Birch + Bird Vintage Home Interiors

I must admit I had a wee bit of writer’s block last night?too much on the go these days, I suppose! But busy though I may be, I love this little blog and the inspirational “me” time I get to put into it and it always feels like a bit of a treat to sit down and catch up on some favourite blogs and Pinterest.  I’m seriously obsessed by pops of blue in home decor lately (especially navy) so thought I’d share a few bright bits that caught my eye…

Emily Henderson. Photo by Melissa Oholendt.

Toast UK

The Marion House Book. Photo by Janis Nicolay.

The Design Files. Photo by Sean Fennessy.

Paidge Sofa by West Elm

A blue sofa for our living room (not super practical with a light, hairy dog but c’est la vie!) and navy lower kitchen cabinets are on the top of my indigo-inspired wish list (the top meaning I can’t stop thinking about them!). It’s funny, I always imagine myself to be a warm-colour person but when it comes down to the final decision, I tend to stick with blues and greens. How about you? Any blue in your home decor these days? Short and sweet today but I’ll be back to chat soon 🙂

Sorry I disappeared on Friday! I kind of lost track of time with all of the Halloween festivities and then suddenly the weekend came and went! It’s been just over a week since my shop hosted The Urban Market and I think I’ve finally had time to absorb just how amazing the weekend actually was! The talented Sharalee Prang was on hand to capture our big event and boy, did she capture it! It was next to impossible to narrow this post down to the following images but we’ll be posting the entire album shortly on our Facebook page.  Highstreet was such a fantastic venue and we couldn’t have been happier with our pop-up style space. We strung about 35 strands of white lights to set the mood and our vendors really pulled out all of the stops with their gorgeous displays?the eye candy was almost overwhelming! Our Friday night sneak peek party was loads of fun and we loved seeing so many smiling faces mingling and munching while getting first dibs on handmade and vintage goodies. Treasure hunting is always more fun with a drink in hand and cute DJ’s don’t hurt either 😉 We all headed back for more the next morning and hundreds of happy customers flowed through the doors right until closing time.  Come take a peek…

All photos by Sharalee Prang Photography

All photos by Sharalee Prang Photography

 All photos by Sharalee Prang Photography

All photos by Sharalee Prang Photography

Gorgeous pics, aren’t they? Sharalee really captured the feeling of the weekend, not to mention all of the beautiful displays and products. We’re gearing up for our holiday edition of The Urban Market, which will take place on 3 consecutive weekends starting at the end of this month. You can find more information over at our Spruce Collective website. Have a great Monday!

Admittedly, the only holiday that I spend any time decorating is Christmas but this year my kids have been asking for spooky Halloween decorations. I guess our mound of pumpkins just isn’t enough! But it’s hard to find Halloween decorations that don’t look cheap and dollar-store-ish (in my humble opinion!) and I hate spending money and stuff that we’ll just throw out anyway. I’m thinking DIY’s are definitely the way to go and I managed to find some great ones while cruising Pinterest last nigh, several that just happen to include cheap dollar store finds and supplies 😉

Style Within Reach

Sweet Paul

The Merry Thought

A Beautiful Mess

The Paper Mama

Vtwonen

Now, I know the last pic isn’t intended to be Halloween decor but knowing my penchant for quirky portraits, it would be fun to have a printer to enlarge a creepy print or two for the mantle. Maybe next year! Did Halloween sneak up on you too? I’ve got some final touches to pick up for the kiddos costumes before tomorrow and we’ll be carving our pumpkins later tonight. Fingers crossed that the rain holds off! Enjoy the festivities tomorrow 🙂

Tired is an understatement and I’m feeling pretty spent after our weekend at The Urban Market. But all of the hard work was well worth it and we had an awesome weekend, starting with our sneak peek party on Friday night (so fun!) and continuing with a busy market day on Saturday. Everyone had a great time and I cannot wait to share photos and more details with you later this week…I feel like I’m still absorbing the experience! While decompressing last night, I stumbled across this inspiring warehouse conversion featured in Est Magazine. It’s no secret that I love a good barn conversion and I absolutely love it when people can look outside the box and see the possibilities in otherwise overlooked buildings and materials. Rather than tearing it down and starting from scratch, these ambitious homeowners worked hard with their architect to create a warm family home while salvaging materials from the former old blind factory. There are more lovely pics over at Est but here are a few of my faves…

Photos by Tara Pearce for Est Magazine

Photos by Tara Pearce for Est Magazine

Surprisingly bright and inviting for an old warehouse, don’t you think? I’m back to work now and we’ve got plenty post-event cleanup to do before jumping into holiday decorating later this week…phew! But it’s all fun “work” (well, mostly!) so no complaints here! Enjoy your week 🙂

As promised, I’ve got some Before + After photos of Gabe’s new bedroom! If you’re out of the loop, our home has a 1 bedroom basement suite that we recently took over and it’s been pretty darned amazing to double our living space from 1200 to 2400 square feet! We thought our 10 year old son, Gabe, was ready for a bit more space to hang out with his buddies and study (or simply “chill like a villain”, as he likes to say 🙂 and it just took a little time and elbow grease to get him settled in nicely. Come take a look…

The “before” and “during” process (all photos by me)

You may remember my boy’s room inspiration post here and here’s another look at my mood “board”…

Gabe is a pretty mature 10-year old and definitely knows what he likes…and what he doesn’t (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree)!  This is a space that he’ll very likely grow into his teen years with so we kept to a mostly black + white scheme with bright pops of colour that can easily be changed with his tastes. He’s been passionate about skateboarding since he was about 2-years old (that canvas painting on the gallery wall was done by him at age 4!) and I’m sure he’ll soon be plastering the walls with posters of his favourite pros but, for now, this is what it looks like (sorry in advance for the dark photos, the day got away on me and I took these after sunset last night)…

The “after” photos (all pics by me)

This was a budget room reno all the way and I only bought paint for the walls (it’s Cloud White, not as creamy as it looks in this dim light), I already had fireplace, trim + chalkboard paint, the metal side table ($160 from Spruce…it’s originally from a Spokane, WA hospital!), sheets ($30 from Homesense), desk chair ($35, Spruce Collective)  and some art, also from Spruce Collective (Phrenology head poster, $5, and ship prints, $22 each…all others I already had). My sister and her family recently downsized so we “inherited” the vintage desk and the antique metal bed belonged to my great grandmother. Each of the kids beds have been passed down through my mom’s side of the family which is pretty cool, I think! The laminate floor was existing (not my fave but is in good condition) and I gave the ’70’s mirrored closet doors and bedroom door a quick update with chalkboard paint. Still searching for a good ceiling light and a full-sized duvet cover but making do with what we already had for now. Gotta love a cheap home reno!

And there it is! Hope you liked it and if you’re ever in the neighbourhood on a sunny day, you’ll likely find me here at my perch watching Gabe at the local skate park! We’re hosting The Urban Market this weekend so I’m beyond swamped and will be taking a blogging break for the rest of the week. Hope it’s good to you and I’ll be back to chat soon!