80% and 20% to go!

This morning after I woke up and took a few pictures, after spending several hours with a dear friend searching for some unique add patio-licious pieces for the space I hit all the hardware stores and shopping malls hard! I was determined to move my 50% completion to almost, if not completely done! The finds? I found a banana fiber rug regular 45$ discounted that came to a tiny 30$ after tax! If that doesn’t excite you like it excites me... I also added some throw pillows and finally started to pot the morning glories that this morning were looking so sad.

So this morning, after adding a few things here and there – we also got some awesome patio furniture from a garage sale! That’s another story.  Ok, ok. So this morning (after sipping my coffee to the lovely Ella Fitzgerald) our patio looked like this:

After some plants and a bit of TLC and some throw cushions it looked like this:

Notice the difference? So what do we have left.... well if you can see on the picture I’ve marked out some wall space with chalk were some picture frames need to go, I also need to spray paint the old chair, find some lanterns and get a pendant light to hang. As well as finish staining the side wall... wash the whole balcony down and drink sufficiently. So how long can that take? Who knows! Only more bargain shops and thrift stores can answer that question.

Let’s bask in the effort of a job well done. For now.

DIY outdoor sectional!

My favorite word today is progress... why you ask? Because after starting this little adventure to making the best use of our outdoor space a few months ago and coming up with our brilliant budget I feel a strong excited feeling that you only get when you’ve accomplished something great on a thrifty awesome low price!

I started a little project (as all projects starts) to make our own outdoor furnishings because it’s a challenge to optimize every inch of a space when you have to buy pre built awkward sized furniture. So we searched and searched for some examples of modern decor furnishings for outside that were (a) easy and (b) thrifty! And we ran across this!

POW! BAM! BANG! Yes... the floral kind of overpowers even me but underneath? A Simple modern looking sectional for outside and that’s when a dream was born (I had a dream, where brown and purple came together as one to create so much floral patterns). So off we went to the hardware store purchased 80$ of wood and some screws with a tiny saw and off we went in progressive stages... lets follow shall we?

Stage One the first section:

Stage Two the first section meets the second section:

Stage Three introducing the BENCH:

That makes us one step closer to completion! Now to putty the wholes and get our staining on!

Back To Black

After a short absence and a beautiful trip through Europe we are back in action! We are ready to continue the balcony, phase II (notice how I used roman numerals to look more official?) of the massive balcony overhaul – the budget 500$! Can we complete it.... let’s hope so!

Now just before I get all Home and Gardens on you! I’ll just quickly go through some of my favorite parts of our euro extravaganza! We started in Amsterdam, a beautiful and really bustling place our favorite part of that country (not the reefer) was that they used bikes instead of cars! After a few days in Amsterdam we set our way to Paris... which after being there for the 5 days that we were I wanted more than anything to reconsider our balcony and do it French style! We spent the weeks after that travelling to Greece, London and Italy all of which took our breath away. The one place that we recommend everyone go see at least once in their life is Positano which was a revelation of dramatic cliffs and beautiful sea side restaurants!

Ok, ok back to the task at hand Mike. For those of you who know me, even while I was in Europe with my boyfriend I dreamt of amazing ideas for the balcony... and right when I got off the plane the first thing I said to Rhys was “I need to pick up spray paint tomorrow”. Why? So that I could begin the next phase of the patio which meant painting the old grey planter to a hot black!

BEFORE

AFTER

Just coming back from holidays I’m still a little not with the times (seeing as I actually don’t have any before or after pictures) which lead to another fun accident – dropping the paint thinner all over the kitchen floor... nothing like the aroma of paint thinner to really clear out the house. All in all we are on our way! Continuing on with Phase II we are starting to make the balcony sectional, BY HAND! I have a good feeling about it!

The Balcony has gone to pot! (in the garden way!)

After a few weeks of pot hunting, we have finally come up with an eclectic mix of pots that range from modern to ones with an Asian inspired pattern. When choosing pots we wanted to have a very unique and textured look. – That being said I’ve also begun to plant our garden... our Babylon. Turns out the frost date for this region is quite different from Saskatchewan.

Let’s get to the pots shall we? We approximately 35$ cost per pot! The great thing? They are all fibreglass not plastic, so the colour will stay and the best thing is that they will be more durable (for those moments where you have parties on the balcony!)  

When we put it all together (intro to ta’da here), we have a space that is finally starting to fill quite nicely. If you take a look at the whole space, there is that old chair in the corner (yes beside the slanted mirror... we keep it real here!) we will be replacing that with something beachy, to give the whole space a resort like feeling! We want to create two very separate spaces here, one cozy friend side and one single glam chair to relax and read a book or maybe have a nice mulburo cigarette?

