The Humble Bungalow Below the stairs...

Greetings from The Humble Bungalow.
I took a very short blog break and I'm back...

In a recent post on wall treatments I showed pictures of the original dark wood interior of our arts and crafts home.
Stephen Andrew mentioned that he'd be tempted to paint the interior of our Humble Bungalow white and I have to admit that if it were up to just me I'd be wielding a white paintbrush.

Architect, Milo S Farwell designed our small home over 100 years ago...
it is a modest, small and very humble abode.
There is a historic value in these wee arts and crafts bungalows and many are being demolished in favour of larger homes. So restoration and preservation, with a nod to the integrity of the period seems appropriate...we updated the kitchen and bathrooms in the style but with new fixtures and appliances.
Our home is on the Heritage Registry which means that it can never be demolished.

We must take care to maintain the home and can apply for grants to help with big projects...
we did this with our roof and plan to apply for a grant to help pay for the painting that it so badly needs.

The interior of the living, and dining rooms of our home have also been designated heritage...
so I would not be permitted to paint them white!
In our basement it's a different matter, we went with white white and more white!!!

The quartz counter top in the laundry area.

Vintage enamel bread tin and colander.

The tools are black and white too...

this duo sports a touch of lime.

The bench by the door with an oar...

The LG washer and dryer are pewter grey and the floor tile is a mottled black.

(my goodness! I spy tan lines from my flip flops)

A basic black bamboo dress hangs to dry.

This hall would be very dark if it was not for the white walls.

You can see the guest room at the end of the hall.

The bathroom has a white tiled floor with black accents.

The bathroom shelf which I purchased at HomeSense.

Vintage mirror that I found on the boulevard...

Someones trash is someones treasure!

I threw in this picture of a black and white pillow that we have on our linen slip covered sofa in the family room.

I bought a new Cut Loose white top at Roche Harbour Resort .

We recently cruised to San Juan Island in Washington State, for a few days aboard our Sea Ray.

(Isla, our darling grand daughter is the artist behind the picture)

BTW grand baby number 3 is due any day now...

I am excited to meet the new little girl.

I'll be putting together a pictorial post of Roche Harbour sometime soon...

it's such a pretty spot and I'd like to share it with you.

In case you didn't know it's a destination for weddings.

Apparently there are over 120 weddings held in the garden every year.

While we were there for 5 days we noted 3 weddings were held in the gardens.

Loved the dreamy white gowns that the brides wore...

one wedding had 4 brides maids and they all wore white gowns and carried bouquets of white roses they looked so elegant...

It's time to relax and brew a pot of tea.

Until next time...

thank you for stopping by.

The Humble Bungalow arts and crafts interior...a requested post.

It's taken me a long time to get around to doing a post of the various papers and wall treatments in our arts and crafts bungalow. I humbly apologize, and hope that the reader, whose name escapes me at this moment, has not disappeared because she got too tired of waiting and stopped reading my blog!

Stencils in the dining room.

I made drapes for the Humble Bungalow dining room using this fabric by Sanderson.

There is a lot of dark wood featured in our tiny bungalow...

it's old growth Douglas Fir.

We use this china cabinet to hold our crystal glasses.

Bradbury and Bradbury period arts and crafts paper in the living room.

Repeated in the wee hall with the border

between the den, the bathroom, our bedroom and the dining room.

In the entry hall space that opens up to the living and dining rooms.

We opted for the border in the den.

The kitchen has the same border treatment as the den because they open up to each other.

There are wood cabinets in the kitchen in the same style that mimic the built ins in the dining and living rooms.

The living room of The Humble Bungalow.

Hope you've enjoyed this wee tour...

I needed to sit for a bit, and writing this post helped me rest up after a busy day of gardening.

I think I'll brew a pot of Mariage Freres tea that I purchased in Paris and sit on the couch and watch an episode of the Real Housewives of Melbourne.

My future Son In Law showed us how to record them and this show has become my latest "guilty pleasure!"

The Ugly Truth ~ Embracing Imperfection

Are you living a "perfectly imperfect" life...
I wasn't quite sure what that meant and you too may well ask what is perfectly imperfect?

The Urban dictionary offers this definition ~ "when someone has strong feelings for you they may tell you that you're "perfectly imperfect" basically saying that they accept your flaws, they like you enough that they see past your insecurities, a way of saying that you're perfect to them."

Our front porch is looking cheerful, almost pretty...but do not look too close!

These touches are meant to be a distraction as our front stairs are falling apart and the house paint is peeling.

We have several projects on our do list...but for now we must embrace the imperfections.

Is your home orderly, perfectly maintained and tastefully decorated?

Is there a sense of order or do you prefer disorder?

Are you a minimalist or do you subscribe to the "more is better" way of living?

I read with great interest Ellie's recent post about decorating and I am in awe of people who live in homes that look like they have been staged for a magazine shoot...

Our 100+ year old arts and crafts bungalow is imperfect and has many flaws.

The flaws are obvious, some even glaring.

