Living Room Mood Board

I recently ordered new living room furniture from Ikea. Since my old roommate and I parted ways, she took her futon with her, and so my living room only has two old armchairs in it. I figured it was time for at least a sofa. I ended up ordering an Ektorp sofa, two Billy bookcases, and two Inreda lamps for the bookcases.

And, the dork that I am, I made up a quick mood board (ignore my crappy job cutting out the photos - I'm not at work) in photoshop to see how everything will fit together. I'm going with a white/greys/black color scheme with purples and yellows as accents.



(Click to see a bigger version)


Most of the things are things that I already have, or things that I had and have updated. I got that big frame at an antique store for $40! It's solid wood and probably 4 by 2.5 feet big. It doesn't have any glass though, but I'm fine with that. I'm thinking of either getting some wallpaper to put in it, or painting something myself.

I'm excited to see everything come together!

A present for my bicycle

I bought myself a basket for my bike last week! I'm not a huge cyclist, but I like biking to work ( 7 blocks away) and to the store to pick up small amounts of groceries.

I found I was really limited to only being able to get whatever I could squish in my purse while biking, and now I can fit my purse, my lunch, and whatever else I desire in my basket. I got it at MEC and so far I'm thrilled with it. It also has a release mechanism so the basket detaches and you can carry it in the store with you, eliminating the need for plastic bags.

I must admit though, it's a bit different to steer having the extra weight in the front. And having a full basket makes it a bit harder to maneuver around. I used to be able to pick up my bike and carry it up and down the stairs at my work, but it's a lot heavier now.

Spicy

Ever since I finished my afghan last month, I've been itching to start another DIY project.

During my ongoing design blog readings, I came across a project that sounded relatively easy and very practical.

I have quite a few spices, and I've been on the look out for a decent spice rack for a while now. I haven't been able to find any that I like for less than $50 (I have expensive taste, what can I say??) and my drawer full of little ziplock bags and various containers of spices just isn't cutting it.



Check out this homemade spice rack by Craftynest. I love how it fits 25 different spices, in neat matching containers. The tins fit perfectly and are available to buy online for less than a dollar a tin, and the labels are just the spice name printed on adhesive address labels.

One of my coworkers is a middle-age, father figure type man named Patrick and he's got a big workshop in his garage. He's constantly building things - new desks for work and other various projects. Pat had some scrap wood in his garage and was kind enough to cut all the pieces to the right size for me. I don't have quite all the tools to do that myself just yet.

So this morning when I got to work, there was a lovely stack of wood and a sheet of sandpaper, and off I am! I'm borrowing Pat's air nail gun later to assemble it once it's painted. I'm very excited.


I've also been reading online about stores in downtown Seattle to visit when we go there next month, and came across this really cool store called World Spice Merchants. It's essentially a store where you can buy any kind of spice in the world, including ones you've never heard of before, and at a much cheaper rate than you can find here in Winnipeg.




I'm excited to buy new exotic spices and put them in my new spice rack! Whole vanilla beans for $3.50 (they go for $7 or $8 here), Moroccan saffron (pictured below, isn't it beautiful? I love the color), lavendar flowers (I want to make lavendar crême brulêe; pictured above), Hungarian paprika (I need to find a good vegetarian goulash recipe; also pictured below, isn't the color wonderful?), gorgeous yellow tumeric. I can hardly wait. My sister has a list of things to pick up for her as well!

before I write more

I just want to say how much I advocate massage therapy.

I just got back from a massage. They're wonderful. I didn't really think I needed it too much, until I went for my first time in November. I think it's one of those things you don't notice until you see the improvement, and then you wonder how you ever managed without (okay, maybe that's a bit extreme). I'm so happy that I get massages covered through my work's insurance.

I had no idea where to go to get a massage before I started going, so I asked one of my coworkers where he goes and he recommended Down To Earth Massage. It's on Corydon Avenue, within walking distance from my house. I really didn't want to go anywhere pretentious, where I'd feel out of place or where people had bleached blonde hair and wore stilettos. Down to Earth Massage is perfect for me. I've only had massages by Meagan, but she's very sweet and very down to earth and helpful. She always gives me tips and exercises to do to help keep my muscles loose. I was scared of massages hurting too much or being really sore the next day, but they really work with the level you're comfortable with, which put me at ease.

So that's my advice for you - get a massage!

I definitely recommend Down to Earth. They don't have a website, but you can find out more about them here.