how to set up a home

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As the second part of my home reveal (part one: the kitchen), I thought I’d share the room that I’ve been living in since I discovered I was pregnant. From the early stages of the first trimester, I felt quite sick, so I basically spent most of my time sleeping on the couch, and now as we are in the final countdown (two more months) I get so tired after any simple task that I’m back to napping on the couch.

With all this napping, it makes me happy that I invested in such a comfortable couch. We scored an amazing deal from on the Maxwell leather sectional from Restoration Hardware’s Outlet located in Toronto Premium Outlet. By signing up for their emails, I found out that their outlet had an additional 50% off on their already reduced prices during last year’s holiday sales (I think I got it on New Year’s Day – so stay tuned for their upcoming sales!).

We also did our research and chose to invest in quality window coverings that would allow lots of light in (I wanted to ensure our corner unit remained bright), while shading the mid-day sun we get. We picked Vision Shades from Mera Window Fashions, which would help keep our home warm in the winter and cooler in the summer, while keeping UV rays out of our home.

Trevor and I were fortunate enough to have inherited a vintage swing chair that was my grandparents. I fell in love with an ink spotted fabric from Ikea (they have amazing fabrics for great prices) and hired the talented Charlene Gilmour from The Big Stuff, who reupholstered our chair. She also created matching throw pillows which ties the room together perfectly.

Taco-in-Ikea

The rest of our accessories and furniture we collected over time or have taken from our parents, who are always downsizing. We wanted our home to feel comfortable (lots of textiles and blankets) and have an eclectic vibe showcasing beautiful and whimsical decor.

Oh and Taco had just gotten neutered when we decided to shoot this room. His cone is basically an inflated pillow and we highly recommend it to any pet owner.

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Couch: Restoration Hardware, Rug: Ikea, Coffee table: CDI from Hudson’s Bay, Media unit: Restoration Hardware, Taco’s (dog) bed: Ikea, Blanket ladder: Ikea (old), Picture frames: Ikea, Gold shelves: Vintage, Lighting: Target, Window coverings: Mera Window Fashions, Decor & accessories: Georg Jenson, Nambe, vintage, Saje and Kosta Boda

Barbara is wearing: Top: Ripe Maternity from Carry Maternity, Bottoms: Zara

They say “good things come to those who wait.” If that’s true, then I’m deserving of all of the good things.

A few years ago, my husband and I, as newlyweds, purchased our first home together. It was a pre-construction, and move in was set for summer 2015. Due to, literally every unforeseen circumstances, we have just moved into our new home this past February, that has three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. (Which has also been the reason for my recent disappearance.)

Due to the delays, there were a few things we’ve realized that we had the time to do, like save, plan and invest. Staying in our tiny apartment for those extra years, was definitely a strain to our lifestyle, but as time went on, both of us were able to continue to save money, as we tried to live with our new budget.

We spent a lot of time figuring out how we were going to use the space; today, a year from now, and five years from now. We bought a stacked town house, aka too many stairs – but it’s turning out to be a great workout. Our main floor is an open concept living space that hosts our living, dining, cooking and entertaining. This is my favourite space, probably because it’s the most complete, but also because I’ve been shopping for most of these pieces over the last few years, and at last I can see them.

Today I’m revealing kitchen to you, and over the next few months, stayed tuned as I complete each room and share with you our journey as we make this space our home.

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Trevor, and I are entertainers. We love to host, so creating a kitchen and dining area that made sense for group gatherings was really important to both of us. We started with keeping things open – which meant loosing our upper cabinets and allowing our beautiful collection of dinnerware and serving pieces to shine. We found sturdy and beautiful floating shelves from Silicate + Studio, a design studio and lab in Idaho, and fell in love with the perfect imperfections of their wood pieces.

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Next came to adding the show stopping piece. I was fortunate enough to have partnered with Delta Faucet Canada to upgrade my kitchen space. This Champagne Bronze beauty is not just about her looks, she’s also brilliant. With Touch2O Technology, a simple touch anywhere on the curved spout will turn the water on and off, and will automatically shut-off after four minutes to conserve water. I love the colour and how well it works with the mixed metals, whites and woods, blues and citrus theme I have.

We still have a bit of work to to do in this space, like adding the rest of our door handles, figuring out storage solutions for our cabinets and adding flush under-mount lighting to the shelves. But overall I couldn’t be happier with this space, it’s exactly what I’ve pictured and had hoped for.

Photography by 2Boo Studio

Faucet: Delta Faucet Canada, Shelves: Silicate + Studio, Dinnerware: Villeroy and Boch, Cookware: Le Creuset, Cake stands, cheese boards, accessories: Hudson’s Bay & Home Outfitters, Cat ring tray: Kate Ubbi,
Barbara is wearing: Top and skirt: Who What Wear Collection, Glasses: Clearly.ca

Thank you to Delta Faucet Canada for sponsoring this post, all opinions are my own. To inquire about sponsored posts and working together, please email amy@shineinfluencers.com

Living the dream

Our Kitchen Reveal