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Guest Room Makeover Week two

Hello everyone! Here is a peek of the guest room I’ve been working on over the last couple of weeks. On week one I started by white washing the dresser. I shared a little tutorial on how to do that here. The bed was really the jumping off point for my modern farmhouse look that I’m going for in the room. I found the bed on kijiji for a great price! It’s originally from IKEA but is now discontinued.

In week two of the makeover, I’ve added this neutral jute rug called the “lohal’ from IKEA. I have this same rug in my living room and I love it! I looked at many different rugs but I really wanted to keep the major pieces neutral and the price worked with my almost next-to-nothing budget. When my main pieces are neutral, I can switch out the soft furnishings and change the colour/style whenever I get the hankering to. If you know me, you know how much I love adding blue come the spring and summer!

I love the texture of this rug and how well it goes with the white washed plywood floorboards we put in last year. I made these cushion covers to add to the bed next week when I show the new bedskirt I’m making. This fall look will slowly transition into Christmas in the next week or so.

It’s next to impossible to do anything without this guy wanting to be in the middle of it, so you may see him in quite a few pics!

Thanks for joining me in week two of the guest room makeover. I really appreciate you stopping by. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do to make sure you don’t miss any posts!

-Kim

The Guest Room makeover and White Washing Furniture

3:06 pm by kim 36 Comments

The Guest Room Makeover and White Washing the Dresser

Hello friends! I’ll be working on the guest room over the next few weeks leading up to the holidays. We’ll have all three of the girls and one son in law home for Christmas and I want to make it as comfortable as possible. It’s also a great excuse to spruce up a plain room! The first project I started on was white washing the dresser and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

I found the dresser a few summers back at a garage sale for next to nothing. It’s a solid piece that came with two nightstands as well. Unfortunately, I gave those away and have been kicking myself since. They would have looked great in the room, but they’re gone to a good home. The dresser was stained and varnished when I found it and I spent a couple of weeks removing it all… only to white wash it! I actually liked it in it’s raw wood state, but felt the piece needed a little character. White washing the piece to achieve a distressed worn look, would help it fit in with the modern farmhouse look I’m going for in the guest room.

How to White Wash furniture Tutorial

For those of you who have never tried this technique before, it is one of the easiest to do! The whole process cost me absolutely $0! Now if you’re somebody who doesn’t have any leftover paint kicking around it may cost you for the paint. The smallest size container will do! This technique is called white washing because you usually use a white, off/white paint colour. However, you can do this in any colour! White washing can also refer to the effect of washing over, with paint or stain, another colour or stain to tone down or add an effect to your piece. This tutorial however, will be a simple and easy white wash over wood.

You will simply need:

Paint of your choice. (It’s better to use a flat finish but I’ve used satin and eggshell before too). Depending on the finish you’re looking for, your paint can be mixed 1:1 with water.
Paint brush.
Cloth or rag (one that doesn’t leave behind any lint).
Sandpaper (optional, if your decide you want to distress it a little more after it’s dried).

I wanted to achieve the effect of a painted piece where over time it has lost it’s paint with wear and tear. You can white wash your piece more evenly so that it looks less distressed. It’s up to you! I also chose some leftover paint that was more greige than white. The dresser had a bit of orange in the wood that I thought the greige would tone down.

Start by adding your paint with the paint brush in sections (the effect will change depending on how dry or wet the paint is when you try to remove it with your cloth. So working in sections will help you obtain a more uniform look).
Depending on the look you want to achieve, you can then use a dampened cloth to remove some of the paint and or begin to “wash” your section with the cloth to remove any brush strokes. The more you wipe, the more paint you’ll remove. You’ll notice that you need to rinse your cloth out after each section to remove excess paint.
Sometimes you’ll think that you removed too much paint, (unless that’s the look you’re trying to achieve). No problem, simply add more paint with your brush.
The time you allow between applying the paint and wiping it off will also change the look. I let my paint dry for a few minutes after applying, This gave me more of a “sanded” look rather than “washed”.
Once you’ve finished your piece and are happy with it, you can apply a coat of poly to help protect the finish. A matte or satin finish would be better, but it’s up to you!
If you’re not happy with the look, you can sand it to remove more paint or you can add more paint again and start over. The sky’s the limit! You can check out the coffee table I white washed last Christmas with a slightly different look here.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope this mini tutorial was helpful for you. If you do try out this technique, I’d love to hear how it worked out for you!

