An alternate title to the this post could 100% of have been,
That plant is too big for that table.
But you know what?
I don't much care.
Because that vintage pot and that Cast iron plant look sexy together and we don't sit in here much at this time of year so I left it once I figured out they fit together.
It rained the other day and we were actually sitting opposite one another on the sofa and Trevor asked me if I planned to leave this behemoth of a plant on the table all year?
There was an eyeroll involved at the end of that conversation.
Of course he couldn't see the eyeroll because of the plant.....
Whenever I do these little tours of the house that don't come as often anymore, I realize I miss the old way of blogging.
The virtual conversations that went with the posting, the actual time that one took to read the words and enjoy the spaces of others.
It's a multi-fold process to why I personally don't post as often anymore, chiefly being my blog platform is not the most user friendly right now and takes a long time to load and that doesn't jive with my patience level. Time, of course with everything else and life needing so much attention and I guess if I'm being honest judgement. I love our home and it doesn't bother me if it isn't for everyone as it is our home and we love it however, it's our personal space and with the personal aspect of it comes the comfort and safety one feels when making a home.
Sharing that safe space to the world can be intimidating with the keyboard judges always lurking.
A lot of people are also new here and I forget to always explain that this isn't the store. This is my house. The blog came way before the store and was actually how it got rolling. [there, I did my due diligence this time and told you]
Lurking or not, let's have a home conversation today while we meader around my main floor.
That plant is too big for that table.
But you know what?
I don't much care.
Because that vintage pot and that Cast iron plant look sexy together and we don't sit in here much at this time of year so I left it once I figured out they fit together.
It rained the other day and we were actually sitting opposite one another on the sofa and Trevor asked me if I planned to leave this behemoth of a plant on the table all year?
There was an eyeroll involved at the end of that conversation.
Of course he couldn't see the eyeroll because of the plant.....
Whenever I do these little tours of the house that don't come as often anymore, I realize I miss the old way of blogging.
The virtual conversations that went with the posting, the actual time that one took to read the words and enjoy the spaces of others.
It's a multi-fold process to why I personally don't post as often anymore, chiefly being my blog platform is not the most user friendly right now and takes a long time to load and that doesn't jive with my patience level. Time, of course with everything else and life needing so much attention and I guess if I'm being honest judgement. I love our home and it doesn't bother me if it isn't for everyone as it is our home and we love it however, it's our personal space and with the personal aspect of it comes the comfort and safety one feels when making a home.
Sharing that safe space to the world can be intimidating with the keyboard judges always lurking.
A lot of people are also new here and I forget to always explain that this isn't the store. This is my house. The blog came way before the store and was actually how it got rolling. [there, I did my due diligence this time and told you]
Lurking or not, let's have a home conversation today while we meader around my main floor.
I got a new book in the mail the other day. It's not really new, just new to me.
New Americana by Holly Kuhn.
The spaces are incredible and right up my alley but the writing is also fantastic.
She talks about the rules a lot of people feel they must follow when designing a space and while rules are great they are generally just guidelines.
You need to really consider how you and your people will live in your space.
"A well designed space is original, honest and hardworking, designed for everyday living"
Not much of a cook and a serious outdoors person?
Maybe your mudroom and closet space need to be the focus for all your gear and less the 8 burner range that will collect dust.
Maybe you don't cook but the gathering in the kitchen will be more the focus.
Just because everyone else has an island in their kitchen doesn't mean you need one.
Maybe a giant table right in the middle of the kitchen for gathering will work better for you.
Especially if you gather often.
I'd love space for another table in the kitchen but our island is more a priority to me.
New Americana by Holly Kuhn.
The spaces are incredible and right up my alley but the writing is also fantastic.
She talks about the rules a lot of people feel they must follow when designing a space and while rules are great they are generally just guidelines.
You need to really consider how you and your people will live in your space.
"A well designed space is original, honest and hardworking, designed for everyday living"
Not much of a cook and a serious outdoors person?
Maybe your mudroom and closet space need to be the focus for all your gear and less the 8 burner range that will collect dust.
Maybe you don't cook but the gathering in the kitchen will be more the focus.
Just because everyone else has an island in their kitchen doesn't mean you need one.
Maybe a giant table right in the middle of the kitchen for gathering will work better for you.
Especially if you gather often.
I'd love space for another table in the kitchen but our island is more a priority to me.
The time and consideration to a space can work wonders.
The layout of our living room has a good flow right now and previously it had an L shaped sectional.
We loved that sectional but it was a pain when we were entertaining because it split the room in half.
