Today we’re just going to completely ignore the fact that we’re already halfway through the month (oops!) and see how I did with my February goals! February Goal Update 1. Make our family’s 2021 photobook and print some photos — Donnne! It was so fun to get it in the mail and look at it with each of my family members. But this task really hung over my head for all of January and basically all of February as well. I just could not stop putting it off. I think next year I’ll force myself to do it in the first week of January to avoid this issue. 2. Complete two things from my 22 for 2022 list ..read more

January was all about some easy comfort reads and two memoirs that I was really into. I highly recommend all of these! Committed by Adam Stern — Committed is Adam Stern’s memoir of his four years in psychiatric residency at Harvard. An amazing read! Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin — Fun fact: When this book first came out, I went to see Gretchen Rubin speak about it in Toronto. I adore her podcast and everything about Gretchen and her sister, Elizabeth. This book consists of tips for decluttering and organizing. Organizing is definitely way up there on my list of things that bring ..read more

Looking back on my Pins from January, they were almost all words, very few photos. Between having COVID and the fact that our world felt more divided than ever—and also really COLD—I guess I just needed some peace and warmth in the form of poetry and quotes. So I’m going to share some of them and maybe one or two will resonate with you, as well. I’ll let most of them speak for themselves. It doesn’t really matter if that’s what you would do. You were born with a limitless supply of encouragements. Don’t wait for their eulogies to speak out loud. Like every selfie. All of them. All of th ..read more

January Update In my January goals post, I was hoping that January would be more productive than December was, despite the fact that I had COVID at the time that I wrote the post… I’m not exactly sure what I was thinking. I had high hopes for a fast recovery, but I pretty much spent the whole month feeling like garbage. Here’s my update! 1. Finish painting the bookshelf — Done! 2. Have a spend-nothing month — Turns out the one thing that having COVID + all the kids’ extracurriculars being moved online in January is good for is that spending nothing has never been easier. It was a very success ..read more

Last year, I shared my “21 for 2021”, which is a list of 21 goals I had set for the year, and tracked my progress throughout the year. It was a success and I made lots of positive changes to my life and especially to my house. This year, I made separate lists for my home goals and my general life goals. Here on the blog, I’m just going to share my home goals. So here they are! 22 for 2022 Living Room One of my goals last year was to finish our living room. It didn’t quite happen, but this is the year! 1. Make over fireplace — I’ve been hinting at this one to Kent and hoping he suddenly feels ..read more

Not only was December an “off” month for me in terms of goal setting, it was an “off” month for me when it came to reading, too. If only I knew what January had in store for me, then I might have tried a little harder at life in December! Anyways, I read a couple of decorating books and re-read an old favourite. Here are a few thoughts on each. Make Room for What You Love: Your Essential Guide to Organizing and Simplifying by Melissa Michaels — I love Melissa Michaels’ style and her blog, The Inspired Room. Organizing and simplifying my home are on my mind BIG TIME these days. A quick read t ..read more

I’m a girl who loves a new year. My 2022 notebook arrived yesterday, and sitting on my bed organizing it felt like Christmas to me. This year, however, I’m off to a rough start. Things are in shambles here in Ontario, schools are closed YET AGAIN, and… my household has COVID-19. So, yes: things have been better. But I’m forging onward with my goals and trusting that in two weeks I’ll feel like a million bucks, things will be back to normal here in Ontario, and I’ll be superimmune to COVID without a care in the world. A gal can dream. Anyways, here’s the update on my December goals. December H ..read more

The year is coming to an end, so it’s time to see how I’m doing on my 21 for 2021 list. Home 1. Finish Summer’s Room — It’s finished! (1/1) 2. Finish furnishing/decorating our living room — Getting there! We built banquette seating, made over a cabinet, got a sectional, hung curtains, and got a rug and a coffee table. The room is one million times better but not quite finished—our fireplace needs an update, big-time. (0.75/1) 3. Put in a new kitchen floor — Done! I’m so happy about this one. Whenever I see pictures or videos of our old floors, I cringe ..read more

Art supplies are something that I’ve never had a great storage solution for. But since Summer seems to love drawing and crafts more each day and Avery wants to be doing whatever his beloved sister “Mummo” is doing, I’m trying to change that. Having supplies in drawers here, there, and everywhere is not working for us. For Christmas, I got Summer the IKEA RASKOG (the pretty new green/gray one! Do you love it or do you love it?) and I’m planning to use it to store her art supplies. So, of course, I started by scouring Pinterest in order to see what has worked for others. Here are some ideas tha ..read more

One thing about home updates that I’ve noticed, especially when you are doing small-ish updates at a time like me, rather than demolishing a room and starting from scratch, is that it’s hard to remember how far you’ve come. For example, when I look at my kitchen now, I might still see the things I still need to do (so guilty of this!) rather than remembering that only one year ago it looked like this: And this is what it looks like today. SO much better, right? We’ve clearly done a LOT, whether it has been with our own two hands (Kent making the kitchen table and me painting the hutch) or sa ..read more