-Kim

How to Add Fall Decor to the Bedroom

6:00 am by kim 4 Comments

How to Add Fall Decor to the Bedroom

Hello everyone! I wanted to share how I add fall decor to the bedroom. When we think of fall decor we don’t always think of adding it to the bedroom. The master bedroom is usually the last room we think of when we think of seasonal decorating. We tend to choose to spend the bulk of our resources on those rooms that are seen by everyone. But I’ll show you how by using a couple of seasonal pieces and changing up your bedding, you can add some fall decor to your bedroom.

I started with this wreath I made from cotton picks which became the centrepiece and jumping off point for the rest of the room. The colour and texture of the wreath go well with the neutral modern farmhouse vibe I’ve got going on.

The white linen duvet is kept on the bed and mixed up with coverlets and patterned pillows depending upon the season. I replaced the blue coverlet I had on for the summer with this cream coloured one for fall, keeping the neutral creamy theme going on. There are a couple of black and white toile pillow shams peeking from behind the white ones. They add a little break from all the white although it’s difficult to see in these pics. The bed is such a large statement piece in the room. By changing up the linen, you can change the whole look of the room.

Hydrangeas are one of my favourite flowers and I usually have them throughout the house. I use faux hydrangeas when the real ones aren’t available. They add that something special to whatever room they’re in and they look great here on the tray..

Lastly, I added a few small velvet and white baby boo pumpkins to the room. Nothing says fall like pumpkins!

By simply adding a statement piece like the fall cotton wreath, changing up the linen and adding a few little pumpkins, I’ve brought some fall decor in the bedroom. Using things that I already had on hand made it a simple and easy project.

Thanks for dropping by to visit! I hope you enjoyed looking at my fall decor and were inspired to add a little fall decor into your own bedroom.

Fall Maple Carrot Cake

6:00 am by kim 6 Comments

Fall Maple Carrot Cake

Hi everyone! I’m sharing this fall maple carrot cake I made this week and I’m hoping you’ll try it out…and like it! Fall and winter are the times of the year when I enjoy baking. There’s something really comforting about having baked goods come out of the oven made from farm fresh produce as the temperature drops and the weather turns chillier. Not to mention the heavenly aroma that fills the house!

This is a delicious maple carrot cake with a maple cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I decided to make it a naked cake due to the ease of decorating it. I love naked cakes, they’re rustic and pretty at the same time and if you’re not the greatest at doing a pretty frosting job this is an easy and no-brainer way to do it. Even if you mess it up, it still looks good! I used some of the white mums from my front porch to decorate it up a bit. So easy!

If you’re noticing a large chunk missing from the cake, that’s because I we couldn’t wait to try it!

Maple Carrot Cake

2 cups (500ml) all purpose flour
2 tsp. (10ml) baking powder
1 tsp. (5ml) baking soda
2 tsp. (10 ml) ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2 ml) allspice
1/4 tsp. (1ml) salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup (175 ml ) vegetable oil
1/2 cup (125 ml) maple syrup
1/3 cup (75 ml) packed brown sugar
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) grated carrots

Icing

4 0z (125g) softened cream cheese
2 tbsp (25 ml)) room temperature butter
3 tbsp (45 ml) maple syrup
1/2 tsp (2 ml) vanilla
1/2 tsp (2ml) cinnamon
2 cups (500 ml) icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350º F (180º C) butter and flour 2, 8-inch baking pans
Whisk together in a large bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt.

Whisk together in another bowl the eggs, oil, maple syrup, brown sugar and vanilla until smooth, pour into the flour mixture, add the carrots and mix just until moistened.
Bake for 20-25 minutes depending upon your oven. Let cool on cooling rack.

Using an electric mixer, beat together cream cheese, butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and icing sugar. Frost tops of cakes and stack. Decorate however you’d like.

Recipe adapted from Foodland Ontario.

Thanks for dropping by and let me know if you tried it and how it turned out!

