Progress in my dining room (and some new goodies)

I have been trying to enjoy summer, especially since it is winding down and frigid temperatures are right around the corner (it makes me nauseous typing that). Funny, my younger sister and her family, my husband and I and our parents were hanging out in my parents pool on the weekend talking about maybe going to Hawaii, and our typical trip to Puerto Vallarta in February...and we started laughing because it was 35 C out and we are already talking about what we plan to do to survive another Ottawa winter. Anyway, I have been spending time at their pool instead of getting much done around the house but given how much we love this place, I think we will be here a while and will have tons of time. We did venture to Montreal one day a couple of weeks ago and managed to score the coolest credenza/sideboard and light fixture for our dining room. Gawd I love them both!

The night before we went to Montreal I mentioned on Instagram that if anyone had any tips for Mtrl shopping to shoot them my way. Jennifer, my saviour, suggested checking out Benjamin Curran's wares. Am I ever glad I gave him a call to check out his storage space! We scored this amazing vintage walnut credenza with a Brutalist pattern for an awesome price, along with a matching highboy for my husband's dressing room. Good bye craptastic metro shelving! I am so excited to finally have a dining room again with proper storage for dishes and whatever else I don't want in the kitchen. 

I pimped out the top of the credenza in a white and black colour scheme...for now. I always change things up. 

Vintage West German vases, Green Light District Wonki Ware dessert bowls, platter and pasta bowls (my favourite dishes of all time), small bowl bowl by Don Cormier from General Fine Craft, Catherine Holm bowl from Samantha Howard Vintage, Tillandsia plant from blumenstudio, short candleholder by Normann Copenhagen from The Modern Shop, tall candleholder by John Ward from General Fine Craft

More vintage West German vases, Menu salt and pepper grinders from Greyhorne Interiors (highly recommend these grinders!!!), more Wonki Ware, pot by Hay from The Modern Shop, vintage hand-forged metal rose from the Gore St. flea market in Perth

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Around my house

I thought I would share a few small happenings around my house from the past long weekend. First is a new mirror for the newly renovated powder room. I could not find a vintage shaving mirror (thrifting/flea markets for the most part suck around these parts) so we had taken the door off an old wooden medicine cabinet (as seen in this post). Home decor shops also for the most part suck around here (there's no C&B, West Elm etc. etc. - we have Ikea) but last week my sister and I headed down to Zone Maison because she wanted some knick knacks and I ended up finding the perfect mirror for my bathroom! And it was $49.50! I hung it over my Jieldé et voilà:

Last weekend after taking my mom out to lunch for Mother's Day in Chinatown, we stopped in at Highjinx - one of my favourite thrift shops (where all proceeds go to helping Ottawa's homeless). I dropped off a gorgeous table I have had for years from Pier 1 Imports that no longer works in any of my immediate family members' homes (my twin had been using it for a few years) and found a vintage wooden toolbox that I had to bring home for $65 (and my thing is to always pay about $10 more than the awesome ladies who run the shop ask for, so make that $75). I decided to use it on my dining table filled with random stuff, so the wooden rod/handle was removed and I now have a new centrepiece! Inside are a tin candle holder I bought in Mexico, a West German vase with eucalyptus, an Asian lantern, a plant from my coffee table, a candlestick from an art shop in Almonte, a vintage chipped vase with billy buttons from my wedding, and a bottle of wine my mom gave me that my nonno had made before he passed away (in the 80s).

This new centrepiece meant I had to do some rearranging around the kitchen. So this happened on a corner of my counter:

I also did a bunch of gardening lately...all in pots/boxes etc. because we still have hopes to wreck this house so nothing permanent. We used all of the plastic barrels my husband had brought home last summer and cut in half - they house lavendar and some tomatoes and peppers. I put some herbs in a box and a half a barrel and some plants in some cute pots I had found at Ikea and BMR. Phoebe thought it was fun to hide amongst some of them. 

LOVE THIS

I want this dining room. Every inch. Gawd I need to paint a wall black. Via Studio D.

A home in Little Venice - a second try

Another post from last week where photos were not displaying correctly...

The folks over at DOS Architects have completed yet another stellar project in London. This one is located in the 'hood of Little Venice. The glass atrium at the rear of the home housing the dining room is such a beautiful space. I would spend all of my time in there eating, working, having dinner parties and summer barbecues... And the icing on the cake - the large, stunning photograph above the credenza and the Tom Dixon Beat lights taking pride of place above the table. (More of DOS' work here and here)

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