Catching up….

October 5, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

So how is everyone? I’m great. I’ve had a ridiculous crazy end of summer, early fall, but it’s all good. I thought it’d be a good time to catch up with everyone and share all my news.

So first up, my daughter got married a few weekends ago at our cottage. And for those of you that follow me, you may remember my son, also got married at the cottage, the same weekend, last year. Crazy two home grown weddings in one year…and yes, I’m still recovering. So pretty much for the months of August and September, we were busy getting the place wedding ready, which entailed having the exterior window frames painted, the beach roto-tillered within an inch of it’s life, roof repairs and of course, the never ending job of keeping critters from ripping up our lawn, for the oh so tasty grubs (we kind of failed on this point, but I’ll get to that later). We also were having a new furnace and air exchanger (which also acts as an air conditioner) installed the week before the wedding. So needless to say, I was a little stressed out about it all, until it was finally installed and working the Tuesday before the wedding….phew!

My daughter and son-in-law had decided on late fall, so that it would be nice and cool for them….well, not exactly how it turned out. We had our heat wave in mid to late September this year, so our cool fall wedding turned into a blazing hot 40 celsius summer wedding. So obviously, we cancelled the propane tent heaters we had ordered. But at least it wasn’t raining and the a/c was working!!!

Here’s a few candid shots from the day.

It was a spectacularly great day and since one of my son-in-law’s groomsmen, is a master of fireworks, we had a spectacular show once it got dark. You can check my Instagram video to see them. And you can’t even see the totally ripped up grass, courtesy of the family of raccoons that were being well fed with grubs….sigh…. Oh well, nothing is perfect.

So obviously the wedding kept me busy and just a few days before the wedding, the cottage was photographed for a design magazine. This was sooooooo exciting for me, of course, but it’s an incredible amount of work to try and get everything ready and picture perfect. So all the things I had put off and hadn’t finished, now needed to be done yesterday. So there was alot of measuring, sourcing, purchasing, picking up, transporting of items, and of course, cleaning, lots and lots of cleaning. Here’s a few shots I took of the cottage prior to the photographer arriving.

I’ll be sure and let you know when the issue comes out, but don’t hold your breath, it’s going to be awhile, as that is just the way it is, in the design magazine industry.

In between these two things, I’ve been working on completing a cottage reno and starting two bathroom renos. One bath is in full mode now, hopefully done in a week or two, and the other should start in the next few weeks. Here’s a little sneak peek of where the first one is heading, design-wise.

Just realized the adhesive is showing on the top tile…opps. And the little squares are paint options for the clients to view. Once I have proper photos, I’ll let you know which paint colour was chosen.

And just yesterday, I was absolutely stunned to find out that I was nominated as one of the top 100 influencers in Interior Design for 2018. So if you have a minute and feel that I’ve somehow influenced your design style, I’d love your vote. Just click here or on the picture below and you’ll go directly to my name on the list. Voting is open until Oct 10 and you can vote daily. And just for that, I’m sending you a big hug and thank you!

So that’s all my news, sorry for such a long post, but I had a lot to cover. Have a fabulous weekend and to all my fellow Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your turkey day!

Filed Under: Awards, Bathroom, COLOUR, Cottage, decor, design professional, Designhounds, Dining room, Events, Exterior, Floral, Haven, inspiration, makeover, media, nature, renovation, Wedding Tagged With: 2018, beach, beach wedding, cottage, cottage wedding, country wedding, Designhounds, family, influencers, interior design, magazine, photography, top 100, wedding

Classic, warm, beachy home

August 30, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

Classic, warm and beachy, these were the adjectives my client used when describing to me how she wanted her home’s living room/dining room and kitchen to feel. She also wanted to have lots of storage in all three rooms. And we achieved just that. I visited her last week and took some photos to show just how great the transformation turned out.

This is the view from the entry now.

After – beachy living and dining room

The befores:

I did up a couple of mood boards and sourced products for her so that she could follow the plan along at her own pace as her time and budget allowed. She also has an extremely handy father who did alot of the hands on work. Trades people were hired for the jobs that were not DIY and I think this makeover shows just how much you can do on a fairly strict budget.

