Our headboard has arrived!

Our headboard has finally arrived! It's from Crate and Barrel and it took about 7 very long weeks. SUCH an eternity! (#firstworldproblems much?)

It may be slightly dramatic to say that it has changed my sleeping experience, but I really do feel like everything is just so much cozier. Squishier or fluffier even.

We chose our fabric in Montego White, and the nailhead trim is Micro Nickel #10.

Crate and Barrel Curve King headboard

We're on the hunt for a new white duvet cover and bed skirt, as the one we currently have on the bed is a Queen, and is causing some major mattress butt crack to show!

Awkward!!

I'm also on the hunt for some new throw pillows for the bed. Our current pillows feel tired to me now. I love several on Tonic Living, but I'm still deciding what combination will look the awesome-est.

They have so many that I like...but here's one ghetto Powerpoint mock-up:

I dunno...I'm still trying to decide which and how much accent colour I want to throw in. Maybe lots of colour, maybe not, maybe I'll just keep it calm. I should probably find a duvet cover first but I'm having trouble finding one that I like (which is absurd since all I want is a white one). But I'm not finding a lot of options out there. I'll save my Shopping-in-Canada rant for another day. Maybe tomorrow. BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL EXTRA RANTY.

Going Outside

I haven't spent a whole lot of time inside lately, so as a result all of our interior updates have been on hold (except for Slooooowwwwllllyyyy updating our master bedroom). Our big plans for the basement rec room, dining room walls and our hallway reading nook have been shelved until fall.

I am extremely happy with our backyard right now however. It's really our first real backyard - with actual grass and entirely no need for shoes.

We've made two sitting areas - a "living room":

Seating from The Bay, pillows and kiddie chair from Real Canadian Superstore

And a "dining room":

Patio umbrella from Pier 1, wicker chairs from Homesense, table from Canadian Tire and metal chairs from Home Depot

Yeah the grass is a little dry (it's been so hot and dry I'm surprised Toronto hasn't lit on fire) and we're battling clover and crab grass but it's lovely to spend all day, every day, going in and out through the screen door in our bare feet and just spraying ourselves with the hose when we get too hot.

Oh, and not to mention having room to grow vegetables!

Tomato plants. Not the prettiest of plants, but the yummiest!!

Beefsteak tomatoes

Roma Tomatoes

A lone bell pepper

Our cucumber plant is growing up around our little Buddha statue. I don't know why but the way the cucumbers are sitting in his arms make me giggle. 

Field cucumbers

If you are hungry, here take my pickle....cause I love the way you call me baby...and you take me the way I am....

I'm heading outside!

DIY watercolour art

I am not good at buying art. My exposure to "art" is generally limited to two aisles at Homesense. You can find some cute stuff there but mostly I feel like the stuff I see is best reserved for home stagers or people that just need something, anything on the wall. It never feels original enough.

I could spend hours trawling through flea markets but I don't have the time. I could go to art galleries but I don't have the money or the time. I could buy art online but I like when art finds me, not the other way around (that sounds weird - I mean I have trouble searching through the thousands of amazing (and some not so amazing) Etsy stores. Sometimes when you look too long you're not sure what's nice anymore). So usually I only buy art when I'm not looking for it (for example the vintage baby prints I found in Stratford). Or, I always thought I wanted to try making my own art. I'm forever pinning other people's DIY stuff, so I thought why not give it a try.

I wanted to fill these frames in our bedroom:

I saw this DIY ombre watercolour art from Emily at http://emsloves.blogspot.ca.

http://emsloves.blogspot.ca/2012/06/diy-watercolour-art.html

A lot of DIY artwork I see I'm usually like, oh hellz no. But I think these are ridiculously cute. I picked up some frames and some watercolour paints and got to copying.

She used gold frames whereas I the frames I picked up are more champagne. And, I didn't so much attempt ombre as I did use two different colours, blue and yellow.

 

Seeing it up in the bedroom, I realize I could replace them with something cheerier. To be fair, I did paint them while watching Sarah's Key. So it may reflect that!

But I think for now they work. It was my first time really painting anything (besides a wall) and it was pretty relaxing! And depending on what colour accent pillows I go for on our bed (once we finally pick a duvet cover - more on that soon!) I might switch them out for something different, to complement.
 

All in all, not a bad way to spend nap time.