Not unlike the face of an older woman...there are spots, wrinkles and laugh lines ~ evidence of the aging process.

"Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty."

~ Coco Chanel ~

Our home is small and is steeped in the arts and crafts style.

We opted for small scaled mission oak furniture and have collected many pieces of original old hand hammered copper pieces and vintage arts and crafts pottery.

First Nations baskets and Ojibwa duck decoys round out our collection.

Most of the wool rugs are new as are the window treatments.
With the exception of our two linen slip covered love seats and our bed all of the pieces are originals from the period from 1912 -1918.
I suppose you might call it "museum style decorating" because the pieces have their original patina and are worn, marked and distressed from years of use.

Two lamps are new, the rest are originals from Water Glass Studios.

This vintage chair was a boulevard freebie...

I carried it home and painted it then distressed it for effect.

It's been on our front porch for several years.

This tool box was treated to a coat of paint and distressed...

It often holds pots of geraniums in the summer and pine cones in the winter.

Check out those muddy footprints..."someone" needs to wash the porch!

This chair was a freebie too...

if you look closely you can you see the imperfections.

"Optimism - the doctrine or belief that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly."

~ Ambrose Bierce ~

"I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may,
- light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful."

                                                             ~ John Constable ~

Season's Greetings

Season's Greetings and A Humble Bungalow thank you.

The house has been decorated, the gifts have been purchased and wrapped.

The cookies have been baked, rum balls rolled and the chocolate bark has been assembled.

There are still some finishing touches to attend to, gifts to be delivered and food to be prepped

so I will be taking a few days off while I get busy here in The Humble Bungalow Kitchen.

I will be brewing many pots of tea and pacing myself,

savouring and noticing the special moments...

I've never read The Perfectly Imperfect Home...

it's obvious!

check out my nod to imperfection

(the stake in the pot!)

Price tag still attached...and it's a scrap that I stole from Mr. HB's workshop...

no chance of perfection here in The Humble Bungalow!

I kind of like real life...and who snuck the chocolates?

I had the oranges and chocolates alternating...

I know my family.

(I have extras in the pantry!)

I'll leave you with some images of our wee Charlie Brown tree which is almost exclusively decorated with vintage ornaments.

At no other time of year does our wee bungalow feel so brightly steeped in white light.

You might be able to see my coral coloured Lands' End sweater in the green bauble.

I wore black skinny jeans and a cream tank top with the sweater 

for our annual tree decorating and pizza party with the family.

It was a fun filled afternoon with two lovely "little helpers" who put smiles on the faces of all of the adults in attendance!

Embracing the imperfect,

 from the wee tree to the age and patina of the well worn ornamentation...

hung by our families on trees from Christmases past.

Wishing you a memorable and special holiday season.

I'll be back after the feasting and before our New Year's house guests arrive!

Hostess

XO

Christmas Cheer...

Christmas is a few days away...
We are busy here in The Humble Bungalow, decorating, baking, wrapping and delivering gifts.
 I love the buzz and energy that is out and about in the community...

This couple were suitably attired in their green finery.

Love the pops of red with the greens.

Mother Nature has a lovely hand when it comes to colouring our world... 

I found these cute seasonal pop outs at Finn and Izzy on Oak Bay Avenue.

Isla and I assembled them last week on "Grammy Day."

Grammy Days are about the best gift I could ever wish for...

spending time with the grandchildren is such a precious time and I love it!

My heart swells in gratitude...

This little snowman is perched atop of this wee green tree and it sits on the table in their kitchen.

Mr. HB hung the Christmas Wreath in the dining room...

it is one of my favourite Christmas decorations.

His Mother had it made by a woman that she knew many years ago.

It is made with glass baubles, pine cones, ribbons and assorted vintage rhinestone brooches...

It's my kind of family "heirloom."

I took a break from baking and wrapping and toddled off to the thrift shop...

I find browsing the aisles for bargains is so much fun.

These two cheery red birds grabbed my attention and although the mugs were grimey beyond belief I took a chance and bought them. 

They cleaned up perfectly with a little soap and a massage with baking soda...

lovely daughter has them now.

These Dansk and Rostfrei teak modernist cheese boards with built in cheese knives...

practically leapt into the cart!

I plan to keep the Dansk IHQ board (on the bottom of the photo)

and will possibly sell the other one in our case at Vanity Fair Antique Mall.

New tea caddy by an English company, Hornsea.

I keep my teas in these to keep them fresh.

I found a vintage silk scarf that is huge!

I've not heard of this company before and there is not much information on the internet about it...

it is in mint condition and was only a couple of dollars.

  I wore it out today with a white Tee, jeans and my Barbour vest when we went out and bought our traditional  teeny tiny Charlie Brown Christmas tree...

Our annual Xmas tree decorating and pizza party are planned for tomorrow.

I'll be back with some photo after we have done the tree.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting...

I hope that you are happy and taking good care not to get too tired at this time of year...

we are only human after all so let's leave (delegate) some things to Santa!

HO HO HO