So obviously this was a fairly extensive makeover, new hardwood floors were installed in a medium tone brown to keep the look classic and timeless. The dining table was an existing one that her father had made so it was incorporated into the space. The sofa was custom made and the case goods were picked up from big box stores.

I suggested that she use some of her own family pictures in the 4 large frames and they have turned out perfectly. She already has plans to rotate in some newer pictures. The drapery was ready made and adds some graphic pattern to the palette.

The bird and octopus artwork was purchased by my client on her yearly trips to Prince Edward County and they are the perfect compliment to the space.

Now onto the kitchen. Here’s what it looks like now.

And here’s the befores:

We continued with the same drapery as the living room and dining room as the windows are literally right beside each other. The hardwood floor was continued throughout the kitchen as well to keep the flow from room to room. The existing dark wood cabinetry was painted out to match the new pantry and open shelving.

An antique feeling dark wood table was added to tie in with the dark wood floors and the chairs were my client’s grandmothers, which serendipiously match the table perfectly. I selected a clear glass pendant to keep the sight lines open to the new backyard deck, as well as a glass and gold flush mount fixture (not shown) for the working area of the kitchen. Under cabinet lighting was also added during the renovation.

The bronze/gold Brizo Talo faucet sparkles like a piece of jewelry on the Caesarstone Quartz white counter and the backsplash is actually tile that looks so much like barn wood, you have to touch it to believe it.

These extra cabinets added much needed storage to the space challenged kitchen and a little touch of display area, which can be changed out to a bar or appetizer area when guests are expected.

This long, long wall opposite the stove, was treated to some softly textured wallpaper that is wipeable and adds a little extra pattern to the kitchen. My client found these adorable mirror spheres that hide the unused and unsightly phone outlet.

The Brizo Talo faucet.

Some added display area that also showcases the backsplash.

My client is thrilled with her home and it’s new look. She says when she gets home she breathes a happy sigh and settles in for some R & R. Which just makes me smile!

Filed Under: Art, COLOUR, decor, design professional, Dining, Dining room, DIY, drapery treatments, Furniture, Haven, inspiration, Kitchen, Living Room, makeover, renovation Tagged With: 613, beachy, classic, colour, decor, decorating, dining room, DIY, fabric, furniture, kitchen, Lighting, living room, makeover, Ottawa, ottawa area design blogger, Ottawa blogger, ottawa decorator, ottawa-carleton, paint, painted furniture, renovation, timeless, transformation, warm

Entrance reveal post!

June 30, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

And it’s Friday! Happy Canada Day weekend everyone! Here’s hoping the rain in the Nation’s Capital goes away!

Today, I’m sharing the reveal of my entrance. If you’d like to read the journey, click here to read Monday’s post.

So, this is the paper that I ultimately decided upon. It took awhile to get in and I just managed to get it up just before my daughter’s shower…phew. That was a close one. I originally was going to do all the walls, but time was short and I just managed to do the one large wall. And now, I’m thinking I may just leave it as is….hmmm.

The entrance was painted in Benjamin Moore’s Picket Fence (a soft and warm grey) a few months ago, which picks up on the grey veining in the floor tile.

It has looked like this for a few months. Soooo boring!!

And now it looks like this!

So much better! I also changed out the entry light, wall sconces and ceiling fixture this past winter when I was doing a little house refreshing.

Introducing the soft greys and taupes makes the house feel fresher and more contemporary. In an ideal world I would change out the entry tile but that will not be happening. The blue vase and entry mat pick up on the navy in the dining room, living room and upstairs loft.

So leave as is or continue the wallpapering on the remaining entry walls?

Happy Canada Day!

Filed Under: COLOUR, decor, design professional, Entry, Haven, inspiration, lighting, Projects Tagged With: colour, decor, decorating, entrance, entry, entryway, grey, leaf print wallpaper, Lighting, sconces, taupe, wallpaper

Entrance and wallpaper selection

June 26, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

Way back a few months ago, I was posting on IG and FB a few of the wallpaper options that I was looking at for my entryway. I had been going back and forth on what exactly I wanted. I originally was looking at navy and white and I definitely wanted some sort of natural theme, leaves, flowers, trees… However, since we are thinking of selling at some point in the future, I wanted something that appealed to most people and wasn’t too out there. Then I decided to do the One Room Challenge, which of course, totally side railed me on the wallpaper selection.

