[ take a walk on the wild side ]

HAPPY TUESDAY everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend - we took a bit of an extended weekend visiting our families up north. Though it wasn't a wild and crazy weekend, I feel like I need a little bit of wild now and then. Maybe a little hit of animal print might be all I need. Have you unleashed your wild side?

lisa

[via nest egg; jill sorensen; via belle maison; brandon barre photography; 

livingetc; anne hranowsky; livingetc; country home]

[ a farmhouse with european flair ]

I JUST LOVE this farmhouse - so light and airy! The soft colour scheme, the natural fabrics and textures, the painted wood pieces and furniture that just never goes out of style. I could totally live in this space!

lisa

[all pics: Better Homes and Gardens]

[ rummaging around the barn ]

ONE OF MY favourite places to stop when out for a drive is The Antique Barn on Hwy 118 near Port Carling, Ontario. It's a huge red barn just off the highway filled upstairs and down with all kinds of interesting pieces, many salvaged from original Muskoka summer cottages. It has recently been purchased by a new owner who has also been doing a fair bit of travelling in France and has started to bring in some gorgeous French antiques. Whether your style is casual rustic cottage or more refined, it's an absolute treasure trove of finds.

My great find from The Antique Barn is the rustic white cabinet that came from an old Muskoka cottage. I placed it in my living room to hold my $18 brass lamp I got at an auction a few years ago. I love how primitive it looks with its wonky top, original worn paint and old latches.

lisa

[ OMG! I'm freaking out! ]

SO I JUST found out that the little local shop (The Finds) that sells my handbags just sold one to Shania Twain!!!! She was enjoying a coffee with her boyfriend in the cafe at the back and bought one of my Shellee totes on her way out! Have I mentioned that we're both from the same hometown (Timmins)? I'm all smiley and giggley right now! I just can't believe it! And my man and I were just commenting the other day on how cool it is that someone in France is walking around with one of my iPhone cases! That's nothing! :)

lisa

[ pets on furniture ]

HAVE YOU all been following the Monday Pets on Furniture series on Desire to Inspire blog? I think some of these pics are just hilarious and some of the furniture so stylish. If you have a pet pic on furniture you can submit it for future consideration too so be sure to check it out here.

lisa

[ my porch makeover ]

SUMMER IS quickly coming to an end and so I've been trying to tackle some of the projects that have been hanging around. First up: giving my screened-in porch a makeover.

This porch is a great space where you can enjoy the outdoors even when it's raining and is a lifesaver in the early summer months when mosquitoes are out in full force. Since I'm more of a beach girl and less log cabin, I've been wanting to lighten up this porch with a bit of a whitewash on all that pine. And so I rummaged through my paints and found some leftover  Benjamin Moore Cloud White (the same paint I've used on our trim and kitchen cabinets).

I brushed on the paint and using come old cut up t-shirts, I wiped it off to allow the wood grain to show through.

There were a lot of nooks and crannies and grooves between the boards so getting it consistent was a little challenging.

Each screen has a plexiglass window which are all different sizes (just to complicate things!) and so I found some cute little number plaques to fasten to each one so we can keep track of which window goes where.

It took me a few days to get this project done (it took longer than I expected) but I'm happy with how it turned out. It feels so much fresher and brighter. Half of the porch is set up with this little cafe set with antique chairs I picked up for a song at an auction in PEI a few years ago.

 

The other side is set up for lounging. We repurposed an extra bed we had and made it into a daybed with lots of pillows that you can sink into to read a book or take an afternoon nap.

Remember this little table I found at the Christie Antique Fair for $50? It fits perfectly into this little spot between the daybed and the other door.

I'm glad this project is finally done (I've been meaning to get to it for a couple of summers now) and I can finally lay back and relax this weekend in my "new" porch before summer ends! Hope you all have a lovely relaxing weekend too!

lisa

[ diy Anthro necklace ]

I CAME across this fun tutorial to create your own Anthropologie fabric necklace and just had to share. Beverly at Flamingo Toes blog happened to be cruising through the Anthro site and spotted the Akela necklace and decided to create a step-by-step tutorial on how you can create one yourself. I think it's so pretty and all for a fraction of the cost! The fabric possibilities are endless! Try it out here.

lisa

[ inspiration for my art wall ]

I'M A huge fan of art walls - it's a great way to display numerous small pieces you might have and really make an impact. I've been seeing a lot of great examples out there, both as carefully hung displays and picture rails that allow for easy rearranging.

I decided that my studio would be a great place to start an art wall since I've got a fairly large area above the wall-to-wall IKEA dressers that house my fabrics. I've been collecting some fun art pieces on Etsy and from various art shows I've gone to so I'm excited to finally get some of them out of storage and on display.

I started out with some inexpensive picture rails from IKEA (I love IKEA for these types of things!). They were a bit too long but were easy to cut down to the proper length.

After a bit of shuffling around, this is how it turned out. I love that I can move things around anytime to keep the display fresh. And I've got a feeling this might eventually spread across the wall. :)

lisa

[kate spade; 2,3 unknown; house of turquoise; lonny; houzz; better homes and gardens;

inspiring interiors; skona hem; design*sponge; inspiring interiors; unknown]