apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Really great job! I love your place. I really love your white mirrors and red chair, and, well, everything!

http://www.makemineeclectic.wordpress.com

I adore it, it's fantastic.

i like the painted floors and the extra kitties.

The most admirable thing about the way Kim decorates, I think, is that her cats and her design tastes can live harmoniously. Very cool, thanks for letting us see your space!

great space! love your collection of bargello pillows!

I love everything you have done here. I sooo want to be on that front porch!

Thanks everyone! (My cats rule the house, what can I say....except don't come over wearing black!)

beautiful home! love all the colors, love the kit. cabinets they are unusual and gorgeous. and am jealous of all the talent you and your bf. have, making the sofa and all.
wonderful job, all your hard work was worth it.

and your kitties are lovely!
thanks for sharing !

Love her style ... proof that color can never clash with more color!

Kim, I am really fighting the urge to get a peacock chair now. I've fallen for the look after seeing it in your Flickr stream, and my fiance has to talk me down every time I come across one for sale (he's not a fan). Fun to see your home on AT! :)

Hey, c'mon... it's the capital of the country. Lets spell the name right. Ottawa, not Ottowa.

Hey Kim - where in Little Italy are you? Does your house have a basement, or a crawl space?

Gorgeous home, I am going to have to check out your blog now to see where you got your kitchen cabinets! They look asian.

this is so inspiring. I'm trying to decorate my new apartment and even though I've accomplished a lot in the three months we've lived there, I'm constantly tempted to buy stuff to fill it up so it feels done. seeing your place reminds me how important it is to take your time and let the stuff come to you. thanks for sharing!!!

Oops, Green Tea Design, might help to read more of the post. *slaps forehead* Still will check out blog, though.

Kim, I love how much you truly care about every inch of your home. It has been amazing to watch the transformation of this house since you bought it -- I am always in awe of your ability to make bold decisions and plans and follow through with them.

Great house, great tour, great cats!

Kim, awesome home, awesome sofa! Do you have a tutorial for making the sofa?

LOVE this. And the photography is beautiful too.

Thanks!!!!
Christina - get yourself a peacock chair. They are so fun! I have 2 and I can't part with them. They are huge but I make them fit.
ChzPlz, I'm on Young St., facing the 417. My house has a leaky full size basement that needs work.
RedMaiko, I can't say enough about Greentea Design's cabinets. So fabulous.
Thanks Anna - and as you follow my renos, I am following yours...and can't wait to see your latest bathroom redo as I have 2 to get going on.
SourApple - I was supposed to put up a sofa tutorial on the blog and keep forgetting. I promise to get going on that ASAP.

Wow! Love everything you have done here! The sofa is amazing and I would love to know how you did it. Really liked the mirrors, the red chair, the moroccan stool, the cats eating and drinking area with the silver tray underneath (reminded me of a fancy feast commercial ;)...I could go on and on! Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous home!

Adorable. I really wanted those cabinets when we did our remodel last year but i couldn't bring myself to spend the $ and we went with Ikea. Gorgeous!

I literally just said to my husband about 2 days ago, I wonder if we could should paint our door bright yellow but keep all the trim white but then said I had never seen one like that and I wasn't sure how it would look. Yeah...looks great. Now I know what we're doing next weekend.

Thank you suzy8track - I think you're the 3rd person to mention fancy feast. LOL

Auburn - I'm sorry you didn't get Greentea cabinets. :( And FOR SURE paint your door yellow! I adore mine - such a bright unexpected burst of sunshine. It was worth the 6 coats it took to get decent coverage.

Just gorgeous. I totally termed it eclectic - even before I read the article!

Love the cabinets- gorgeous! But 6 cats, yowzers. You must spend all day vacuuming cat hair!

Beautiful home. Love the white accented by pure colors. The cat door is priceless! Do you leave the whole trap door open, or
close it at night?

Hey Kim, I love your collections! I always start with the pics and read the text after - I was getting a real Canadian vibe from the pics before I knew you were in Ottawa- weird, eh?

Great make over, I love all the colours especially the blues and greens.

Also the cats are adorable! I love the little feeding arrangement you have for them there.

Your living room is fantastic - second only to your kitchen.

Interesting collections - including those happy cats!

Wow, I might have to take more tips from her blog! Generally I assume nothing is available in Ottawa!

very eclectic. good for you for being so brave. not everyone could live in a home like this.

