my cabin in the city

Before I jump into trailer renovations and a whole new line of trailer/farming inspired decor, I thought I'd share the 'after' photos of the cabin I lived in in Vancouver. I was there for ten months (pretty standard for me) before I moved to the farm I'm on now. The 'cabin' was a rustic little carriage house behind a larger rustic 'heritage' house in Mt. Pleasant, Vancouver. It was definitely yearning for some TLC and decor when I moved in and, like every other place I've ever lived, I jumped in with changes right away.

The biggest change for me was the patio. I was really excited to have that kind of space in the city, so my family and I got to cleaning it up and filling it up pretty quick (see photo above).

The interior didn't need much in the way of repairs and the landlord wouldn't let me paint, so it was really just a matter of cleaning the place well and finding corners for my furniture and art. You can see all my photos on my flickr site, but I've pulled out a few below to give you a glimpse. It was a pretty dark little place, given that most of the windows were made out of glass bricks, so that - paired with my crappy camera, didn't result in any amazing photos, but you get the idea... :)

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back after a long hiatus

I'm back - after a very long hiatus. I was close to shutting the door on this blog forever because I had left it for so long, but after starting up a new blogging venture, I've decided to revive this one as well. Stay tuned for regular posts on things I swoon over in the decorating world as well as updates on a very personal renovation project I'm working on.

In brief, I've left my place in Vancouver and moved to the country to try my hand at farming for a year! I bought myself an old motor home and am in the middle of renovating it. Can't wait for the decorating part (of course!). If you're interested in the day-to-day farming experience, you can follow my documentation of it at www.farmforayear.com, but if you're only interested in the trailer decor, I'll be posting about that here as well :)

Here's to revived blogs and a fun new project - cheers!

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Japanese Dining Room Design Inspiration

Japanese Dining Room Design Inspiration

Modern Japanese dining room design is more about architectural structure and elements than the objects in a room. Strong composition begins with floors, walls, windows, and ceilings. Japanese dining set is a great example of contemporary furniture design and although strongly influenced by Oriental themes.

Modern Dining Room Design Ideas

Beautiful Dining Room Table Design Ideas

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Cool Pink Girls Bedrooms Design Ideas

Cool Pink Girls Bedrooms Design Ideas

Pink color is timeless theme for girls bedrooms. For many people it is a symbol of tenderness and youth. This color is associated with fairy-tale princess or Barbie and almost every girl dreams about a charming pink bedroom. Pink color could perfectly fit as traditional bedrooms with classical furniture and amazing curves as contemporary, more severe ones. Combining this color with others you could get a various awesome designs.

Kids Bedroom interior Design Ideas

Kids Bedroom interior Design

Modern Pink Color kids Bedroom Interior Design Ideas

Pink Color Girls Bedroom Design

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Home Design Ideas - Eclectic Kitchen

My better half (Kelley) sent me the kitchen photo below. She loves it and so do I.

Here are a few observations:

• No upper cabinets - most of the storage is below counter height. I suspect there may be a pantry around the corner or pantry cabinets out of view.
• Eliminating the upper cabinets allows plenty of glass
• I like the mix of old and new. Actually its mostly new but a rather ornate crown molding and the carrera marble counters add a touch of traditional and soften the hard lines.
• All of that counter space allows room for accessories to decorate the space. This starts to feel like another room rather than a kitchen.

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Home Design Ideas - Floating Stair

Here is another nice home design idea - a floating stair. The residential design world tends to do things the same way over and over while commercial building design tends to be more experimental. Below is an example of an interesting floating stair that would be well suited to any contemporary / modern house plan.

The stair is supported be a series of steel stringers which span from floor to landing. By holding the bottom of the riser above the tread one gains the illusion of "floating". The flat wood paneling at the interior wall and the commercial grade "storefront" window system beyond add to the modern aesthetic.

So when you working with your Architect on the design of your new home, ask him / her to think about the details in a unique way. It is the details that will make your home truly special.

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Rambler Redux

I ran across some photos of a 1970's era rambler that was for sale in the San Francisco area. This reminds me that there is an awful lot of housing product that can be re-inspired.

I have seen so many try to turn a contemporary rambler into an arts and crafts home or some other more decorative architectural style. In this case the remodeling does not try to make the house into something that it is not. They simply build on the strengths of the design. Below are some pictures of the renovation.

nice fresh exterior

cabinets are a little traditional, but the overall aesthetic is still contemporary

simple space with contemporary furnishings. the dark wood floors contrasted with the light walls adds drama

Compare this house to so many 1950's through 1970's ramblers that you have seen. It makes you realize there is much potential in those old homes.

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