The Way YOU Are- The Adventures of Skinny Mini Kiki

For today's The Way You Are post we get a special treat. My dear friend Chantale has opened up her home to let us all get a peek inside. She is one of the most encouraging and selfless people I know. She is always emailing me encouraging me and making me laugh. If you have not checked out her adorable blog The Adventures of Skinny Mini Kiki, please do so. She has the cutest family and her home is so gorgeous! Thank you Chantale for doing this, I know you are a busy Mama!

Chantale's favorite spot....

Leah, thank you so much for asking me be a part of your new The Way You Live series! I'm really honoured but scared silly too because you've posted some amazing interiors from some amazing people already.

You've asked us to show a favourite part of our house and I have to admit, the one room that stole my heart when we were looking for a new house 3 years ago is our now office/playroom. However, this is not the room that I want to showcase today. 1. Because it is always a work in progress and 2. Because it is in constant toy mess. lol. What I wanted to share with you and your readers today is our dining and living room. Our home has an open concept interior layout where the living, dining and kitchen areas flow into each other. I love open concept homes! The open airy feeling makes you feel welcome as soon as you set your foot over the front door threshold. We held off decorating and buying new furniture for years putting all our efforts into making our home child-safe and just enjoying being a family. However, the last 2 years we've been slowly removing all the child-safe gates, protectors etc and looking around for new furniture and updating our decor. What was especially hideous in our home was the dining room table and chairs. We inherited an 80's white stained oak table almost a decade ago and while it was serviceable, it looked horrible. Even after I had it sanded down and re-stained (which took me about a week to do myself), it was an eyesore and we were unable to have too many sit down dinner parties with it (it sat at maximum 6 people). I had even put up a bamboo screen behind our living room sofa to hide the dining room from sight.

After a long period of looking and not finding what we wanted, we finally contacted a furniture craftsman to create our dining room table and it turned out beautifully! It is scaled to our dining room perfectly and seats up to 10-12 people. Perfect for family gatherings and dinner parties! I found the antique windsor chairs online and I love it. Our furniture craftsman even took our old Ikea cabinets and stained it to match our new antique chairs and table! I love how the rooms flow now with tons of light filtering in from our windows. We've also been adding in new artwork on the walls and one of my favourites is the Miles Davis poster we purchased when we took our 5 year old to see the exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. I've also been finding new home decor stores opening up around my neighborhood and have been buying new accessories for our home. One of my favourite purchase has been a chrome ceramic owl!

Apart from finally getting a beautiful dining room table, our whole experience of having our table custom made has turned out to be a wonderful collaboration between my husband and I and the furniture craftsman responsible of making our idea come to life. In fact, we have started a company together called Mtl.Folio (www.mtlfolio.com) and we now create custom crafted wood furniture for a wide variety of clientele! Our business started a few months ago and has slowly picked up steam. Slow is good in the beginning as it gives us a chance to do a check balance of what needs to be improved upon and what we're doing right. So far, we've been garnering business through word of mouth and we're loving it! And to think.. it all started with a search for our perfect dining room table! Our home is by no means a Kelly Wearstler signature interior but it's our home and one that is warm and inviting. I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of it.

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The Way YOU Are

Sweet, adorable, and oh so stylish Mary from JPM Design is with us today to share a little peek into her favorite spot in her home. This room is so welcoming and tranquil, no wonder it's her favorite spot!

Mary's favorite spot....

I want to start out by thanking Leah for asking me to join in on the fun! I adore her blog and she has to be one of the sweetest girls out there, so I am so honored to get to contribute today!

My most favorite spot in my house would have to be my bedroom. Its hardly a master at only 11' x 11' feet but Ive made the most out of it. Since the space is so small Ive limited its functions to only relaxing and sleeping! Since I am always on the go its so nice to have a place to retreat to after a long, hard day.

When my fiance and I purchased our house I was rather stumped on what to do with the space. There is large, off-centered window above the bed so I came up with the idea of painting a mural on the wall to help balance things, visually. I hand drew and painted the cherry blossom tree branch and the room evolved from there. I like to think that the space has an eclectic, zen-like feel to it! I'm always on the hunt for a bargain, so the pillows are from Target, bedding is from Ikea, lamps are from Pier One, and nightstands are from TJMaxx.

Thanks again for including me :)
Mary

via JPM Design

The Way YOU Are- What's Up Whimsy

More, More, More! I am a sooo loving this series and don't want it to stop!