This is one of my top 2 or 3 favorite home tours on AT of all time! I love your DIY sofa. You have great taste, your home has great balance of styles. Thanks for the inspiration.

Shawnia

I have 8 cats, two dogs, and 1 rabbit. The cats and dogs are indoor/outdoor, and I have hardwood floors, but I am constantly cleaning up some pet-made disaster or mess and vacuuming or Swiffering everyday. (Probably more than that!) Also, I love the kitty dining-area, although there is no way my cats would just eat one at a time out of one goblet. How do you do it?

Now THAT's a trapdoor!

For the record, over the years I have learned to generally ignore the furballs that roll past me along the floor. During the week when I'm too busy to clean, I pray no one stops by. :)
PatO - the hatch is always left closed. That way no one can fall down the hole. Looks better closed too as my basement is gross.
Paisleystone - seriously?!
Nolann - there isn't much available here. Thank gawd for DIY and few thrift shops we have. And gawd bless internet shopping!
Shawnia - *blushing*
juliesroom - WOW! Kudos for having so many pets and surviving. The cats munch here and there as the dry food is always out so there's no pushing and shoving at the goblets.

I love seeing a space with well chosen and well placed items, nothing is left to chance here. On a background of white walls and grey floors the colours look amazing and every wonderful piece of furniture stands out and gets the attention that it deserves. I was looking at the picture of the picture wall by the stairs and it was a while before I even noticed the TV! That's a very clever way of minimizing the effect of what sometimes looks like an altar in some homes!!!

http://notyourgoddess.blogspot.com/

Thank you for sharing those pictures Kim, I love your home, how it is fresh, colorful and personal. I particulary like your living-room with the mural, the glossy-red chair and your new DIY sofa with all those pillows, very cosy and inviting. I follow your blog from France everyday. Keep on!

I can't believe the difference between now and when you bought it. Love the sectional you made, and I like seeing how your collections are displayed in the new digs. I can't say enough...it's marvelous, and you just want to hang out with the person who livs in this place. Those stairs must have been uber work...so impressed. Kitchen is stunning (and so grown up...eeek.)

Kim - I really connected with your home - it's what I'd want my place to be :-)

No cookie cutters here. Love your style, Kim, fabulous job!

Wow, this is such a great tour! Things I would never have considered in my own home: very inspiring! And at 12.2 feet wide...it's incredible how open and airy it looks. Thanks for providing paint colours, blue sea is going on my list to try at my place for sure.

Fantastic house , god i just love the sofa you made !!!
I am such a fan of you blog ! thanks for sharing !

Regarding the portrait of the woman in the middle of the cluster by the stairs: I've seen a few of these now on house tours, where the skin tone is blue/turquoise. Is this a traditional style of portraiture for India? I love love love it. Someone send me links svp!

Fantastic place.

Best house tour ever. I already follow http://desiretoinspire.blogspot.com/ and loved the kitchen renovation, but I love the whole house!

This is definitively in my top three (and might be number 1!) for house tours on AT. It's hard to articulate - but I know it when I see it. The colors in your decor draw me in while the clean fresh palette on the walls give me room to breath. The spaces are filled but not fussy. Tidy but not sterile. And the fact that this home is put together largely by DIY projects gives it personality. I want a home, not a showroom. Personality, not a cliche. Congratulations - it's beautiful! Can't wait to see before after on the bathrooms.

I am totally blushing. You guys are giving me a huge ego. Thanks so much for all the kind words on my home!!

Stephanie K, that print is by Vladimir Tretchikoff, done in the 50s. It's called Chinese girl. There's another of his prints to the right of that one on my wall.

Ok, what do you mean by "I am so grateful to Greentea Design for supplying me with them"? Did they GIVE them to you? How can I get in on that?? :-)

Love each and every detail that you selected for your home. Great inspiration for all of us. Envious of your kitchen and couch..Fab!

This is one of those house tours where it is totally not my style and I love it anyway. The "forest wall" is stunning, and I remain impressed by your DIY sofa.

when I first saw your exterior photo I had to look at where you live because I thought it was New Orleans (NOLA). NOLA is filled with "shot-gun" houses that are narrow with one room leading to the next and with similar porches.

kim,
- Where did you get your pillow fabrics?
Lovely & retro
- And faux cowprint on floor?
(even if a tired trend, still a cool pattern)
White ceramic stools outside?
(I have similar inexpensive one from HomeSense and love it!)
- And how do you keep sofa so white?
With all your feline roommates!

