Birch + Bird Vintage Home Interiors

Phase 1 of my long list of things to paint this summer is complete!  My girls’ rooms are now pink and purple with crisp white trim.  It took much longer than I had anticipated but really, I should have known better.  Next time, I will start small and push my completion date out about 2 weeks.  Now, I’ll spend the rest of the week, placing furniture, reorganizing their toys and clothes so I can move on to the fun stuff like repainting furniture, hanging art and curtains.

1. Better Homes and Gardens 2. Design*Sponge

I picked really pale shades for their rooms because our home tends to be fairly dark and with all the girly clutter, I didn’t want to be overwhelmed by bubble gum shades of pink and purple.  While I was painting I started to get concerned that I had gone too conservative because both shades appeared white and actually still do at some angles.  Since stripes are so popular right now, the thought crossed my mind that by adding some horizontal stripes I could bring in more of the colour that my “clients” were looking for.

Living Etc.

Now that the rooms are finished and their beds are all made up with their pink and purple quilts, the colour actually is “just” enough for me.  And considering the length of time it’s already taken, I think the stripes will have to wait…forever.  Now on to repainting the doors, their beds, a bedside table and a desk or two.  And once that’s all done, I’ll be sure to snap a few photos to share and then take a nap.

Design*Sponge

Apartment Therapy

mixr

What do you think of the stripe craze?  Do you love it?  Or would you rather pass?

Apartment Therapy

Just in case you haven’t heard, vendor applications for the Fieldstone Vintage Market are now available.  So, if you would like to join us for an outdoor European-style market featuring a collection of all things vintage and handmade, please stop by the Fieldstone Market blog for details.

From the time she was about 18 months old, one of my daughters has seriously been in love with the colour purple.  I never knew someone could be as obsessed with a particular colour as she is, especially from such a young age.  She always notices purple and is quick to point it out.  The girls shared a room up until recently when we figured it was time for them to have their own space.  And so far, it’s worked out perfectly.  I mentioned the other day that my hunt for purple bedding came to an end when I found it at a local home decor store and we were both thrilled.  Now to get on with choosing the wall colour.

Decor8

via The Style Files photographed by Petra Bindel

To save myself from driving back and forth from the paint store when trying to find the perfect colour for our main living space during our renovations, I purchased a Benjamin Moore fan deck.  It’s so handy to pull out in situations like this.  So, one afternoon, I pulled out my trusty fan deck to pick out wall colour with two 5 year old girls.  Should be easy.  Right?  Well, once they figured out that each colour had a name, it was very hard to convince them to switch.  ”Princess Purple” sounds a lot better than “Stormy Sky”, you know.  I resorted to making names up.

Decor8

via The Style Files photographed by Petra Bindel

Scandinavian design has been influencing the blog world quite a bit these days.  And I have to say that I quite like it too.  How about you?  All that white, makes even the smallest amount of colour pop.  And if purple is your favourite colour today but not tomorrow, it’s not a big deal to make a change.  But I don’t think I’d get away with white walls with my Purple Princess.  I picked a pale purple called Dreamy Cloud (a.k.a. Princess Purple) similar to the nursery space below.

1. Maggie Austin Cake 2. Sushipot

via The Style Files photographed by Petra Bindel

I tend to stick to neutrals so I’ve had to get used to all this pink and purple business.  It’s been good for me to break free from playing it safe with colour.  Do you play it safe?  Or are you a brave one when it comes to adding colour into your home?

Have you read The Happiness Project yet?  Lily mentioned the book in a post just after Christmas and I was immediately intrigued.  I’m slowly working my way through it  and it has inspired me to focus on what really matters.  It might be the combination of  Spring Cleaning season and the book because I’ve been in a clean and sweep kind of mood. In the first month of her project, Gretchen went through her home tossing anything and everything that was cluttering up her life.  Then she did it again.  All she was left with was what she needed and really wanted. How good would that feel?  I went through my bedroom closet a few days ago and did the big toss.  You should see my closet now.  I have a tonne of new space to fill up again.  I didn’t stop at my closet either, my dresser is all neat and tidy again too.  It felt really good to drop off 3 boxes of clothes at the second hand shop.  Our bedroom is officially tidy.

How does your closet look these days?  Does it need a little makeover?

photographed by Mark Burstyn for Canadian House & Home

photographed by William Waldron for Elle Decor

How grand would it be to have a dressing room?  I was trying to have a conversation with Lily the other day on the phone with my girls hooting and hollering in the background and foreground.  I mentioned the idea of a phone booth but I think I would like a dressing room instead.  A dressing room pour moi.  I could get used to that.  Yes.

photographed by Jean Allsopp for Coastal Living

Made By Girl

Dreams aside.  My husband and I share a standard sized closet and thankfully, neither of us has too many clothes and it really is just fine.  My side of the closet is similar in size to the one below except this one is so much prettier.  I’m all over wallpapering the interior of closets even if they are of the smaller variety.  Our closets are one of the first things we gaze into in the morning so it may as well be lovely.

jaboopee

For those of you dealing  with no closet space to speak of, why not put your clothes on display?  These crisp white rooms show off an unexpected pop of colour from these clothing collections.  What do you think?

