cracked plaster), the ceiling drywalled, repaired and a thick crown molding trim installed on the entire floor. By the way, my house is quite small at only 1200 sq ft. but very functional and I love it!



This is how my front porch looked today. Very pretty with fresh layers of snowfall on the Christmas planters.

This is the main and only livingroom area with my simple Christmas tree. My walls and trim are all painted in off-white. My furniture is mostly creams and off-whites too! I love a white house.


A close up of the side table and lovely silver penguins.

The armless/slipper chair is also from Stylus and I love the pattern. Very light and airy and very perfect for small spaces.

A close up of the tree this year. I trimmed it in white mini-lights, silver lady finger starfish and shiny red Christmas balls.

My sofa is the Zeal model from Stylus. I love it, very comfy and a nice classic style. The brown throw is one of my favorite things. A thick cuddly faux fur perfect for snuggling and watching TV. Note the white on the windows. They were completely covered in snow today!

Here is a close up of the arrangement I put together for my coffee table. A large white platter topped with flat cedar, large pine cones, small starfish, pillar candles and red balls.

This is the other end of the sofa area with a console table. The livingroom is about 12' X 17' so I have to make the most of every square foot.

I had to show my livingroom pendant light. I just love it, when it's turned on the cutout pattern of flowers is very pretty especially when lit. The dimmer switch still needs to be installed for this fixture. Please ignore the ugly ceiling tiles...

Across from the sofa there is a leather bench which is great for additional seating and storage. It has a shelf below for my small stereo system and a few decorating books and magazines.

And no house would be complete without a little dog. This is my cute little mutt sitting on his pillow He is getting his Christmas haircut this week. Oh the shedding!

The diningroom. I have a bench seat next to the window and beige tweed upholstered Parsons chairs, seating for 6. The solid oak table is an heirloom from my grandmother who sadly passed away in September.

A close up of the candles on the diningroom table. Very simple to do with flat cedar, a 3" pillar candle and fresh cranberries.

A close up of tonights dinner. The Christmas catch of the day.

I hope to show my completed home later in the Spring.

Thanks for reading. Happy Holidays. Have a great week and a very Merry Christmas!

Susan

Cozy Christmas Decorating

As promised in my last posting, today's post features a condo unit we decorated for Christmas last year. It was also the featured home in Island Living Magazines Christmas edition 2008.

The owners are Muriel and Peter Brown. They moved into this spectacular unit last year in November. The space located 2 floors up directly over Moving Designz Home & Cottage and part of Harbour Terrace Condominiums.

Peter Brown of Bayside Builders and Vista properties was the developer and general contractor on the new condo complex. As you browse through the images note the attention to detail and the upgraded finishes including: restored brick walls, solid oak flooring, quartz countertops, coffered ceilings, a gourmet kitchen including an induction cooktop, crown molding, a raised wainscotting ledge with built in uplights, beautiful oil brushed bronze light fixtures, marble floors in bathrooms, paneled columns, high ceilings and custom cabinetry. All of these elements are what make this home so very special.

The floorplan of the space. Although the furniture arrangement is slightly different for this post I thought it was essential to show the entire living space. The area marked storage is a fantastic butler's pantry now!

The welcoming entry with a seating bench to one side and an entry console.

As you enter the living space your view to the right is this magnificent galley style kitchen.

A close up of the bar/island. The bar stool is from Moving Designz and comes in either black or brown leather and either counter or bar heights.

We used some letters to spell the word Peace on the wall, they are easily attached or detached using double sided velcro.

The table as we set it for a Christmas party dinner.

A close up of the buffet/server decorations. We used a faux magnolia garland intertwined with mini lights, a wreath made from salal leaves and red berries, elegant glass candle holders and a large bown filled with green apples.

Close ups of the table arrangement. We used cake plates to elevate the pillar candles and accessorized with a garland of red holly berries in place of a table runner, red Christmas balls, large pinecones, white ceramic artichokes which look like oversized pinecones and cute little penguins for a touch of whimsy.

This shot looks toward the far side of the living space.

These 2 leather chairs make a cozy seating area next to a curved corner wall. These chairs are from Moving Designz and can be ordered in brown or black.

The livingroom. All of the furniture, lamps and accessories are from the store except for this wonderful artworkk painted by a family friend. The trees are simply decorated with only large white icicles and red balls.

We used an alternate table arrangement for this shot. On a large white platter we placed moss and then added some colourful Christmas balls. So simple, so elegant and best of all it's very inexpensive and easy to do.

The library with lovely custom shelving set against the original brick walls. The Cheri chairs are from Stylus and available in hundreds of colours and fabrics via Moving Designz.

The tub area in the master bathroom features lots of simple decorating ideas; cannisters filled with silver balls and ribbon, faux pine branches and berries, silver lady finger starfish, and martini glasses filled with cranberries and tealights. Another simple DIY project.

The master suite was decked out in bright Christmas red.

I know I said I would post some images of my decorations and I will on Sunday or Monday depending on how the weekend goes. I'm not quite finished with my decorating but should be by then.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!

Susan

Easy Simple Christmas Decorating

I hope you are all in the Christmas spirit and ready for some fantastic yet simple and easy decorating ideas for the holidays. My personal favorites for Christmas decorating are items which are easy to pull together.


When it comes to Christmas decor I think greenery, branches, pine cones, candles, berries, garland, flowers, sparkley ornaments, colourful ribbon and wrapping paper, white mini lights, and clear glass vases, containers and bowls just waiting to be filled.

This image inspires me to decorate. I hope to have my house done this weekend. I'm a little late this year due to the many renovations my house has been undergoing and a hectic work schedule.

Let's start off with a look at a beautiful front door wreath. How welcoming is this?

And an interior window wreath... very seaside..ish.

A very pretty mantle, lets look at more mantle ideas.

Mantles don't need to be complicated as we will see with the following images from RH. Try placing various sizes of pillar candles, lights, garlands of greenery, a strand of crystals or a garland of berries for very elegant and easy mantle decor.

A very pretty mantle idea using beautiful Christmas stockings.

Here are a few ideas using pinecones.

Lovely red pots perfect for Christmas flowers and mini trees.

I love filling up glass containers just like these ones.

This Christmas tree in this room is so dreamy, talk about focal point. Lets look at a few more...

This year I've decided to trim my tree with silver lady finger starfish. I will post a few images from around my home for next weeks blog post.

Some bright and cheerful Christmas wraps.

I love this bannister idea. It's so simple yet very elegant.

Table setting ideas...

This table setting is from a decorating project we worked for Christmas. We decked out one of the condominium apartments at Harbour Terrace for the holidays. Next week I will post images of the entire project.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week!

Susan