Sunday, December 11, 2011

Time to catch up

I can't believe there is only two weeks until Christmas. I feel like I missed the fall season somehow...it probably had something to do with the fact I was away in France for most of October so missed Thanksgiving and Halloween...our typical holiday time markers. When I got back, Calgary was fully into the winter and all things Christmas.

Nevertheless, it has been a fairly productive month since returning from the trip. I was able to cross a few things off my house to-do list and other items that crop up.

For starters, I finally chose a paint color for my bathroom. It has been a poo-brown for the last year (color chosen by past owners). I thought I could live with it but no, I am just not that kind of girl. So after 3 weeks of color swatches painted on the wall, I rolled the dice and chose Coventry Grey from Benjamin Moore. Lovely choice (bottom right hand corner of the swatch colors).




Painting a small space with 9 ft ceilings, a claw foot tub and full circle shower curtain rod created some challenges such as where to put the ladder to reach the ceiling.  Tada!



The bathroom mirror also didn't seem to fit but rather than buy a new mirror, I thought I would paint it. I found some "hammered silver" spray paint downstairs (again from the past owners) and did a little DIY on the mirror.



Now for the final reveal...





Doesn't the picture below look so wintery and lovely? It's my backyard after a recent snowfall.


It just gets you in the Christmas spirit...and that does require some decorating. But because I will be "home" for Christmas, decorating is minimal.


I didn't want to get a real tree because I will be away. So I reached deep into the "Martha Stewart" within to find a suitable alternative. I remembered that some cut branches from the apple tree and bushes were just "hanging out" in my garage. So I spray painted them white and decorated away. In my mind's eye, it was going to look more polished but I like the homemade look that resulted.




The season also requires some baking so I whipped up some goodies...love these cookies. See the recipe here.





I finally feel quite settled into my little house now. It has been just over a year and no complaints...best purchase ever. And it still feels magical. I will try to be more consistent on the magic house blog and I already have the next post planned...stay tuned for the travel art/collection pictures reveal.