A mag feature and some dishes

It's a busy week & weekend for me so I didn't have time to do much blog surfing for my blog favourites post so instead I give you more stuff I took photos of. First up is a magazine feature - 6 whole pages! - of my kitchen renovation. It's the Well-Styled Home summer 2013 issue of Kitchens & Baths. 

Another major event this week was the arrival of more of my Wonkiware dishes from Green Light District. When Deborah & David's shop was located here in Ottawa, I discovered these gorgeous handmade dishes from an artist in South Africa and fell in love. I purchased a few pieces each time I visited (they're investment dishes shall I say) hoping to eventually acquire a decent amount to be able to use them when having peeps over for a meal. I had a set of 4 (soup bowls, pasta bowls, side plates and dinner plates) and when I heard from Deborah that the artist had unexpectedly changed up the style of some of them, she agreed to bring some to Ottawa with her on a recent trip. I totally adore these dishes and have blogged them before (I think the last time was here) but could not resist taking more photos as these are my dream dishes and I am overjoyed to now have a set of 8 (except for side plates, Deborah only had 2 left of the original style). 

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New bits and bobs around my house

I thought I'd do a little something different today since I spent just about all day yesterday organizing parts of my house, taking photos, sorting through the photos and tweaking the photos. (Amazing how time consuming this ends up being). I acquired a few things recently so I thought I'd share them with you. Keep in mind I still have plans to tear this house down in the (hopefully) near future but in the meantime I still need to keep myself amused with decorating it.

I did a little something in my dressing room which you can check out over on closetrivalry.com. On the same wavelength as that little project, there are a couple of new additions to my living room. First, I decided that I was tired of not really having anything over the sofa (it's been 5 or 6 years) and since I have next to no space to display anything in this house, I decided to stick a shelf there. My husband took me out to a lumber yard and we found some gorgeous raw edge planks of wood. We bought 3 and used 2 in the dressing room and one over the sofa. My vintage cameras have been in storage for a while so I pulled those out and for some reason I like displaying lightbulbs (but I need a better bowl) so there we have it - a little display of stuff and things. 

I stopped in at the new Modern Shop downtown location last weekend (I blogged it here) and could not resist picking up a couple things. (More on that and other goodies after the jump!)

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My new side table

Over a year ago I blogged a really cool idea I saw on The Selby - a vintage safe as a side table.

Low and behold, I recently came across one on Kijiji and my husband nearly lost his marbles. Turns out he is a huge fan of vintage safes too! Yesterday we drove for what seemed like hours to some little town out in the middle of nowhere and arrived at the home of a really nice man who sold us a very similar safe for $250 (I'm thinking this was a steal based on what little I've seen via some quick googling). It took 3 men to heave the 300 lb (or so) safe into our vehicule and somehow my husband and I managed to carry it into the house last night. Now it takes pride of place in the corner of my living room. The previous owner does not remember the combination (he's had it for over 40 years - when he was younger while drinking with his buddies they'd see who could lift it) so we'll have to figure out how to open it or find someone who can. In the meantime, I think it makes a sweet side table. :-)

ReOrient

Yesterday I didn't have a packed schedule of chores/errands so I convinced my husband to take a little trip with me across the river to Wakefield, Québec to visit the showroom of ReOrient. Michelle, the owner, had emailed us last week to let us know about her shop (I was unaware of it's existence) that sells 100% reclaimed teak furniture from Indonesia, and that they were having a big showroom sale this weekend. The hubby and I were immediately smitten with their furniture from the moment we walked up to the porch where some items were on display - and ended up purchasing 2 of them. :-) Michelle explained the process of how they come across this reclaimed wood - the majority of it being from old furniture or buildings being torn down. Her pieces are then crafted in Indonesia and shipped here. It is a very green company - the bench I purchased has a metal base, which is recycled metal melted down and shaped into bars made to resemble scaffolding. They also ensure that the manufacturing process does not exploit the environment, animals or people involved. Here is a sample of the items at ReOrient (to note - the showroom is closed during the winter, but their products are carried by several retailers in Ontario and Québec).

We purchased the bench and the stool above. The bench will be delivered this week (sadly, too long to fit in our car) but the stool came home with us - photos at the end of the post.

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Random photos around my home

I spent the day at my sister's cottage yesterday (trying to enjoy every last bit of summer while I can) so I had no idea what to blog today. I decided to simply take some photos around my house - inside and out. Hope you like. :)

First up, some photos in my kitchen.

I have a wall-mount Tolomeo on either side of my stove. Still one of my favourite lights of all time. 

Branches from a tree at the cottage ended up on top of the fridge (less cats can eat them up there).

Antlers from Alberta that I adore and some baskets on top of my pantry.

There are always cheap herbs from the grocery store sitting on my kitchen window sill. Oregano is one of the cutest plants.

I am obsessed with avocados. I could eat them at every meal. I just bought a whole bunch so they're sitting in a stack of Green Light District pasta bowls (next to one of their vases) on my dining table.

A few photos in my living room (we still adore the new sofa, just wish I had more time to spend on it)...

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