Tuesday 4 - Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

 

a 1939 Living Room

 Welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

This week the subject is Your Home.

1. What kind of home do you have and does it need repair or improvements this year?

I have a smallish condo (986 square feet and a deck that is 518 square feet) in the heart of the city. It's handy to everything I need.  I can walk or take a short bus ride to where I need to go and this is a major factor in why I purchased the place.  

Over the past year I've made some cosmetic changes to refresh my home (painting, changing out door knobs, bathroom shower curtains/cabinet knobs and towels).  But major improvements are needed in both the kitchen and master bathroom.  I would like to replace the kitchen cabinets and counters and convert the master bathroom tub to a shower but it's doubtful those changes will be made in 2023.  I would also like to change out the flooring throughout the condo but the other changes are more important. 

New shower curtain and of course new towels are coordinated with the colours.

New door knobs. The old ones were gold colour that had worn off.

2. How do you accessorize your home inside and out?  Plants, art, books, wall hangings, maybe music in the background?

I do accessorize my home both inside and out. Outside it is primarily with an outdoor dining table and chairs for enjoying an outside meal or relaxing. I also plant a lot of container plants.  

In the front rooms the colours are mainly earth tones (beige, orange, gold, deep red an pops of black) whilst in the master bedroom and bathroom the colours are various shades of blue and some complementary colours (white, burgundy, rose pink).  Basically I kept the same colours that were in the unit when I moved in though it has been repainted a few times over years.

Inside I try to have plants but there isn't enough warmth or light for most of them to survive, let alone thrive.  The plants are always changing because I buy more when they eventually die off even though it is a waste of money.  Lately I've been wanting large artificial plants to fill some corners. Though I did buy one it turned out to be far too big so I returned it and my search continues. I also have ethnic art, wall hangings like soapstone plates and calabashes from Africa, mirrors, lots of books and a few knick knacks.  I love music but no longer play it for the home since the CD player went the way of the Dodo bird.  My computer doesn't have a good stereo set up to play the music for the home so I mainly just listen with headphones whenever I have some down time.  I have a lot of crafting supplies and so they are stored in every nook and cranny or bin I can find. It is a challenge and I've been trying to pare everything down but still save what I hope to use one day in the not too distant future.

 

 3. What objects reside on your coffee table? Night stand? Side tables? Kitchen/Dining table?    

I had this ladder custom made and ordered it wider than their standard.

Artificial flowers with fairy lights fill the space in a dark corner.

The side table holds the phone and a place for pens, paper and coffee/drinks. I also have some storage containers on the other side of the sofa which has space on top for someone else to place their refreshments when visiting or relaxing. The dining table is always covered with a tablecloth and usually has a centrepiece of some kind. At the holidays, the centrepiece is usually a seasonal one.

A Christmas display of artificial flowers.

 

4.  Do you like your kitchen organized and with counters cleared off or do you prefer to have  the things you use often out on counters?     Do you mind  what some might see as clutter or do you hate having to dig out tools and appliances  when it comes time to use them? and prefer to have them within easy reach?

above : a 1940's Kitchen.

I dislike clutter and am doing my best to get rid of it. If I had adequate space in the kitchen I would prefer to have everything organized and put away but with easy access to tools and appliances since it's a pain to get them out and put them away if you use them often.  For now the kitchen hasn't been my priority for decluttering but eventually I will get rid of a lot of dried goods and things I haven't used for a long time. In future I hope to also be more selective about what I buy that needs to be stored. It's been a process of learning as I've also been making so many changes to diet and cooking over the years.

Thanks for visiting. I hope to read you soon!