around the house - new stuff in the basement

Slowly but surely we've been adding things here and there to the basement to make it feel a bit more homey. (It's so tough to take pics in the basement - even with all the lights on and using a tripod! My camera is a bit sick right now though too so that might have something to do with the darkness... I digress.)

We started a little gallery wall with a framed photo gift of my sister-in-law and her family (these are the best gifts!) and some Goodwill frames I picked up and sprayed black...

My little desk nook is getting it together. I found a chair at Homesense that I liked - simple but comfy and perfect for the space. Come to think of it, I found the lamp and the bulletin board there too!

I picked up the little cups at Chapters for my pens, rulers and odds 'n sodds. I put some chalk in the crystal mini-vase for the chalkboard on the other side of the room. I'm also sewing in the basement so I'm keeping my scissors and pins here too!

I think I'm going to put this fabric on the bulletin board. And see that weird framed thing under the bulletin board? It's some sort of old metal stencil we found during renos of our house so I framed it!

Finally, the biggest reveal of all - Leo's play area! It has kind of taken over this side of the basement which is fine. I like having a spot that Leo can go to to hang out and it's been a great spot for all the kids we know. I try to have colouring pages on the table so anytime kids come over, they have something to do.

That's it for now y'all! Happy Thursday!

the chair games

I came over to my desk to pack up my computer for the office tomorrow and of course I got flipping around through the net, wasting more time when I should really be curled up on my couch reading The Hunger Games. The more I moved from site to site, the more my neck began to strain because the chair I'm using is too high and I'm hunched over. I need a new chair girls and boys (are there boys here?).

This is still my favourite office shot.

Source: bhg.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I love this chair and would love to find something comfy like it to add to my little desk nook (pics coming soon - I'm almost done adding fixing it up!).

This one is pretty but since the rest of the room is kind of rustic it's likely a bit much

Source: restorationhardware.com via Nevalee on Pinterest

How fun would this be?! (I'm a bit over the chevron thing though...)

Source: urbanoutfitters.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Kind of cool and would go with the playroom part of the room (Leo could paint on it and you wouldn't be able to tell! ;))

Source: theglitterguide.tumblr.com via Lisa on Pinterest

This one is perfect!

Source: wanelo.com via Janie on Pinterest

Just kidding...

This is such a pretty chair - but not for the office (see how I get distracted?)

Source: countryliving.com via Motoko on Pinterest

Ok time to follow-up on what Katniss is up to...

blackboard borders

So there's a little area in the basement I don't think I showed you and that's our little desk/play area. It's not finished yet and I'm excited to get it done because when I start work again in a couple months, I'll likely be working down here a lot of the time.

One of the projects I want to get started on is the chalkboard wall. Originally I thought I wanted to paint the whole wall on the left side of the bulk head in chalkboard paint, but then I got thinking it would be fun to try something different. I started poking around on Pinterest to see if I could find some fun chalkboard border ideas.

Source: sweethomestyle.tumblr.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

I love this over all look, especially because it's an office setting.

Source: None via Stephanie on Pinterest

This is cute for the play look and feel I'm going for.

But then I found this...

Source: littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

...and I fell in love with the shape. So my idea now is to paint this shape onto the wall. I was looking around the 'net for border ideas and found this:

...and then I was on gap.ca and found this!

This is turning into quite the run on post! Anyway so you get the idea now so stay tuned for the final project!