We're bringing you this fun little bathroom makeover because it's long overdue and we've got a fun DIY to go with it. To be honest, it wasn't until I made this cute DIY towel ring holder that I got excited to write about the bathroom renovation overall. It was very much a spur of the moment renovation decision which doesn't always work. I usually have a fully thought-out moodboard, 3d rendering and finishing selections but with this renovation it was different. My husband hired the tiler to come in, start demo and I had a day to choose tile. Sometimes jumping in and flying by the seat of your pants works and sometimes it doesn't. We got lucky with this one lol.

What do you do with a formal living room? Gone are the days of retreating to the parlour for some witty banter and cognac. Formal living rooms are either being turned into offices or are being omitted from new home design plans altogether. Our home was built in the 70's so it has a formal living room and it's tough to turn it into anything else due to it's location in the house (although I have secret plans to install some antique doors and turn it into my office someday, ah a girl can dream). In the meantime I have decided to give it a modern living room makeover to make it feel more like the rest of our house. 

A client of mine recently asked me to organize her basement workspace in the most affordable way possible. Obviously music to my ears. Her basement had basically turned into a "catch all" for the house and while she does have plans to finish it properly in the future (when budgets permit) she needed a solution for the short term. We decided to create an atelier art studio in her unfinished basement and here's how we did it.

Do you love a good before and after? Well hold onto your caps (or is it hats? err butts? not sure of the idiom but you get the idea). Today we're revealing the Carriage Hill Project! The homeowners are a lovely newlywed couple who reached out to us in August to renovate their first home. The house, in it's original state, was oozing with potential and had so many great features; nice layout, beautiful moldings, heated floors, gorgeous backyard etc (good bones as they say in the biz). We were tasked to update the whole house and give it a more contemporary feel. We are super pleased with the way this one turned out and we can't wait to share the results with you so without further adieu here is the Carriage Hill Project Reveal.

The reveal day for the One Room Challenge Fall 2019 edition is here. I'm a bit late on this one but I haven't missed the link-up deadline phewf. I usually like to link up first thing early Thursday morning but this time around I needed the extra days over the weekend to finish up the space. Take a look at the final photos below and let me know what you think in the comments.

Here's a before pic to refresh your memory. You can see more before pics here.




I attempted the "grout wash" per Leanne Ford's brainchild for her kitchen wall on Rock the Block on HGTV. Mine turned out a bit more of a "grout bath" than "wash" but I still like it (to be honest my rocks were too dark anyway).


We purchased the laundry vanity from The Home Depot Canada and gave it a mini makeover with some paint and new gold hardware from Schaub & Co. I really think it elevates the piece.





I picked up this cute bench at the thrift store for $2! What a steal. It's the perfect addition to this nook and pairs so nicely with my Spoonflower wallpaper.







Special thanks to my sponsors The Home Depot Canada for the awesome laundry sink and cabinet, Schaub & Company for gorgeous cabinet knobs (that match the hardware in my kitchen),  Schlage Canada for the door knob and Spoonflower for the wallpaper.

Be sure to check out the reveal posts of the official designers and the other guest participant reveals.

If you'd like to check out my previous One Room Challenge reveals you can see them here;

Be sure to follow me on Instagram to keep up to date on my day to day.

Special thanks to the event sponsor Better Homes and Gardens and to Linda of Calling It Home for creating this event.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined House & Home magazine would be interested in my renovation project but friends let me tell you, dreams can come true. Last December House & Home contacted me to inquiry about filming my renovation project and I was in shock. I couldn't say yes fast enough. This project has been such a labour of love, this House & Home video is the icing on the cake. 


When they arrived on the day of the shoot I was so nervous but the H&H crew made me feel comfortable and relaxed. There is no rehearsal or practice for this video, they come into your home, set up and start asking questions (I prefer it this way because too much formal prep makes me nervous). On the other hand, I did turn into a bit of a "Chatty Cathy", as my husband would say, so I was happy they were able to piece it together in such a lovely way. Check it out and let me know what you think. Special thanks to House and Home for selecting my renovation project to feature on their site.

Is there anything more satisfying than organizing a space that has been on your list forever? I recently organized my entryway and it feels great to have a functional foyer again. As background, the front door of my home opens directly into my living room so there really isn't an actual entryway. With a few key pieces from Kitchen Stuff Plus, our Modern Handmade Home sponsor, I was able to turn my non-entry entry into a welcoming space in my home. Today I'm sharing my 5 Entryway Organization Tips I learned along the way.

Here is the before pic of my entryway space. As you can see the front door opens directly into the living room, there are a bunch of coats thrown on a random ottoman, shoes are everywhere and it's boring.