I have been holding back on a bit here with you guys though! I do have plans (despite the fact that I like to pretend that I just decorate and it always works out) we came up with a very simple floor plan, the idea is we want to stuff the space smartly with large items. Which goes well with my going to every garden center in Edmonton “Do you have a bigger pot?”. Check them out!

Well! It’s upside down and sideways but I’m sure you get the idea! I’ll be on vacation for a few weeks so I won’t be updating it till we get ready to finish it up when I come back! Be excited! I know we are!

Welcome to our balcony!

For those of you who have been wondering what we would be doing after the bedroom recreation ( a total room transformation costing less than 100$!) We’ve decided to do a patio re vamp. Searching over the internet these past few days trying to get ideas to create both a urban and homey type of arrangement we noticed there was a shortage on inspiration. Most patio revamps catered to mostly people who either had back yards, or lived in an area that sheltered them from other elements thanks to trees. But when you live in a 14 story building, with tree less surroundings in  a downtown center well my friends... it’s time to get creative.

The space BEFORE:

One thing we don’t seem to be short on for this project is space. Believe me when I say, we have enough. The challenge, to make the space feel less “Long” and more full, there are several challenges to that we need to take into account; we cannot change the walls, put holes in the roof, hang things off the railing oh yes, and it has to be safe (that’s right we’ll have to contain the candles).

After much deliberation and decision making we’ve finally come up with a  pretty unique colour scheme for the space. We’ve been playing with a simple palate of green, purple and natural elements using natural woods. We want the space to have an exotic getaway to it, that’s both functional and easily maintained. Our inspiration?

I guess by now you’re probably getting the general idea of what inspiration we have, comfy, stylish and a very global feel to it – we call it our Babylonian feel – With a little bit of TLC we can definitely make it happen, something we have decided to do is create our own furniture, because the space is a unique shape and quite long we are going to create our own seating to maximize the area and create the most comfortable seating. I’ve begun to map the area out to get an idea what the seating will look like:

Imagine a huge flower pot with large plants on that last one. As I’m sure you’ve read, I’m off to Europe in a few weeks so the balcony is all on the drawing board right now, it’s completion may take a few weeks... but we are focused! Once we come up with a solid plan I’ll share our ideas with you – and we’ll have a phase list to complete! Here’s to summer!

365+

As I rummage through my memories of a year past, a Bosa Nova Portuguese artist melodically singing in the back round I’m reminded how grateful I am for this day. One year ago today I had left everything safe and comforting based on a yogic spiritual event with Sadie (find out about that amazing transformation here) that I knew if I would let it transform every part of who I was I would be blessed. I remember clearly the words that left her lips “let go” – transform your life, find balance.

Leaving behind everything familiar is never easy, friendships... family... love. If any testament has stood out to me since I’ve left home is that when we are willing to risk everything the most amazing things happen. I have found balance within myself, knowing that I am my own provider of eternal love, understanding and compassion has allowed me to create a strong basis for a new and healthy relationship with someone that challenges the way I see the world. After leaving everything behind I cannot believe that I had once doubted any part of who I was, of that in some fated way a healthy path to recovery after a long abusive relationship was waiting for me and all I had to do was take a leap of faith and say yes. If having faith in ourselves is the key ingredient to an amazing life, why do we allow ourselves to add any other seasoning to our recipe?

As I prepare to travel through Europe with my new guy I feel more invigorated than ever to pursue my journey in finding out what it takes to keep the balance all through our lives. The ancients believed that if we indulged ourselves with everything that tempted us until we felt satisfied we would be enlightened to the truth of life. There is no better place to start on a path of self discovery than within our temples, the body, mind and the spirit working as one to find a common wave of peace. It is then, and we are truly ready all good things come to us.

A Little Look!

It's been a busy few months here in Edmonton. Work has kept me as busy as work can keep you, between that and trying to fit in decorating... well lets just say the only me time I have the last few days is sleeping! The new addition to the family? The record player.

Even I have fallen for the new trend. A romantic, simple idea that almost reminds me of sitting back in a 50's basement listening to the old classics. Now This isn't exactly where I want it, I would like to hide it (secret storage?) or perhaps have it in the closet. Somehow it just doesn't really fit with the sleakness of the bedroom:

Now that I've completed that I can tell you some exciting news! Rhys and I have planned a wonderful 21 day trip to Europe! We will be leaving on May 18th, and are very much looking forward to it! We'll be headed through Amsterdam, Paris, London, Athens and Rome! Keep an eye on the trip when that comes up! I'll be sure posting everything on here!

Back to the Bedroom! Well, here is some peaks at the room and a few changes we have made here and there!

All in all a bit of everything now! Well, alas I do have to get going! Enjoy!