home decor – Jemstory

A Home Grown Flora Fascination

09/20/21

I loved the feel of the home we stayed in during our time in the more northern area of The Netherlands 🖤

Here, it’s somewhat described as ‘landelijke stijl’, roughly translated to ‘country style’. If I could replicate it to a degree with a little bit of my color love thrown in, I think I’d be pretty pleased with the result 🤪

It’s like, a classy boho/vintage with old charm thrown in, a blending of old and new, and so many textures…

New velvet, well loved leather, a sheepskin throw atop a wooden chair.

Little details all coming together to make for a home that’s not only comfortable, but also interesting.

Our hosts were also very nice, which I think in no small part lent to the homey atmosphere 😉👌🏻

Permission was asked, and granted for the sharing of these images 😉

Many of you may know them via their businesses,

They do plants.

Like, lots of plants.

We’ve even seen their products in Wilson’s Lifestyle Centre in Saskatoon!
Which is actually a very Dutch like store, many products even say outright ‘from the Netherlands’.

But, back to the story at hand…

As they have their own business, Monday morning came with work, which Mike was able to tag along for.
I happily stayed back and enjoyed some downtime, sitting and writing, while Lake slept 👌🏻
By the time they returned it was near lunchtime and all the family returned to the house for it. Which was nice because then we got in more time to hang out even though it was a work day.
Afterwords, we packed up and headed out to visit the cousins at their perspective work places as well as the store front.

Exploring those areas, we learned about the costs and time it takes to start new plants, how they securely pack the plants for shipping out and so on.

It’s interesting stuff, but as a non plant enthusiast/life giver, it all seems stressful to me in the fact that you can just let your profit literally die 😂

Supper was being made for us at some friends whom we previously always visited when we went to South Africa!
They moved back to her home, her being from Holland, so now we got to see them here and each of us had a new babe as well.
How things change 🤪
I had to walk outside with Lake for a while to get him down for a nap, but after that, we had a nice dinner and visit together. Catching up, discussing houses, work, babes and all the highlighted areas adult life encompasses, before we headed away from the Groningen area, and back to Doesburg.

* I ask that you do your best to ignore any spelling mistakes, as on my iPad the set up is different, and I can’t find an easy way to do a spelling / grammar check. Thank you for your understanding

A Menagerie of Makeovers

Summertime, is a busy time. With yard work finally able to be taken care of and everyone wanting to enjoy every moment of warm summer sunshine. Though it’s typically a bit busy, it’s also a time that beckons for projects to be done, so thus, I undertook a few smaller things and decided to share them here ☺️

Starting with a coffee table.
I’d been keeping my eyes open for a coffee table on the local buy and sell pages for sometime.

Wanting a change from ours but nothing too pricey and also wanting it to be something a little less detrimental to small noggins, as Lakes mobility increased.

It took sometime, but I’m happy with the waiting as it lead me to this $50 table that was in Birch Hills.

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We picked it up one Sunday after church and in the following days, it got taped off and the legs were spray painted gold.

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I like using the Design Master Brilliant Gold spray paint from Michael’s for a slightly antiqued looking gold color ☺️

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A couple coats later and violà, ‘a new to our home’ coffee table that I’m very pleased about 😁

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Next up was a mirror that’s been sitting in our garage for literally years.

It came with a dresser I’d purchased second hand when we’d first moved and then once the house reno was completed, the dresser didn’t actually work anywhere.

I’d had the idea for sometime to do an anthro-esque inspired DIY to the mirror but just never got around to ordering the required things/pulling it out to do it.

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I hesitate to undertake anything that requires sanding these days, as I have to time it juuuust right to not only get the sanding done but also have time for a shower afterwords, all while Lake naps.

So that’s another reason I just never seemed to be able to get around to finishing it 🤪

I sanded it down and admit to unfortunately scratching the mirror with the sandpaper 😒

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So be cautious of that if you do any such similar project.

After sanding and wiping it down, I taped off the mirror itself using painters tape and Amazon packaging paper 🤪

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I ordered these wooden plaques from Amazon and spray painted them along with the wooden frame of the mirror.

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I had to wait for Mike to get a chance to cut the bottom flourishy bits, as I didn’t want to attempt it and break them, as I most likely would have since I lack skill and patience 🤪🙈

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Using wood glue, I placed the appliques where I wanted them and… once again, a mini makeover was completed and I was very pleased with the end result!

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I’d originally thought it would go in our bathroom if we got around to a refresh in there, but we never did… so now it’s done, but has no home. For now I placed it on the dresser in our living room, though I’m not certain I like how it looks with the staircase wall behind, being smaller than the mirror.