Shannon from What's Up Whimsy has such an incredible dining room! I am major loving it!

Shannon's favorite spot....

"I love this series that Leah has created because I love seeing into the homes of other bloggers - does that make me sound like a peeping tom? Ha ha. Anyways, that's why I love Leah's blog so much - she always sharing little projects that she is working on and additions to her home. Thanks so much for letting me share some pictures from my home Leah!

We are currently renters, so we aren't allowed to paint or do anything major. Even though we are limited in that regard, the dining room always brings a smile to my face. From the stainless steel dining table from Ikea (which gets dirty so easily!) to the painted sideboad; from the framed tea towels from Anthropologie to my blue plate wall; from my monstrously large Ikea pendant lamp to my rainbow-coloured bookshelf - I love it all! My son Keaton also likes to spend a lot of time in the dining room pushing around all his trucks under the table and throwing his bouncy balls around. We usually push the table up against the wall so he has more room to run around (and won't hurt himself!) If we weren't renting, I would paint the walls white because I love rooms that have white walls and lots of bright pops of colour! One day!!

Thanks again Leah for letting me participate! I can't wait to see what other bloggers' homes you feature!"

Thank you so much Shannon for letting us have a peek into your fabulous dining room! Seriously can we switch? lol

The Way YOU Are - Flip Flops and Pearls

So excited to show off a super cute bedroom! Jade from Flip Flops and Pearls has opened up her bedroom to let us have a peek inside. Jade is so sweet and I love her adorable blog!

Jade's favorite spot...

I want to thank Leah so much for asking be to be a part of her new, "The Way You Are" series! I love Leah and her blog; she has endless creativity and energy and it definitely shines through!

My absolute favorite spot in the house is my bedroom. I love it for the obvious reasons...it means sleep. I feel like I never get enough and it feels like heaven when the day is done and I am in bed :)

Since I was a little girl, every Christmas and birthday, I would ask for new bedding. Sign #1- I was destined to be a designer. I still ask for new bedding and I got this set two years ago for Christmas. I love the chocolate brown and the flocked velvet duvet. It is a good mix for my husband and I...the color scheme isn't too masculine or feminine.

So, there you have it! My favorite spot in my house...in fact, it's calling my name right now!

Thank you Jade! I can definitely see why you love this space so much, so cozy!
Luvs!

The Way YOU Are- The Fabulous Design File

Time for another peek inside yet another fabulous home, Carissa from The Fabulous Design File! I love this room!!!!!

Carissa's favorite spot...

I was so excited when Leah asked me to be part of this feature!Then I looked around my house and thought, uh oh... what room could I possibly share??? I love bits and pieces of most rooms in my house, but none of them are quite ready to show off on Leah's fabulous blog!!! Then I took a breath and realized that I was being a just a little bit crazy. Because really, I like it that my home is constantly evolving. It will probably never be "done." So here it is...

My favorite room is my dining room. It's the one room in my house that doesn't scream "two little boys live here!!!" I think that the best part is the wallpaper:

I love the chandelier... it was the first thing that I installed when we moved into the house. It lights up the metallic wallpaper and gives off a great sparkle in the evening.

The dining room is also home to a few treasures that I have collected: the sunburst clock that my sister found at a garage sale for $1, my gold thrift store lamp, and the old dresser that I rescued from my sister's garage (it was holding tools, now it stores my table cloths!)

Thanks again Leah! I think this is such a fun feature and I'm so excited to be part of it!

Thank you Carissa! Your dining room is gorgeous!!! The wallpaper is so fab and I am so happy you rescued that adorable dresser!!!

They Way YOU Are - The Decorista

So my total lack of self control is definitely showing through here because I just can't wait to show you one more favorite spot!

Ashlina from the The Decorista's favorite spot.....

Currently I am loving my bar area! Not because I drink, because I don't (the alcohol is for my roommate) but because of the decor! I love the way stripes instantly make you happy, kind of like a trip to jonathan adler, you are instantly happy! I also adore my vintage Vogue print that I majorly scored at a thrift store in West Hollywood. I often imagine who had it before me, and dream that she must have been a super stylish gal. The chic flapper girl sitting atop the zebra, just brings an instant cheer to my face. Not to mention, the lovely way vintage trays and glassware all mixed together just instantly add a nod of nostalgia to a space. So very Mad Men. I love it all and right now this is my favorite spot...totally vintage, totally glamorous!

