Roof tiles going on

After a few slow weeks, there is activity at the house once again. The roof tiles are being installed, and so far, they are looking pretty good. It will be another week before the entire house and garage roofs are completed. Mr. Big seems really happy with how they look...especially after he heard that requests have come in from people driving by our house. Awww...he's proud!

The statement piece

A few months ago, I came across a chandelier that took my breath away. I expected that my fancy for this piece would wane, but it's just not happening. As recently as last week I popped by Item Home for a visit. Was I secretly hoping for a price decrease (despite a weak US dollar)? (yes) Was I hoping that I wouldn't find the piece so fantastic? (most definitely) Did I still love it? (of course).

Today the piece was featured on Design-Milk and I've decided to come clean. This is my absolute end-all-be-all lighting fixture....the Kou Chandelier. And with no further ado, here she is:

Yes, it's a bit out there...but then again, so am I.

More photo galleries

A while back, I posted about a photo gallery for our upstairs landing here. Desire to Inspire recently posted more images of similar displays:

Gardening skills

Pretty soon our landscaping skills are going to be put to the test. Correction, it will be our gardening skills put to the test. This is a difficult entry to write because I seem to (correctly or incorrectly) associate one's gardening skills with their cooking skills. And seeing as my cooking skills are appalling, I'm a bit worried about what will come of our gardens.

Mr. Big is extremely excited to start an herb garden, fruit tree plot and all sorts of other vegetation. It all sounds wonderful, but I am secretly admitting (albeit on a very public forum) that I am scared to death about the disappointment that he will experience when he realizes that my thumb is brown...not green. (At such moment, I shall seek to remind him that I play decent golf...)

Just to demonstrate....I went to see the house at 9am on Saturday morning, and being the diligent wife, I watered one of our prized palms. After leaving the site, I attempted to sell my car, find pavers for our driveway, consider decking materials, meet a friend for lunch, pick up beers for the boys, sort out our cabinetry design, cook dinner (gasp), sleep a full 8 hours, eat breakfast, play a round of golf...and remember that I never turned the water off. Eek! I arrived back at the property at 2pm this afternoon to an entirely flooded front yard. In fact, the water covered the two lots next to ours. Mmmm, I don't think Mr. Big is going to be pleased with this month's water bill. And yes, I think it might be wise if I treat him to dinner tonight.

When I came across these cheeky garden stakes from Uncommon Goods, I burst into laughter. We are so going to need these. Just as a reminder to my dear husband that I don't do these things on purpose...


Yep, that's right. Let's try to add a bit of humor to the situation. Maybe that will help (enter uncertain expression here).

Now this is a wine rack

With the Sporadic Wall Panel from Modern Cellar, your wine becomes a conversation piece. The oil-stained walnut panel is from reclaimed wood (the design is also available in bamboo). The unusual, unexpected placement of the bottles is quirky, while the dark wood is distinguished. Five minutes down and I'm already a fan.

No comment

I am at a complete loss for words, except that I'm virtually certain that this was designed by someone of the male gender. Mr. Big will get the biggest kick out of this. What will they come up with next?

• 4 Integrated high performance moisture-free (ewww...) speakers deliver exceptional clarity and high quality sound
• Charges your iPod while playing music
• Audio selector allows you to play iPod shuffle or other audio device
• Integrated Bath tissue holder that can be easily folded as a stereo dock
• Requires AC Power (AC Adapter included)
• Easy to remove from Wall Mount

Imagine the memories

How cute would this adorable boat bath be in a kids bathroom? And no, there is absolutely nothing to worry about...no kids in the near future. But if there were, how much fun would baths be in here? I'm sure it costs a fortune, but think about the memories...

From Wieki Sommers

Desire to Inspire

Mmmm...I just can't take my eyes off of it. From the mixture of clean lines and rustic elements to the artwork hanging in the kitchen, it does exactly that...inspire. It's not clear how livable a space like this would be, but it sure is beautiful.

Rather than another stainless appliance, building the up draft in the kitchen out of dry wall adds visual interest, especially with the simple ledge.

Images from Carr Design via Desire to Inspire

Desire to Inspire is a great site for my latest hobby...browsing through photo collections of beautiful homes. That link is worth a click, but beware that you may be there for a while.

Outdoor wallpaper?

This concept by Brit Susan Bradley is really unique...a modern twist on the outdoor trellis. While it may not be practical, it is fun to dream...

...and seeing how outdoor entertaining is becoming increasingly popular, I wouldn't be surprised to see this catch on.

For some reason, these outdoor pieces put a smile on my face just thinking about them. And yes, I absolutely love the orange!


She also has these fanciful shelves that give the impression that they are growing on the wall, almost in the same manner as a vine or plant. Paired with a thin, minimalist ledge, they are a bit edgy at the same time.


Isn't it great to see a creative person come up with fun twists like she has?

No glare here

This beautiful serene lamp was posted at Design-Milk. Unfortunately, I'm sure that it's out of our price range. What do you think...could this be a do-it-yourself project?


It would probably be difficult to find the stones (or a similar effect), but easy to find a simple lamp. Something to file away...

Long overdue update

It's about time for an update, don't you think? Life's been slightly hectic here with work over the past few weeks, but hopefully it will be slowing down. To be honest, we haven't really done anything on the house because we're just too exhausted at the end of the day to make any more decisions. Thankfully our builder is staying quiet at the moment, but I suspect that will all change soon.

So what are the most recent updates with the house? Not much really. It seems that we've hit the "slow down" phase. There are a few bits and bobs that are getting sorted but the next real push will likely come when the windows arrive. And yes, they should be leaving Canada next week...so not much longer!

As you can tell above, the spray installation has been applied to the ceilings and walls in the granny-flat above the garage. It's really quite cool because it foams out from the walls and then the installers scrape it back to be even with the framing. This has been done on the high open ceiling in the main house, but the walls won't be completed until the sheet rock can be applied. Soon come...

We recently made a fairly substantial change to our wine storage situation, which was originally planned to be in our great room. Mr. Big spent weeks mulling around underneath our stairwell before he came clean about his intentions...he wanted a wine cave in there.


This wasn't the easiest adjustment to make because the builders had to jackhammer out 18 inches of slab. In any case, you should have seen the stars in Mr. Big's eyes the first time he was able to step down into his soon-to-be wine storage. And at least now I know why he was spending so much time under the stairs...I was starting to get a bit worried. :)

Our cabinet orders will be placed soon so that they can arrive on the island by August. It looks like we will have a full weekend ahead of us going through their final proposals. It will be nice to get that planning off the table and into production. Then again, there will be something else popping up right behind it...

So there's a bit of an update. Hope you enjoyed!