TODAY IS THE DAY!

There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise councel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe that the path we are choosing is the right and best thing to do. We refuse to be bystanders, even if we do not know exactly where our actions will lead. Howard Schultz ~ Starbucks


Tonight, we will close the door on our little shop in McBurney Lane and open the doors of opportunity in our new larger location. We will be closed Sunday, Monday & Tuesday. Stay tuned for SNEAK PEAK photos as we prepare a unique shopping experience for you to enjoy!

Have a GREAT weekend! Carrie

PETRIFIED MOULDINGS??

WOW, what a learning experience this floor has been. We have finished applying two coats of clear coat in the new Passionate Home location and I think I have made a few enemies in my neighbours due to the smell. I guess I just wasn't thinking that it would be that bad, but apparently, it was BAD! Looking on the positive side, there was a lesson learned!

On to one of the exciting parts of this project, I made time to shop at a few New & Used Building Supply stores and just look at those babies in the back. Do you see them? The tall dark and handsome ones?? My husband said that I was crazy, but my heart made me dream about them and my fingers made me call the company the next day to hold them for me...Oh, happy day!

So, once the nice gentleman cut them in half to fit into my van, and I applied a little TSP & TLC, they made their way into the new location, ready and standing tall for someone to lovingly fit them into place. We had just enough to do just one wall, so we lined them up against the wall that is painted Oxford White and they look wonderful! After all, The Passionate Home is all about Reclaiming, Restyling & Redecorating...I am just doing my job!

For the rest of space we just used regular old primed baseboards, but I must say, mouldings really finish a space nicely and I think we only have about a thousand holes to fill!

The best part of this step in the project is this man...With my right hand still in a brace I can not even lift a book let alone a nail gun, so I had to ask for help. Really, who am I kidding, this project would have taken me a full day and it only took this man a few hours! I am so very thankful for friends...Stan you're the best! (you too Tracey!)

At this point in the game, the hero in my story is still smiling. When he got to my 90 year old dark and handsome moulding, I think he said something about being as hard as "petrified wood" and having to turn the power up on his nail gun, but really, can wood really be as hard as stone?? It is at this point that all I can do is smile! After all, how is a girl to know? Another lesson learned!

Onward!

ISLAND CHICK SHOW

This past weekend Elinor, Susan and I hit the road at 6 AM and headed south to the Island Chick Show in Anacortes. Visions of vintage, garden and more dancing threw our heads. It turns out that it did not take as long as we thought and we arrived at our destination before some of the vendors, so we enjoyed a very delicious breakfast and vanilla latte at The Calico Cupboard Cafe & Bakery.

We were lined up at 8:30 for a 9 am opening. There were a few vendors set up outdoors and this trophy was the first thing that I spotted. Unfortunately, it was the one that got away. I am sure it made someone else very happy!

Once the line started to move I said, "okay ladies, lets head for the back and work our way to the front". But, once I got in the first thing I see is one of my favorite vendors RETREAT! "okay ladies, plan B, you are on your own, I am going here first!" (I did say it nicely) RETREAT always has such an inspiring display and so many wonderful items, it was a great start!

This dresser reminded me of the one I saw in Donna's home from FUNKY JUNK INTERIOR. One day, I am going to do this!! (I keep saying that but I do mean it)

Did I mention that I love RETREAT? Here is one of the happy moments of the day and do you see that Garden sign behind me??? I took it home for some lucky person! My husband said that the lucky person can not be me, so I will bring it into the store when we have moved into our larger location at the end of the month. For now, I am LOVING IT at home!

So many wonderful ideas and finds, I wanted to take it all home to my NEST!

Loving these bracelets made from old buckles. The one of the top left was my favorite.

I think I have a thing for words..I loved this little cooler. Remember the days the milk man would come to the house? Oh, the good old days! Sometimes, he would give us chunks of ice to eat, and that would make it a good day!

Happy Spring!

So many beautiful displays!

Reclaim - Restyle

Spring colour everywhere!

Love this bird hotel!

After the show we walked up the street and visited Days Gone By Antique Mall, Alley Cat Antiques & Maison Jardin where we picked up these cowboy hats in preparation for the

Farm Chick Show in Spokane in June. You can see that I was sporting a Canucks Jersey, just saying, we are proud to be Canadians!

It was a great day and a great show! I understand that the ladies from the Island Chick Show will be posting a video on Facebook, so I will be sure to forward that when it comes out...You may just see a few familiar faces!

Happy Spring! C

AND THE FLOOR MARCHES ON, PLUS MORE!

Picking a stain colour is not easy! Just look at all those samples. The funny thing about stain is that the colour on the pretty brochure, the colour in the can and the colour on your choice of wood are not all together the same colour! I travelled near and far, made friends and enemies along the way and I had thought that I had found the PERFECT colour, so here we go.

Oh look, some more "floor art", thanks Elinor! You can also see one of the wall colours in this photo. We kept if light and neutral ~ Benjamin Moore Natural Linen and Oxford White.

