Tag Archives: Shopping

Anthropologie: Here, At Last

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My life is now complete.  Anthropologie has finally made its way to Montreal.  Rumors of a store opening in my hometown began over a year ago, but nothing materialized until this past Friday.

Mel: Adam, do you realize how much money we’re going to save now?

Adam, admittedly confused: How do you figure?

Mel: Well, now that Anthropologie has opened here, we won’t have to travel to Toronto or New York to shop!  Think of all the money you’re going to save on gas, hotels, and food!

Twisted logic?  Who cares!  ANTHROPOLOGIE IS HEEEEEEEEEERE!!!!!

Have any of you visited the store yet??

New and notable finds:

Large White Oak Cutting Board

Large White Oak Cutting Board

Tufted Gingko Rug

Tufted Gingko Rug

Sliced Teak Mirror

Sliced Teak Mirror

Crank Span Dining Table

Crank Span Dining Table

Drawing Study Chair

Drawing Study Chair

Kilim Rose Bench

Kilim Rose Bench

Split-A-Wish Jewelry Holder

Split-A-Wish Jewelry Holder

Do you do you saint-tropez?

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Ahhh, vacation again.  This time, in Saint-Tropez.  Well, sort of.  Ok, not really but I can pretend.  Yesterday, while the men were out golfing, I drove north for an all-girls getaway, just me and my two mommas.  Nothing says girl time like a bit of shopping and  spa pampering.  First stop: the shops in Saint-Sauveur, where I came across a lovely shop named Marinette Saint-Tropez, with beautiful high-end linens from the south of France.  Swoon!!!  In talking with the owner, we learned that they have shops in various parts of France, and are mostly known for their curtains and quilts.  All the quilts are hand-made, with such delicate detail that you can almost imagine four women  sitting in a circle in a workshop by the sea, casually conversing as they toil away on this labor of love,  the  cool breeze hitting their sun kissed faces. That’s how I imagine it, anyway.

Surprise, surprise. I couldn’t leave empty-handed.  I couldn’t decide between 2 blankets, so…I bought both.  I have a reputation of always being cold (even in the dead of summer), so having more blankets around the house sounds necessary, doesn’t it?  (“Keep telling yourself that, Mel. Sighhhh” – Adam).  Not only are they stunning, but they are SO soft  - perfect for curling up with a book by the fireplace.

2 blankets, Marinette Saint-Tropez

Neutral Blanket, on Sofa

Lavender Blanket, Marinette Saint-Tropez

Montrealers, keep an eye out in the Westmount and Outremont areas for a store opening, because they’ve been feverishly trying to snap up a retail space to bring these goods closer to us.

I must really love my guests

Posted in Our Home by

The design elements of the guest bathroom are finally coming together and it’s getting clearer each day that she (yes, it’s a she) is going to be one fine beauty.

  • Tub, toilet, sink, and faucets – purchased and delivered  (Bain Depot)
  • Shower – purchased and picked up (Decor 25)
  • Dresser slash future vanity – purchased and picked up in Toronto (West Elm)
  • Lighting – purchased and delivered (Restoration Hardware)
  • Tiles – selected and partially purchased (Olympia Tile, La Tuilerie)
  • Vanity quartz countertop – measured and ordered (Moruzzi)
  • Door – purchased and awaiting pickup (Home Depot)  - yes folks, we need a new door.  Ours was only 24 inches wide – honestly can’t figure out why.  No new tub will be fittin in there, so new door it is.

Only a few things remain:

  • mirror
  • accessories: towel holder/hooks/shelves, toilet paper holder,
  • picking a paint color
  • Doing all the work!

I’ve put together a little mood board for you to get an idea of my plans for the bathroom.   I don’t know about you but I’ve been swooning over these tiles ever since I picked up the samples. The floor tile looks like wood (but it’s ceramic) and the large tile for the shower walls looks like marble (but it’s porcelain) – soooo purdy!!!

What do you think?