Kim

Fall Front Porch

6:00 am by kim Leave a Comment

My Easy Fall Front Porch

I’m happy you’ve joined me and my model Bubs today as we share our easy fall front porch with you! I think by now you all know of my love of white, it’s been a fifteen year love affair and it carries outside as well. I wanted to keep this fern as the centerpiece and used it as a jumping off point. I love white and green together so the fern along with my white mums and white pumpkins seemed like a good fit. The hay adds a little texture and a harvest time feel and these wooden lanterns are so versatile they look great in any setting

I’ve opened up my screen door so you can see the pretty BM “Wyeth Blue” on the door. I love the colour and and the wreath matches it perfectly and is kept up all year long.The galvanized containers which used to be tree sap buckets were found at a local home decor store. These buckets will be great for using again at Christmas time on either side of the fireplace.

This really large white pumpkin with a bit of blue in it, was placed on a bed of hay in the old black iron urn and I’m loving the colour! Some pillows I sewed together on top of a pair of muskoka chairs and a comfy plaid blanket make for a cozy spot to sit in the cool evenings. Bubs thinks so too!

Thanks for joining Bubs and I in a little tour of our fall front porch. You can see that by using things that I already had on hand and adding a few pumpkins from the garden centre, how easy it is to add some fall decor.

Canadian Bloggers Fall Tour 2016

6:00 am by kim 41 Comments

Welcome to our Canadian Bloggers Fall Home tour! I’m so excited to join in with nineteen other Canadian bloggers from across Canada to share our homes and fall decor. Each day a new group of bloggers will be sharing. Visit each home tour by following the links on the days at the bottom of this post!

If you’ve just come from visiting Jennifer of Rambling Renovators, welcome to my home!

I love fall for so many reasons and it’s my absolute favourite season, what’s not to love? Cooler sweater and boot weather, warm comfort food, the changing of the colour of the trees and pumpkins to name a few.

When embarking on fall decor I’m not averse to any colour, the sky’s the limit! Last year I used brown’s, and tans with a hint of orange, you can find last year’s home tour here. This year I was loving the colours of the charcoal and sage coloured pumpkins and thought I’d use more of a black/grey and white colour scheme.

I started off with charcoal and sage pumpkins and then found this gorgeous black and white floral fabric and sewed together these cushion covers. I added the black and white ticking cushion covers to complement them. Having a neutral backdrop makes it easy to add any colour you like to your decor.

You’ll notice lots of pumpkins! I added a mixture of faux pumpkins in plastic, paper and velvet, as well as some real classic sage and white ones along with my favourite little white baby boos. They were my main staple in decorating this year and I left out my usual cotton stems and branches. Sometimes you need to mix it up a bit, but they may come out yet, my decorating changes like the weather and I’m adding and removing things all the time!

I love any kind of eucalyptus during the holidays and this seeded eucalyptus is used all over my home right now. The beautiful soft green is in keeping with the sage and charcoal I used this year. You may also notice a bit of birch here and there. I basically have some form of birch hanging around all year long. The beautiful white and texture of it goes with everything and adds more of that natural element I like to bring into my home.

The mantel in my family room is full of pumpkins with sage faux greenery flanked by a couple of faux topiaries. My mantels change constantly and I’m mixing thing up all the time!

My living room looks out onto the breakfast nook. I have a large collection of vintage ironstone and I’ve placed some pitchers and an arrangement of platters, bowls and cake stands on the shelves. I display them and use them all the time. The rest of my ironstone is in the dining room and displayed throughout the house. I’ve simply added a few pumpkins out there along with a bit of eucalyptus on the table and thats it for fall decor. I change up the curtains out there in the fall into whatever I’m using to decorate with in the season. These curtains are a charcoal grey and white with a floral design. Whenever I have curtains that aren’t lined I place a pair of white curtains behind them to make them more opaque and appear heavier, which makes them appear a little more substantial.