But I digress, and here were the contenders:

So you can definitely see my nature theme going on above. Each one has it’s pluses and minuses. Top left is modern and the grey has a slight metallic tone so it’s also a little more formal. Top right is soft, calm and has a watercolour feel in person. Bottom left has a linen texture and is again calm and neutral. Bottom right is similar to a block print and has a casual Scandinavian feel.

So to let you see where I’m thinking of using one of these papers. Here’s a few befores:

When we first moved in:

After I stencilled and painted the interior doors a charcoal/black.

I did love the stencil but then I had the house painted just before Christmas and the stencil was painted over. So back to the drawing board or in this case, the wallpaper store. Since I had already done a stencil I wanted something different so wallpaper won out.

This is how the entry looked after a fresh coat of Benjamin Moore’s Picket Fence. Fresh and clean but just a little dull.

And which paper was the winner, you ask?

I’m a sucker for trees and leaves and I thought this one had the touch of greige/taupe that would work with the existing beige/taupe fixtures.

I’ll be posting the reveal later this week.

Filed Under: COLOUR, decor, design professional, DIY, Entry, Haven, inspiration, makeover, Projects Tagged With: black and white, colour, decor, decorating, entrance, entry, entryway, grey, paint, wallpaper

How to throw a bridal shower

June 8, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

Well, we are gearing up for wedding #2 in as many years here in the Goulet household. A few weekends ago, my daughter, Kayla and I threw a bridal shower for my other daughter, Ashley. I was feeling a little out of shower world, since it’s been a long time since I’ve attending bridal showers, but with Kayla’s help as to what’s current for the younger generation, I think we pulled off a great shower.

First off, how can you throw a shower without visiting Pinterest? Tons of ideas and shortcuts for what to do, serve, eat and decorate. We both added to our Pinterest board and lol, we discovered we had both pinned alot of the same images, so great that we were both on the same page.

I was looking for an inexpensive and easy to make takeaway for the shower guests and Pinterest didn’t disappoint. We made these little hand scrubs, made with only two ingredients, sugar and lavender dish soap, perfect for gardening season. I found all the supplies needed at the Dollarama, Michaels and the grocery store. You can find the link to the recipe on my Pinterest board, link above.

And here we are in the process of making them. It only took the two of us a few hours one evening.

The hardest part was threading the thin purple ribbon through the tiny labels, but here’s a tip, a sharp toothpick worked like a charm.

I added in a little plastic silver spoon so you can just scoop out a little of the scrub at a time.

And here they are all ready for the guests to grab as they leave.

We both liked the idea of a Mimosa bar, with champagne and a selection of juices, perrier and fresh fruit. This was a great crowd pleaser, if you didn’t want to imbibe, then you could have the perrier or juices on their own, garnished with fruit in a pretty champagne flute.

We had a ton of help with the food from the shower guests and it all came together beautifully.

And a family friend, made the gorgeous cupcakes, in the wedding colours of dark purple, cream and gold.

Aren’t they adorable and we added in little tags that said, “I do”.

We played a few shower games and Kayla suggested that we have a wedding theme photo booth for some fun and silly photos. It was well used, and all you need is:

a plain wall
some decorations,
a tripod,
a camera with a timer, and
some silly props, we got ours at a party store and Dollarama.

Here’s some of the silly results.

It was a great way to spend an afternoon with a bunch of wonderful people!

Filed Under: COLOUR, decor, DIY, Events, Haven, inspiration, Wedding Tagged With: cream, DIY, gold, hand scrub, mimosa bar, party favours, photo booth, purple, shower, shower buffet, takeaways, wedding shower

Quick cottage refresh and award winning kitchens

May 31, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

How is your Spring going? Lots and lots of rain here, really hoping that our late spring/summer improves soon. We’ve been busy recovering from the flood at our cottage and celebrating our daughter’s upcoming wedding by having her bridal shower this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and I’ll be sharing some pictures of that later this week or early next week.

