be mine, valentine

I'm not really a fan of Valentine's Day. I didn't like it when I was single, and I still don't really like it now that I'm married. It just seems too contrived, too forced to do something nice for a loved one on a designated day. I don't think I'm alone in my thinking here. I had a single friend traveling to Australia from the US and scheduled the long flight so that she set out on February 13th, and landed in Sydney on February 15th...and conveniently missed V-day altogether! Brilliant!

All of that said, I have seen some pretty cute Valentines on the web that are a bit more unconventional, or perhaps 'un-Hallmarky' that just might change my mind about this holiday.

Teeny, mini Valentines letters and packages! How adorable!
By The World's Smallest Postal Service {via Design*Sponge}

Not sure what you would use this for, but I thought it was cute...
by Something's Hiding in Here {via Oh So Beautiful Paper}

Sweet matchbox candy Valentines by Inchmark

You know my fascination for typography! A lovely poster by Uppercase.


Cute embroidered hankies from Lou Lou and Oscar {via Oh So Beautiful Paper}

Atypical, stalkerish Valentines cards from Bittersweet Projects.

Have a wonderful weekend!

the house of my dreamies

Look at this amazing home on Dundas West that is in this issue of Design Lines Magazine! The owners are a fashion designer and an artist/contractor so no surprise they designed such a gem!

They kept the storefront and made it a small clothing shop on the first floor. The basement is her studio...can you imagine all that space to play bloomers?? And then the second floor is their kitchen/living room area with big, huge beautiful windows letting in tons of lght. On the third floor are bedrooms and an artist studio. And finally the top is a rooftop patio!

I wanna to take a whole building and make it my house too! No fair!

the decor in it's complicated

I know, I know, everyone's been talking about it - how pretty the movie It's Complicated is! Well...it is. It's a cute and funny movie as it is (I laughed out loud..oh, sorry...I mean, LOL-ed), but my goodness me, the bakery and the kitchen decor makes it a DEFINITE must see. And if you haven't already googled it yourself, here's some pics from the movie...

The bakery ...looks like a 'Bloomer dream come true...

The gorgeous kitchen...

{pics 1 - 4 from designinglifeinmiami; pics 5 - 10 from remodlista}

red and yellow together...not in mcdonalds?

When we were organizing our condo for the bathroom renovation we had to take apart our living room/kitchen/dining room area and store it in the bedrooms. In the process, I started re-decorating in my head - always looking for an opportunity! We have a bright red arm chair in the living room. Our kitchen, which is open to the dining/living area has a bright red retro espresso machine on the counter. I also have in storage a pale yellow retro toaster that I love but originally thought would look funny with all the colours going on. We also have in storage an old antique sideboard at me Pa's that we are going to refinish and paint red for use in the dining area. And then on the weekend we popped by one of my fave shops Chatelet on Queen West we found these adorable vintage knobs that are a pale yellow and red. We bought them to put on the sideboard....do you see where I'm going with all this? Its like all of a sudden I can only see everything in red and yellow but in a nice not McDonalds way? McDonalds has had the monopoly on this colour palette for way too long and I think it is time to release it!

This looks really nice to me! Only problem is, we will have more black or dark accents then the white. I think the white makes this look as good as it does. I found this picture here.


This is similar to our side board! I could find a cute yellow rug for under the dining table instead of for the dog dishes for the dog we don't have! This one is from decor pad blog.


Maybe this is a bit ketchup and mustard...ours would be more accents of colour then the walls in the apartment but I commend them for their boldness! This is from the My Flat in Paris blog...if I had a flat in Paris I'd be bold too.

I really like this combo of colours...the light blue, red and light yellow...a twist on primary colours. But not for a living room...it would make me happy to have an office like this although it is obviously made for a kids room...hmmm....guess I am a kid! Also from Decor Pad blog!

I like this design board that shows you how to combine the colours in a lighter palette. I think the pillows would be a good accent piece. And the cool yellow hanging lamp. Found on Young House Love blog.



Well...now that I've collected all those pictures and posted them...I think I might have made my decision. But still would like to know if anyone has any thoughts. Can I relinquish the hold McDonalds has on this colour scheme??

yummy brooch bouquets

Looky what I found this weekend, while combing through my favourite blogs!! Aren't these brooch bouquets super-marvy? I'm in love with them. I think a mix of real flowers and brooches would be extra cool. You could use your mom's and grandmother's old heirloom brooches and have your "something old" incorporated in such a unique way! You can see more on the Fantasy Floral Designs website. {pics found via Amy Atlas's blog}

nursery inspiration

I promise not to turn this blog into a baby blog - really I do. But with a growing belly, stroller decisions {with or without a carseat?}, crib purchasing, a growing pile of lovely gifts and generous hand-me-downs, and of course name discussions, babies are definitely on the brain! And I have to admit that I am pretty excited about being able to decorate another room in our house.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that my office will be transformed into a nursery! I actually originally chose the colour scheme based on a Martha Stewart nursery {below} for inspiration - soft blues and oranges - anticipating a baby in here one day. I haven't decided 100% but am playing with the idea of changing it altogether! I've always liked soft natural colours for babies, but bright and dramatic is kind of cool too. And I wouldn't mind repainting the room with low-VOC paint.

I found some of these lovely fabric swatches on Tonic Living which are inspiring me!

And here are some nursery inspiration pics I have collected along the way. I'm keeping my eyes open for more...

As you can see, I'm a bit all over the place with my ideas here. Hopefully our decisions will be made easier next week when we find out if it's a boy or girl! Very excited! Happy weekend and stay tuned...

anthropologie's circus-inspired ads

Ok Anthro...first there was the "science-inspired" decor a couple months back, now you have circus-inspired ads that closely resemble my own circus-inspired wedding. I think Anthro should be considering offering inBloom a design job!!

Look at these photos...the tent, the old suitcases, the signs, the big DOILY, the furniture scapes out in the fields, and a zebra instead of Spyke the miniature dwarf pony! Yup, I think inBloom would do just dandy with a budget the size of Anthro's!