In my space

As requested, today I'm sharing some pics of my space...here is my living / dining area.   Pink and red, vintage items and coziness. 

Kitchen / dining area below.

Below - master bedroom.  There are many vintage finds from Finders Keepers in here (chair, shelf, mirror, lamps) and the CT chandelier that I love!

More pictures over on my flickr page.

Elegant Loft

Wow, brick, beams, cozy, pink / red touches, Eames chairs, chandelier - this is a place that I may dream about tonight, I think I even may have dreamed it before I saw it!  An entire loft tour is available over on Apartment Therapy.

Courtesy of Apartment Therapy

Ottawa kijiji finds

My favourite pieces have been discovered outside a usual store or in unexpected places like the abandoned chandelier mysteriously on sale at Canadian Tire.  To find pieces you love, always be on the lookout even if it means subjecting your family to a road trip complete with antique shop stops and a coat rack stuck between the seats.  Check out these Ottawa kijiji finds I browsed upon - more pictures available by clicking on the links below.  At the very least, the pictures are inspiration.  Here is a past post on Ottawa kijiji finds.

Yellow French Provincial Antique Dresser

Antique Harvest Table

Mid-century teak end / coffee table with cane / bamboo shelf

Very Large Ornate Gold Mirror

Mirror, Mirror on the wall

Some beautiful images of a key design piece - mirrors.  Since they are an essential piece in every home, they may as well be beautiful.  My favourites right now are antiques and gold mirrors. Enjoy...dear readers!

As seen on Decor8

Living Etc Living Room gallery

I've never seen anything like this - beautiful Petits Oiseaux birdcage mirror available at Bouf

Beautiful butler mirror with bird {Seen on Nibs Blog}

Seen on Eclectic Home

This one's for the raven...

I love horse art but lately raven art has caught my eye...I've also learned that raven is a name given to larger sized crows and there really is no difference between the two.  Raven just sounds better to me so I'll go with that.  I checked out this fascinating Nature of Things documentary called 'A Murder of Crows' which was highly recommended to me - available free online here.  A crow never forgets a face.

"The Great Escape" available in thelittlefox's Etsy' Shop

Love the negative white space behind the dark ravens in these two prints:

Raven Art via My Little Apartment

Elle Decor via From the Right Bank

A print aptly titled "Caged" - found on Etsy in Citrus Tree's shop

Such a cool room, I want to stay there...."The Crow Room" at the Rokeby House - seen on Nick Haus

And check this super doormat called "The Crow" at Uncommon Goods

Canlit - NL style

As an add-on to my post about a recent trip to Newfoundland with a literary inspired tour of Cape Random, I thought I'd share some book recommendations.  Some of my favourite books are by Newfoundland authors or are set in Newfoundland.  Whether the stories are from long ago or more recent, they're always inspiring and interesting because after all, it is an inspiring and interesting place.

Newfoundland continues to produce great authors and inspire authors "from away" to write amazing stories as well; here are some of my favourite books set in that beautiful place:

From top to bottom of my pile of books:


1.  The Custodian of Paradise by Wayne Johnston.  Somewhat of a sequel / follow-up to The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, this book focuses on the unforgettable character of Sheilagh Fielding who also appeared in Colony so you may want to read that one first.


2.  Kit's Law by Donna Morrissey - A story about the trials and tribulations of a set of characters in rural Newfoundland, this was Donna Morrissey's first novel and it is a wonderful story.


3.  Waiting for Time by Bernice Morgan - A sequel to Random Passage, this book goes back and forth between present day and a continuation of the Random Passage story, following the characters along for many more years.


4.  Random Passage by Bernice Morgan - This novel chronicles the lives of a family and the people they meet as circumstances brought them to the fictional Cape Random, Newfoundland from England in the early 1800's.  The characters are amazing and memorable.


5.  The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston - When I read this book, I loved it so much that I was inspired to read anything else that Wayne Johnston had written, I have it bad for his writing and frequently stalk his website to see if he's working on a new book.  Please write another novel Wayne, I'm begging you.  Alas, this is one of my all time favourite books and as a good historical fiction novel always does, it melds historical events and people (namely Joey Smallwood, first premier of Newfoundland) with fictional characters and events so well that it makes the history lesson enjoyable and not a lesson at all.


6.  The Wreckage by Michael Crummey.  Beautiful novel, war time, Newfoundland love story.  I see that Michael Crummey has just released a new novel - can't wait to read it!

Painted wooden cabinets

My dream hutch / cabinet has yet to be found but I know it's out there somewhere.  Can't be too new or too shabby,  must have drawers and glass doors, preferably white, turquoise or red -  these are my criteria so far although beauty could sway me to compromise.  In the meantime, I can be inspired by these.

And lots of lovely cake stands too, from Chocolate Kate's flickr photostream

Chocolate Kate's flickr photostream

From Greige

Wow, this place is awesome, seen on Design Sponge

Country Living

Random Passage

In late June, I visited my sister who lives in St. John's, Newfoundland.  This was my fourth trip to the lovely Newfoundland and I can't wait to go back in October and hopefully next April.  Each time I visit, there's something different to see and this time was no exception. 

We visited Trinity and the nearby Cape Random, which happens to be the location of the set where Random Passage was filmed - a mini series based on the books Random Passage and Waiting for Time by Bernice Morgan.  I truly loved these books and the series and I highly recommend them - they chronicle the lives of a family and the people they meet as circumstances brought them to the fictional Cape Random, Newfoundland from England in the early 1800's.

Here are some of my pictures from Cape Random (these and more over on my flickr page):

I love old things, books about olden days and I secretly want to be a pioneer and make my own candles and butter.  It's no lie that my favourite field trip in school was to Orwell Corner Historic Site.  So. all that to say, here are some of my favourite old things spied in Cape Random for your enjoyment:

Candlestick

I want to think that Ned carved this duck for the school children

Later that day, we headed over to hike the Skerwink Trail in Trinity (5.5 km), it was wonderful and pictures cannot do it justice but here are some of mine and there are more over on runtymouse - my sister's lovely blog.