Around my home

I thought for something a little different that I'd snap some photos around my home. It's been quite a while since I have had any projects going on since work on the house has come to a halt while we plan to wreck and rebuild it. That being said, these photos all ended up being all closeups of vignettes, as I was too lazy to organize anything on a larger scale for photos and there frankly isn't much of a point. (And on that note, do I ever need to sell some of my stuff! More on that when I get around to it. And if you'd like to poke around old posts of my place check here.)

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My new chair

At the end of the summer I blogged about the sad news that one of my favourite Ottawa shops, Green Light District, was packing up and moving to Toronto. On our last trip to the shop before the move, I decided to make a rather significant purchase and ordered one of their lounge chairs. When these chairs first arrived at the shop, owners Deborah and David insisted on taking the chair out of the window so I could try it out. OMG it was like sitting on a cloud! Amazingly soft leather that you sink into. I dreamt about that chair for weeks afterwards and knew it would be a perfect addition to the living room in my new house (which btw has yet to get past the planning stage). I was able to choose the colour of leather (I went with black) and cord colour (black again). I waited several months for the chair to be made in South Africa and get sent here with some other pieces Deborah and David had ordered. A couple of weeks ago on a quick trip to Ottawa, they delivered my chair. It is now my favourite piece of furniture. I cannot wait to get my new house finally built to show it off in. I finally managed to get some photos taken this morning (with my new Fuji X10 that I am still trying to figure out). Thanks Deborah and David!!!

Of course, with 7 cats I am incredibly fearful they may harm my chair (they know momma will freak if they do so they are pretty good about just laying on it and nothing else) so this is what the chair looks like when my arse is not planted on it. 

P.S. Green Light District was featured in the latest issue of Toronto's Designlines! A fantastic magazine I may add, that had me dying to take a trip to TO to check out GLD's new shop and a ton of other shops listed in the mag. 

Random on a Sunday

Hey folks. Things are a little nuts here at casa di cats so I thought I'd just show you some of what I've been doing lately. Hope you don't mind. 
First, I published a post on my page yesterday on the subject of something not interior design related but do have a looksie here because I think it's pretty cool. 
Second, Jo shared a post last weekend of her office, so I thought I'd share a bit of mine. You see, my husband moved in to what is now OUR house a year ago last May and we attempted to share the tiny office at the back of the house. That did not go over so well so I relocated to the only other available space - the dining table in the middle of the kitchen. My laptop and I have been there ever since. Kind of annoying but hopefully this time next year I will have a fantastic office on the third level of our new house (more on that shortly). Anyway, I took some photos of my "new office" a while ago and thought I'd share some of them. Of course, they feature some of our fur children. Consider this a prelude to tomorrow's Pets on furniture feature. ;)

Here is a shot of the kitchen with my laptop in "my spot". In this one Mimin is on the table in her basket (made out of old tires), Felix is on the Panton chair, Milo is slightly visible behind the chair, and Felix is to the left (the others were napping). 

Here's a cute one of Felix looking up at me and Mimin wanting some love. 

Here is the same cast of characters as the first shot, but Edgar and Milo switched spots. 

After the jump, I've got something I've been working on with my husband when I'm not blogging or studying French. Our plans for our new house. A little recap (for those who don't know what's going on, and I frankly can't remember what I've mentioned of this here): In the spring my husband and I started planning renovations to our 925 sq ft house which included a large addition and reworking the upper floor (see posts here and here). Work was supposed to start early summer....then late summer....then fall....and it was when we got feedback from the city that we discovered the architect our builder had set us up with had no freaking clue about the rules of building houses here in Ottawa and the plans we had submitted were essentially garbage. (We were really sorry to see the designs that our designers Dylan and Thu had created for us go to waste). We decided to scrap the architect, the builder, the plans - everything - and start fresh. Really fresh. We decided to tear the house down and rebuild. My husband and I managed to come up with some drawings (done by hand) that we think may work (based on a few phone calls with the city). Considering that I am a programmer and my husband is a network administrator and we've never designed a house before, we are slightly clueless so I'd love to get your thoughts. :-) And for reference, the plans are loosely based on this home I blogged last month.

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Busy Sunday

I didn't blog anything last Sunday and was feeling a bit guilty not blogging again today since I'm supposed to be studying for my French test so I decided to whip up something quick so as not to disappoint those stopping by today. (Things will be back to normal for me in about a week and a half so thankfully my funk won't last too much longer). I did take break for a couple hours today to check out the annual Third World Bazaar in Manotick. They always have awesome homewares from around the globe, and I always manage to come home with at least a few items. This year I picked up an amazing Thai teak cube/side table for $125, a concrete statue for $75 and a cute felt placement for $4. (Check out a couple of my previous trips to the bazaar here and here).

I've got some more goodies to share. My parents just got back from a lovely vacation in Greece and despite everything being super pricey there (my mom only bought herself one top, which is an all-time low for her), she spoiled us kids with a few small items. Here's what I got: a necklace, bracelet, bag of amazing sesame-covered peanuts, bar of olive oil/chamomile soap you can even wash your hair with, and a perfectly suited for me pillow cover.

Here is a shot my dad took from their hotel in Santorini. GORG!!!

And speaking of Santorini, as I was tweaking my photos we received an email from George, who coincidentally is the general manager of a hotel there called the Santorini Astarte Suites. It's a little 9 suite boutique hotel with lots of privacy and seems to be a favourite for honeymooners. Their views are equally breathtaking.

Random on a Sunday

I spent yesterday at my sister's cottage, enjoying what is likely the last decent weekend of the summer (although I did have jeans and a hoodie on for most of the day...this time of year is SO depressing). This means I did not have time to get a blog favourites post ready. Instead, I thought I would just keep this random with some items I have on hand.

First up, some photos I took Friday since I had the day off work and decided to spend a couple minutes rearranging some pieces in my living room. I LOVE this lamp that I bought at Homesense a while back and have had it crammed in a corner of my bedroom since it came home with me. I decided to move it next to the front door alongside my black Eames leather side chair, and switch out my Mexican tin mirror with my huge beaded rosary (also picked up in Mexico). Nothing too exciting but with no renovations on the horizon for this year I'm back to giving a sh*t what my house looks like. Because that Eames chair is a favourite of Felix, he has claimed the chair in the majority of these photos.

Despite the following action being out of focus, I thought it was hilarious that I managed to capture a little brawl.

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