Guest Bedroom continued...Quartrefoil Upholstered Headboard

Previously, our guest bedroom was designed in a black and white colour scheme complete with a large black mirror placed above the bed, white and silver candlebra lamps and two toned rod pocket panels. This colour scheme was stark and uninviting. I had even tried to DIY a cross-hatched pattern onto the Aspelund Bedframe from Ikea with white molding and black acrylic paint but the complete effect was not desirable to say the least.

So I went back to the drawing board. I knew that I wanted to add a feminine touch to the guest bedroom. Nurturance and comfort are often associated with femininity. Therefore I believe the feel of a guest bedroom should reflect these characteristics. As a host, my goal is to make my guest feel pampered and rejuvenated while staying at my home.  To create this ambiance, I knew that I had to inject some colour into the room.  Following the design cues of Candice Olson, I decided that I wanted an upholstered headboard to add comfort to the room.

This was surprisingly easy to achieve with the Aspelund bedframe.  I measured out the inserts and it just so turned out that I had two upholstered squares that would fit these insets. These two 2 x2 upholstered squares were handed down to me by extended family. I had previously covered them in a nautical inspired fabric and used them as a wall hanging in my previous home. I removed the previous fabric, and recovered the squares in a gorgeous Quartrefoil outdoor fabric I found at the local Fabric land. The Quartrefoil was available in a number of colours such as beige, dark brown and kiwi green. Since green is my favourite colour, I just went for it. 

 Recovering the squares was quite simple. I bought 1 meter of this outdoor fabric for 5$ and stapled the fabric onto the upholstered squares.   With this step complete, we attached the upholstered squares into the insets with regular one-inch screws from the back of the headboard. One screw on each corner of each upholstered square.

 An interesting note is that the colour green, especially natural tones like forest and lime greens have a refreshing effect on a person’s wellbeing. Being that it is a colour commonly encountered in the natural world, where we often find peace and tranquility, it is the ideal backdrop in interior design. I hope that this room with its small doses of green can bring peace and harmony for all our guests. 

Here is the headboard before we painted the insets with a simple white semi-gloss paint:

and here it is after the white insets and the upholstered squares installed.

I have one more step to show you in the guest bedroom redesign and you will finally see the reveal. But until then I leave you with these wise words from Nicholas Sparks' novel "A Walk to Remember"

True love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it!

Losing Weight in a Healthy Way... A Healthy Pina Colada

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1a_colada

Yes thats right! A healthy pina colada.. there is such a thing. In my quest to lose my pregnancy weight, I have been trying to find TASTY, healthy, energy packed drinks that I can substitute for my poor snacking habits. I have finally come up with a fantastic blend of pineapple and coconut yumminess! It is super easy! Did you know that coconut in moderate amounts speeds up your metabolism.  Here is the simple recipe:

½ cup vanilla yogourt (low-fat or otherwise)

1 cup canned or fresh pineapple

½  can coconut juice (available at any supermarket)

½ cup ice

Add ice and the remaining ingredients into a blender and blend until the desired consistency is achieved.

The pineapple chunks are naturally sweet and the vanilla yogourt adds creaminess for a smooth taste. In my experience, there is no need to add other sweeteners. If you feel the mixture is not sweet enough, I suggest adding more yogourt for that extra calcium. A nice creamy drink like this will cool you down on those scorching days that are sure to come this summer. Hope you enjoy!

Courtesy of Steven and Chris, here is another fantastic smoothie that I have tried out with fantastic results. This drink reduces stomach bloating, gives your immune system and metabolism a much needed boost. After a week, I felt like I was glowing.

