House Update

We are slowly but surely put our personal touch on our new flat (and we still absolutely love it here).  Of course there are things we would change if we owned the place (new flooring, paint, replacement of generic black granite counters . . . ) but for now it is just perfect.  It is spacious, gets tons of natural light and is a fantastic space for entertaining (which we've been doing a lot of!).

I'll start with Charlotte's favourite update.  Can you spot it?

Okay, I guess that wasn't very difficult to spot at all:

I never thought I would be the kind of person to display a toy kitchen in their living room (we've really tried to keep our home from being overrun with toys) but I don't mind this one so much.  The best part is that Charlie LOVES it!!

We were picking up a few things at Ikea and couldn't resist it.  We'd like to get her more accessories for it, but we've found some items from the recycling (jars, tea box, egg carton) to let her use in the meantime!  I'm also going to sew some little tea bags for her once I figure out how to use my new sewing machine (Jenn, care to come for a visit?!).  Charlie is obsessed with tea making and drinking at the moment and would adore having some tea bags to make her tea parties more authentic.

The other big update in the house is that we've been getting more art on the walls.  We got rid of a lot of our wall hangings when we moved here and it is a slow, expensive feat to replace them!  It has, however, allowed me to be more thoughtful about what we do hang on the walls.  My new favourite item is this painting that my Grandma Peterka made (first seen in this post).  She normally painted florals, so this was WAY out of the ordinary for her.  I had it framed at The Picture Palace here in Crystal Palace and I highly recommend them!!

The more I look at it, the more I see a neighbourhood.  I see trees and houses with chimneys and maybe even a park on the lower left corner.  Who's with me?

I also had this "peace" poster framed there (yes, I chose the same frame!).  I got it for $5 at a yard sale a few years ago but the frame broke shortly after we bought it.  It doesn't fit a standard frame (and the custom frame I bought online didn't actually fit it, so I used it for this project.) but Crystal Frames fixed her right up!  

I also bought one of their pre-made frames for this screen print I've been wanting to get on the wall.  It is in the hallway, so I get to look at it all the time!  It reads, "Oh darling, let's be adventurers."

The kitchen now houses Charlie's little white table and chair set.  It used to belong in the living room for playing, but she enjoys eating her meals there (she currently prefers it to her high chair) so we've just left it.  Luckily the kitchen is spacious enough to accommodate it!

And just check out that window.  Seriously folks, they don't make them like that anymore!  I especially love that it opens from the bottom OR the top so I don't have to worry about my toddler climbing out!

I was also thrilled to finally get this print on the kitchen wall:

It was given to us by our dear friend Anna (who recently just had her second baby!!), but we'd never gotten around to framing it.  We've been carrying it around for eight or nine years now!!  It reads:

"There are things you do because they feel right and they make no sense and they make no money and it may be the real reason we are here:  to love each other and to eat each other's cooking and say it was good."

It is a funny little print with a run-on sentence, but it tugs at my heart strings.  I LOVE finally having it out on display!

Hopefully my next update will include pictures of the bedroom!