I decorated my dining table with the same coloured pumpkins that I have in the living room. I’ve added some brass candlesticks to add some warmth and who doesn’t love candles on your tablescape? I had different coloured pumpkins on the mantel in here but later changed them out for all white. I told you I change my decor like the weather! I made this simple linen table runner last year and It’s my favourite, I’ve used nothing else since I made it! My table is set for a hearty fall soup with a thick french loaf…which I couldn’t keep my hands off which is why a third of it is missing 🙂

I couldn’t do a tablescape without adding a bit of fairlyights! As well as candlelight I love mixing in some delicate fairylights interwoven between branches and/or greenery. It just turns what may otherwise be natural and simple into something that’s festive and sparkly. No matter what you’ve set your table with they up the wow factor!

I switched up my mantel in the dining room and used some simple faux white pumpkins along with some baby boos on top of seeded eucalyptus with vases full of dried green hydrangeas. Simple and beautiful.

Thank you all for joining me and staying till the end! For more fall decor inspiration be sure to follow the links at the bottom of this post to join the other bloggers on this tour!

Monday

Northern Style Exposure
Clean and Scentsible
Amidst the Chaos
Heather In Heels

Tuesday

The Happy Housie
Satori Design for Living
Love Create Celebrate
A Pop of Pretty

Wednesday

PMQ for Two
Brooklyn Berry Designs
Rambling Renovators
Kim Power Style

Thursday

The DIY Mommy
Vin’yet Etc.
Home To Heather
Fresh Crush

Friday

Life is a Party
A Pretty Life
This Little Estate
Suburble

How to Arrange a Simple Fall Centerpiece

8:49 pm by kim 4 Comments

How to Arrange a Simple Fall Centerpiece

I wanted to share a really quick and easy how-to to arrange a simple fall centrepiece using what you already have in your fridge, fruit bowl and yard. For many of us, creating a beautiful centrepiece can seem a little overwhelming, not to mention budget breaking, especially when we see all the lovely pics on pinterest and in magazines. But if we look closely at those arrangements, most of the time they’re simply a few items that are easily accessible as well as easily alternated for other items we may have on hand.

Depending on your own style, choose a container of your choice. I love my vintage wood bowl for centrepieces, it’s so pretty you could throw a bag of onions in it and it would look good! I also like this little galvanized metal trough for arranging smaller objects like fruits, pinecones etc. You could choose a basket or platter in any size that will fit on your table .A plank of wood down the centre of your table would look gorgeous! The sky’s the limit for containers!

I decided to use these little white baby boos because they just scream fall to me and really fit into my neutral decor. You could also use seasonal fruits like pears and apples. The markets are full of all kinds of little pumpkins and gourds at this time of the season and they’re pretty cheap too.

Next you can pick out any kind of greenery or natural elements you can find right in your own yard. I had some baby’s breath, but could have also used some oak leaves and acorns Bub’s and I find on our daily walk.

I looove twinkle lights! Most of the time I keep them up all year long hanging on my ladder, around wreaths and in clear jars. They just add that little sparkle that makes everything look pretty and festive. So, if you have some little battery operated twinkle lights you can place a strand or two weaved around your display. If you are doing your arrangement on a platter or flat surface like a wood plank, you could place little tea lights in your display. You may want to use the faux ones though if your arrangement includes any kind of dried leaves or anything flammable. Remember, safety first!

Now you can start with your largest pieces first and arrange them in a way that looks attractive to you. Add some of your greenery between your larger pieces and stop when you feel like it looks full. If you have some lights, add them now.

Stop and look at your creation. You’ve just made a simple fall centerpiece! It probably took you only a few minutes to do and looks beautiful! Everyone will think you spent so much time on it and it’ll be a one of a kind piece, creatively made by you!

Blessings my friends,

Kim

Flowers on Fridays

5:51 pm by kim 2 Comments

Fridays are pretty special around here!

As a nurse in my previous life Fridays were usually a work day or night for me and while most people were kicking off their shoes, sharing a bottle of wine or whatever else, I was on my way to work! After twenty five years of working weekends and holidays my hubby can usually get weekends off now too, so we truly do look forward to Fridays and celebrate!

However, my celebration consists of sitting back and enjoying my home! Possibly opening that bottle of wine and visiting the odd thrift store
…not all that exciting and not necessarily in that order!