Um ilovebc, I reckon that cowhide is not faux.

LakeDreamer - in one word, Yes. :) Alot of work was involved on my part in exchange for the cabinets.

FYI: I just posted instructions for the sofa on my blog.

egay, this whole neighbourhood is filled with narrow houses like mine with the iron railing porches. Guess back in 1915 there were alot of little people. ;)

ilovebc - pillows are vintage bargello needlepoints so it's not fabric per se. The cowhide is from eBay and it's probably real (I'm not sure how you tell a real from a fake). The stools were from a grocery store's garden center. They were on sale for $12 or $15 at the end of a season so I bought 6 (2 black, 2 white and 2 baby blue). Sofa is only a few weeks/a month old and is not staying so white thanks to the damn cats. Thinking of getting grey covers made....or anything I can easily remove and wash (as the existing covers are).

Wow thanks for the quick response, kim!
Great deal on the ceramic stools!
The cowhide rug is authentic skin if the fur "swirls" and "licks" akin to the hide on a living cow, and of course, if it feels like & resembles an outline of a real cow. The backing would also be tough leather hide.
If it was fake skin, it would have a tag with ingredients like 100% polyester etc plus washing instructions on bottom.
I was hoping yours would be faux as I am in the market for one as a gift (rather surprised actually your being a cat lover and all!)
At closer inspection yours looks like it came from the slaughterhouse. Sorry, being a vegan, I support the faux look not the real thing!
But thanks again for all the info! Fantastique job!

ilovebc- the cow rug could be real ponyskin, but i won't even go there!

Just lovely. I will come back to these photos time and time again. Great work, Kim!

cowhide. ouch.

Kim clearly has a sense of humor and a really good eye for color. The kitchen is the most refreshing departure from the norm that I have seen in quite SOME time.
Congrats on a really cool job and thanks for sharing!

Drool. Pretty please come join the Toronto Cure thread? You have so, so much to offer and from now on I'll be following your blog religiously. Go Canada!

Ps. SOO impressed at the way you have found so many beautiful things in a place with less than desirable access to design stores.

Is that Method peppermint vanilla hand wash? =)

Good eye themonkrat!

The table that the fans are on...the COLOR is gorgeous!!! The fans are adorable too!

http://www.carinagardner.com

Your place is fantastic and your cats look so happy! Thank you for sharing

The frame you made for your message board is such a great idea. How did you paint it and did you prime or sand it?

rocketcat, the frame is just molding from home depot (it's not wood but that foam-like stuff) that I made into a frame and spray painted. thanks!

I love this! I am so jealous of your white wood floors. And we have 4 cats... I say stick with white slipcovers for the couch, at least then you can bleach them-- it's working pretty well for us. I love your kitchen and wish I had the sort of skills that could be traded for kitchen cabinets! =)

And I forgot to ask.... WHERE did you get that amazing basket for your kitties? Do you know what type of basket it is/where it's from/what it's made out of?

Hey thanks for commenting on my space. I checked out your place a while ago and thought, this is in Little Italy??? That area is so on the up and up!
So awesome and inspiring! Did you get you eames stuff at Found Design or a thrift score?

marie516, I am pretty sure I got the basket Phoebe is sitting in at Ten Thousand Villages.

azaleasmoke, I got my yellow Eames chair and Panton-ish desk lamp at Found Design, and a Panton S and the green Eames armchair on wheels at the Ottawa Antique Market. And I agree that Little Italy is growing in popularity. It's still relatively inexpensive to buy, and so close to downtown (I work on Laurier, takes me 1/2 hr to walk). I love it.

Kim, it is gorgeous, I love all the colors and as a mother of 4 kitties (and a dog) I am so happy to see all the babies in this beautiful space!
Where is the siamese cat picture from?

Thanks kabradbury! The siamese cat print is vintage from Etsy.

Thank you Kim!

I love this home!! I'm from Toronto. This makes me want to move to Ottawa :-)

I love it, colorful and fresh at the same time. Lots of clever space use, and love the kitteh details. (Yay, you have one more than me.)