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The Way YOU Are- Good Girl Gone Glad

I am so glad you all are enjoying this series as much as I am! I LOVE seeing real peoples homes, so inspiring!

And now Jesse's favorite spot from Good Girl Gone Glad.....!

I want to start by saying how excited I am to be a part of this series. Thank You Leah! Our home has definitely been a work in progress. Now that my twins are 4 years old it is making decorating so much easier. I think we all tell ourselves we will just tell our children no, and teach them not to touch things you don't want them too. But in my case, I had a 20 month old and then had twins. So that wasn't really an option for me. I was out numbered. I couldn't be everywhere. So recently I have been working on my living room and it is quickly becoming my favorite space. I recently painted this cabinet...

Layering it with my favorite mementos of family. Like these shoes my grandmother
kept from when I was a baby, along with a photo of her and I.

This is my favorite spot to sit and blog. Mostly because I get to sit and enjoy the view...

Of my newly stenciled wall. I love the look of wallpaper, but just couldn't commit
to it. So the next best thing was to stencil it. I chose to use a gloss finish on the design
to give it a nice sheen against the flat paint. So at night when I sit to read and blog,
the wall gives off a lovely glow. I am still looking for two other round mirrors to flank
either side of the mirror I have up there. Just haven't found the right thing yet. I hope
that my space might inspire you. I know reading all of the wonderful blogs gives me
so much inspiration.

Thank You Leah, for having me today!

The Way YOU Are- Starfish and Sundresses

I was going to be patient and do one post per week of this series but I can already tell that that is going to be very hard! Okay so seriously just one more for this week okay?!!!

Today we are getting a peek inside Lindsay's home from Starfish and Sundresses. I love Lindsay and her blog so much, her taste is always right on and she never ceases to inspire me!

Lindsay's favorite spot.....

I like to think of every room in our house as a bit of a work in progress but the living room is definitely one of the spots I'm most happy with. It's actually undergone quite the transformation since we've moved and I think the sweat equity we put in is part of the reason I love it so much. The previous owner had painted all of the walls bright yellow with the exception of the fireplace wall which was painted chocolate brown. It literally looked like we were living in a rotten banana! Luckily, there are few things a fresh coat of paint can't improve so we got out our rollers and went to work.

Now the living room is one of our favorite spots to hang out and I'm very happy with how it's evolved. A few favorites in the room include beach prints by Christian Chaize, a lucite coffee table I scored off Craigslist, and a faux bamboo mirror my mom snagged at a local antique mall. Another aspect I love is the fire place. From the second I saw it I was daydreaming about roaring fires and cups of hot chocolate over flowing with marshmellows. Did I mention this was in March? Needless to say, it was an easy sell and I'm sure I'll be loving my favorite spot even more once the cooler weather hits DC.

A big thank you to Leah for inviting me to share my favorite space. I hope you've enjoyed a little peek!

via Starfish and Sundresses
Thank you Lindsay!

The Way YOU Are- 6th Street Design School

I am so excited to start this new series that I have been wanting to start for a while now. It's called The Way You Are. It's a series where we get to see a sneak peak in some of YOUR fabulous homes. I have asked a few fellow bloggers to participate and if you would like to participate too (which I would be thrilled to have you) please please please shoot me an email!

So to kick off this series we are getting to see a peak into the home of the amazing and talented Kirsten from
6th Street Design School. I have asked to see your favorite spot in your home and this is what she chose!

By the way go check out Kirsten's newest series called Good Design with Kids in Mind where she asks a panel of experts, including me, questions about keeping a stylish home while raising kiddos. It is so amazing!!

Kirsten's Favorite Spot......

My favorite spot in my home is my office. I love coming in here and working on design projects. I also love the colors in this room. The blue is very soothing while the pops of dark pink make it feel feminine and fun. My very favorite things in this room are my desk chair and my rug. The rug is so soft and sometimes while I'm working on my computer my son Jett will come and just lay on the rug. He loves it too.

It is so nice to have a space all to myself. Even though this room is very small I feel like it is all organized and everything has a place. In my stressful and busy life having organization is essential. I also love having my desk next to a window. I love the view of the mountains outside this window.

If I had this office I am sure this would be my favorite spot too!
Thank you Kirsten!