WISH Wednesday #60

I adore this Canadiana Christmas living room.  I love the old wooden beams, the stone fireplace, the touches of red, the rustic wooden furniture, and the simple natural Christmas decorations.  Definitely calls for a mug of hot chocolate by the fire, don't you think?  

Style at Home

WISH Wednesday #54

I have been absolutely and completely obsessed with Margot Austin's PEI getaway for weeks so I thought I would show you my favourite room for WISH Wednesday.  I kid you not when I say that I couldn't stop thinking about the cottage one night as I was trying to go to sleep - I was thinking about where the bathroom was.  The next day I watched the video yet again and my suspicions proved correct.  The bathroom is near the stairs.  

House and Home

Margot and her husband painted the interior of Whale Cottage white and the floors gray so there is a nice clean background for simple furnishings and some nautical island decor. I love the relaxed vibe and the colour palette of blues and grays. 
You can see more photos of her adorable cottage here, and watch the video of Margot giving a tour here, and see some 'before' photos here.  Can you tell that I'm quite taken!  Here are some of my favourite parts - 

• the marine blue in the mud room entry
• the penny round tiles and the enamel sink in the kitchen
• the rope railing for the stairs
• the yellow headboard and antique chair covered in black (or is it navy?) gingham in the master bedroom
• and, of course, the whale weathervane on the roof of Whale Cottage.

WISH Wednesday #48

I've had a busy couple of weeks since returning from Nova Scotia and still haven't found time to finish the rest of my blog posts about our trip - coming soon.  However I'm now off to Winnipeg for a wedding this weekend so that was my inspiration for this week's WISH Wednesday photo.  Nothing like travelling from the ocean two weeks ago to the prairies this weekend.
I wanted a room that reminded me of the prairies and yet wasn't too far over into the log walls, leather furniture, and cowhides camp.  This living room evokes the prairies to me through the golden leather chairs, the golden fields in the painting on the mantel, the soft yellow-orange wall colour, the wood shelves and furniture, and lots of animal references (the faux goat head, the photos of animals on the shelves, and the dog fabric on the footstool).  I think the golden yellow-orange is a lovely colour, but not one I would immediately think to use in a living room.  It reminds me of butternut squash and golden trembling aspen leaves in the fall - both lovely images.  Does this room remind you of the prairies?

BHG

Would you use such a daring colour in your living room?  I would have to have a lifelong love affair with the colour to use it in such a prominent place.

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

New Living Room Cushions

Do you ever feel like decorating is two steps forward and one back.  Well that is certainly how it is around here.  I recently noticed how grubby the cover on our sofa was looking so I took it off and washed it, but then when I put it on I noticed that some of the throw pillows were stained as well.  One thing led to another and I had to drop by Home Sense and get some new pillows for the sofa.  

Now selecting cushions for the living room is always a little tricky because of the colours in the carpet.  My Great-grandparents were missionaries in South China in the early years of the last century and they brought many wonderful things home with them when they finally returned to Canada in the 1920s.  This silk carpet was one of the treasures they brought back and we are very pleased that it has made its way to our home.  While I love the connection to my Grandmother (as I always remember it being in her living room) and her parents, the rug has a variety of colours some of which I find difficult to decorate around.  

As you can see the carpet has some peachy - salmony colours which are not my favourites so I avoid decorating with them.  I do like a darker version of this colour, however, like rich rust colours so I looked for some cushions in that shade.   The colours I like best in the carpet (surprise, surprise) are the teal and turquoise colours.  So I looked for cushions that had either the turquoise colours or the the rust colour or both in them and these are the cushions I found.
Home Sense only had one that I liked in the rust colour, but I may keep my eyes peeled for another one to balance the sofa out.  

The ones on either end are my favourite as they remind me of a William Morris print.  Here's a close-up view:

I also really like the pale blue linen one on the right hand end of the sofa,

and the one in the middle is a nod to the ever popular chevron pattern (although it almost looks like a zebra and a chevron stripe got together and this is the baby they produced).

Having new cushions on the sofa means I have to have them arranged perfectly at all times so that I can admire them whenever I happen to go by the room.  Anyone else do that?

My Cozy Corner

 Books - check.

Comfy chair - check.

Place for my tea - check.

Stash of magazines - check.

Dog to keep me company - check.

All the ingredients for my favourite spot to  
r e l a x.

It's my birthday on the weekend so I plan on putting my feet up and enjoying the day.  What are your plans?

Have a lovely weekend!


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at Chatting at the Sky