Coat Rack Inspiration

The mudroom progress is coming along, but the closet that is there probably isn't usable as a coat closet (there is no back wall, and the plumbing is in the way to put one in). So, we need a place to hang coats...

I love the vintage look, and think that's the way to go. I will probably wind up building it myself but there provide some great inspiration! Hubs would love the deer antlers and the kids think the horse shoes are pretty cool! Me, I'm loving the tin shelves from Black Canyon but they don't give prices just a range Prices range from $50 - $795. Um $795 for a coat rack? I don't think so!!

Come On Baby Light My Fire

Fall is by far my favorite season. The leaves in full color. The cool crisp air. The harvest. Thanksgiving. Halloween (not my favorite, but surely a favorite of the boys). I only wish it wasn’t winters precedent! Autumn makes me want to nest. Pull out the warm quilts, add a few extra pillows and cozy up by the fire.

Fire.

There’s nothing better than the smell, the crackling, and the warmth of a real wood burning fire. 

We have a wood burning fireplace insert in our basement family room. It does a great job at heating the basement, but because of the layout of our house not much of the heat makes it to the main floor, therefore keeping us dependent upon electric heat. When we first moved into the house I had hubs change the baseboard heater in the living room (remove the big one that was under the window and install a smaller one further away) JUST so that I could put my couch under the window (because there was no other LOGICAL place for it might I add). So for years we’ve been um… freezing in the winter. True, our basement is now a “finished” space but for some reason I prefer the main floor, plus it’s where the bedrooms are. Sure, cooler air might be good for sleeping but we don’t want to have to crank the thermostats just to want to be in the room.

When it comes to green living there are differing opinions surrounding the carbon footprint created by wood stoves. Firewood is a renewable resource, yet it leaves a carbon footprint when burned for heat. However, a carbon footprint also has to take into considerable how the fuel source was prepared, and in that, firewood has a tiny footprint compared to natural gas, electric, or heating oil. The carbon produced by log cutting machines and chainsaws is miniscule compared to that of processing crude oil into fuel stocks. And of course, in many parts of the world, most if not all of the wood cutting is done manually, so there’s no footprint at all.

So, we’ve decided to invest in wood heat for the main floor too. Sure it’s a big expense on the front end, but it should save us significant amount of money during heating seasons to come. (And Canadian winters can be… well cold!) Now the question is whether to go with a wood stove or a zero-clearance wood fireplace…

I have a thing for fireplaces- I’m drawn to them, I think they add ambiance to a room, even when they’re not in use. I would get a mantel (OK, I know that a mantel is essentially just a shelf as my husband so eloquently reminds me every time I bring it up).

So what’s the problem? Well… the fireplace route costs much more than the wood stove route. Much more $$$$$$ and technically the heat output isn’t as good with the fireplace as it would be with a wood stove, because the woodstove radiates heat from all 4 sides and the zero clear is specifically designed only for heat from the front so that it can be installed close to combustible materials. It requires the use of blowers and hot air vents can be installed.

OK… so the wood stove is a better choice right? Technically yes, aesthetically not so much. My living room might not be overly traditional but it isn’t exactly country or rustic either. It isn’t lodge like or cabin like. In the basement family room a wood stove would look appropriate, ironically we have a fireplace down there. A huge fireplace. Clad in black/grey slate though, with a rustic mantle. So I have been trying, with very little luck, to find a wood stove that doesn’t look as though it belongs in a lodge, or a cabin, or a big old country home. All the while trying to convince Bruce to build me a fireplace instead!

I do like the enamelled ones… again $$$$$

This is about the only instance where I have seen a wood stove in a traditional room.

I would rather the fireplace, I’ve said that it will help with resale some day because women like fireplaces, more than wood stoves. But when it comes right down to it economics will probably be the deciding factor.

