WISH Wednesday #40

Nothing says summer more than Jane Coslick's beach cottages. She takes rustic vintage furniture and gives them new life, she takes worn out and bland interiors and rejuvenates them with bright splashes of happy colours, and she restores condemned cottages in the most charming way.  You can see more of her designs here and on her blog here or just Google her name and you will see lots of examples of her work in Coastal Living and other magazines.  


I poured over photos of her work to find just the right one for this week's WISH Wednesday (Weekly Inspiration for a Seasonal Home).  I chose this bedroom as it had the perfect combination of white beadboard on the walls and ceiling, a beautiful arrangement of pillows, and a fresh summery combination of colours in the bedding and art work.  

Jane Coslick

Jane has restored and decorated many old cottages on Tybee Island in Georgia.  Some of the cottages are for rent to visitors and it would be a dream come true to one day stay in a cottage decorated by Jane Coslick. Wouldn't a bedroom like this be the perfect setting to relax in after a day of fun at the beach?  I can almost feel the cool ocean breeze blowing over me as I curl up with a book or take a nap. Sigh!

7 Things I Learned from the Dundurn Castle Kitchen Garden

We visited Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ontario recently (which you can read about here) and one of the treasures is the kitchen garden. I learned a few things from touring the garden.  I probably would have learned even more if we had taken the guided tour, but the tour wasn't until the afternoon so I guided myself through the garden and here are the important things I learned:

1. Gardens look best when they are organized.  The garden at Dundurn Castle is surrounded by a tall wooden fence and then divided by pathways into rectangular sections.  Just inside the main gate is a round decorative garden and at the opposite end of the garden is a beautiful little garden shed, which leads me to the second thing I learned.

2.  Every garden should have an adorable garden shed.

3.  The interior of the garden shed will look amazing painted cobalt blue.

4.  And if said garden shed is filled with vintage gardening tools and mason jars to keep seeds in it will both look good and be useful.

5. Hanging beautiful braids of garlic from the rafters will add enormously to the atmosphere and will later add enormously to the tastiness of your cooking.

6.  Sticks and string make good frugal supports for growing bean plants.

7.  And a costumed guide helping with the gardening chores gives just the right touch - every garden should have one.

Anyone else truly, madly, deeply in love with that garden shed?  I thought I would see a bunch of hands waving in the air.  Yeah, me too.

Dundurn Castle

Do you enjoy touring historic houses?  I have always loved going through them and fortunately my husband does too. For me there is nothing better than a well-cared for, tastefully-decorated home, that has been restored with historical accuracy, and being shown around by a costumed guide.

We went to Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ontario recently and it hit all the right notes.  Dundurn Castle was built for Sir Allan Napier MacNab in 1835.  MacNab fought in the War of 1812 and later became a prominent lawyer, businessman, and premier of Upper and Lower Canada in 1854-56.  The grand regency style house has been restored to the period 1855 when MacNab was at the height of his career.  MacNab was a progressive man and his home had gas lighting and running water and indoor access to his ice house.  The house is 18,000 square feet in size and over forty rooms are on display.

Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the house and the time period and was able to answer all our questions and add interesting stories.

Our guide showing us the details of a painting of Hamilton, Ontario from the early 1800s

Sometimes the wallpaper or carpets or lights in historic homes can be a little ... well dated and gaudy, but for the most part I liked the ones in Dundurn Castle.  Although they were not what I would necessarily choose for my home, I thought they were pretty and suited the house.

Floor tiles and carpet runner in the entrance hall

Wallpaper in the Butler's room (lucky butler - love his wallpaper)

Wallpaper and rug in the children's nursery

Rug in a sitting room

Do you play "What's your favourite part" after visiting someplace?  We do.  It helps us remember what we have seen and reminds us of all the best things.
So the top five things I liked at Dundurn Castle were:
1.  The chandelier in the dining room.

Detail of the dining room chandelier showing the Jasperware medallions around the rim and the crystals 

2.  The nursery upstairs with the table set with a beautiful paisley tablecloth and ready for the children to do some painting.

3.  The transferware and pottery plates and platters and jugs around the house.

4.  The sweet painting in the living room of Sophia MacNab who is the great-great grandmother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wife of Prince Charles.  She married the 7th Earl of Albemarle and moved to England where she lived for the rest of her life.

Sophia MacNab

5.  The many rooms in the basement where the servants worked and goods were stored.  I often like the basement tours more than the upstairs and that held true for Dundurn Castle as well.

And if I ever get sick and need to spend a long time in bed - I found the room I want to convalesce in.

And I really need to have that gorgeous wooden bedside table with tea served from that white and blue teapot.  I really feel all that loveliness would help me get better, don't you?

Tomorrow I'm posting about the kitchen garden and the things I learned - stay tuned.  It's riveting!

p.s. Linked to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

Toronto's Evergreen Brick Works

If you are looking for something different to do when you visit Toronto, then you should visit the Evergreen Brick Works.  I had never been before, but it has been on my want-to-do list for awhile now. Kate and I went there recently and it was definitely an interesting place - a bit different than what I was expecting and a bit difficult to describe.

It's arty, but definitely not traditional,

historic, but not stuffy, 

Sculpture of A. P. Coleman's boots - the geologist who mapped the layers of till in the north slope of the Brick Works quarry in the early part of the 20th Century. (photo taken by Kate)

environmentally-friendly,

with edgy industrial design.  

But what is the Evergreen Brick Works?  It is evident when you visit that it is many things.  It started as a former quarry and industrial site located in the Don River valley. The brick yard operated for nearly 100 years and supplied the bricks for many of Toronto's most famous buildings. The brick yard stopped production in the 1980s and the site began to deteriorate. In 1994 transformation was begun to turn the historic buildings into an environmentally-focused community and cultural centre.  The site has interactive workshops, community festivals, and hand-on educational programs.  There is a farmer's market, a restaurant serving local organic food, space for bicycle repairs, hiking trails around the pond and quarry, and many special exhibits. 

In 2010, Evergreen Brick Works was named one of the top ten geotourism destinations in the world by National Geographic.

There is graffiti everywhere, but especially in the old Brick Works buildings themselves.

Kate and I took photos of each other in front of graffiti that matched what we were wearing.

A couple of things stood out for me that I thought were ingenious.  The first was the way they had constructed the railings. They were made using sheets of metal with holes in them which, when you layer two sheets together and off-set the holes, makes the most beautiful flowery pattern.

Another thing I loved was an amazing watershed wall art.  It's a huge map of the watersheds of Toronto and area made of two layers of rusting metal with water seeping down between the layers.  The rivers were planted with succulents.

The Evergreen Brick Works was a fun place to spend the day with lots of scope for taking arty photos and exploring.

Linked to Love the Place You Live at Design Mom

WISH Wednesday #39

I'm at the cottage right now, so wanted to have a room for WISH Wednesday that had lots of windows so you feel a connection with the outdoors.  I love the white painted boards on the ceiling, the huge corner windows, and the large coffee table for putting a lot of things on display.  Let's pretend that white sofas and chairs don't get dirty and then this room would be perfect - okay?

Philip Mitchell