Movin' to the Country

September 23, 2013

Movin' to the Country

In my case: apples, from the apple trees in our yard that reportedly lure the bears on to the little lane between our house and garage.

Things are looking sufficiently messy at the lakehouse, but with my parents' help I'm making progress. All of us are afraid of heights, but my Mandelbaum Mom braved her way up the ladder to the scaffolding, to prime and paint that beam and those top windows (will she comes back to clean them every spring too?).

In progress . . .

The lakehouse is still a jumble of half-finished projects and drop cloths, but I thought first I should really tell you a little bit more about where the lakehouse is anyway. We'll soon be relocating 1500km from Ottawa to our rural property on Lake Superior, about 60km from Thunder Bay, my hometown. I don't think I shared the little tidbit that our lovely lakehouse is in the sticks. For those who aren't familiar with it, Thunder Bay is a small city of only 109,000 people. It's surrounded by a lot of beautiful scenery and populated by a lot of Finns! It's also a hop, skip and a jump from the USA border.

The hour long drive from town (including 10km on a dirt road) is new to me, as is the total quiet, and dark, at night. I'm a city girl who is kind of really afraid of the woods at night so the abundance of forest around us is unnerving. Country living in it's entirety is a huge adjustment for me, but I've already found new hobbies, like my daily "chase the geese away" run, done while making squawking sounds (the buggers don't jet if I just yell at them, they want the squawk). I need new hobbies like this, though, as spray painting season has been cut short for me (it's been dipping down close to freezing temperatures at night, and quite chilly during the daytime). Living in this part of Ontario, I'll have to get used to the colder temperatures, plus the copious amounts of snow.

Hubs grew up in a small town outside Thunder Bay on 80 acres, so he's used to living in the country and relishes the things that creep me out (the dark, the woods, the total quiet). As the only authorized "country folk" in the house he's also been setting rules, like "don't feed the wild animals," but are they that wild when they saunter straight into your house if the door is left open? And what about if they eat muffin pieces right out of your hand while you're outside taking a well deserved break?

And does it count if they are this cute? I think I might get used to the country pretty quickly with Foxy Fox, Shifty McGee and Fatso (my three neighborhood foxes) around.

First Lakehouse Project!

Things are progressing at the lakehouse, but I'm kind of a crazy person and that impedes things. It seems to me a lot of people move into a house, then tackle projects room by room. I opt for a marathon makeover session before moving in. With the townhouse, the weeks before moving in saw carpets and bathrooms ripped out, new flooring installed, more than 12 gallons of paint applied to walls, and bathrooms re-installed. Frankly, it still looked awful when we moved in, but it felt so good to get such a big chunk of work done before we lugged in all of our stuff.

This time around, we don't have the funds for big makeovers right away. We're relying on paint to make a major impact, and give us a blank canvas for fun projects. But gosh, do we ever have a lot of painting to do!

I've partnered with Canadian Tire to paint out the skinny oak trim, dusty rose, pale green and taupe walls, and . . . shudder . . . the greyed popcorn ceilings. Plus we've partnered to see my turquoise kitchen plans come to fruition! The place is a mess right now, but after the first stripe of white went on the walls it immediately felt like our home (and not like someone else's home). I actually brought in the same paint chip we used for the townhouse (Behr Snowfall) and had it custom matched at Canadian Tire. I like bringing a piece of the townhouse to the lake.

It's plain, but it's an enticing blank canvas. I have some really bold projects in store so this fresh white backdrop is exactly what I need. Plus, the dated trim disappears when painted white - wait until you see the living room windows!! More details on de-oaking next week, plus hopefully we'll have all of the boob lights replaced too.

Pillow Talk

For over a month, Hubby and I tested out some new pillows. You know I'm a little throw pillow-nutty and have, since we bought the townhouse, bought three decorative down pillows and shams for our bed, had my Mom sew no fewer than six silk pillows covers and six cotton pillow covers for the bedrooms, living room and even the basement, plus I painstakingly embroidered my own pillow and even brought felted wool ones back from Hungary! Despite the pillow frenzy, the pillows we have relied on for a good night's rest were cheap, bargain bin synthetic pillows that had been getting flatter and flatter and flatter for years. I'd finally decided to buy new ones (yay, more pillows!), but couldn't decide between down and synthetic. Down is comfy, until it gets squashed flat from the weight of my (presumably giant) noggin, but synthetic can feel stiff. When Down Linens asked if I'd be interested in reviewing two Plush Perfect Gel Fiber Pillows - with the softness of down, but with more firmness - I was thrilled.

Tanya's Take
When they first arrived, whoa did they feel HUGE and pouffy compared to our pancake pillows. At first I spent a few evenings trying to punch my new gel fiber pillow into submission, overwhelmed by its girth. But it wouldn't quit, and I quickly grew to love it. It has the softness of down but more firmness and substance, exactly as promised, which really is a dreamy combination. It doesn't shift or bunch either, and is hypo-allergenic and easy to wash. Although it's designed for tummy sleepers, I sleep on my back, side and stomach at various times throughout the night and it always offers great support. My old pillow now feels like a lumpy sweater shoved into a cloth sack by comparison and, minus a few sleepless nights due to external factors, I've been sleeping much more soundly thanks to Down Linens.