Photography credit: Melissa Kew Photography

Today, I actually have a few links to share. CDECA (The Canadian Decorators’ Association) just published their post on the 6 award winning kitchens for 2017. I’m happy to be included in this amazing group of designers/decorators. Click on the picture above to see all the winning kitchens.

And if you are looking for a few tips on how to do a quick cottage spring refresh, check out the article that I contributed to in the online magazine, More.

Happy Wednesday and here’s to some more sun!

Filed Under: Awards, COLOUR, Cottage, decor, design professional, Haven, inspiration, makeover Tagged With: awards, CDECA, colour, cottage, decor, decorating, kitchen, makeover, paint, painted furniture

A bright and fresh country kitchen – CDECA Silver award winner

May 17, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

Not a very humble title but I’m a little stoked to have my bright and fresh country kitchen win the Silver award for CDECA’s Decorating and Design Awards.

I thought I’d share the Youtube video showcasing my cottage kitchen.

Very exciting for me! And I’d like to say a big congratulations to all the 2017 winners.

Filed Under: Awards, COLOUR, Cottage, decor, design professional, Haven, inspiration, Kitchen, renovation Tagged With: appliances, Articulating, award, Blue, bright, cabinetry, CDECA, colour, cottage, decor, decorating, fresh, integrated, island, kitchen, Lighting, log home, logs, paint, renovation, sconces, Silver, stone, subway tile, transformation, wood

One Room Challenge Reveal – Sewing/Craft room

May 11, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

Well, she’s finished!

Sewing/craft room - overall - ORC

And let me say after the week we’ve had, that is no small feat. With the epic flooding at our cottage and all around our region, it has been a humbling experience to see the force of mother nature. My husband has been an absolute hero in keeping the water in our basement at a manageable level all week and trying to keep our losses and damage to a minimum. With no flood insurance and no disaster relief funding, it is terrifying what could have happened. To say I’ve been distracted would be an understatement. My heart goes out to those who have suffered a much worse fate and I only hope that the disaster relief funding allows them to get their lives back to normal quickly.

Now back to the pretty.

Sewing/craft room - overall view1 - ORC

And in case you have forgotten what I started with, here’s a scary reminder.

Very, very frightening, well from a design standpoint. To see the step by step process you can visit the past 5 weeks’ posts here.

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 |Week 5

My goal was for a happy, colourful space that was also clean and minimal. I love when everything has a place and now it does. And since we are contemplating moving sooner rather than later, I didn’t want to break the bank and I wanted it to be an easy change back to a bedroom. Plus it definitely helps me to get the creative juices flowing when I can be in such a calm and organized space.

And now for a few more reveal pics.

This was not the clock that I originally wanted but it wasn’t going to be even available to order until early June and luckily Homesense provided this very reasonable and attractive substitute.

I have to say I’m in love with the light fixture, I think it’s unexpected and fun in a sewing/craft room. I also love the dark finish against the lighter walls, plus it pulls in the black from the drapery rod and the sconces. This was from Zone and I was so thankful that they had it in stock right when I needed it.

One of the last things I got done was this bulletin board. It was spray painted in the same dark grey as the bookcase and then I used a chevron fabric on the cork front and trimmed it all out in a fabric ribbon. She’s looking mighty handsome now.

Storage was key in this room. For my beads and jewelry fittings, I bought Ikea’s Grundtal magnetic strips, typically used as a knife organizer. But I attached my empty David’s Tea tins, of which I have soooo many, and ta da… bead storage extraordinare. Hoarding does come in handy sometimes 🙂 Now I can see all my pretty little beads so that they inspire me to create. Placing Ikea’s Ranarp sconces on each side lights up this area for any small details that I need to see.

The Ikea Alex drawer unit is amazing, It holds wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue paper, cards, buttons, ribbons, sewing notions, thread, needles, pins, scissors, etc…..

The white Fintorp organizers on top are also from Ikea, the vase I already had, the faux branches were a hand me down from a friend and the clock was, as I already mentioned, a great find from Homesense.

A few of the Gleve organizers help with small items and they fit perfectly in the shallower drawers at the top.

