Birch + Bird Vintage Home Interiors

How was your week? Mine was a bit of a blur with plenty of prep for The Urban Market but I was lucky enough to attend my first long table dinner on Wednesday night and it was amazing! Hosted by Vitala Foods at the Bakerview EcoDairy, I haven’t tasted such delicious, locally grown food since…well, ever! I’ll be sure to share more pics last week but you can peek through my Instagram feed in the meantime, including a pretty funny “gift” from my trainer at the gym the next morning (click here)…so true, Jody, so true 🙂 Here are some more favourites from the week:

1. My place setting at the Vitala long table dinner…simply divine!

My Instagram feed

2. My toes have been sadly neglected I could definitely handle some R&R this weekend. Pretty sure a pedicure’s not in the cards but I’d be sure to make one happen more often if there was a nail salon as pretty as this one in my neighbourhood:

Olive & June via Oh, Joy!

3. Far down on our to-do list are reclaimed barn wood shelves for our living room (Brad built some gorgeous ones for us at Spruce Collective) and I really love how this vintage collection is styled. The rest of the house is pretty spectacular too:

Eye Swoon

4. Mm, cocktails. Because it is Friday, after all!

Greyhound Cocktail via Ruffled

5. Agreed. Through the hills + valleys and everything in between, yep, life is pretty cool:

Scout Mob

We don’t have any big plans this weekend but I’m going to get started on painting Gabe’s room and will see how far I get. Home renos are somewhat like a game of Dominos, aren’t they? One move depends on the next as we shuffle bedrooms around and get everyone settled in. Fingers crossed we make some headway! Happy weekend 🙂

Thanks so much for all of your well wishes on Monday! We’re all on the mend and thankfully the sniffles seem to be on their way out the door. As promised, I’ve got some inspiration to share for Gabe’s new room but let me start by saying that finding good inspiration was far from easy! Gabe’s only 10 but he’s a pretty stylish dude and has always had a clear idea of what he likes when it comes to clothes, music and now his room. Thankfully, we’re on the same page for this project but it ‘s been slim pickings trolling Pinterest for rooms that I could picture him chilling in. Shopping for bedding hasn’t been any easier but he did spy this bespectacled sheet set which we both thought was pretty fun and they were on sale too, bonus! Trying to avoid anything too theme-y but here’s a little glimpse of the look we’re going for…a little bit nautical/skater-dude/vintage/quirky all rolled into one:

From my Instagram feed

I’ve been collecting art + furniture pieces from the shop (like this ship print and an amazing vintage hospital side table) along the way and will be borrowing a few (like my late great granny’s metal bed from my parents and a large persian rug from my sister) and am pretty excited to start painting this weekend. As per Gabe’s request, it will be mostly black + white with some bright pops of colour. Here are some other boyish spaces that caught our eye…

House & Home

Ollie & Seb’s Haus

House & Home

Emily Henderson

Living Etc.

Pretty cool, hey? Can’t wait to start pulling it all together so that I can show you all some After’s! Hope you’re having a great week so far 🙂

So, my weekend didn’t exactly include the beach + cocktails but it did involve many cups of tea curled up on the couch…not nearly as fun! I think I’m on the mend but now it’s Gabe’s turn. Ah, germs…the ugly downside of back-to-school! Now, I know it’s technically still summer until next weekend but can we all agree that it’s feeling very much like fall? Although I tried hard to enjoy every last moment of sunshine and warmth, I must admit that last week’s heatwave was pushing it. I’ve got new blazers and sweaters just waiting to be worn and, strange though it may sound, I really do love the rain! And there’s nothing more calming than the beautiful shades of caramel, toffee and timber that start fading into the landscape here as we shift into Autumn…

D’art Photographie

Rue via Design Conundrum

The Design Files. Photo by Sean Fennessy.

Bodie & Fou

Lonny

Living Illusion

What do you think, are you finally ready for Fall? Between our own renos, the shop and our upcoming Market, the next couple of months are going to be smokin’ busy and it’s always much easier to hunker down and get work done when the weather’s dreary. I’ll be back on Wednesday with some inspiration that I’ve been working on for Gabe’s new bedroom but until then, cheers to a cozy week ahead!

How did the past week treat you? Mine started out a bit frenzied with all of the school back-and-forth but eased up a little by the end, just in time for me to come down with a head cold. Go figure. I’m hoping it will disappear in time for the weekend because summer has returned in full force and we’re hoping to hit the beach at some point…fingers crossed! Before I pour myself another cup of tea, I thought I’d share some link love from the week:

1. This family home was once a greenhouse! Check out the conversion, it’s pretty fantastic, as is the rug in the front entry:

Apartment Therapy

2. Came across this amazing kitchen reno on Pinterest and, lo and behold, it’s the home of another Abbotsford blogger, Elissa Toews…small world! Her husband built and installed the entire kitchen from scratch too, be sure to check it out:

Our House

3. I’ve been eating really well and working out all week (I think my muscles are in shock, so sore!) so I think I might just have to reward myself with a cocktail like this (or maybe two) over the weekend:

The Comfort of Cooking

4. Brad’s been making some major headway down in our basement and will be framing in our new TV room on Saturday. I cannot wait to finally conquer some major storage issues and overflowing closets on our main floor…does anyone else get excited by thought of shelves that look like this?

Real Simple

5. I know that I featured a pic earlier this week but I cannot get enough of the new studio over at Oh Joy, designed by Emily Henderson. Colour, art, layers and pattern galore, not to mention some fabulous DIY touches:

Oh Joy‘s new studio designed by Emily Henderson

What are your plans for the weekend? Hopefully you’ll be soaking up some sunshine at some point. I have a feeling I may end up sipping lemon + honey rather than cocktails, fingers crossed I can shake this thing in time for happy hour. Cheers to Friday!

As promised, I thought I’d share some before pics of our upcoming basement renos and one of the rooms that I’m most excited to tackle is the art/playroom. Living in less than 1200 square feet with 2 very creative and artistic little girls has been, well, a challenge. Our dining room table is currently the creative centre (the eye of the storm, so to speak) and while I absolutely love watching my kiddos create masterpieces and use their imaginations, it’s become quite the struggle getting them to clean up after themselves. And it’s often felt pretty unfair (some projects just take more time!) but mealtimes sitting around the table together are pretty important too. So, the thought of a separate space that they can spread out in and we don’t have to trip over crayons/glitter/glue/pom-poms/popsicle sticks/etc/etc sounds like absolute heaven. We’ll be delegating our basement suite’s living room as the art studio because it’s a decent size and is the brightest room downstairs. Here’s a quick shot of what the room looks like now…

Not much to look at but we’ll be brightening things up soon with a fresh coat of white paint and it will stay nice and cozy with the gas fireplace in the winter. It’s not a huge room by any means but it won’t take much to bring it to life. Here are a few creative children’s rooms on my inspiration radar…

Micasa via Handmade Charlotte

Mandy Lynne

Little Bird’s Boutique

The Design Files

Livet Hemma

I’ll be sourcing out plenty of storage solutions for all of the little bits and bobs but since the space is in the furthest end of our basement, I’m going to try to be somewhat relaxed when it comes to keeping things spick-and-span. I’m all for a little organized chaos now and then, especially when I’m not tripping over it 🙂 Hope your week’s going well so far!