Upstairs Colour Scheme!

Planning is well underway for renovating the upstairs apartment of our house.  We have some boring but necessary stuff in the works (attic insulation) and some much more exciting stuff too (bathroom reno anyone?).  More on those projects later.

We've been digging through our fan decks and paint chips to come up with a colour scheme.  One blog that's been really helpful in the process is the Colour Collective.  Essentially the whole blog is a series of colour schemes pulled from inspiring (often fashion related) images.  Here are a few of our favourites:

There's a good chance it might change, but here is the colour scheme we have come up with so far:

The colours are all Benjamin Moore.  From left to right, they are:

• cc-670, Gray Wisp
• 2147-40, Dill Pickle
• 2034-50, Acadia Green
• cc-250, Seaspray
• 2063-20, Down Pour Blue
• HC-172, Revere Pewter
• 2051-60, Birds Egg

Once September rolls around, we'll be able to start painting!

Rick Pottruff's Search Engine City @ the AGH

For the last few weeks I've been catching glimpses from the street of a new large scale art piece in the entrance foyer of the Art Gallery of Hamilton.  I finally went in for a closer look the other day and I was blown away!

The piece, entitled Search Engine City is by local artist Rick Pottruff.  The drawing was completed on site and is filled with images of industry, traffic, fantastical machines, and more.  Pictures truly don't do the piece justice.  There are so many layers of detail - it's the type of drawing that one could look at a hundred times and still find something new.

It will be on display until August 21st and if you're in the Hamilton area, it is well worth seeing in person!  Here a few more images of the piece to whet your appetite:

Front Garden Inspiration

Spring has been teasing us for weeks now...a warm day here and there followed by cold, wind, and even some snow!  So, our outdoor projects remain in the planing stages.  In addition to tackling a major paint job on the front of our house, we're hoping to do some landscaping in our front yard.

We came across this front yard in the May issue of House and Home magazine:

It's simple but effective.  Just 3 types of plants:  Purple flowering vinca, Calgary Carpet juniper, and Morning Light maidenhair ornamental grasses.  The front walk is Indiana limestone flagstone, and the frame around the maple grove is made from corten steel.  Here are some detail shots:

The steel frame adds a really great sculptural element.  The rusty orange colour works perfectly against all the green vegetation.  That said...those 4 maple trees are going to get pretty darn big.  We definitely don't want such large specimens overshadowing the front of our house.  Perhaps something smaller/ornamental could work too though.

Surely some real spring weather is just around the corner...we may not get to the whole front yard this year, but I am hoping to at least tackle the front walk.  Come on spring!!!

-kyle