JUST BEAUTIFUL! I love the kitchen cabinets!!!!! Fabulous. Love your mix and can totally identify with your love of mid-century and not knowing exactly what to call your style. I am the same way. I love the mix of colors and texture, vintage, global, mid-century...they all blend. Also, love the cat "bowls," what a great idea and oh so elegant. Thanks for sharing-all the colors and textures just made my day, but those cabinets are simply beautiful furniture! I am inspired!

What is the white art above your thermostat? It's adorable!!
Great job Kim. I love love love it! Do you ever walk into your kitchen and tear up a little? I would ;)

Thanks folks! attic, the white thing over the thermostat is a plastic (made to look like wood) vintage wall hanging thingy I found at a flea market and spray painted white. And I swear, every time I walk through my front door and see the kitchen, I need to blink a few times in disbelief...and wipe away a stray tear.

A great space! And super cute from the outside too! Nice to see the home of a fellow Canadian.

my favorite house tour yet... so many great ideas!

i love the kitty feeding area - the goblets, the painting, the beautiful tray, all of it! i love the yellow paint around the glass on the back door (i would never have thought to paint such a small space). the frame in the bedroom around the smaller painting...

i love bright colors, and this house manages to pull them all together so cheerfully!

i have to say i love it all the colors, the sofa/bed the furniture reused... in fact there isnt anything i dont like.

Kim! Kim! Where did you nab that fantastic, joyful red laquer chair in picture 1??

xxxx

I found that chair in an antique shop. It was dark brown and I spray painted it, but I may be spray painting it again in the near future because it doesn't work with the new pillows I'm having made for the sofa. (Too bad because that red turned out GREAT).

people!
have you ever met a cow before?

I'm a farm kid. I know cows. We eat them. We use the hide for all sorts of things. Ever had a leather bag? Running shoes? Ate a burger?

chill out on the cow-hide self-righteousness.

it looks perfect in her space.

Great place, I admire your talent and eye for color. Love the wicker set....do you know the manufacturer's name???

Love Kim's unique style. Her home looks like it is overflowing with good energy, nothing phoney about it.

thanks for the nice comments (and the defense of my cowhide)!

cdbmdb2008, the wicker set is vintage (and falling apart) that I found on Craigslist. I saw a photo of it in a book that dated in the 60s or 70s.

Your home is absolutely original. Love the kitchen chairs with the table---pure sculpture. The rug is wow too.

The living room mural, the fantastic colors, the blue dressing room wall. Wow.

Wow! Nice place. Love the kitchen and the mirror wall. The deck furniture is so sweet. Nice cats!!

Love it!

Great job! I've been wanting to cover a wall with a similar type forest mural to the one that you have in your living room. Did you supply the picture or did designyourwall have that on file?

Thanks! designyourwall has a TON to choose from - and many different forest-y themes. i just chose one they had on their site (not sure that they make them custom).

I am totally going to rip off the kitty dinner table idea!!! I don't have six cats but the two divas I have will love the silver tray and glass pedestal compotes. You have many interesting choices throughout your home. Especially like the kitchen cabinets and the fibers you're using in the kitchen (table runner, rug). The vintage art is super cool. Thanks for sharing.

Inspirational decor!

Especially enjoyed and liked the backyard furniture.. beautiful green color.


Jeanne

Thanks, Kim. You saved me an arm and a leg. I was quoted $550 by another website to make a wall mural out of a photo that looked just like the "misty autumn forest" that designyourwall sells for $54. Whew! Thanks for doing that homework for me!!

the photo collage around the tv looks FABULOUS! :)

kindly,
vintagedress
www.vintagedress.etsy.com

My dear you set the bar really high when it comes to inspiration. I must confess that I felt some pressure when I first saw your slideshow. I had to take a second look at my own efforts here at my place, about which, up until now, I had been feeling pretty self-congratulatory. Thanks for sharing your exquisite home with us aficianados out here!

Ciao

Thanks everyone - your comments are too kind. :)

WOW my dream house!!! Beautiful!! I love all the awesome cat furniture, I want to live there!!

Omigoodness!!! This is beyond cool! I love everything about your place...especially the kitchen and the cats..haha,wow you have 6?? I'm a cat freak but only have 2. The colors and patterns and the whole flow of your place is just amazing. Very Awesome.
I just read you are from Ottawa, I just moved here from NB at the first of October. I'm just getting to know the place. Seems pretty cool so far, I need to learn where all the cool shops,etc are.
Take Care.. ^_^