We also realized though that our space was for us in everyday life and not just the occasional times we had groups over so designing the room around the occasional gathering was silly if it didn't work daily for us.
The layout of our living room has a good flow right now and previously it had an L shaped sectional.
We loved that sectional but it was a pain when we were entertaining because it split the room in half.
We also realized though that our space was for us in everyday life and not just the occasional times we had groups over so designing the room around the occasional gathering was silly if it didn't work daily for us.
Oh I feel your jealousy with these beauty chairs.
I feel it whenever I see someone's new leather club chairs or the vintage ones that seem to grow like puppies at the shows in the USA.
Don't get crazy, these guys are old, comfy as a worn blanket, need restuffing but they were a steal on Kijiji.
My hunter gatherer skills worked that day along with conning my husband into the 2.5 hour drive to get them.
I feel it whenever I see someone's new leather club chairs or the vintage ones that seem to grow like puppies at the shows in the USA.
Don't get crazy, these guys are old, comfy as a worn blanket, need restuffing but they were a steal on Kijiji.
My hunter gatherer skills worked that day along with conning my husband into the 2.5 hour drive to get them.
We will take a momentary break in the rambling of above to share the table in our entry walkway.
This walkway joins the front hall to the living room.
As I was taking the photos, I had one of those
Hey maybe i should ?..... moments.
We went from the 2 black iron lantern look to just a slight rearrange with the pickling jar going on the end.
A small snowball effect as I was trying to take some photos.
I ended up moving about 10 things around, got distracted, rearranged my laundry room.
Like a bag of monkeys all jumping around for attention.
I like both ways but the one lantern is a bit less heavy for the rest of summer.
Or until I get distracted and move it again.
This walkway joins the front hall to the living room.
As I was taking the photos, I had one of those
Hey maybe i should ?..... moments.
We went from the 2 black iron lantern look to just a slight rearrange with the pickling jar going on the end.
A small snowball effect as I was trying to take some photos.
I ended up moving about 10 things around, got distracted, rearranged my laundry room.
Like a bag of monkeys all jumping around for attention.
I like both ways but the one lantern is a bit less heavy for the rest of summer.
Or until I get distracted and move it again.
So back to the designing the home you want to have.
The whole white and no colour movement is still going strong.
I love me a good white space as much as the next person, throw in a hit of black and modern farmhouse and I'm liking that photo.
Like a kid in a candy store.
But no matter how I attempt that in my space, I always end up splashing in green and my love of antique rugs just keeps growing.
I realized over time that just because I love seeing those white and black spaces doesn't mean that's how our home should look as then it wouldn't be our home. Our travel collections and bits and pieces don't lend themselves to a minimalist look.
As we are now mostly doing all our shopping online in Canada with the lockdowns, and new rules that have made in store shopping quite different, spending more time researching and thinking about our habits and the way we live in each space will inevitably make for cozier spaces, less time trying to return stuff at the post office and having more joy while we netflix and chill.
or spotify and chill.
or read and chill.
you get the idea.
The whole white and no colour movement is still going strong.
I love me a good white space as much as the next person, throw in a hit of black and modern farmhouse and I'm liking that photo.
Like a kid in a candy store.
But no matter how I attempt that in my space, I always end up splashing in green and my love of antique rugs just keeps growing.
I realized over time that just because I love seeing those white and black spaces doesn't mean that's how our home should look as then it wouldn't be our home. Our travel collections and bits and pieces don't lend themselves to a minimalist look.
As we are now mostly doing all our shopping online in Canada with the lockdowns, and new rules that have made in store shopping quite different, spending more time researching and thinking about our habits and the way we live in each space will inevitably make for cozier spaces, less time trying to return stuff at the post office and having more joy while we netflix and chill.
or spotify and chill.
or read and chill.
you get the idea.
I had put most of my design books away a couple years ago because the colours of the books were distracting with all of the other items and trying to mimic the monochromatic spaces, I thought it good to hide them. I've gotten smartened up. I love all these books and actually look at them often just for fun or for inspiration for the store. They are plopped in little piles all over the place now at much easier access. I use them as part of my design plan instead of against it.
I randomly have these baskets all over the floor. You're wondering why they're there and is she just trying to make it look nice.