Hubby's Take
I quizzed Hubby the other day about his opinion, and he had this to say: the pillows are "consistent" (no soft, squooshy areas near the edges), "thicker than our old pillows," "fairly firm," "kinda thick" (when prompted to not compare the thickness to our old pillows, as that's of no use to readers), and "they don't flatten during night". Does Hubby pine for our old pillows? Nope. Would Hubby have forked over $49.99 for a pair, if they had not been provided for review? Yup. Let's ponder that a moment, because that's a huge compliment, coming from a miserly pillow-hater like Hubby. I was actually a little floored - he answered so quickly and definitively. He really loves his new pillow!

We were provided a pair of Plush Perfect Gel Fiber pillows for review, but these reviews are our own and we were not prompted or paid to describe them favorably. Hubby, in particular, was in no way obligated to say anything nice, but he was so keen to partake in reviewing these pillows that he even agreed to model their squishiness above. And yes, Hubby has a bit of a mohawk.

Planning to Paint a Brick Fireplace - Inspiration

No matter how much I pushed and prodded, and produced photo after photo of lovely painted brick fireplaces, Hubby never budged on the don't-paint-the-brick policy in the townhouse. Given that there were so few things he was adamant about, decor-wise, I knew I would be entering serious bad-wife territory if I just primed and painted it when he wasn't looking (not that I didn't ponder it a time or two, paint brush in hand).

When we bought the lakehouse, I was over the moon with the composite, concrete fireplace because it wasn't sacred, can't-paint-it brick. Score! Pass me a paint brush and let me have at it.

I immediately pictured charcoal grey paint covering the whole thing - knotty pine included - paired with freshly painted black fireplace doors and grates (goodbye gold). Imagine my chagrin when Hubby vetoed painting this fireplace too!! Womp womp. His reasoning: it matches the outside of the house. My reasoning: that composite (and the siding) needs a dose of dark grey too!!

Now, I understand not painting stuff. If the fireplace was chic and awesome, I'd leave it alone:

Source

But ours is nothing special: it's builder's basic and isn't even real stone.

Someday I'd love to re-do the whole thing with something more modern and streamlined. Drool:

Source

Smooth or stone or brick, I'm just really loving grey right now for a fireplace, and ours has such potential to look this gorgeous:

Emily Henderson

House and Home

The Brick House

Kirsten Sessions Photography

The Best{H}Life

Like a bad kid, I already swiped on a stripe of primer (only on the pine!!), but I'll admit that I stood there, brush in hand, staring at the stone for a bit too long.

We have to convince Hubby to come to the dark (grey) side. Help?

August is Done. I DID it!!

August was certainly stressful for me, and for some reason I decided an excellent way to "unwind" after a super stressful day of frantic writing was to start watching the Walking Dead! Three sleepless nights later, I submitted my PhD dissertation before the deadline!!!!! And we accepted a conditional offer on the townhouse, one day before my deadline. The day after the deadline, we held a yard sale to de-clutter a little, then I made the 1500km journey to the lakehouse to start painting (sans Hubby, who has to work).

Here are the many copies of my dissertation that I had to photocopy, and submit in person. Did I mention my department is on the 11th floor? Feels crazy to see it all ready like this . . .

Because I was so focused on my research last month, this is all that happened around here:

I linked to a few fun features, including a mention in Canadian Home Trends magazine, a feature on Love on Sunday and, what I forgot to share, another feature on Apartment Therapy!

I did manage to sneak in a little DIY (we have to keep that a secret between you and me). Hubby and I refinished the arms and legs on our vintage curbside find (which is currently at Kessels Upholstery, getting a new look).

I reviewed two Villeroy and Boch serving pieces (and shared my delicious turkey meatloaf recipe).

Eager to start work, I shared photos of the new kitchen, in addition to my plans for a quick and affordable makeover (along with photos of every turquoise kitchen out there, for a little inspiration).

I also started to figure out floor plans, so I can decide what furniture to keep and what furniture to sell from the townhouse. I've already sold a lot, including the living room side tables, the living room orange tweed chair, the kitchen table, the dining room hutch, my swirly teak table, Hubby's desk . . . We are really starting fresh, mostly because the new space requires a new configuration. It was sad to see so many pieces I lovingly picked out or hunted down go (some still need to be picked up by their new owners), but it was also nice to see my vintage finds find new homes!

To make up for the lack of great "Before and Afters" around here in August, I shared some amazing makeovers from a new favorite read.

Next up for me: months of waiting to hear news about my dissertation. My committee needs to review it and will give me a grade of 1 (some revisions), 2 (more revisions), 3 (it needs substantial work, so re-register, pay tuition and try again), 4 (GTFO). If it's a 1 or 2, I get to defend my dissertation, where I can receive the same grade system. I will likely defend November, December, maybe even January. Luckily I have a house in need of updating to keep me from worrying!! I've already primed some of the teensy oak trim and will have updates Monday. Feels good to have tools and paintbrushes in hand again!