Link: http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/2011/03/how-to-get-rid-of-fat.html

Royal Fever

Over the last week or so, Royal fever has taken Canada by storm. Their highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge aka. Prince William and Kate Middleton were travelling  from coast to coast within Canada. For the last leg of their trip, they travelled to Calgary, Alberta. Complete with white stetsons, the Duke and Duchess rang in this year's Stampede parade and ten whole days of cowboy fun throughout the city with fireworks every night. What more can you ask for?  Both the Duke and the Duchess donned the western gear. The Royal Tour became an obsession for most Canadians as we watched in awe at the fashion, the charisma and glamour of the Royals. The Duchess is glamorous elegant and well put together but maintains an image of simplicity. Her style, while being luxurious and glamourous, seems effortless. Everything she wears is carefully chosen to suit the engagement that she is attending and is in impeccable taste. Her tresses are always kept simple and gorgeous. Just a slight curl at the bottom with a blowout or half-up, half-down curled for a more subdued look. She looks flawless everytime she steps out. She seemed to dress according to a theme as well; donning a nautical look with white and blue striped tunic and skirt in P.E.I, a white stetson and cowboy boots in the west to light coloured dresses in Sunny LA. She has inspired me to take on a more active role in the way I dress and primp as well. It takes only seconds to pin your hair, minutes to blowdry or draw your hair up into a  ponytail and the results are well worth the extra effort. You feel confident, beautiful and ready for anything. I've taken on the challenge. Its amazing how a few superficial elements can change how I feel on the inside. I am taking more time and paying attention to myself even if for just a few more minutes. This self-reflection has brought out an inner beauty that I misplaced when my E came along. He is my world, my life and my love but the trials of new motherhood took the better of me. So far I am loving this newfound inner and outer beauty.

DIY: Reupholstered Chair

Oh my! I have not blogged in close to two months. Life has flown by over these last two months even more so than the last year. we have been busy busy busy.... with work, study and the baby.  All of this while trying to maintain my sanity from being at home and studying for the MCAT. As you know, we have been working on many things around this apartment. Little upgrades here and there. We have overhauled this guest bedroom of ours by adding what I feel is a real dose of design. No wall treatments but lots of pattern and lots of glamour. It's not completely finished, one more day! Working on the window treatment still. I'll give you a little hint. it starts with a "v".
 As for today's post, I am showing you the reupholstered free Kijiji chair that now resides in a sweet little vignette in the guest bedroom. I just loved the sleek lines so I sent an email off to the previous owner and set up a time to pick it up. The oak stain and ratty blue fabric was disgusting but the chair harboured so much potential.

We came home and excitedly began to rip it apart. From my past research into upholstery, I recalled  that you must remove the upholstery tacks first. Then move along removing pieces one by one until the chair is down to its bare bones. So that's just what I did. I also noted down each piece as it came off with a number. Reupholstery works backwards. 

The next step was restaining the entire chair. My hubbie sanded and sanded the chair until all the previous glaze and stain was nowhere in sight. Then I stained it with Miniwax Dark Walnut and another layer of Miniwax  Antique Black + polyurethane to get the dark finish. We loved the final look of the wood. The previous oak stain was a disaster. So glad this chair has been given a new look.

Just an aside, I did not sand in between coats of stain. I felt that this allowed me to spread the stain out really well and create a very glossy and smooth finish. Although I now know that this method does not work on all pieces of furniture.

Moving on, we bought this kiwi green fabric (unknown fibres). We used the old numbered pieces as templates but added an inch to two inches to each side of the seat cushion as we added a new higher density foam underneath. As for the back cushion, we replaced the batting and removed the flat cushion all together.Putting it back together was not as easy as I first thought. We had to make a few extra cuts and change the method for reupholstery to make sure that everything was taught and sleek. As a result of these changes, the back has a few staples that are quite obvious. I will have to cover those staples piping in the future. For now, we are relishing in the fact that we DIYed a chair from drab to fab. In the future, we will definitely videotape when we are taking the upholstery apart to make the reupholsteryprocess seamless.

Since I'm still a bit hesitant with the staple gun, I was mostly directing or sitting around for this part while my husband did the brunt of the work with the staple gun. Finally, after about an hour of stapling, tugging and pulling, it was complete. This was our first venture into the world of upholstery and I can tell you I'm in love. Its amazing what a little elbow grease and fabric can do to a chair. 
And drumroll please...here it is:

Why did I choose this fabric? You'll find out in the next few days.  Now I ask you, what do you think
 What would you have done differently, different colours, stain, look
Have you recovered anything lately
Happy Stapling!
Ameera