Category — Homes + Interiors

Balancing life and work is a continuous challenge, as I’m sure most can agree, but I find creative moments to be the most therapeutic ones of each day. Can any of you relate? Often, it’s as simple as restyling a small vignette at the shop to help take my mind off of things, pause and regroup before moving onto more pressing matters. I cannot imagine not having a creative outlet at work each day. I’m always drawn to studios and other creative spaces so today I thought I’d feature a few, with some DIY’s mixed in for good measure…

Lisa Congdon‘s studio via The Limner

Home of Jessie Webster via Design*Sponge

Smitten Studio

Abigail Ryan wallpaper featured on Decor8

The Design Files. Home of David Bromley. Photo by Toby Scott.

Livet Hemma

What helps you get through the work day, or the everyday for that matter? Besides coffee…that’s a given! Speaking of, it’s time for me to refill my mug as I’ve got a busy day ahead. We’re making some changes to the shop layout this weekend and there’s lots to do before the dust gets stirred up. Then I’m off to the city this afternoon to pick up store product, do a shop tour at West Elm and then meet a friend for dinner…got to make the most of it :) Enjoy your Wednesday!

How was your weekend? Busy Mother’s Day hopping between families or did you get some R&R in? Mine was a good mix of both and the kiddos left me feeling very loved :) Remember that adorable chair/pillow combo I shared on Friday? Well, it belongs to Rubyellen Bratcher and I stumbled upon her house tour featured over at A Beautiful Mess during a quiet moment last night. Rubyellen lives LA with her husband, where she is the homeschooling mama to 4 beautiful young girls…you can imagine the creative activity that goes on in their family home! Come take a peek…

Home of Rubyellen Bratcher on A Beautiful Mess

Home of Rubyellen Bratcher on A Beautiful Mess

Home of Rubyellen Bratcher on A Beautiful Mess

You can see more lovely pics over at A Beautiful Mess and I found some more favourites over at Rubyellen’s blog, My Cakies…pretty jealous of that amazing Anthropologie couch (they got it for a steal too)!

My Cakies

My Cakies Tent Frame DIY on A Beautiful Mess

My Cakies

My Cakies

Um, how awesome is that hammock?! My kids would be in heaven…although I think we’d need extra strong anchors with their shenanigans! Light + bright with plenty of vintage + handmade touches, it’s checking all the boxes on my design-done-right list! Enjoy your Monday :)

How is it Friday again, already? Jeepers. How was your week? Ours was busy but sun-filled and I can’t complain. It’s Mother’s Day this weekend…what plans do you have in the works? We’ll be pretty low key over here, spending time with both of our families, and the kids have some top secret projects in the works at school. I’ve got a preschool tea party with Lilah this morning before I head off to the shop and it’s bound to be adorable :) As promised, here are my top links of the week plus some tunes for the weekend…

1. These Mother’s Day printables by Striped Cat Studio would make any mama smile on Sunday morning:

Striped Cat Studio for Studio DIY

2. The entire May/June 2013 edition of Rue is devoted to the Pacific Northwest, YAY! So many great features, including this outdoor picnic, as well as a great tour of Vancouver shops and much more…

Rue. Photo by Julie Harmsen. Styling by Hens & Chicks Collective.

3. This entire cabin makeover is to-die-for, especially the kitchen. Seriously. My dream getaway:

Smitten Studio via A Cup of Jo

4. Loving everything about this pic, especially the pile of new pillows:

My Cakies

5. This Kentucky Derby themed wedding shoot is pretty near perfect in my books! My childhood friends would laugh…I’ve always fallen hard for horses! (While most had Kirk Cameron posters on their walls…um, I had Palominos and Arabians!) :

Ali Harper and Blue-Eyed Yonder via Snippet & Ink

As I’ve mentioned before, I love finding new music (as in not Top 40) and great apps like Songza and Shazam make it all the easier these days. I’m also a huge fan of NoiseTrade, where artists share their latest EP’s and it’s FREE! So great. Here are some tunes that I have on current rotation, hope you like them! Happy Weekend!

1. Among Savages: In the Nighttime
2. Empire of the Sun: Walking on a Dream
3. Churchill: Lock Your Heart Down
4. Boy: Little Numbers
5. American Authors: Believer
6. Freedom Fry: Friends + Enemies
7. Paper Route: You + I
8. Rah Rah: Art & a Wife
9. Walk Off the Earth: Red Hands
10. Wild Country: Wake Owl

While leisurely flipping through my June issue of Canadian House & Home this weekend, I fell in love with this Vancouver home belonging to designer Nancy Riesco and her family. Come take a peek at some of the beautiful pics snapped by my friend Janis (it’s so cool to see familiar names making regular appearances in my favourite magazines!) and you can see even more over at Pinecone Camp as well as in the latest issue of H&H, now on news stands…

All pictures by Janis Nicolay for House & Home. Design by homeowner Nancy Riesco.

All pictures by Janis Nicolay for House & Home. Design by homeowner Nancy Riesco.

All pictures by Janis Nicolay for House & Home. Design by homeowner Nancy Riesco.

I just love all of the clean lines, colourful artwork and bold pops of colour throughout this family home. It’s so bright and liveable, wouldn’t you agree? My week is zipping along and I’m doing my best to keep up. We spent a good chunk of the day in Vancouver yesterday, salvaging a Kerrisdale home up for demolition with Tracey Ayton (here’s a peek!), visiting with Chris at Stepback (if you haven’t been, you really must!) and then rushing home to pick up kids and zoom off to hockey practice. Ah, these are the days! Off to the shop now before some much needed R+R with my Spruce girls…we’re having our belated Christmas party this afternoon! Fresh toes at the nail spa and dinner on a sunny patio, coming right up :)

Ah, what a weekend! Temperatures soared to almost 30 degrees and it felt more like August than the first weekend in May! No complaints here…we soaked it up as much as we could. My youngest came down with a bad cold at some point (really not fair to be sick when it’s so beautiful out!) but sitting in a kiddie pool eating popsicles can do wonders! I got some much needed gardening in as well as some much needed rest. I’m actually feeling pretty caught up (minus the 3 loads of laundry I put off folding all weekend) and am relatively ready for the busy week ahead. What about you? How did you enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures? Mother’s Day is next weekend and with three kids under 10, my expectations are never high but it always feels great to receive handmade tidbits, made with love…

Cartolina + Rifle Paper Co. cards at Spruce Collective

Better Homes + Gardens

Hitch Design

Parcel Post

Urban Outfitters via DesignLoveFest

The Paper Mama

Furbish

Quill + Fox

Isn’t that floral monogram especially lovely? It would be such a pretty DIY for a wedding or birthday party and looks relatively easy to make, bonus! Sometimes I think the best gift for busy moms “in the thick of it” is time alone. I can literally count the days that I’ve spent alone inside my house over the last ten years, strange right? But those rare quiet moments (without chores, cooking, driving around or other to-do’s) are such a treat. How will you be showing the special mama(s) in your life that you care? Enjoy this sun-filled Monday…how will we ever get any work done?!