My Bench

A few weeks ago I mentioned to hubby I wanted a bench for our newly finished mudroom, I had all these great locker style benches in mind, with wainscoting or bead board. Storage was a must/ Kind of like this:

Or even like this:

Especially like this:

Unfortunately due to the layout of the room and the electrical panel that was in my way I couldn’t quite have what I wanted. So I began my search for an appropriate bench. Unfortunately finding something big enough and well constructed… forget it. Imagine my surprise when this little bench found it’s way into the back of hubby’s truck:

He found it just sitting, collecting dust in his father’s basement. It was a little sad, someone had painted it with about 4 layers of house paint over the years. Hard, probably lead based house paint. The story is that the bench is at least 100 years old, it’s former home a church that was on family land. Painstakingly I stripped it, it took 3 bottles of stripper, a lot of scraping and A LOT of sanding! I got MOST of the paint off. I had originally intended to paint it black but after all that work it seemed like a shame to cover it with black paint!

I say painstakingly because I splashed stripper in my eye, at least three times got it on my skin and my poor Birkenstocks became the innocent victims to the gunky, sticky paint residue. 

The mudroom projects are not completely finished, the door still needs to be painted black and hooks need hung and the closet on the other side of the room needs work but it’s a start!

Jacquelyn

Dreaming

 

All images courtesy of  Linwood Homes. They do the hospital home lottery houses, the ones valued at very large prices... unaffordable to me, but good for dreaming!

Things I love…

Dawson’s airplane mobile:

 

I’m not sure what it is about airplanes, they make me happy. When we were kids my brother and I could recite Top Gun word for word {even the bad ones :) } I always thought a boys room should have airplanes in it. I’m trying not to make his room too themed, because I know kids have a tendency to collect and display disparate objects in their rooms, but the airplanes make me happy.

 

My New Kitchen Counters and Sink

OK… I really, really need to paint that moulding…

…and the ugly honey oak cabinets are still there. And this looks NOTHING like the tile I thought we might put down on the counters… I changed my mind. I’m a woman, it’s my perogative. Since this is not the forever house we compromised and decided that new cabinets were not in the budget. I contemplated painting them, talked to a few people who informed me that because the sides are just a piece of oak laminate that painting them would be a mistake. I surrendered to the oak in this house, but the new counters make them look better {if that’s at all possible} And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new sink!

This Fabric:

These Boys:

Even all covered in mud!

“Boys are found everywhere – on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to… A boy is truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in it’s hair, and the Hope of the future with a frog in it’s pocket”

- Alan Marshall Beck

Dog Days of Summer

Sadly, we had to put Zoey down. The house seems so empty without her in it. Her food bowls are still in the kitchen and her pillow still in the living room. I can't seem to bear to move them. The boys want a new puppy, and I have to admit I do too. It's not that I am trying to replace her, she's irreplaceable. It's just that we're dog people.

We've settled on a completely different breed, Georgian Bay Sporting Dogs, GBSD for short. They are a cross between Weimeraner and Lab. Our little gal is black, or slate gray as I suppose they call her. She will be arriving in about a month from Ontario. I don't have any pictures of her yet, but she looks just like this...

Image Courtesy of  Black Bear Farm

The boys are so excited, as am I. We can't wait until the middle of August! It almost reminds me of being pregnant and having to wait for the arrival of the boys... oh the agony of waiting!

She's been a good dog...

Dogs leave pawprints on our hearts Forever

Zoey is sick. The vet believes she has cancer. We have her on antibiotics and anti-inflamatories, in case it is a serious infection instead of lymphoma, as we didn't get the biopsy done. She's severely anemic, which led him to believe that it was in fact cancer and not an infection, but we're going this route first just in case. She's a fighter. She still wants to eat carrots and all the droppings from the kids. She still follows me everywhere. I hate to get my hopes up, but they are up a little.

Cancer wreaks havoc on their poor little bodies and shows no mercy. We will have to put her down, I cannot bear to see her suffer. Everytime I look at her, my eyes well up with tears. She's been a good dog. she's been my loyal friend from the very beginning.

Dawson is too young to really understand, he just knows that Zoey is sick. Dylan understands to a point, and is quite sad. I know it probably won't hit any of us completely until she is gone.

She always loved those orange balls, and would have chased them until her legs fell off. She was a sweet, gentle dog. We will never forget you Zoey.

"No matter how little money, and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich."

 - Louis Sabin