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(Peekaboo to the little misbehaving stair climber;)

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Oh well, it’ll work somewhere eventually I’m sure 😉

Last and quite literally least (in amount of effort anyways) to be honest, was this little wooden bowl from our local antique store ☺️

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We stopped in there one Saturday and after looking around, I took this wooden bowl home for $5.00.

I quickly sanded it and though it took away the woods various colors more than I expected, I didn’t mind too much.
I got some liming wax from my sister and quickly applied some to the sanded and cleaned surface with a rag and that was it.

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A simple Saturday salvagery that left me with a beachy wooden bowl to use for whatever I desire ☺️

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Small Space Storage Solution

This little space beside the stairs in our homes entryway, was always been a bit of an eyesore and a convenient ‘catch all’ area that would look very messy, very fast 😬

We had the entry closet to store some things in but after putting a small freezer in there, that storage went away too.
With babester on the way, I finally drew out an idea and got the husbster to sit down with me and measure out some IKEA pieces to use for the creating of my vision.

Turns out, he was not at all pumped to create it 😬🙈
BUT, he did a fabulous job in the end 😅

Mom helped me assemble some of the pieces so they’d be ready to go when Mike finally had some time. Which happened to be the day after we got back from our baby moon, hence the suitcases you can see below.

Once he had secured the base, we contemplated what to do for a top. The length of the whole bench was a bit too long to use the boards we’d planned on using, as they all had a little bit of twist to them, making installation too difficult.
We went with a piece of birch plywood to put on top, as per a suggested idea from the mumsie 🤓

Edging to give the front a finished look was available in the matching color and that went on simply by ironing and then going behind that and pressing it on firmly with a rolling pin.

Kinda funny that two house items I avoid, the iron and rolling pin, were actually needed for a reno project 🤪

I of course spray painted the knobs that came with the cupboard/drawer fronts, gold 🤪👌🏻

I tested out a few different sealers my mom happened to have and ended up going with clear, ‘Diamond Finish’ Varathane . I applied three coats, letting it dry, as well as giving it a super duper light sanding and wipe down, between each coat.

I’m SO happy with how it turned out and somehow, it still always floors me how FILLING a space, can actually make it feel bigger.
Now we have good bench for putting on shoes, storage for shoes and other odds and ends as well as a very handy place to set the car seat, diaper bag, mail etc. when you enter the house.

Price break-down –

$180.00 – 2 Kallax shelf units
$40.00 – 4 Kallax door inserts
$80.00 – 4 Kallax drawer inserts
(All in high gloss white)
$45.00 – 1 Sheet of birch plywood from Rona
$10.00 – 1 Pack edge banding from Rona
$10/20 – Clear finish – not certain on the price as I used my moms and used very little + misc. screws, applicable taxes etc.

Be Our Guest

The guest room/bathroom was our last ‘room’ to be completed, unfortunately so, since we had a fair number of guests before it was even remotely occupational and now due to 2020’s travel issues we’ve had none 🙈🤪

Here you see it in some of its former grandeur…

From left to right – What is now the bed nook. What is now the little countertop area. What is now the bathroom.

Once a layout was decided on, the wall building and drywalling etc. began.

I wanted to make use of the space that was available behind the door, (the far right photo above) so a closet would be installed, new handles put on it from Amazon and then it was filled with bedding/home items, so our storage room could be used for more tool-y bits etc.

Due to a mishap from the store, we had one box of flooring that didn’t match the rest, so Mike did some super fancy puzzling and STILL managed to complete the floor without it, since he already had the glue on the floor and the store was over an hour away.
He literally used EVERY piece of flooring we had and I’m still not sure how he did it 😂
He said he’d never had so few scraps 🙈 I ordered peel and stick tiles from Amazon for accent flooring in the bathroom area… we really went for that ‘use all the leftovers’ and ‘peel and stick stuff’ in the basement 😅 Honestly though, I’ve been super happy with how the peel and stick tiles have looked and held up 🙌🏻

Here it is ‘finished’ but yet, far from it 🤪

And now, as it currently stands…

The vanity in the bathroom is from Ikea.

It was $70.00 or so dollars, came with the vanity top and I was happily surprised with how much room it actually has inside!
The legs were spray painted gold and the brushed gold faucet, towel holder and toilet paper holder were purchased months earlier, on sale from Home Depot. The mirror in the bathroom is from Winners.

A sliding door was installed for the bathroom.
Mike found the roller part of it on sale so that’s why we decided to go that route, though it makes sense to use that style, so that the floor space doesn’t have to be clear for a door to swing open.

