Warding off the Autumnal Chill

As the days grow shorter & cooler my thoughts turn to keeping cozy. How about curling up in front of one of these fireplaces with someone you love & a cup of steaming tea or a big glass o' vino. That ought to keep you warm.

This one is perfectly shabby & I love the assortment of odds & sods on the mantel. I would imagine that leaving a pile of half-read newspapers on the floor by your chair wouldn't be taboo in this home.

{ Photo Credit: Simon Brown Photography; featured in Desire to Inspire blog }

Or how about this fireplace in what looks like a bedroom in some country estate or farmhouse. You might never get me out of here!!!

{ Photo: Country Living Magazine }

What about this fireplace? Super contemporary but still manages to feel warm with the rough exposed brick wall & hearty wood floors.

{ Fireplace from Australian company Eco Green Fire }

Then there's this simple wood-burner featured in now defunct Domino Magazine. I love the juxtaposition of clean white of the shelving, table & Bertoia chair with the worn concrete (or is it stone?) on the mantel & the dark, almost black, wood floors. I'd be happy to spend my days in here making food.

{ Photo Credit: Domino Magazine }

And last, but certainly not least, is a fireplace featured in an ad from Ralph Lauren. Lots of candles? Check. Warm patina on fireplace, walls & furniture? Double check. I have a soft spot for wool sisal carpets so there, again, check. Plus, you'd feel confident that it would take a long time to run out of wood with that stockpile: CHECK!

{ Photo Credit: Ralph Lauren }

Where would you choose to spend a cozy hour or two?

Key Note Take 2

My post on keys in June MUST be added to. Check out this latest picture from design*sponge (click here). Helllooooh? SWOON!

{ keys as art }

Keys as art???!! Can it get any better?? Methinks not.

I do....

My brother-in-law, Fraser & the lovely Lissa were married last weekend:

{ Fraser & Lissa in wedded bliss }

It was a wonderful, heartfelt, fun, emotional celebration of the coming together of two people I love. And it's obvious that THEY love each other VERY VERY much.

{ Smith siblings ~Kyle, Craig, Karen & Fraser ~ + Lissa }

And it got me thinking that planning a wedding is not dissimilar to the design process. With the end in mind, you move forward, daily, weekly, monthly...making some little, some big decisions (like what flowers to use & what tile you should install & whether the dress you've picked out is worth the extra $ & whether you should go with Benjamin Moore or Farrow & Ball paint & what verses you'll read at the ceremony & whether you should splurge on the crystal chandelier...). And in the end, if you've done it right (which Fraser & Lissa definitely did!) the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Congratulations Fraser & Lissa! Well done. Well done!

Summer Places

Family cabins & cottages where summer months are enjoyed are such a blessing. Our friends, Jake & Becky, have a wonderful place right on the water. They kindly invited us up a few weekends ago & we had such fun. Cliff jumping, searching for sea glass, lots of eating yummy food & drinking yummy wine (adults), movie under the stars (kids)... it was heaven. We had such a good time we stayed for an additional night - thanks J&B!

While I was there I shot a few photos of the little vignettes & signs that Becky has decorated the pace with. She has the knack for setting up a summer cabin just right:

{ lots of bottles of the good stuff have been enjoyed here }

{ watch out, Becky! you may have a few applicants!! }

{ is there a problem with nudies at Pasley, Becky?? }

{ lovely found objects }

{ a wall full of summer memories }

{ what a spot to land!! }

Now I'm inspired to tweak the decor of our summer place a bit next year.

Elle Decor

Elle Decor is one of my favourite shelter magazines. It is unique, creative, and sometimes a little out of my league $$-wise but a girl can dream, can't she??

This month's edition is no exception:

{ Fall Flair is right!! }

Highly recommend!!!

Knobs & Pulls & Hinges, Oh My!

I've always had a little thing for cabinet hardware. (Cabinet hardware & plumbing fixtures, but I don't let cabinet hardware know about my crush on plumbing fixtures & vice versa, natch!) I'm not sure if it's the magpie in me that is drawn to the shiny stuff or if it's the way they are displayed, so many yummy options to choose from.

{ Jeffrey Alexander's display does it for me }

So, when I was presented with a cabinet hardware dilemma I was thrilled! Here is the question: "I'm trying to decide on kitchen cabinet hardware. I was leaning towards some simple oval knobs...I was wondering about the possibility of putting cup pulls or handles on the lower drawers and then knobs on all the doors. They would all be from the same suite, with the same material, but do you think it would look mismatched?"

Short answer:

"No"

Medium answer:

"No. I don't like everything matchy-match. You want to have the finish the same but as long as you keep with a similar style I will look great."

Long answer:

"I love the look of cup pulls & knobs mixed. I did it at our East 13th house:

{ Kitchen, East 13th Avenue }

And I loved them so much I did something similar in our current home ("if it ain't broke don't fix it" and all that). Here are photos below, apologies for the poor quality:

{ note our Siamese cat, Sinatra, inspecting the scene }

Here are my picks for oval knobs & cup pulls, with options for a few different budgets & in different finishes, but all more traditional/transitional in style as requested.

~ CUP PULLS ~

{ Lee Valley's cup pulls }

Lee Valley's products are well priced & good quality. These ones pictured above only come in chrome but there is another line that is satin chrome which may suit:

{ Lee Valley's Kitchen/Office Suite }

Apparently the B, C, & D frame pulls are discontinued (C & D are sold out, limited quantity of B available). I do like the look of E.

Restoration Hardware always has nice stuff. They'd better. It's in their name & all. I like this pull:

{ Gilmore Pull }

and this one (with a little cleaner lines)...

{ Duluth Pull }

Or perhaps something like this from Home Depot:

{ Amerock Pull }

And finally some cup pulls by Richelieu. Here is one option:

{ top left range of cup pulls }

~ KNOBS ~

Oval knobs are harder to find than round ones but here are options from Richelieu:

Of course Restoration Hardware has a few options:

{ Aubrey Knob }

{ Ephram Knob }

Lee Valley has some stainless oval knobs:

{ Round & Oval Knobs }

Putting in new hardware can be an inexpensive way to spruce up your existing cabinetry. It's kind of like eyebrows on a face - done right the eyebrows look great & you almost can't tell what it is that's so appealing about the person. Done wrong... WATCH OUT!!!!

Back to Blogland

Back to "Real Life"!!! I have been summering & not working all that much. We spent almost three blissful weeks at the Baker-Smith family cabin & it was amazing. Here's proof:

{ our family at the beach }

{ P on the tire swing at Gramma Barbie's Beach - aka West Shore }

{ S & P building a dam as the tide encroaches }

{ Pimms' Ladies Reunite }

{ Two Handsome Beach Boys }

{ Homeward Bound... }

We've actually been home for over a week but this is the first time I've been able to get to Blogland since then. I hit the ground running work-wise with a few new projects I'm super psyched about. I also have a few design dilemmas that I want to blog about so you'll hear more from me, soon... for better or worse!