I adore this method of organizing fabric. It was easy to pick up some pant/skirt hangers and then just place the fabric inside. Now, it’s easy to see what I have and they are all in one place. My larger fabric bolts are tucked in the corner together with my ironing board, and my iron is easily reachable on the closet shelf.

The bookcase turned out so great with the dark grey paint and Hygge & West’s Quilt wallpaper. I love how the graphic print complements the paisley print of the drapery. It is also home to many boxes …hello Tiffany 😉 and containers which store glue guns, floral notions, drapery hardware, etc… Two of Ikea’s Skubbare baskets took care of all my extra wool that was in various bags around the house and they look great doing it.

I’ve even got room to grown on this bookcase!

I also picked up these clever knitted Nordrana wall baskets in the perfect shade of grey for my room. They store my knitting needles and patterns. And if I tire of them here they can be used as standing baskets on the shelf.

My sewing table is kept simple, with just my sewing machine on it, ready for the next sewing project. The artwork above is repurposed from my recently redone dining room, since they didn’t make the cut there and they tied in perfectly with the drapery colours. The chair was as I mentioned in Week 2 a very lucky find at Ikea as it was being discontinued in this particular colour.

This makeover was done on a very strict budget, so the key was using alot of items I already had. The two tables, bookcase, bulletin board, basket, vase, artwork and many of the storage items I already had and of course, Ikea was a god send for budget friendly and practical pieces.

And for those of you who like to see the befores and afters side by side, here you go.

Sewing/craft room - overall - ORC

Sewing/craft room - overall view1 - ORC

And for it’s final closeup.

I’d like to say a big thank you to the creator and organizer of the One Room Challenge, Linda at Calling It Home and her media partner, House Beautiful for this challenge. I am absolutely 100% certain that without this incentive my sewing/craft room would still not be finished. Be sure to check out the absolutely awesome reveals from the 20 featured designers and my fellow linkers . They are truly awe inspiring!

Filed Under: COLOUR, decor, design professional, DIY, drapery treatments, Fabric, furniture makeover, Haven, inspiration, lighting, makeover, One Room Challenge, Storage Tagged With: colour, craft room, decor, decorating, DIY, fabric, furniture, Lighting, makeover, One room challenge, paint, painted furniture, sewing room, transformation

One Room Challenge – Week 5 – Sewing/Craft room

May 4, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

Yikes, only one week left and I’m scrambling a little. So to recap, I’m a guest participant in the One Room Challenge, where bloggers link up and share the challenge of completing their one room transformations in a mere six weeks. A big thank you to the creator and organizer of the ORC, Linda at Calling It Home and her partner, House Beautiful and of course, you for following us all along. If you haven’t already be sure to check out the 20 featured designers and my fellow linkers as they share their inspirations, challenges and next week, the final reveals!

For all my inspiration and how I got this far, you can read the previous weeks’ posts by clicking the links below.

Thankfully, I got quite a bit accomplished this week. The biggest job was getting the bookcase painted and wallpapered. Which I completed late last weekend and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. This is how it looked when I started.

I first painted it with Benjamin Moore’s Grey 2121-10, which matched the Ikea’s Alex drawer unit I’m using in the room, perfectly.

Then I used Hygge & West’s Quilt wallpaper in Cayenne for the back of the bookshelf.

And it now looks like this! It still needs to be styled but isn’t she pretty?

For the DIYers, here’s what I did:

removed the shelves;
lightly sanded the entire bookcase and shelves;
wiped it with a damp cloth to get the dust off, and then let it dry.
I used Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint for furniture and trim in a pearl finish and gave it two thin coats with a sponge roller. I did use a good quality brush for the corners. Let it dry well between coats and I gave it a good two days before I put anything on the shelves.
The wallpaper had to be pasted, which I prefer as it doesn’t get gluey water everywhere and that was the best scenario as the back of the shelf is just a thick cardboard. It was tricky to wallpaper as it wasn’t completely flat and it has creases in it. But I did the best I could, and I think it turned out really well.

I’m hoping the paint holds up okay, since I didn’t use a primer. Time will tell. The finish looks really good in person, so I’m crossing my fingers.

