Living

I’ve been wanting to update our kitchen since we bought our cottage almost 6 years ago.  I love the pine cupboards and the layout is functional, but the countertops, backsplash and hardware made the space feel dated, dark and dingy.  I knew a few changes would make a big impact so we made a plan and got to work. 

I love sharing things I’m into (hello @thebeachwaver!). And with Valentine’s day moment’s away (ahem, RG, cough, cough, ahem) I wanted to give some love to Canadian businesses that give me those “will you be mine” vibes. None of these are #ads. Just straight up things I love that I think you will, too!

My sweet Bea has been in this room for over a year now and it’s taken me that long to get this post together (in case you’re wondering how life with a 4 year old and a baby during a pandemic is going). I was really excited to make this room magical for my big girl because I wanted her to have a space she loved that was just hers before the arrival of her sister that would, inevitably, turn her life upside down. And who would be taking over her old room. She wouldn’t miss the old room if the new room was amazing, right?!

I’ve been thinking a lot about the things this year has taught me (more on that in a later post). One of the things that stood out was separating from the immediacy of getting things I need or want whenever I want. It took a good few months to retrain my brain not to think I could just “run out” anymore. We’ve been living at our cottage since March and try to shop seldomly, only going in to town for essentials. Because of this I became forced to make due with what was under our roof. So, when it came to wanting to add a little more to our holiday décor, I decided to look around at what we had in our shed and just outside the door.

Getting ready to wrap my gifts last year is what really inspired my desire look at how much we throw out after a single use and to make changes in our home across the board. It’s no secret the holidays can be unnecessarily wasteful, so in an effort to reduce that I’ve got some easy (like, really easy), super cute and low-to-almost-no-waste gift wrapping ideas for you! These took me no time at all and are made with things I had at home that can be reused!

After watching Greta Thunberg vehemently demand change from our world leaders and seeing how many millions of people turned out for climate strikes around the globe, I feel more empowered and inspired than ever.  Yes, the science and data is scary and yes, it’s easy to say it’s all up to big business and government to turn this thing around.  But I truly believe that collectively, if we all commit to change, open our eyes, live mindfully and with awareness, we are capable of moving the needle in the right direction.  

Randall once did a pillow count between our house and the cottage and I’ll admit, the number was a little absurd.  I can’t help myself, I just love pillows!!  I spotted a pile of feed/seed/bean bags at one of our favourite vendors at the annual antique show the family goes to in Michigan and immediately knew it wanted to turn them into pillows for the cottage!

My sweet Bea loves the great outdoors as much as I do.  The natural world is a place of wide-eyed wonder and it brings me so much joy to watch her marvel in it. This past weekend she saw her first monarch butterflies and still hasn’t stopped talking about it. It’s one of the great privileges of being a parent; seeing the world through the eyes of our children. And it is my sincere hope that she gets to experience that same joy with her children and her children’s children.