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house tour

Sewing Studio Tour (Confessions of a Fabric Hoarder)

Home, Personal, Videos June 22, 2017

A few weeks ago I posted a short video about how my sewing table is set up. A few people mentioned wanting to see my entire space… I was a little reluctant because to be honest, it is a mess. Last weekend, Isabel came down to do a little work with me and exclaimed “Mommy! Why’d you make such a mess again!” So I tidied up a bit, and decided now was as good a time as ever to show you around.

My sewing space is not glamorous, but it is big, bright, and all mine. It’s a bit of a mess, and less organized than I would like, but I really have no right to complain. I’m fortunate to have such a space at my disposal! One of the benefits of living almost in the middle of nowhere is that we can actually afford a fairly big house on a lingerie-maker & mechanics two salaries.

I am super fortunate to actually have two spaces in my house that I use for work – my entire basement and a room at the corner of our house with lots of light, which is perfect for photography. In our old house everything was crammed into one bedroom. It feels really good to have the space to have a home for everything, and to be able to shut the door at the end of the week, and (try) not to worry about work for a bit.

The best part of this video is that Oliver made a cameo!

Two weeks ago he had surgery to remove some teeth as well as a lump on his head that turned out to be a mast cell tumor. It was scary waiting for the results after the lump was removed but I was relieved to find out that out of all the mast cell tumors he could have had, his was the “best” kind to have in that it was extremely slow growing and they were able to remove the entire mass. Oliver is 10, and his age is starting to show… But now that he has recovered he seems to have more energy again which is great!

Making Do with Ugly Tile

Home May 9, 2016
Green.
This house has a lot of green.
Deep, forest green.
So, as I mentioned in my last house post, Dan and I are prettying up the inside of our 1930’s beauty on a shoestring budget. That means for the time being we’re focusing mostly on paint, window coverings, lighting etc, while we do some more important structural work to the house. If money weren’t an issue, I’d gladly replace all this tile with something a little more neutral, but for now we have to make some of the more permanent fixtures work.
The purple wall colour really made the green pop.
Hi kitty!

This is our main bath. On one hand it is amazing. There is so much space, and if you know me, you know I love to bath. Baths are my thing, so a room that is almost entirely bathtub is pretty amazing. Before you say “but doesn’t it cost a fortune to fill?” we pay a set charge for up to a certain amount of water, and we never go over that amount, so other than the awful environmental impact of using so much water, it’s not a huge money drainer. That being said, eventually we’ll put in a more reasonable sized tub…. for now, I’m enjoying swimming laps during my evening bubble bath.

This room also has a shower and a sink. There is a small powder room just off of it. To me, it’s a little strange that there is no toilet in here, but also kind of nice.

This room also doubles as a laundry room. It is just off of our family room which is super convenient when I’m watching Isabel and doing laundry. The washer and dryer are currently housed behind glass sliding doors (just to reflect more of that green tile, I swear), and I hope to replace those with some sliding barn doors.

The green marble tile is a challenge. However, I don’t hate it the way I hated the yellowy-gold floral tile in my old bathroom. This tile is new-ish, it’s clean, and now that my walls are painted bright white, it almost takes on a black-ish shade. Painting out all of the oak trim really helped to neutralize the room.

Kitty is showing off our pretty stained glass windows.

Yup, even the top of the vanity got tiled.

I’m exceptionally happy with how this room looks now. It has some nice fixtures, like the big tub and steam shower, but the tile is definitely not my taste. I’m happy with how the white paint has toned everything down and will be content living with this room as is for the next several years. I would eventually like to remove all the tile and replace it with something more neutral, install a toilet and new tiled shower and vanity. The room itself is huge, and I believe it used to be a bedroom, so there is so much opportunity to have a super amazing bathroom in here.

Some people had suggested I paint the tile, but there is so much tile in here, I’d worry about it scratching or scuffing. While I’m not loving the colour of the tile itself, scratched or scuffed tile would bother me even more. For me, as long as things are clean and in good shape, I can usually survive with something a little less fashionable.

The small powder room next door to this room also has some questionable tile – mauvy purple with flowers. It’s on my fall to-do list… one room at a time.