Store Love - Uniquities Architectural Antiques & Salvage

I had the chance to stop by Uniquities (Bay 2, 2501 Alyth Rd. SE) today and I was a smitten kitten. It reminds me a bit of The Door Store in Toronto but stocks significantly larger pieces of furniture.  The owners travel to Europe four times a year and bring back huge shipments of architectural salvage, furniture, lighting and an assortment of unique accessories.  Uniquities also got the seal of approval from Tommy Smythe in the August 2012 issue of House and Home.

 

Front porch makeover

I was very lucky to have my Mom stay with me for a week to help me set-up my new place.  She had suggested staining the cedar front porch and fence so I invited her for a visit and told her to pack a paintbrush!

A lot of people like the patina of aging cedar and I do as well but with the Calgary climate it was really beginning to dry out (and the home inspector had noted in his report that it needed to be oiled/stained).  My Mom and I decided to use Behr's Solid Color Weatherproofing Wood Stain in Stonehedge - SC-125 on the porch and fence.

After seeing the stain on the front porch, we then decided that it would be nice to stain the deck as well.  We went with Behr's Semi-Transparent Weatherproofing Wood Stain in Slate - ST-102.

Here are the before shots:

You can see that the railings, etc. hadn't faded evenly

And now for the after shots:

The darken tones have definitely added a more modern feel to the porch

The grey works really well with the colour of the existing siding

The semi-transparent stain is much lighter than the images from Behr

New Muskoka chairs were also added with outdoor fabric cushions made by my Mom

Lovely little flea market stool/table crafted by my Mom

Front porches aren't very common in Calgary and I'm really looking forward to using this great space.

Store Love - Cozy Cottage Interiors

Was out and about running errands the other day and popped into Cozy Cottage Interiors (Heritage Hill Shopping Centre - #162-8228 Macleod Tr. S.E.).  They specialize in cottage and country decor which might not be to everyone's taste but the store also includes lots of great vintage finds that would suit someone interested in industrial and/or really eclectic pieces.

Vintage canvas bag, bait box and tool box 

Vintage ice skates and rustic towel racks

Brightly painted Muskoka chairs

Vintage bottles and medicine cabinets

Vintage stove and wire bottle racks 

Two industrial tables with adjustable legs 

Doors, windows and mirrors 

Bed converted into a bench 

Front entrance includes the wire from an old mattress suspended with little white lights 

Display at the front entrance

Starting to feel like Fall

The apples on my parents' tree are ready to be picked and the mornings are beginning to feel crisp.  Now that my front porch is getting stained, I'm starting to think about how I'll start decorating it for Fall and the first thing I need is a great new wreath.  A few etsy finds include:

via LaLaMoewsBows

via Elegant Holidays

via forevermore1

via Elegant Holidays

via EmbellishedLiving

via Casabellawreaths

via weirdlittleworld

via twoinspireyou