Tell us a bit about your home and what you love about it the most?
We live in a townhouse in a quiet neighbourhood in the suburbs where we wake up to the sound of birds and fall asleep to the crickets and frogs. It’s not a very big home but we see that as a challenge and love finding ways to maximize the space we do have with style and comfort in mind. Our favourite part about our home is our two decks. One faces east and we’ve spent many happy hours with a coffee and a chat while soaking up the early morning sun. In the afternoon and evening, the west facing deck is the place to be to relax and read a book on a lounge chair or grill up some dinner on the barbeque.
What was the first DIY project you did to your home or first thing you made for it?
We found a really old chair at a local thrift shop and loved it’s vintage look but it needed a serious face-lift. It was still very sturdy but the fabric and padding needed to be redone. We chose a fabric pattern that had a bit of old world charm but was in bright, modern, fun colours. Check out this link to the post of this project on our blog: http://bit.ly/1V5u5ew
Do you have any tips for staying tidy & organised?
Clear, stackable containers labeled with the contents are a great start to staying organized.
I always remember my parents telling us as kids to put things away as soon as you’ve finished using them and then you’ll never have to deal with a huge, overwhelming mess.
Try to make your spaces do double duty. For example, one of our upcoming projects is going to be a kitchen banquette. The bench seating will have storage cupboards underneath to hide away all our larger, awkward items like the crock pot, roasting pans, etc.
If you could tour any celebrities home, who would it be?
We are huge fans of Sarah Richardson and we feel our style is very similar to hers so a tour of her home and her cottage would be wonderful. We’ve seen her series on the renovations to her family cottage and dream of one day doing the same.
If you had three wishes, what changes would you make to your home?
First would be having a little garden where we could grow more than just a few potted flowers and herbs. Also, room for the glorious new trend of “She Sheds” would be amazing.
Second would be better natural light. Being in a townhouse we only have windows on the front and back ends of the house and not at all on the sides. It just seems wrong to have to turn on the lights when it’s brilliant sunshine outside but the inside seems like a cave! This describes our kitchen right now with its dark cabinetry but a makeover post to brighten this space is also coming soon to the blog.
A third wish is for a main level powder room. This would be both a great convenience and an opportunity to have some fun with the decor. It’s not a place you spend a lot of time in so you can really be bold with your patterns and/or colours; really make a statement.
Do you do any other crafts and what are your hobbies?
Samantha has become very good at woodburning . She has delighted many home cooks with custom woodburned cutting boards as well as cork coasters.
I (Bev) have been tole painting for about 20 years. My Mum used to teach it so I love spending time working on projects with her.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
We started our blog with the goal of inspiring our readers to try their hand at making their homes a reflection of who they are and their own unique style. We wanted them to feel like they too could do any of the projects we’ve shown them. There’s nothing more satisfying than finishing something and then putting it into use in your home. For starters, it’s custom made by you, for you and it usually costs you far less than if you’d bought something similar.
Art
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