One of the things I love to do to help usher in the weekend and to make this day a little different form the rest is to buy flowers. Nothing fancy, just your average bunch from the grocery store.

I usually buy the three bunches for $20 You can pick and choose
from an assortment and I usually pick my favourites: hydrangeas and roses.

You have to get there early Friday mornings to get the best selection though! I was only able to get 1 bunch of hydrangeas yesterday. I spotted a lady in the line in front of me with hydrangeas and roses and wanted to wrestle her for them but restrained myself 😉 You snooze your lose as the saying goes.

…

Hello again and sharing my summer home

5:03 pm by kim 4 Comments

Well It’s been a long time I know.

If there is still anybody out there and you can hear me…

I’m coming back!

I’ve decided to start blogging again.

I’ll share more of the details in another post but for now… I’ll share a little bit of my summer home with you all.

Better late than never.

There have been so many changes made in my little home over the last while that I can’t wait to share with you! If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen some of them but not all.

In the master bedroom I’ve changed my floors, headboard and wall colour, I’ll share more of that in some upcoming posts so stayed tuned!

…

Canadian Bloggers Christmas Home Tour 2015

7:00 am by kim 35 Comments

Down Home Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody!

I’m so excited to be a part of The Canadian BloggersChristmas Home Tour 2015 along with eleven other talented ladies, Hosted by Christina from the thediymommy and Shannon from AKAdesign You can scroll to the bottom of this post for the entire lineup of these talented ladies.

For those of you who’ve come from The Creek Line House tour welcome to my home!

Generations of my family come from “The Island” also known as PEI. Whenever we think or talk about the Island we refer to it as “down home”

My decorating reflects what I envision when I think of down home at Christmas.

Keeping it simple and natural suits me and my little home perfectly!

I had so many decorations to add but kept removing them as I felt that simpler was better for my small cozy space.

I’ve used my go- to sugar pinecones which I love for their colour and texture, birch logs and seeded eucalyptus. I’ve kept my cotton stems out because it reminds me of snow on branches. Adding some plaid in the cushions brings in a bit of colour and pattern as well as that down home winter lodge feel.

The pom-pom garland I made last year was placed on my ladder and the pom-pom wreath moved to the mantel.

The boxwood wreaths are placed throughout and bring that lovely shot of green that goes with everything at Christmas.

Here I’ve placed one on a little vintage chair I found at a local thrift store, that sits beside the fireplace.

On the mantel I used these raw wood lanterns with little twinkle lights inside each one

and some faux greenery. I added this red berry wreath at one point to add a little colour and then removed it and replaced it with the pom-pom wreath.

My brass candleholders add a little old-world charm to the rustic down home feel.

I mixed things up here on the mantel by adding this large silver Christmas ball which was a nice contrast to all the natural elements.

Beautiful scented candles add so much ambiance to a space and this white pumpkin has been one of my favourites.

When friends and family drop by during the holidays, I usually set up one of two tables buffet style, It makes for easy and casual entertaining. With the small table in the breakfast area I continued with my natural theme throughout by using wooden candleholders, wood slices and burlap.

This lovely dollar store disco ball adds that little whimsical touch which helps to break up all the natural elements I’ve got going on. I love the way the light reflects all over the kitchen.

Nothing was immune to the boxwood wreaths including Mr. Moose!

I carried on with my simple, natural down home theme in the dining room…

The same natural theme was carried through with a linen table runner along with more plaid in the table napkins and cushions.

I loved the feel of this room, it really felt like you were in a down home winter lodge!

Thank you so much for the visit,

I hope you’ve enjoyed my down home Christmas house tour! I love to decorate my home and create an atmosphere where family and friends can gather and feel comfortable, welcomed and where we can all celebrate everything this season is all about..the birth of our saviour!

Now it’s time to take a tour of my Canadian blogging friends’ gorgeous homes. Come back each day to see a new set of home tours from Monday to Thursday this week.

Monday:
AKA Design
Northern Style Exposure
The DIY Mommy
Tuesday:
The Creek Line House
Restoration House
Wednesday:
Suburble
The Happy Housie
Nalle’s House
Thursday:
Clean and Scentsible
Fynes Designs
Rambling Renovators
A Pop of Pretty“

kim

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