Tasty Turquoise Kitchens

I cannot tell you how much I am itching to start work on the lakehouse, but the townhouse sale has hit a few snags and my work takes precedence. I am planning to make the 1500km trek there (sans Hubby, unfortunately), at the beginning of September but, as they say, life happens when you're making other plans. I can't seem to be able to plan anything these days, because so much is up in the air. I am the gal who plans "free time" when we vacation, so all of this up in the air business is really driving up my stress-cookie consumption. But I'm learning to go with it. Deep breaths.

Almost every night I dream about painting the kitchen cupboards at the lakehouse. If you've been reading for awhile, you know I've never really loved our kitchen in the townhouse. I always wanted to paint the cupboards, but keeping the wood was one of the few things Hubby felt strongly about. With the lakehouse kitchen though, he isn't so keen: the oak, combined with cathedral cabinet fronts, is just too woody. As you know, eventually we plan to completely renovate the space. But first I'd like to live in the space, figure out how we use it and, the biggest deciding factor, save some moolah. I also need to figure out what we'll love for the long term because I keep changing my mind! Right now, this is my dream kitchen. Note the dreamy turquoise fridge, which is a must.

Pinecone Camp (for House & Home magazine)

This is our kitchen:

When I first saw it, I envisioned a makeover kind of like this: paint the lower cabinets turquoise and take off the upper doors fronts.

Life in Grace

Sadly, the insides of our cupboards are not show-worthy and are really awkward (see the three teeny weeny ones shoved in the corner?). Plus the cupboard above the range hood drives Hubby nuts. And when things drive him insane, he drives me insane, obsessing. We're just going to take all of the upper cabinetry right off and install some open shelving instead, which is something I never thought I'd love. But painting the lower cabinets turquoise is still the plan - and this is a plan that I plan commit to. While I patiently wait for September, I rounded up some tasty turquoise kitchens, ranging from grey with the tiniest hint of blue, to pale mint to robin's egg to teal, to keep me inspired (and sated) . . .

De Opkamer

House of Turquoise

Trend Kitchen Cabinets

via Shelterness

Home Life

Better Homes and Gardens

Stranger than Vintage

Homedit

Style in no Time

Fort Bend Lifestyles and Homes

Better Homes and Gardens

Style by Emily Henderson

Dust Jacket; The Decorista; No Pattern Required

Oh yeah, this just made me more antsy to break out the primer and paint! Do you have painted kitchen cupboards or open shelving? Do you love them? Hate them? Both are new terrain for me.

Here and There

I'm still burning the candle at both ends of the day to wrap up my work in time, but I wanted to drop in and let you know about two lovely features. Along with some of my favorite bloggers, I was included in the Summer issue of Canadian Home Trends magazine as one of five "Reno blogs we love"!

Click here to read the free summer preview! And check out the other blogs featured: Rambling Renovators, The Sweetest Digs, House Pretty and AKA Design.

In other flattering news, Amy, from Love on Sunday, featured my feminist mirror makeover for her fabulous Thrifted Thursday feature. I love getting a sneak peek into what other people find thrifting and yard saling, and what they do with their loot.

Back to work!

Research Update: $3000+ Worth of Poor Results

A lot of folks ask about my PhD research, which I know I am oddly silent about. It's just that this is my happy place, where I like to talk about mint green spray paint and DIY abstracts. I once did a feminist DIY project - blurring the lines between my blog-life and real-life, but I've blogged little about my topic and research in Hungary.

I've mentioned that I have had the lovely, lovely, privilege of not acquiring student debt, because I've ridden the scholarship wave. Currently I have funding to do my PhD, but that runs out August 30th. This year. Things were going swimmingly until my supervisor read my last chapters and said, "I honestly don't think you can finish for August 30th". Some parts, apparently, are boring and just not good. Ouch! I told my supervisor, "I can DO this, I swear. I'll make it much better, you'll see". It's shaping up, but now my confidence is shaken and I overthink every sentence. I worked really hard on what I submitted. I still have about 15 or so pages to write, but I aim to get everything in to my supervisor this week, who will make the call whether I can officially submit or not. I might not know until right before the deadline whether I made the cut. If not, I'll have to pay tuition. I'll be rooting around in the sofa, hoping there's thousands of dollars of change hiding in between the cushions because you know where there isn't? My bank account.

Nothing I can do now, but . . .

At first, I was seriously crushed. A bad review and I might be charged for being such a terrible academic. Super. But then I figured, most people pay tuition. How freaking lucky am I that I dodged that bullet for so long? I was even funded to go to Hungary for research and language classes. Two different trips! I learned to read Hungarian while doing this dissertation, so talk about personal growth! If I have to pay a few thousand bucks because I couldn't get my ducks in a row in time, so be it. Hubby agreed. Further, I'm pretty sure getting a PhD is supposed to be soul-crushing. And, at the end of the day, Hubs and I are both healthy and happy, so other stuff is just icing.

Even with all of these rational thoughts, I now have this nagging little voice that greets me each morning with, "you suck". I'm hoping that passes :)

Inspired by this, but I used a photo from Hungary. Seems fitting.

I'm in need of some "Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract" (WINE).

Dans le Lakehouse

September 23, 2013