If you look closely you can see the back corner is rather dark...well that is what I thought would be the perfect colour! After a few moments of shock and a trip to Home Depot, we moved full steam ahead with a stain colour called "Mission Oak". I think it was about at this stage that my right arm gave out and I have had to call in the professionals to finish up and that is a hard thing to do when you are a "hands on" kind of girl. I am sure you all know what I am talking about. After I realized that the floor was out of the picture for me, I took advantage the sunny day to prepare these two tables for the new location. I purchased these great long tables from a local nursery that was closing and with a bit of TLC & TSP, they will make for a super display space. As you can see, you can never be outdoors without throwing the ball for Sarge!

I also cleaned up this set of doors that I found at an Antique store. Chippy paint, original hardware, great colour...I am a happy camper! They will look so great together in the new shop.

There is so much to do before the opening, even my daughter helped out...now here is a rare picture! I have to say, she did an amazing job on this table top. Once she finished sanding, she stained it a dark walnut and you are going to love, love it!

Here is a sneak peak at some items we will be bringing in for our garden area.

I want to keep it all!

Bet you can't wait!

I leave you with a "trellis teaser"! So much more to come!

CUSTOM FLOOR COMING UP!

Like a day in kindergarten, I spent the day drawing and painting, but different from kindergarten, I was allowed to paint on the floor! Now that the sub floor is finished in The Passionate Home's new location, the next step is to put my own stamp on it! I ripped a page out of a magazine once of a star that I thought that maybe one day I would paint it on a floor. Well, the day is here. I took my wrinkled up piece of paper to Staples and for $12 they made it much, much bigger!

So, I traced the outline on the floor and mixed a chocolate brown paint and a light brown to create my long awaited star. This was a long process considering I only have the use of my left hand! I must say that things moved a bit too slowly and I had to use my right hand just a bit!

Here is another picture that I am painting on the floor of the new space. I am using the same layout that I used to paint my living room coffee table.

Almost done...

Done!

In the center of the store I stenciled "Live with Passion". I currently have this quote over the door of my current location and I just love it. I will distress all my handy dandy artwork before we stain. My hope is that it will look like it has been there for years!

Still, lots of work to do. In the mean time,

I hope you are "Living with PASSION".

JUMPING IN WITH BOTH FEET

If you need to know in advance that everything will "work out" before you jump in, you'll never jump into anything! (thanks for the smile Johnny)

The Passionate Home is MOVING, GROWING, EXPANDING and we are JUMPING IN WITH BOTH FEET! Most of you have been with me since we opened our first location in Langley 5 years ago. Our first location was about as large as a postage stamp (480 square feet) and we soon had to knock down a wall to make things just a bit bigger, gaining an extra 180 sf. After 2 years we moved on over to McBurney Lane and gained a bit more space and a pretty outdoor courtyard. Well, it has been 3 years and I think it is time again!

We will be moving across the courtyard into the old Umtali Arts (Spot of Africa) location. This is what the area looks like today. I thought it might be fun to share with you the transformation of our new home. BIG changes happening to the exterior of the building, but you will have to wait and see. Today, let me take you inside.

WELCOME to our new home! It does not look like much today, but just you wait! When we first took over this space it had a mix of old carpeting and dark green tile...no, no, no, that will just not do! This building is older and has seen just a few make-overs making the floor a map of hills and valleys, so flooring options have proven to be our first dilemma.

Our budget is tight for this project so we have decided to remove the carpet and put down a new 5/8" T & G plywood sub floor and stain it ourselves. Today I will go out in search of the perfect colour stain. (Funny, my husband suggested the colour I stained the stairs might be nice! I think he likes the stairs!!! No, the stairs are not done yet...did I mention I pulled all the tendons in my right arm? Did I mention that I am right handed? More on that later!)

Here is a view of the inside looking out of the front doors. All that teal colour around the doors and windows will be painted out in black. After the installation of the floor, I will call the painters. Once they start, I will share with you the colours that will provide our background and let me tell you, this was not an easy decision!

Our new location is just over 1500 square feet and it will allow us to have a bit of a meeting/craft/networking/workshop/unpacking/whatever we want space. Having this extra space is something that I have dreamt about since our first "Decorating Dilemma Workshop".

(There was only room to seat about 8 ladies and we had to put the wine and cheese outside in the hallway and that is just NOT acceptable!) See that hole in the wall? That is just a hole, no electrical here. Oh and did I mention that there are no light switches in this space, just a breaker box. I think I need an electrician! This will be the front counter area and I am sure I will need a chandelier and some power here!!

My plan is to share with you our progress as we transform this location into a space full of PASSION for you and your home. So many of you have shared in our journey since we opened 5 years ago and for that I am forever grateful. My hope is that you find inspiration in this story and that you can relate it to your own life and that you may decide to "JUMP" into something that you have always dreamt about.

Bye Bye old carpet...there is no looking back now!

SOMETHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

I am very excited to share with you that The Passionate Home has teamed up with Duane from Out of Line Designs to create RECLAIMED & ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY FURNITURE!

A picture is worth a thousand words, so please click HERE to view more photos of our first joint venture creation, I think Duane says it all!

P.S. Stay tuned for more beautiful reclaimed and restyled furniture pieces.

P.S.S. Please visit Duane's web site to learn more about custom designed furniture built to suit your lifestyle ~ Create, Build, Inspire!

Be Inspired!