The Friday Five: Things on My Mind

Here’s what been on my mind lately.

1. Emma González

Emma González amazes me. The March for Our Lives movement amazes me. I know the march has passed, and change hasn’t happened overnight. But change will happen. It has to.

2. Colorscape

I liked this short Colorscope video by Jocie Juritz about the colour white. (via SwissMiss)

3. Script to Screen Instagram

The Instagram account Script to Screen is entertaining (via Cup of Jo).

4. Book progress

The final deadline for our book is in a couple of weeks. This makes me so happy. Stay tuned for launch date this fall. Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas? Hint. Hint.

5. Pray for Humboldt

Tragic news about the bus crash in Saskatchewan last Friday. Absolutely devastating for the young kids, families, and community. If you didn’t hear the news, a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos young hockey team crashed with a transport truck. The crash claimed the lives of 14 people and 15 were injured. Read the Prime Minister’s statement about this tragedy if you’d like.

One Room Challenge: Laundry Room – Week 2

Well, my first impression of the One Room Challenge event is great! I have been enjoying learning about the people and the projects in this new-to-me community. There are so many creative people out there doing beautiful things, and I encourage you to have a look at the One Room Challenge featured designers and guest participants to be inspired about home renovations and interior design.

As you may remember, I’m currently tackling a laundry/bathroom renovation (see my Week 1 post for before photos). I keep calling the space my laundry room, but, in fact, this space serves a dual purpose. I primarily use it for my weekly laundry sessions, but it is also used as a guest bathroom. I was fortunate to have a finished and functioning space when I moved into my home five years ago, but it was beyond dated.

A refresh has been in the pipeline for quite some time.

The layout of the space – laundry, sink, toilet – will not change in my new space. But I have broken down a wall to squeeze in a shower. This is major. This has required quite a bit of plumbing.

While my family and I tackled the demo, I have four people working on putting things back together: a framer/drywaller, a plumber, a tiler, and my dad (aka pseudo-electrician). Each person is super skilled, and while I hadn’t worked with three of these people prior to my project, they have each lived up to my standards of high quality craftsmanship. These people are gems, let me tell you! I feel very lucky!

My framer, plumber, and electrician were the first people on the scene. My framer took down existing doors, installed (or reinstalled) studs, and installed a pocket door.

While the framer took a bit of a break, the plumber got to work. I had a lot of items on my plumbing to do list on this job: installation of brand new shower plumbing, switch out/clean up of old pipes, installation of new ball-valve switches, etc. The space got dusty and messy, and I enjoyed watching the progress each day.

This laundry/bathroom turned open concept!

a grid of pipes and 2x4s

This p-trap makes me happy because it means a more efficient plumbing set-up for my laundry and sink.

I lived with a trench for a little while.

There wasn’t much left of the original floor. No loss there!

And because I know some of you like to see pretty things during the One Room Challenge recaps, here’s the art I’m going to use in my new room:

Clothespins (c/o)

I encourage you to check out what the One Room Challenge guest participants and featured designers have been up to during week 2.

Note: See my Week 1 post to get updated on my One Room Challenge project.

Interiors: The Beach House

I still have cottage life on my brain, and I imagine it’s going to get even stronger as the good weather arrives. So I’ve been floating around Pinterest looking at beach houses, and oh my goodness, there are so many beauties out there in the world!

Isn’t the kitchen below from Amber Interiors just gorgeous? Could you imagine having a beach house with this stunner? Wow!

Amber Interior Design

And this bathroom? Sweet, right? You know I’m not usually drawn to patterns, but I think this floor is so charming, and it would be so lovely in a cottage.

Cortney Bishop Design

And what would a beach house be without a couple of hanging chairs. They’re a must!

AirBnB

Marketplace: BLANCO Canada

I’m pretty excited about what’s developing in my laundry/bathroom combo room. It took a few weeks to get going, but things are moving along now. One of the brands that I am working with on this project is BLANCO.

Not only are BLANCO’s products very much to my liking design-wise, but I love the history of this company. It has been family-owned since 1925, and its products are known for their German engineering and high quality. The BLANCO Canada products are manufactured in Canada, which definitely pleases me.

The team at BLANCO set me up with a white-white-white sink and faucet combination that are going to be put to work in my new space.

BLANCO Liven Silgranit

The Liven sink is made from BLANCO’s well-known Silgranit material, which is extremely durable material that comes in seven colours. It can be undermount of overmount. I have a white one (naturally), but the Cinder and Metallic Gray also caught my attention. Since I’ve had a normal (small) vanity sink in this space for the last five years, I’m very eager to have a large workhorse moving forward.

As for the faucet? My plumber will be installing BLANCO’s Urbena faucet. It is so sleek and clean – just what a white laundry room needs!

BLANCO Urbena faucet

While there’s a good chance that you like the Liven and Urbena as much as I do, you may be curious about other items in the BLANCO collection. Not to worry – everything else is lovely, too.

 BLANCO Quatrus apron-front sink

BLANCO Profina sink

BLANCO Panera faucet

BLANCO Solenta faucet

Thanks to BLANCO Canada for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own. Photos via BLANCO.