Apartment Therapy + Decor8

And for the little ones if our lives, here are some ideas that might help get all that toy clutter under control or at least make things easier when clean up time rolls around.  One closet isn’t a closet at all, just a regular Ikea bookshelf.  I love the little girl’s closet from Domino, it’s inspired me to add a couple closet makeovers for my girls to my project list.

1.  Better Homes and Gardens 2. ohdeedoh 3. Real Simple 4.  Domino via mscott218

So, where’s the best place you’ve found to hide clothes from your husband?  I promise not to tell.

As many of you with children know, life is sure busy these days! Between all of the driving to school and activities to juggling housework and making meals to trying to get myself to the gym and get work done in the middle of it all, some days truly feel like a blur! Thankfully, Rachel and I are headed to Seattle for a shopping getaway with two other busy mama friends this weekend and, let me tell you, the count down is on!

Between us, Rachel and I have 4 girls and have focused several of our posts on spaces fit for little ladies. Let’s face it, there is so much more cute stuff out there for girls! From clothing to room decor, the options for feminine style are seemingly endless while the choices for boys are pretty slim in comparison. So I thought I’d put together a collection of boy’s rooms…no sugar and spice here!

Style Cookie via Bloesem

Soderberg Agentur. Photo by Magnus Anesund.

1. Country Living 2. Canadian House & Home

Lonny

Design*Sponge

While I don’t have any more newborns in my future (knock on wood!), I’m a sucker for a stylish nursery and the two below are perfect examples. How lovely would it be to nurse your wee one in this rustic space? It’s actually pretty gender neutral and the orange accents could easily be swapped out for another hue. And the white Scandinavian nursery? I don’t think any words are necessary! What I love most about these two spaces, is that they were designed to grow with the child and would look just as good with a 10 year old’s bed brought in as they do with the cribs…

Room Remix (blog has been removed)

Kjerstis Lykke via A Cup of Jo via The Boo and the Boy

Design*Sponge just featured this nautical Whitby wallpaper by Mini Moderns this week and it was love at first sight for me. Wouldn’t it be adorable in a boy’s room? Or in a seaside cottage, for that matter! The rest of their collection is pretty amazing too…

Mini Moderns via Design*Sponge

While browsing for appropriate wall art for young fellows, keeping in mind what my nearly 8 year old son Gabe would like, I came across these fab prints by Yellow Heart Art. Aren’t they cute…I mean, cool? I’m thinking I just might just have to fit Supah Fly into Gabe’s room somewhere…

Yellow Heart Art

When designing rooms for kids, I always choose furniture and decor that will grow at least a few years with each child. My mom made a habit of using quality vintage pieces in our rooms, many of which she sent along with us when we moved out of the nest. While Ikea is great for style on a budget, I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to pieces that need to hold up to kids…a lesson I should have taken from my mom, from the get-go!

While my hubby was off riding his dirt cycle this past week, I spent one evening watching (500) Days of Summer, on my laptop, cozy  in bed.  If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it. The sets happen to be the reason for this post.  With soaring brick walls, windows to match, exposed wood beams and polished concrete floors, the building where Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel) work together is stunning to say the least.  Another favourite of mine, was the building where Tom goes for his interview at the end.  The ironwork ceilings, elevators and railings are incredible.  I’m sorry I don’t have any images to share but you’ll just have to see it for yourself.

Exposed brick walls are lovely, don’t you think?  They are akin to the colour black.  They go with every style.  Modern, traditional,  industrial, country, mid century, eclectic.  Whatever your style is, a brick wall will accommodate it.

Elle Decor

In raw form, brick walls are truly works of art.  It amazed me to think that each and every brick was placed by hand and has stood the test of time.

Design*Sponge

Unpainted or painted?  Which do you prefer?  I could go either way.  The brick walls in this modern bath give it a very fresh and crisp feel.  But imagine if it was left in the raw with the window trim painted black and a hit of red, it would have looked quite amazing as well.  Don’t you think?

via Remodelista

This very sleek and modern kitchen doesn’t seem so intimidating since it’s balanced with the old and worn.  This happens to be a summer home in Paris.  I wonder if they take in visitors?

Cote Maison via The Style Files

And this spacious warehouse conversion is…oh, 8600 square feet.  That’s a little on the large side, although I don’t know if I would ever complain to live in such a historical building. My girls would have a blast riding their bikes through this space, that I know for sure.  All the original features of the building give it so much character.  This warehouse  in Spain, has gone through a few transformations, from stables, to bomb shelter, then print shop only to end up as a private and very grand residence.

Neuvo Estilo via Home DSGN

Follow the links, if you would like to see more of these homes.  All of the homes are unique and there’s something to like in each and every one.  The first pair of images come from the home of Sheryl Crow and it’s my favourite.  She has an amazing collection of vintage finds and her home has such a cozy feel despite it being a loft.  You might want to grab a cup of coffee because you might be awhile.