My fabric samples/remnants are all nicely hung up in the closet, so now I can actually see what I have. I really love this idea. The really big pieces that weren’t on a roll, have been placed in a large wicker basket I have.

Ikea’s Alex rolling drawers have been filled with wrapping paper, ribbon, sewing and craft accessories. I love that it’s on wheels so that it can be moved around the room as needed.

But my most favourite thing in the room is the drapery.

Honestly, I can’t believe how beautiful the fabric looks against the turquoise walls. To think, they started off as a Pottery Barn duvet cover. I spent some time taking it all apart and measuring twice or maybe three times 😉 It ended up working perfectly for the length I needed. I also had some black out lining from some old curtains that I sewed into the panels, to give them some weight. Black out wasn’t really needed for this room, but I love that it allows the panels to drape better.

I kept them really simple, as I was doing them myself, and just hemmed them, so they are really just a big rectangle. I already had the drapery rod and the rings so I just hung the panels from the rings, just at the edge of the window moulding, as I didn’t want them to block any light from coming into the room. And in my humble opinion, they totally make the room.

So here’s my list of what has been done and what still needs to be done:

Paint room √
Put together office chair √
Assemble drawer unit √
Pick up light fixture √
Put up light fixture
Spray paint interior of wall sconces √
Put up wall sconces
Paint bookcase grey √
Wallpaper the back of the bookcase √
Paint the bulletin board √
Cover the bulletin board with fabric
Source wall clock √
Storage solution for fabric remnants √
Put away all craft/sewing/wrapping accessories √
Make drapery panels √
Hang drapery panels √
Accessorize room
Hang art
Have room photographed

I’m currently working on the bulletin board which is shaping up nicely. I did a blogging no no and forgot to take a before pic, but trust me this bulletin board frame was a dark brown when I started. I originally was going to paint it black to go with the Ikea Ranarp sconces but then I changed my mind and did it in the same grey as the Alex unit and bookcase. The plan is to cover the cork with a chevron patterned fabric in turquoise and ivory and trim it out in a matching ribbon.

After this I need to finish with the organization solutions and of course, style the shelves, put up the light fixtures (I can’t wait to see that done), hang the art and do a little clean up before it’s photographed next week.

We’ve been a little sidetracked this week, as we are trying to keep our cottage safe from the flooding Ottawa River. With all the rain we’ve gotten and the ice/snow melt on the river, it’s been a challenging spring. Three out of four of our sub-pumps have failed so it’s been a lot of back and forth for my husband to check on things. Our beach is completely submerged and the water is almost at the top of our stone wall (which is about 4-5′ high). As it stands now, he’s got a new pump working and is hoping to get the basement dry before Friday’s next deluge. Another 50-70 mm of rain is expected in the next few days…argh…

Filed Under: COLOUR, decor, design professional, DIY, drapery treatments, Fabric, furniture makeover, Haven, inspiration, lighting, makeover, One Room Challenge Tagged With: colour, craft room, decor, decorating, DIY, fabric, furniture, Lighting, makeover, One room challenge, painted furniture, sewing room, wallpaper

One Room Challenge – Week 4 – Sewing/Craft room

April 27, 2017 By Lisa Goulet

Well this week has been a bit of a challenge! To recap, I’m a guest participant in the One Room Challenge, hosted by Linda at Calling It Home. Bloggers link up and share the challenge of completing their one room transformations in a mere six weeks. You can follow the featured designers here and my fellow linkers here, as they share their inspirations, challenges and of course, the results.

For the previous weeks’ post click the link below.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

I’ve actually been away in Florida for the past week, hence the challenge. So I am scrambling a little to catch up.

I am planning to start my bookcase makeover, this week and it will entail some paint and wallpaper. Yes, this is where I’m using the Quilt wallpaper from Hygge & West.

And yes, that is Milo’s tail in the corner of the pic. He loves to photobomb.

I also had some fun getting the light fixture, when I went to order it from my regular lighting supplier, it was discontinued….what? and they didn’t have any in their warehouse….sob. So after a little more sourcing I found a very similar one at Zone in the market and luckily they had one in stock. I was off like a shot to pick it up. I just have to pick up the proper bulbs and get hubby to install it for me and that can be checked off the list.