Guest Bathroom design elements

Crate & Barrel officially opens in Laval

Posted in Je T'aime Montreal, Velvet Love by

If you live in Montreal, you already know that we are often the last province to get any of the great American stores (we can probably thank the language police for that).  Remember how long it took for Forever XI and Sephora to make its way over to us?  I’m still waiting for an Anthropologie or West Elm to pop up, but I’m equally happy about the Crate & Barrel that opened in Carrefour Laval this week.  If there’s time, I may pop by this weekend or sometime during the week.  Have any of you been there yet?

Vienne Green 24" Barstool

Vienna Green 24″ Barstool, $230

Marimekko Albatrossi Beach Towel, at Crate & Barrel

Marimekko Albatrossi Beach Towel, at Crate & Barrel – $48

Ventana Natural Picnic Basket, $58

Ventana Natural Picnic Basket, $58

Starburst Mirror, $257

Starburst Mirror, $257Hector Bowl, $257

Hector Bowl, $257

Industrial Stools

Posted in Our Home by

If you live in Montreal or Toronto and have never visited a store called Phil’z, I urge you to stop what you’re doing and go. now.  This place has incredible stuff that you can’t really find elsewhere.

We found a couple of stools that we really liked during our visit to the Toronto store.  We needed 4 total, but they didn’t have 4 of each in stock.  After some himming and hawing and 20 minutes of staring at the stools, we decided to buy 2 of each.  The two look very different, but the industrial style and proportions work well together.

Black Industrial Stool

Backless Stool With Wooden Top

Stools Side by Side

How about you?  Do you prefer to buy all of the same or mix and match pieces?

PS – Phil’z 20th century design doesn’t seem to have a website, but here are the locations:

  • Montreal: 5298 St Laurent
  • Toronto: 792 Queen E

West Elm Frenzy

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I can’t help but feel like that predator fish in the Feeding Frenzy game each time I enter a West Elm store.  Wow, do I love that place.  I don’t think there has been a single time that I’ve left that store empty handed, and my recent trip to Toronto kept the tradition alive.  Hubby and I were on a mission that weekend:  to find stools for the kitchen island and a vanity for the upstairs guest bathroom.  I’ve been looking for both of those things in Montreal for quite some time without any luck.  The only options I liked were waaay out of my price range.  So off to Toronto we went, and in one short weekend we managed to find both and (ahem…) someotherthingsthatweren’tonmylistbutwouldneedthemeventually.

The bathroom vanity was quietly waiting for me at West Elm.  It wasn’t exactly a vanity, though.  More like a dresser that was having identity issues and I managed to convince it to let me cut a hole at the top for a sink and turn it into what it was always destined to be.   Yet another DIY project to add to the list… this one is a couple of months away as we’ll only start the bathroom reno once we’re done with our family room, but take a look at this beauty:

Stria 3-Drawer Dresser

So that was one item knocked off my list.  But then….I was in the store and found curtain rods for the kitchen and family patio doors and a lovely bed cover set for our bed.

The curtain rods have an industrial feel and will marry perfectly with the rest of the kitchen style.  Check it (I picked the rubbed iron one):

Industrial Pipe Rods - west elm

The bedding was much needed.  Although we’ve been loving our king size bed, we were still sleeping with queen-size blankets.  And since both of us are blanket hoggers, we ended up each sleeping with our own blankets and I silently cursed each time I had to make the bed.

I have to give credit where credit is due.  The combination of pillows and blankets was all Adam.  I think Adam has been subconsciously acquiring a great eye for design – some sort of osmosis by association.

What do y’all think?  Did he do a good job?

West Elm Bedding

1. Jacquard Leaf Euro Sham

2. Organic Plisse Blanket

3. Lexington Quilt

4. Hand Blocked Silk Casablanca Pillow Cover

Backsplash, countertops and couch, oh MY!

