The Problem with White Felt

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I'm all about making special Christmas memories for Eloise and Spencer and now that November is nearly over, it's time to get this Christmas show on the road.

Chris took Eloise to Walmart on the weekend in search of lights for the cherry tree in the backyard and to wrap around the pillars at our front door. We both really, really hate Walmart for all sorts of reasons and I know it took a lot for Chris to willingly make the trip. The only problem is that the lights he brought home were the LED "cool white", which I despise. I think they look eerie and make everything feel cold and uninviting, good for Halloween, not for Christmas. Chris was understandably unimpressed when I explained that the lights will have to be returned. His look in response told me I will be the one responsible for taking them back.

Lights we'll figure out later, my focus now is on an advent calendar. Last year I bought a bunch of felt to 'whip' up an advent calendar but never got around to it. This year I am determined to create something that will become a family Christmas tradition for years to come. I want to make a special advent calendar that we can use annually and fill with little surprises - a candy cane, a hair bow, a tree ornament - for the kids to open each day instead of purchasing throw-away chocolate calendars year after year. The problem is I don't know where to start. So far I have two metres of white felt and no plan. I just keep starting at it expecting something to come to me, but no luck. There is something considerably uninspiring about white felt and perhaps that was my first mistake.

I have been cruising Pinterest for ideas and there are so many good ones for advent calendars!  Some of the sweetest advent calendars I've come across are as simple as paper packages clipped with numbered clothespins or small craft boxes glued to a board and stamped muslin bags strung on garland. Sadly, none of these involve felt. 

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Loving Colourfully

When my partner Devon and I put our heads together really good things happen. I guess that's what you call a partnership, we're just super fortunate that ours not only works, but works exceptionally well.

Last week Smitten took part in a wedding event where we were tasked to present a trend for the 2014/15 wedding season. Our trend was inspired by Kate Spade and we called it "Loving Colourfully", a spin on the Kate Spade motto "Living Colorfully". Our vision was for a striped and polka-dotted food + beverage table filled with lots of pink and green florals, fun treats and quirky yet sophisticated details. We brought a super talented florist on board, paired with a great caterer, collaborated with the best balloon guy we know and thankfully had my Mom to help us with the sewing. Although there were times when we didn't think we'd be able to pull it all together the way we wanted everything turned out in the end, not as we imagined, but better.

This Kate Spade ad served as our inspiration:

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And this is how we interpreted it:

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By the time set up was complete what we saw was an incredible presentation full of fun, colour and joy. It was all very Smitten and very much a product of the work Devon and I create together. Yum Yum! 

Psst... want to see more? Check out these images on Pinterest.

A Shared Room

The further I get into this pregnancy the closer we creep to the necessary redesign of Eloise's room to accommodate our second child. I am perhaps not as gung-ho about this as I have been in creating space for Eloise - it just seems like so much work - but I am excited for the challenge of making a beautiful place for two kids in one room.

I've long felt that North Americans are square footage obsessed. In keeping with this, my favourite and one of the most frequently asked questions I get these days is, "Where will the new baby sleep? You only have two bedrooms!" It's true, we only have two small bedrooms, but this is one more than we had when Eloise was born and we managed quite well back then. I shared a room with my brother until I was six and by the time we were offered our own rooms it took some convincing to get us to move into our own spaces.

Before I can get to the finishings and fun of shared room decor, we have some serious closet issues to move past (this would be the 'too much work' part). The organization, or lack thereof, in our bedroom closet and Eloise's closet is my current obsession and conquering this is the first step in making room for two. Both closets have just one long hanging rod with a shelf above, which means tons of wasted valuable storage space. I've done my best to cull the clutter and organize, but our closets are to a point that is beyond me. The first order of business is to have our bedroom closet fitted with a storage system so that we can move my clothing (or at least most of it) out of Eloise's closet and make room for her clothing and toys. Once her closet is ready we can part with the armoire and dresser in her room, bring in the crib and get going on designing a functional space for two.

More on the closet progress later, I'd rather share images of dreamy bedrooms for two.

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In Defense of IKEA

Chris keeps suggesting that it's time to break up with IKEA but I just can't manage to cut it out of my life. The catalogs get me every damn time with their styling, creative use of vertical space and incredibly reasonable prices. I mean, who can argue with $0.49 cotton muslin tea towels?

I agree with Chris that a house full of IKEA screams "university living", but when mixed with higher quality, classic pieces no one will ever know that the shelf in your living room was assembled in 15 minutes with nothing more than an Allen key. You also can't compete with IKEA for storage pieces, bath towels, fun linens, frames and candles. That frame department is off the hook.

There are two reasons that I am thinking about IKEA right now. The first is that I need to do something about the toy storage in Eloise's room immediately. And by something, I mean corral, it's a disaster. Since I don't want to spend more than $50 I figured the EXPEDIT would be a good pick and I had an 'aha' moment when I realized the top looked to be just about the right size for a change table pad (it is). Once Eloise has a sibling to share her room with I can simply add legs for a double duty toy and change station. Perfect.

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I really love these rugby stripe fabric bins from The Container Store for toy storage. They're the just right size for the EXPEDIT cubes, have rope handles for easy access and even ship to Canada. Unfortunately they wanted to charge me $45 for shipping. Well it looks like I don't like these bins that much.

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This monogrammable (!) felt storage bin from West Elm is pretty cool too.

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I also like the idea of a simple wire basket so that Eloise can see where her toys are and learn to put them back in the right spot. My Mom suggested toys may just fall through, so maybe not a great choice for small parts.