Well sure, the baskets do look nice but you know what? Sammy [our cat] demands these baskets be all over the floor. He doesn't seem to feel one bed is enough so these floor baskets actually serve the purpose of being his laying zones. They're also light enough for Emma to load with toys and carry around [or the random time she tries to pick up Sammy in the basket and drag him around]
Well sure, the baskets do look nice but you know what? Sammy [our cat] demands these baskets be all over the floor. He doesn't seem to feel one bed is enough so these floor baskets actually serve the purpose of being his laying zones. They're also light enough for Emma to load with toys and carry around [or the random time she tries to pick up Sammy in the basket and drag him around]
Our kitchen island is a prime example of living in our space.
I cook.
A Lot.
While I think this photo is quite pretty and my small kitchen makes me smile everyday when I walk in, it is loaded with the things.
I use this space to the fullest everyday.
This is not the quote "pretty" shot.
I would have to remove half our stuff to make this shot magazine worthy. To allow air to move around the things left on the open shelves.
In the point of my conversation here, I haven't done that because all the stuff on those shelves gets used. I went for open shelving because it helped me get access to all the bowls, stands, plates and cups I use to serve my family. I don't need to dust them because they get used and washed on the regular. If I wasn't much of a home cook however, I can see these shelves driving me nuts with all the stuff out that could be catching dust.
Our food processor gets thrown into action multiple times a week, the juicer daily so I don't know about you but lugging that stuff out of the cupboard every day is not my bag.
Our microwave? That is hidden in a cupboard because it gets used once a month and I likely could get rid of it all together so we made the decision to put it away instead of designing the kitchen around it. This space is small and and part of the original house so we were working with what we had.
I cook.
A Lot.
While I think this photo is quite pretty and my small kitchen makes me smile everyday when I walk in, it is loaded with the things.
I use this space to the fullest everyday.
This is not the quote "pretty" shot.
I would have to remove half our stuff to make this shot magazine worthy. To allow air to move around the things left on the open shelves.
In the point of my conversation here, I haven't done that because all the stuff on those shelves gets used. I went for open shelving because it helped me get access to all the bowls, stands, plates and cups I use to serve my family. I don't need to dust them because they get used and washed on the regular. If I wasn't much of a home cook however, I can see these shelves driving me nuts with all the stuff out that could be catching dust.
Our food processor gets thrown into action multiple times a week, the juicer daily so I don't know about you but lugging that stuff out of the cupboard every day is not my bag.
Our microwave? That is hidden in a cupboard because it gets used once a month and I likely could get rid of it all together so we made the decision to put it away instead of designing the kitchen around it. This space is small and and part of the original house so we were working with what we had.
The kitchen in our home while not a gathering space just because of size constraints, is where we spend a lot of time. Trevor leaning on the counter talking to me as I cook, Emma helping on her chair so not only are the things on the shelves utilitarian, I've included pretty things as well. A plant here, an oil painting there. It doesn't have to scream kitchen to be included.
The design choice to have a green buffet didn't seem dramatic to me at the time and it does command attention in our dining room. The story of picking that buffet up and then the disaster of painting it with real milk paint [my first time using] still makes us laugh to this day.
That story is a couple of years back on this blog.
That green buffet now covered in my shell collection for the summer season is the focus of the dining room. Our kitchen as mentioned above is small so we actually use this room daily. Each chair is big and comfy with a pillow for night time lingering.
That story is a couple of years back on this blog.
That green buffet now covered in my shell collection for the summer season is the focus of the dining room. Our kitchen as mentioned above is small so we actually use this room daily. Each chair is big and comfy with a pillow for night time lingering.
So I suppose the essence of this post that hopefully didn't come off as a what you should do but, of a do what you love post, is that you should make the home you want no matter the time of year or the possible entertaining you might do.
Love the space you create and use it.
Plan with intention and comfort. It will eventually come together.
Good things take time.
Love the space you create and use it.
Plan with intention and comfort. It will eventually come together.
Good things take time.
Use the plates you love,
Display your collections [maybe just not all at the same time]
Burn the candles you're hoarding and enjoy this life now.
Have a great day everyone,
Display your collections [maybe just not all at the same time]
Burn the candles you're hoarding and enjoy this life now.
Have a great day everyone,
Comments
Oh Meg. I was thrilled to stumble on this post. I was a regular of your’s when you did post often. Absolutely love your style. Remember my first time watching you, your mantel, if I remember, have lots of tiger pictures. Loved your decor then and love it still. I also remember your awesome downstairs. I feel blessed to have this opportunity to tour your home, and hope to see more. Thinking your girl must be at least 3 by now. Stay safe.
Still my fave blogger. Just love your inspiration Meg!
I just came upon your blog today and had such fun reading and enjoying the photos. Thank you!