pretty swanky digs

till we meet again

I never planned on having this blog become too personal but today I decided I wanted to let the world know about a beautiful soul who came into my life 18 years ago in the form of a green-eyed, tortoiseshell kitty name Basil and who, sadly, had to leave my life recently. It seems like only yesterday that she came stumbling out of a box of kittens, as she fought to keep up with her brothers and sisters all vying for the attention of onlookers out to adopt a new kitty. She was the smallest of the litter and from the first moment I saw her teeny-tiny body with her teeny-tiny stripes my heart swelled and I smiled knowing she was the one.

Every day for 18 years she has greeted me at the door every time I came home and every day for 18 years was there to say goodbye. She helped me through so many life changes, from my early years of university, to broken hearts over boyfriends, to pursuing new dreams while letting go of some old ones, she was always there with her unconditional love and sand-paper tongue kisses (gotta love 'em!). She always reminded me of what was important in life especially when I realized that I was her world and the reason she had so much love to give. From the crazy, rambunctious kitten who always made us laugh to the wise old soul who decided the ugliest chair in the house was going to be her favourite, she has brought so much joy to our lives.

Once again my heart is swollen but this time from sadness and pain. I've heard that knowing it's coming makes it a bit easier but it doesn't. During her last few days I kept telling her it was okay to go but she was so brave and strong and held on until she knew I was truly ready. Her last 24 hours we never left her side and I shared some of my most special moments with her during that time. As I laid with her in her last hour at home she reached out her paw and laid it in my hand for the full hour, never moving it except to tighten her claws ever so slightly every time I spoke to her, or when she just needed to make sure I was still there with my hand out for her to hold as we said our goodbyes.

For 18 years I have fed her, cared for her, made sure she was comfortable and happy and it kills me inside that I can no longer do that for her. I don't know when my habits of wanting to check in on her or to say goodbye as I leave the house will start to fade, or if I ever really want them to, but I know for sure that my memories never will. I have been so blessed by this beautiful soul who came into my life for so many reasons and as I find the strength to move on I know that she is at peace, as the sun shone warm and bright on a day that was supposed to be snowy and cold. For years I complained about the ugly, old chair but never had the heart to get rid of it. That chair still sits in my office where it's always been and probably will for a while.

good night sweet girl!

a new look for an old space - ikea ramsjo kitchen

Finally I have a moment to take a breather and post some finished photos of the house my client renovated. We literally just finished the house yesterday and it was listed for sale today and sold within a couple hours.

Here's a look back at the kitchen before:

And the kitchen now:

Here's a few other photos of our built in table. This area at first was going to have a banquette eating area with the banquette seat in the alcove with some cabinetry below the seat and some small cabinets above but since this kitchen is only 100 square feet, and needed to include a door leading to the basement, it was impossible to create a functional kitchen with enough cabinet space. So we opted to go with a built in table which allowed us to increase our cabinet space by quite a bit by adding cabinets under the table and larger wall cabinets as well. It also substantially increased the counter top space, which we made the same height as the kitchen cabinets at 36". As you can see we also took out the wall separating the kitchen and living room.

I also added a mirror back splash instead of tile to help visually enlarge the space. I originally thought about doing glass doors on the cabinets above this table but since the house is so small I wanted to try and keep the visual clutter to a minimum and thought this offered a cleaner look for this space. The light fixture was the homeowners choice and was well priced at $150. I do like the light but it wasn't my first choice for this space. My concern was that there were already too many linear lines going on between the table, the back splash, the hood fan, the handles, the floor tile, etc. that I felt a different shape needed to be introduced. I do like it though and think overall it turned out well. I'm still learning how to work with clients. Lesson learned: remember to take my spine with me on the next shopping trip.

Kitchen cabinets - Ikea Ramsjo Black Brown
Wall colour - Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter
Counters - White Quartz - Snow White
Chairs - Jysk
Light - Cartwright Lighting
Backsplash Tile - Lowes - I believe it's called split face and it's carrara marble

Hope you enjoyed the photos and be sure to check back as I post photos of the rest of the house including the basement suite with another pretty ikea kitchen. Also be sure to check back as I reveal the secret to getting stains and scuff marks out of white quartz. You'll never guess how we did it!! Bye for now.

jackie

happy holidays!

Hope it's merry and bright!

jacqueline

for the love of wreaths

I love wreaths. They are beautiful pieces that celebrate a season and make a personal style statement that's fully your own. They are easy to change up when the mood hits you and easy to display in every room to keep the mood flowing, just like the spirits at your holiday soiree. Simple or fancy, rustic greens or shiny brights, where does your wreath love lie?