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The other reason I have IKEA on the brain is that I am totally obsessed with the idea of open shelving in the kitchen. Chris and my mom both tried to persuade me to install shelves when our kitchen was renovated two years ago but I resisted. I wanted nothing but art on the walls. Now I am positive it has to be done and honestly, I can't think of anywhere else besides IKEA you can you buy floating shelving? A look at the images below and I'd guess that all three projects used IKEA LACK wall shelves.

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Circus Circus

It's hard to believe but Eloise's second birthday is just around the corner. Of course I've been dreaming of plans for this party since shortly after her first, but now it's time to really start planning. As we enter what is sure to be an exciting and challenging year in Eloise's toddlerhood, otherwise known as the 'terrible twos' this year's birthday theme is going to be, appropriately, The Circus.

I took my inspiration for this party from a set of tin circus plates from Restoration Hardware given to us by Eloise's cousin Lucy. I just love the colours and Eloise is crazy about all of the animal images: a giraffe, monkey, elephant, and goose. There are even little tin circus animals which will hold her birthday candles.

Using these plates as a starting off point I'm thinking lots of red & white with animal motifs throughout, perfect fun for Eloise and her friends. I've been getting tons of inspiration from Pinterest and have a few other ideas up my sleeve (just like a magician, pun intended). Lots of balloons, a 'big top' in the dining room, maybe even a juggling not-scary clown, it's going to be way too much fun.

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Zara Home

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Can we talk about how lovely Zara Home is for a minute? My favourite Spanish retailer launched their home line in the US somewhat quietly in October and I am really enjoying their chic, well priced home collection of furniture, bedding, tableware, accessories and decorative items.

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On the top of my list is the Wooster Table, which is of course sold out. I'd use this pretty tray table as a bar cart, but only in my dreams... an acrylic tray set with booze and glassware would be on the floor with one curious hand or swipe of a tail.

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A more practical choice would be the Monocle Nest Tables, a set of two Eileen Gray-style accent tables that would be lovely in a tv room. Zara home also has a great selection of very well priced knobs (all less than $17 for two!) and many tassels. I can never get enough tassels.

Have you checked out Zara Home yet?

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween and with childlike excitement I can hardly wait to get Eloise into her lion costume and see her trick or treat for the first time. We've been practicing "knock, knock, trick or treat!" for weeks and she has the knocking down but the rest has been replaced by a little throaty 'ROAR!' as she gets into character.

I am pretty much tutu obsessed so to start Eloise's lion costume I made a super fluffy gold and brown tutu. Then I used gold lamé lycra to make her a bodysuit (I simply traced a onesie and sewed it together with a zig-zag stitch for stretch) and added brown fringe to the neck and sleeves. Her lion tail is made of gold lamé too, with a lamé tassel at the end and more fringe, of course. I found a pair of leopard print ears at the dollar store and covered them with more gold, adding more fringe and two little gold bows. It's all very over the top, but I'm beginning to feel that our Halloweens are never going to be subdued.

Exhibit A: Eloise's first Halloween Costume, a Bee.

Ba-bee & Gran-bee... get it? (he didn't)

Cute little bee!

 Maybe next year we'll expand on the tutu theme with one of these ...

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{pink bunny}

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Craving Colour

I love the look of our home but things have gotten, well, a brown. Brown isn't even a colour I really like, but somehow our living room is nothing but: a brown chenille couch, a teak coffee table, a burled walnut armoire, a taupe chair. I finally found a sideboard that is the perfect shape, size and function (doors that fold totally in on themselves!) for the tv, alas, it too is brown.

I am craving colour. It doesn't help that the weather has gone from gorgeous to grey, but I have an intense urge to redecorate our very neutral home with colour. My plan for the sideboard is to paint it turquoise but I haven't had the time to pull everything apart in order to sand, prime and paint it. We also need more light in the living room and I am really missing the arc lamp that stayed behind at the condo when we rented it last year.

I need an instant solution. I am thinking a bright rug, some fun accessories and finally, a turquoise sideboard. Here are a few rooms I'm loving right now, see if you can spot the theme.

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I Love

I love striped walls.

A recent post on The Glitter Guide featuring striped walls has inspired me to paint a some in our house. Maybe above the fireplace mantel or in the foyer?

My favourite painted stripes are monochromatic though I wish I were bold enough to do them in a metallic or navy and white. I've even come across striped wall decals which would be the perfect way to add interest to a rental space.

Have a look at the gorgeous striped rooms below.

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Since I am an incredibly poor and lazy painter, this 'how to' from Houzz will come in handy:

Dream Kitchen

I have a dream kitchen.

Glossy white cabinetry, beautifully simple grey granite countertops, a carrara marble, brick mosaic backsplash and sleek appliances; it's everything I could ask for. And the best part? We designed it ourselves.

We fussed over the colour scheme, toiled over the design (trust me, it's toiling when you spend six hours in Ikea. On a Sunday) and installed it ourselves. Okay, I'll admit it was only Chris who did the installation and that we had some major help from his cousin, Anthony, a professional Ikea kitchen installer, but getting it to this point has been a lot of work none the less.

In favour of a water view and ample natural light we decided against using upper cabinets and have used a piece of Metro shelving as an open pantry and extra storage. Not only does the shelving hold cooking supplies in smart, aluminium canisters, it also acts as a place to display beautiful kitchen tools like my Le Creuset dutch oven, wine decanters and various small appliances. And even though our wineglasses currently live in a cupboard in the laundry room, I'm so happy the view won out.

Speaking of dream kitchens, take a gander of a few of my favourites over on Pinterest. Sigh... I'll have a library ladder and glass front cabinets in our next kitchen.

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