Table Time

I spent the day fixing up what will be my dining room/kitchen table for the apartment. And I must say, it looks gooooooooooooood!

The colour wasn't exactly what I'd hoped for (I'm very fussy when it comes to paint colours) but it still looks fantastic, in my own humble opinion. Very retro-cute. It's all the more admired by me considering what my friend and I went through today to paint the damned thing -- ended up stuck outside in the middle of a raging thunderstorm (right overhead; lighting and thunder barely had a second between them) under a tarp. We survived, though maybe a little wetter than initially planned. Anyway, here's the result of our hard labour!

Before anything is done to it. Note the sander, standing by.

After a light sanding.

Primer time.

All white, ready for colour.

It turned out a little too light, and a little too far towards blue, rather than green. But it ain't so bad.. it's still definitely a very nice colour.

Ta da! Set and ready for use, complete with my two chairs (they still need to be cleaned up and painted a new fresh coat of white, though).

This table can also be made smaller, if the centre leaf is folded away. Equally cute.

Ain't it just the cutest thing?

All in all, I'm very proud. I purposely left some of the dings and paint blotches around to keep it feeling a little bit shabby-chic, somehow. I like it when things retain a little of their history.

Getting more excited to move in as days go by.

Home Sweet Home

By the way. Since I'm hyping it so much.... This is the place I will be living. Sans the decor pictured here, though.

Imagination: Run wild!

A Day of Shopping

So, here's some evidence regarding my day spent in London wandering stores looking at/for apartment stuff. We ran into a HomeSense, a Bouclair Home, a JYSK, and a Home Depot all in a row, and all in the same plaza. Not to mention we hit up Pier One Imports shortly before this. I freaking lost my shit. So much fun, even if most of it was only dreaming.

This thing was a bit pricey considering it was from Pier One Imports, but damn, was it ever sweet. I would love this. The colours are great.

Child-sized chairs at HomeSense! They just killed me; absolutely adorable.

JYSK baskets. Thinking these'll go in the bedroom (if I go back to buy them) because storage for junk is always a plus, and they are a really interesting shape to boot. Perfect for the earthy feel I'm going for in that room.

Look at all of the bedspreads!!

Seriously, there were so many.

This is a little condiment tray for the backyard barbeque! It has seperate dishes for relish, ketchup, mayo, and mustard, plus a miscelaneous burger dish in the centre for things like hot peppers or pickles. I loved it -- ultra cute.

Comfy chair I liked, simple as that.

Pretty teacup with matching spoon and saucer.

Pretty teapot to match the rest!

I really liked this cabinet but I can't imagine where I'd put it. Something about it made me smile, though.

This. This is a skunk duster. Everyone needs one.

The toucan is a can opener, the mouse is a cheese-grater, the bag clips are alligator and hippo heads, and the vegetable scrubbers are octopi. The can opener was my favourite, although I liked the rest too. Who says kitchen utensils can't be fun?

Honestly though. I could do this all day, every day. I just love it.

Garage Sales Make My World Go Round

Despite barely getting any sleep at all, this morning I took off with my mom and a friend to hit up garage sales for furniture. We went to six different places, and ended up coming back LOADED with stuff. A vintage cupboard ($5), a table ($5) and two chairs ($10), a retro industrial fan (free) antique milk bottles (free), fourteen matching white plates ($3), two end tables (one free at the side of the road, the other $5), an adorable picnic basket ($3), a smaller square wicker basket ($1) pink, vintage chandelier ($1) and a fully-functional apartment-sized dryer ($20). Great finds, and a fun time.

Thanks to Heather for kindly posing for the picture with everything :)

Cutie 2

So, I spent my afternoon repairing that little table I found by the side of the road, just like I said I would. It was a lovely hot day outside, with plenty of sunshine and a decent breeze. I ended up totally grimy -- covered in both a good layer of dirt, and flecks of white paint. I loved every minute of it.

The table.

I love it but it needs some TLC.

Not the channel. Busting out the sandpaper. Whew, hard work.

Break for pudding cups. Because honestly, who doesn't love a pudding cup?

Time for primer.

Tra la la...

Done! For now.

At this point, I'm all done with the sanding and primer coat. It's getting there. Once it all dries properly I'll be able to get a coat of the regular white semi-gloss on top, and voila!

- Bee

Hey There, Cutie.

Tomorrow's project. Found it on the side of the road on the way home from London. Agenda: Sand down, and paint.

Basic Ideas

Ok, so as previously mentioned, I spent my entire afternoon drawing and sketching. Escaping, which was good for me. These are some of the rough drawings (please don't judge, I know I'm no artist) of the place I'll hopefully be living, and what I'd like for it to maybe look like.

The pictures were only taken using Photo Booth on my Mac, so the colours are washed out and probably barely visible. The kitchen isn't coloured because they'll be changing the countertops before I move in, and I can't very well fantasize about what it'll look like when I have no idea. I held up some paint chips for some pictures, but again, because of lighting and whatnot they're probably not showing up right. The bedroom is the room I'm most looking forward to.

Either way, here's the proof of my afternoon. if you're wondering what the first picture is, it's me making copies of past sketches using my mom's light box from the studio downstairs.