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A couple of weeks ago, you all voted on your favorite tile pattern for the kitchen backsplash.  While your selections ended up confusing me even more (thanks!), I decided to go with the ultra classic pattern, option #2:

Subway Tile, option 2

Main reason?  I am an amateur tiler, simple as that.  As much as I loved option 1, my newbie tiling skills would have most likely botched it.

Here’s what it looks like in our kitchen now (pre-grout):

Kitchen Backsplash, part 1

That is not all, folks.  We’ve been busy and striking a bunch of items off our to do list.

Our Cambria Quartz countertops got installed:

Newly installed Cambria Quartz countertop for kitchen hutch

For those of you who are wondering, the color is called Torquay. It’s a white-ish creamy-ish color with soft marble-like veins.

Torquay Cambria Quartz

All of the lighting has been installed; recessed cans, pendants and under cabinet LEDs.

pot lights installed

Hicks pendant, installed

How cute is this mat? Perfect for in front of the kitchen sink.  11$ at Homesense!!!  purrrrr.

Small rug in front of kitchen sink

AND!!!!!!!!!!  We bought a new sofa and coffee table for the adjoining family room (which is still under construction, ahem)

 New Sofa and Coffee Table

I took this pic at the Mobilia store, and it’s since been delivered to our home.  I really liked the look (and price) of this sofa but felt it was still a little too modern for my taste. Cue next DIY.  See those boxy black legs on the sofa? Gone!  I ordered some turned wooden legs on eBay to give the sofa a more classic look like this:

Oscar sofa by Matthew Hilton

  I also ordered nailhead trim (meowWWWW) to add along the bottom of the sofa.  Something like this, maybe?

Grey upholstered sofa with nailhead trim

Velvet Love: Circa Lighting

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Happy Sunday!

I’d like to introduce y’all to an incredible online and retail store for lighting: Circa Lighting.  I’ve seen their fixtures featured in some spectacular rooms via several design blogs and when I found out we were passing through Savannah on our drive back from Florida, I just had to pay them a visit.  And it didn’t disappoint.  In true southern form, the salesperson who greeted us was extremely friendly and helpful.  We learned that they ship anywhere within the US for free, and there’s no sales tax if they ship to NY (Plattsburgh NY would be the closest to Montreal, for us).  We could have it delivered to a shipping warehouse in Plattsburgh (e.g. Freeport Forwarding only charges a $5 storage fee for packages, and $1 for mail) and after a quick 1hr drive, those lights could be mine…all mine!!

Have a look at some of my favorites that I’m considering: (psst…can you notice a trend in the style I like?  I’ve been all about antiqued brass lately…lurve!!!)

boston swing arm wall lamp with slj shade

 Basil Flush Mount, Circa Lighting

colton 12-light chandelier, ralph lauren home

small mykonos chandelier, circa lighting

 small hicks pendant, circa lighting

small morris hanging lantern, circa lighting

Image Sources: Circa Lighting

Workin Hard on Labour Day Weekend

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Hello, from sunny and hot hot hot Florida!  My hubby and I are on a long-awaited vacation, with the goal of  doing a whole lotta nothing.  There’s nothing as good as sitting by the pool, reading a book, and recharging our batteries.  But, being in hurricane season, the pockets of thundershowers have forced us to go indoors every so often, leaving us no other choice but to find something else to do.  Ahem. “Honeyyyyy, can we go shopping? Pleeease?”  No really, the rain is SUCH a shame….
Every trip to Florida is incomplete without a trip to Anthropologie, muahaha.  Look what I found!!

Ikat mini bowl, by Anthropologie I grabbed 10 of these puppies.  Mini bowls with Ikat pattern and gold rim?  Helloooo!

I also got this Rosemary and Mint scented hand soap and cream, perfect for our future powder room!Pure & Good Hand Duo, Anthropologie

And the shopping isn’t over yet…We’ll be leisurely driving back up to Montreal, and our first stop will be in Savannah Georgia.  Adam doesn’t know what he’s in for.  I’ve mapped out our vintage furniture and lighting itinerary – oops!