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| Style at Home Magazine February 2013. Photography by Donna Griffith.
The publication of Gail's kitchen in the February issue of Style at Home is an exciting full-circle moment of sorts. Its the first project since having this blog that I've documented the process from initial meeting to magazine right here on the blog and on twitter.
Its been a long process to complete this circle including a year since the time of the shoot to publication. Gail and her family have been enjoying this new kitchen (and also the renovated family room and adjoining mudroom) for two years now and she loves it as much, if not more today then when she moved into it in the late fall of 2010. I've enjoyed a glass of wine and delicious food at this island several times over the past two years and to see the joy in Gails eye's as she thrives in this new space is truly gratifying for me. The absolute best part of any job for me is when I actually see the completed space being used just as I had envisioned in even my earliest sketches. Its rare to actually see her kitchen empty like this, as its the hub of this home and always, always buzzing.
Without a doubt the most satisfying compliment for me is when visitor's tell Gail, even though its all new and is in a addition to the house, that they feel like this kitchen has always been there, that it feels like it originally belongs to their century old house. And that, for me, is exactly what I was hoping to achieve.
You can check out the full feature in the current issue on-line to digital subscribers at zinio.com and on news stands this week across Canada. I absolutely love how photographer Donna Griffith so beautifully captured the space and how Ann Marie Favot's simple styling had the perfect touch. I'll be posting some more photos from my own portfolio shoot (also shot by Donna) at Gail's in the weeks ahead.
Thank you Donna, Ann Marie, Bethany and the entire team at Style at Home!
You can check out older posts on Gail's kitchen thru the links below:
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Happy Holidays 2012
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| Angus & Company |
It was especially sweet to visit one of my absolute favorite shops in Toronto, Angus & Company, to do some sourcing. I've said before that if there was any shop in Toronto I could just move in to it would be this one. When I walk thru this shop I find it intoxicating, it just hits all the right notes for me and resonates with my personal taste. To be able to see the shop dressed up for the season was uplifting and motivating knowing what I can look forward to in my own home next year. The simple use of seasonal greens, white flowers and candles epitomizes my idea of beautiful holiday decor. I just wanted to plop down, put my feet up and sip some eggnog.
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| Angus & Company |
A faux fur throw is one of my must have cold weather accessories. If you want to add instant luxurious coziness to a room,,,throw one of these over a chair, sofa, or bed. I own two different ones and am actually sad to put them away when the warmer temps arrive. Aside from the paper whites, candles and furry blanket,,,,my favourite touch is the teddy bear sitting in the evergreen wreath!
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| Angus & Company |
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| Angus & Company |
I simply couldn't leave without taking both of these guys with me. They were my carry-on baggage for my flight back to Halifax (they even got a big smile out of the security screener).
Whether this holiday season was full of old traditions, new traditions or transitions....I wish you peace, joy and good health in the new year to come!
Cheers,
Carol
Looking Up - Our New Roof
Choosing New ROOF Shingles For Our Old House
Our house renovations have been progressing at a snail's pace, read, not progressing at all. The time has come to make some changes on that front and get some new energy on this project! On the bright side,,things are looking up, at least on the outside. We were lucky to enjoy some warm autumn temps throughout November and we managed to get a new roof installed. Selecting the actual roof shingles was something I angsted over for weeks and even though I was pretty discouraged by the options available to chose from, I'm completely thrilled with our final choice.
I've always considered a cedar shake roof the dream roof choice, its natural texture and patina are my idea of the quintessential roofing material especially for an East Coast character home. Is there anything more classic and timeless? I didn't however, consider a cedar shake roof as a viable option for our house for several reasons, but I did want to find something that evoked that same character. After viewing what was available at the local building centres and spending weeks driving around looking up at roofs everywhere I went, I realized that finding a shingle I liked (other than cedar shake) wasn't going to be easy, or fun.
There are some amazing alternate and eco friendly shake alternatives that I found but they proved to be more than 3X the upfront cost of an architectural asphalt shingle. Needless to say, with an entire interior reno still ahead of me, furniture, landscaping,,,,and a future barn conversion I wasn't compelled to splurge and bust the budget on this very first reno decision. The roof is one of, if not the most important protective element of the home and a prominent aesthetic feature so its certainly not where I wanted to scimp either. I was determined though not to pick something simply because I hated it the least but at one point it was looking that way....
Have you shopped for roof shingles lately? Around these parts these are predominantly what you'll find in the architectural asphalt shingle category (above) and they just weren't appealing to me. I'm not fond of the high contrasting multi-tones which look very 'patchwork' and unnatural to me and I really wasn't a fan of the heavy black line that was common on many - meant to simulate shadow lines and create the illusion of depth but I felt it just looked very faux even from a distance.
This is an example of the patchwork effect I felt many of the architectural shingles looked like. : / Often you may not realize by looking at the display board how multi-coloured and contrasting the overall effect will be. I drove around and looked at local installations of specific shingles so I could see the effect in person and it was always surprising how much different they looked from the sample and how much their appearance changed depending on the slope of the roof, time of day and colour of the house itself.
I was looking for a very warm medium dark grey with subtle tone variations, easier said than found. Until I came across this one (above) on line which looked like it ticked all the boxes so we headed to Halifax to check them out in person. Of course the display sample looked quite different from the current stock on the shelves (common) so we bought several sheets and brought them home...something I highly recommend doing.
We tried them out on the back of the house, and looked at them at different times of the day....
And we tried them out on the front of the house. Decison made. Timberline's HD Canadian Driftwood was our pick.
Early on in the installation, our first glimpse of what a larger area of these shingles would look like....
The front of the house now complete and we were really happy with the texture and colour. It doesn't look "patchworky", the subtle tones of grey look more as if they are naturally weathered as opposed to multi-coloured or simulated.
As the sun was setting you can see how the sunlight effects the colour and shadows at various times of the day.....
You can really see the textural effect the architectural shingles add to the roof. Its certainly not a substitute for cedar shake but I think the tones and dimension of these have that natural look to them that I was seeking.
And dusted with an early morning frost,,,if you squint your eyes,,they almost,
almost
might be mistaken for cedar shake. ; ) Good choice.
But the best part of all is, NOW we can move forward with the rest of the house renos!!!
All Photos by: Carol Reed