Entryway Organization Tip #1: Coat Hook or Coat Rack

To prevent your kids (and husband) from throwing their coats on the sofa or floor you need to make it easy for them to hang up. Hanging a coat on a hook is easier than a hanger in a closet.  I limit my family to one coat at the front therefore one hook per person. All other coats get hung in the closet. I got this coat rack from Kitchen Stuff Plus and spray painted it gold to match the other items in my space. Quick tip, remove the middle bar to create a smaller coat rack for the kids.


Entryway Organization Tip #2: Boxes and Baskets

I know it seems unusual to have a loose box floating around but I find it's a great way for the kids (and husband) to easily stow their small seasonal items like mitts, hats, sunscreen, flipflops etc. Kitchen Stuff Plus has a wide selection of boxes available. These fabric boxes are from their Axis line and they match my neutral space perfectly.


Entryway Organization Tip #3:  Shoe Storage

There is nothing that bothers me more than when you can hardly open the door because there are so many shoes in the way (just kidding that doesn't happen, just kidding it does). This shoe cabinet from Kitchen Stuff Plus is the perfect solution to store shoes when you have limited space like me. Everyone gets a row which holds two to three pairs of shoes - the rest go into the main closet.


Entryway Organization Tip #4: Surfaces

My Nana always had mints on her entryway table, I loved that. Having a surface at your entryway is important to catch keys, pens, notes and maybe some mints. This tray I found at Kitchen Stuff Plus is for the bathroom but I like the marble look and thought it would look great as an entry tray.



Entryway Organization Tip #5: Seating

A cute chair or bench is needed at the entry for putting on shoes and waiting for the kids to put on their shoes. Be sure to choose something that isn't too large where the kids (and husband) might be tempted to pile their coats. This green accent chair from Kitchen Stuff Plus is a lovely stylish solution. It's a great chair and would work in many areas in the home.


I hope you enjoyed my 5 Entryway Organization Tips and found them useful. I also organized my entry closet. See the before and after below - I can't stop opening this door.
Be sure to check out the other bloggers in the Modern Handmade Home series to see how they organized their homes with Kitchen Stuff Plus; Thalita from The Learner Observer organized her kids closets, Lindi from Love, Create, Celebrate organized her bathroom and Colleen from Lemon Thistle organized her kitchen.

Happy New Year! I hope you had a good one. I can't believe it's 2019! So much happened in 2018 from moving into a new home to starting our flipping adventure our lives have been upside down and backwards! Doing a review of my 2018 projects really puts it into perspective. Check out this list of my Top Ten Before and Afters of 2018.


#10. The Fireplace Makeover - Ahh the Hadley project fireplace. I didn't know what to do with this offcenter angel stone fireplace. I was originally going to paint it but I decided to use white stucco instead and I love the way it turned out. I only showcased this one through my IG stories but I will be doing a blog post on it very soon. You can see more pics of the finished fireplace in some of my Christmas posts.

#9. The Patio Makeover - Another makeover I only showcased through my IG stories. We have this cute side patio at the Hadley project and I just knew a checkerboard floor could really bring it to life.

 #8. The Bunk Bed Makeover - This makeover was so fun because I loved seeing my son's face when we revealed it to him. It's crazy what a coat of paint can do for a room. Read more about this bunk bed makeover here.

#7.  The Dining Room Makeover - This one was half of my Fall One Room Challenge Makeover but I absolutely love the way it turned out and I really feel the transformation can stand on it's own. Check out more pics of this dining room makeover here.

#6. The Powder Room Makeover - This was a small transformation but it made a huge impact when selling our home. The old powder room was clunky and mismatched. Updating the paint, the light fixture and mirror changed the whole space. Read more about this powder room makeover here.

 #5. Play Kitchen Makeover - So this one is a bit misleading. I had originally made this DIY Toy Kitchen and then the boys destroyed it so I fixed it up to sell it. Read more about the Toy Kitchen Makeover here.
#4. The Door Makeover - Seriously all the doors in the Hadley project were old. Adding a coat of paint and new hardware to this door brought it back to life. Read more about this door makeover here.

#3. The Front Door Makeover - We looked into keeping the existing door at the Hadley project but it wasn't working out. We decided to install a new front door and paint it. Check out more of this front door update here.
#2. The Bathroom Makeover - This was the one makeover we needed to have finished before we moved in temporarily. Read more about this bathroom makeover here.

#1. The Kitchen Makeover - This one holds a special place in my heart because it was my first room transformation as a featured designer of the One Room Challenge. Check out more reveal pics of this kitchen makeover here.

After sanding and priming it was ready for some fun paint. I found this great colour from Canadian Tire's Premier Paint line call Starry Night. Their paints are washable and scuff resistant - perfect for a little boys bunk bed. I decided to keep the walls white to add contrast and really make the blue paint pop.