A potential problem with guests being so slovenly with their suitcases and such 🤪
The door itself was purchased on the local buy and sell page and the exact style I wanted 👍🏻

We had these Art Deco style door plates from one of our many projects/finds/I don’t exactly know where but they worked as little finger pulls on the door, while adding much visual pleasure 💗

A shelf was installed in this open nook area to give some more space to place things upon/add some character to the room.
We covered it using marble drawer liner, so it would match the nightstands and brackets from Ikea were sprayed gold and installed as a decorative aspect.
The mirror is once again from Winners 😏
The blue vase is actually one we bought when living in Holland and the dried leaves are from the palm plant I killed 😜 Our extra bar stools fit beneath it perfectly, so that worked out wonderfully, storage wise👌🏻

I find a lot of simple pleasure in making up the ‘welcome basket’ and putting little oft forgotten necessities in the bathroom. Probably more pleasure in that preparation than the actual action of having guests 😂

The duvet cover is from Amazon and though there is something about it I’m not 100% sold on, it couldn’t be returned due to having been washed, so for now it will be kept ☺️
I love the colors in it and the idea of the tropical design but as I said… there just seems to be something that’s a little ‘off’ 🧐
Adding the headboard and getting rid of the pink rug helped a lot though.

The headboard was a $5.00 find at our local ‘Habitat For Humanity’ and after a light sanding, vacuuming and washing, Mike attached it to the wall and I’m super happy with it 😁

The little ‘nightstands’ were made using small leftover pieces of countertop from the Mac House Makeover! 😁
We also made sure to put power outlets on each side of the bed for easy device charging 🙌🏻

Walls/ceiling were also insulated where possible, since the room is below the kitchen and beside the laundry room, two decently high traffic areas that could hinder ones guests restful mornings 🤓

I still want to add a few finishing touches here and there, art above the bed for example. I just don’t know when I will get around to such things, so I decided it was high time to share this, the last real ‘made over’ space in our home ☺️

Prepared For Landing – A Nursery Reveal

1 week and 4 days until Baby H’s due date and his room is now officially completed! And none to soon I think 🤪

Since our house only has the option of two bedrooms upstairs or one in the basement, it was a simple choice of where the newest addition will be dwelling.

Upstairs… in my craft room 🤪

Meaning I had to sort, discard and disperse my craft/art supplies throughout other areas of the house, which was no tiny task if we’re being honest… though it was rewarding because I do SO enjoy getting rid of items and finding new, usable spaces in our home 🙈

I put together an idea board for how I was envisioning the rooms transformation and so it began…

Continue reading “Prepared For Landing – A Nursery Reveal”

Upcycled Accent Storage

Back in February while Mike was away visiting his family in Holland, I finally decided to take the time and tackle the makeover of this piece we salvaged from the items in the Mac house makeover 🤓

Firstly it got a good scrubbing with some TSP cleaner.
Next it was taken apart and I gave it a light sanding, followed by another wipe down/vacuum.

The entire process ALWAYS takes longer than one first thinks when looking at a potential project, so this was done over two full days with multiple breaks, delays, movies for background noise and nourishment stops 🤪

I gave the dresser a coat of primer and while that dried, took the old hardware and gave it a vinegar/baking soda soak and scrub before spray painting it all gold ☺️

Mumsie had dark teal/blue paint in the color I had envisioned so luckily I was able to use that and love how it turned out.

It took multiple coats and I had to first brush the paint in the cracks and then roll it on the remaining surfaces to get full coverage.

After I’d got it all painted, the doors were to thick/tacky to actually close, so I had to shave them down… it was a soft wood and I was able to do it using a utility knife.

Thankfully so because I don’t like power tools and that would have meant needing Mike around for completion and I really didn’t want to wait for him to finish this thing that I had started in order to semi surprise him when he returned home 🤪

He did have to install some sleek new gold handles and magnetic cupboard latches when he retuned but after that, it was officially and totally transformed! The gold handles were purchased from Amazon.

The dried palms displayed are actually from my own palm plant.

When one leaf starts to die, I cut and save it to dry and use for filler… maybe not the most beautiful thing I could find but it is free and I have contemplated being able to spray paint them if I want them to look a little more ‘purchased’.🤪

I’m super pleased with how the dresser itself turned out and am always game for extra storage 🤓👌🏻

The decor vibe in the basement is semi different from our upstairs and I’ve struggled a bit with it but I like the sort of ‘eclectic/travel vibe’ that I feel it is now starting to embody, in part to this piece 🙂

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