A Small Revelation

Oh, how long it's been! I cannot offer any excuses. Once I realized how much time had gone by since I last attended to my dusty little blog, I realized that may have been just how long it has been since I have attended to my soul. I confess to being overwhelmed by other obligations.

Life has become busy. I considered myself fairly warned. More experienced mothers and wives have explained this to me: Your children grow up and become more independent, but you become much busier. The activities begin. It's the beginning of the mom-taxi years. Picking up and dropping off. Laundering soccer uniforms and slicing oranges. Lunch boxes and spelling tests at the kitchen island. Oh, and don't forget to fit three to four days of work in there somewhere, a few make-ahead dinners, the epic home renovation project and quality time with that guy. My husband.

Seems part time pursuits of passion, like writing, reading and hopelessly daydreaming while staring out a window overlooking my rose garden have fallen right off the roster. But that doesn't mean that she's not in there. My inner daydreamer, writer and creative genius is always there, just below the surface, aching to get out. To be paid attention to in a most lavish fashion.

This morning is a regular morning. I am at home with my children, husband is at work and the first day of October has greeted us with gray skies. We're in our jammies and I am nestled into my writing nook (ceiling leak and drywall repair be damned) tapping away at these keys.

I had a revelation today. I may never have a luxurious grand sweep of time to attend to my creative longings. Maybe for now this is it. Me in my jammies with a steaming mug of fresh coffee surrounded by the tiny bits of inspiration that make up my crazy, wonderful life. And it is enough. With these few thoughtful lines I have appeased her and pacified the cries for attention. Perhaps some of the greatest creative works in the world have come to be in this very fashion. Here's to chipping away!

Now to hit the scary "Post" button before I convince myself this piece is not polished enough, exciting enough, glamorous enough or ANYTHING enough....

Going themeless

Not long ago one of my nearest and dearest girlfriends called to ask me if I had chosen a theme for my son's new room. I recoiled against the question and then had to confess, I am not a very themey kind of gal. It's all too much for me. I know I am probably about to offend, well, pretty much everyone I know, since I can't think of a lad or lass out there whose room isn't themed out to the max. Maybe I am a decor commitment phobe, or perhaps I just can't fathom adhering to a themed room when kids are so filled with imagination and ever-changing interests. But as far as my kids' rooms go, we'll be going themeless.

I am in the process of compiling ideas for Matteo's space in our new house. Not sure exactly what I want to do yet, but it's going to be a departure from his last room which, of course, was his nursery. It is time to say good bye to lullabies and sweet, soft baby blue... sniff. Matteo is almost three and all boy. Rough and tumbly and into everything from Tonkas and firetrucks to tools and robots to superheros and monsters. He has saved me from the dreaded theme concept for children's rooms just by being himself. Earlier this year it was Lightning McQueen, before Christmas it was Tonkas, then Spiderman and Transformers and no sooner had I lamented that he hadn't expressed any interest in animals when all of a sudden he is intrigued with owls, bats and chipmunks.

And so, in an effort to find design inspiration I've had to abandon the regular resources and think outside the box. Even Pottery Barn proved too themey for me (beautiful furniture though). As far as I am concerned, themes are for birthday parties when kids are into an of-the-moment thing. Then I stumbled across this modern mom's magazine called Cookie. In it was an article about kids rooms and lo and behold, they were so darn stylish and blessedly theme-free. Everything from nostalgic vintage-chic to modern-fabulous. The magazine's website provided even more food for thought. Mum's from all over the world emailed photos of their kid's rooms. What a breath of fresh air! Rooms painted crisp white and the color provided by artwork, accessories and toys. With a neutral backdrop and the right combination of shelving and furniture, I think Matteo's favourite things will provide more than enough colour and visual stimulation without any help from a wallpaper border, thank you very much.

I am looking for that perfect combination of classic and modern. I like funky, old-fashioned furniture painted up in bright colors and juxtaposed against modern graphic bedding. Oh! And I mustn't forget the thing I am most excited about- a giant World Map for my pint-sized explorer. Colourful, educational, classic and fun.

Finally, in addition to my eclectic take on design for kids I can feel good about recycling old pieces instead of outfitting a room with all-new furniture. Did I mention my boy is rough and tumbly? His furniture is going to see some serious wear and tear. But this isn't about filing my kid's room with junky cast-offs. It is about making a conscious effort to be environmentally responsible, re-use and re-purpose and to find items that can withstand the test of time and still stay stylish and functional so my darling boy has a room he can grow with, not into or out of over time.

Lavender dreams

It has been about a month and I am embroiled in a love-hate relationship with our new-old house. I look around and am intoxicated by the airiness and space all around me. Then I am overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work ahead of us and I want to get intoxicated.

It seems in both life and renovations certain things must happen in a certain order before one can actually proceed with the project of desire. I call it the can of worms effect. Let me give you an example. We would like nothing more than to replace the mish-mash of worn, outdated flooring throughout the main. But, we were warned, don't bother putting down a beautiful new floor until you fix that ceiling, which would mean new drywall and don't forget the potlights, which would mean we might as well get the plumbing sorted out for the master bath located above said ceiling, which could potentially mean gutting our bathroom to start fresh, which could mean doing the kids bath since we'll already have the plumber handy.... and so on.

So, in an effort to stay positive, upbeat and sane I decided to start small and work on rooms that require no modification to the structural, electrical or plumbing. This is how my daughter's room was elected to be the first finished room in the new house. Besides, she is the one adjusting to a new school, new friends, new surroundings and it would be nice for her to have a little sanctuary to retreat to when she gets home. It seemed paint was a logical place to start. Initially she wanted her same paint colour, a pale lavender, then it was light blue and hot pink polka dots, then back to lavender. This was much to our relief. Turns out neither my hubby nor I were quite prepared for our little girl to have a blue room, however girly the shade. I showed Sofia all the tear sheets I had collected from design mags before she was born and shortly after. Everything was lavender, lilac, pink and white. She seemed impressed that I had collected all these images with her in mind. The next day she tapped my arm and said, "Mum, I think I still want a lavender room."

I found myself at the paint store buying what I thought was the same paint as her old room. It was not. It was more akin to grape hubba bubba than lilac or lavender. I added more and more white, mixed and mixed and mixed and finally matched the paint to the original swatch from her old room. I will not disclose exactly how much white paint we used, but if anyone is in need of purple paint, let me know, I have gallons! Another tricky paint discovery: her new room, though larger, has a smaller window and different directional exposure. This means the identical paint looks darker. It's crazy. But with crisp, white bookshelves, crown moulding and baseboards and white painted antique furniture with sparkly glass knobs, let's face facts- it's going to be adorable. Her vintage crystal chandelier is already up and sparkling and her Eiffel Tower collection is just waiting to be displayed.

Confession: I have a feeling Sofia won't be the only one enjoying the restful lavender tones and the prismatic glow of the chandelier after a long, hard reno-filled day. But only one of us will be sipping a chilled bubbly rose.