Wet and Wow!

When I saw this post on Apartment Therapy I litterally said wow out loud! This my friends is one fancy shower!

Likely to be something you would never see in my home, but something that would be worth seeing in person! Can you imagine being fancy enough to shower like that?? It’s beautiful, over the top, and totally ostentatious. But wow! (Can you imagine keeping it clean?)

Space saving bed!

I have often thought about a “Murphy bed” as a great way to save space. I saw a really neat version that would be perfect for a guest room/office. But then I saw this on Apartment Therapy Unplugged, and was amazed! Look at this bed that comes down from the ceiling!

It’s called a BedUp. It sure is a fun idea. Would you put one in your house?

Images from the BedUp website, which is in French.

A natrual Christmas

I think that this wreath from Viva Terra is just lovely!

I love the idea of a nature themed Christmas palate. Christmas trees (the most nature inspired part of the holiday already) could be decorated in pine cones, berries, and other nature inspired ornaments. The dinner table could have pretty plates that looks like stone, or even ice. The possibilities are endless, and all very fun as well. Plus, it’s good for the planet if you use actual bits of nature since you can toss them on the compost pile when the season is over.

Designing to fit how you live.

The number one most important thing to do when planning a home (or fitting into one that’s built already) is to know how you live your life. Knowing where and how you spend your time is going to make decorating, storage, and arranging furniture so much easier.

For example, we enjoy playing video games and watching movies. I also love to work in the garden, and we both use the computer for work. Obvious choices for our home:

• A movie room, with enough space to also play video games (Wii tennis needs a bit of space ya know).
• Office space for both of us.
• A yard that has plenty of room for gardening.

Things we don’t do as often can be put into a room used for multi-purposes. For example, our laundry room serves as a laundry area as well as a craft and art studio. It also has room for a bit of storage.

The other thing is that we are very casual. We value our comfort and we like to keep things simple. That doesn’t mean things have to be boring, but we use a lot of natural materials and tones in our decorating. Furniture is usually overstuffed and exactly the kind that you want to cuddle up on, while also being easy to clean.

When we considered our home improvement projects, we did so with our lifestyle in mind first. Like installing the French doors to the backyard where there wasn’t access before to make it easier to enjoy the trampoline, and to garden. Or the future plans for finishing the basement into a true home theater room.

All of these things add value to our home, but most importantly to our lives while we live here. Hopefully you take you lifestyle into consideration too before making purchases and doing remodling. If not, you might want to start.