Another week.....

I haven't been doing much posting these last weeks as I have been a little under the weather and then playing catch up.  Busy with client projects and my most recent project is Decorating a Home in Oakville for t he Annual St. Andrews Christmas House Tour.  It is a lovely historic home designed by Shevawn Adams of
Inner Dimension Design Associates.  Shevawn has kept true to the period of the home when undertaking her renovations and has created a wonderful mix of the original features & character with some updated additions to make this truely a comfortable family residence.  I am so excited to be the person to do the decorating, especially since Christmas Decorating is my favourite.  Shevawn has given me free reign and is happy to leave it to me.  As a designer she is more into the structural elements and I, being a decorator love the finishing parts.  It will be a nice surprise for her when completed.
Keep checking and I will be sharing some photos of the finished decorating.  To see all of the homes why not come to this House Tour on December 6 & 7. What a fun way to check out the different ideas you can use in your own decorating this holiday season.

http://www.standrewshousetour.ca/

Historical Sackets Harbour over Labour Day Weekend

I recently spent Labour Day weekend down in Sackets Harbour, USA.  It is a quaint and beautiful little town bordering Lake Ontario, specifically sitting in Black River Bay.  Sackets Harbour has quite a history, going back in time and was one of the sites of the war of 1812.  The main street is lined with beautiful architectural buildings and several shops and restaurants.  We stayed in the Marina Inn at Madison Barracks which is one of the country's oldest military bases and stands overlooking the bay.   There are several old abandoned buildings which are now being refreshed into living quarters and several new buildings being erected with the look of the older style.  Our spot was lovely and we could sit outside our room and see the water as well as walk a few feet to a little bistro which had outside dining overlooking the water.

The revitalized  "Marina Inn" at Madison Barracks

I always love to see older buildings refurbished rather than torn down

 One of the abandoned buildings.  Love the Turret                                                                                                                                                                                  

 
 and another just waiting to be refurbished into something great

This one has an interesting entrance.  I hope they can do something with it

 

All of the above buildings surrounded a huge green space which would have been used for military maneuvers and was also used as a Polo fieldThe view of the harbour from our suite

Some of the lovely buildings on the main street

 

Our favourite spot to eat outdoors - Tin Pan Galley

The outdoor dining is always packed as it  has a great ambience and feels like you are either in a European bistro or down south

 

Hubby and I - he always closes his eyes...

Visiting our Nation's Capital over Civic Holiday weekend and a little Shopping Too ....

I have some family in Ottawa and whenever we visit, it is to see them and I never go out and about.  This past weekend I played tourist in Ottawa and had a great time.  Of course we saw family but I finally got to the much mentioned Byward Market.  So much to see and so many great restaurants.  As I mentioned in a previous facebook post I had to hit some Home Decor shops and poor hubby already knew it was in the cards.  He is used to it and lucky for him there were kitchen things and he loves those as he is a fantastic chef.  I stopped into Zone and ....... which had really interesting products.

I also hit The Modern Shop

Of course I took a few pics of our Parliament Buildings. Unfortunately we couldn't get into a tour of the Parliament as they were always full and I do not rise at 6 am when on a vacay even if to see these great buildings.  The guides said it was the most crowded even for a holiday weekend that they had seen so I will return on a regular weekend and do the tour.

Looking at where the three rivers meet behind the Parliament Buildings
















We did however visit he residence of our Governor General for a tour.  We couldn't take photos but I found this one on line.  It is quite beautiful and it was interesting to hear about the history associated with it and to see a model of how the different phases of it grew over time into what it is today. The grounds were amazing.

The Room above is known as 'The Tent Room' and was originally built in 1876 as an indoor tennis court that could also serve as a large dining or reception hall. For important events, striped canvas was draped over the bare walls and ceiling, creating the look of a tent. Today, the room retains its tent-like decor, and is used to host formal events such as artistic performances and literary celebrations — all under the watchful eyes of the portraits of Queen Victoria and former governors general.