Saturday, January 30, 2016

New Year's Resolutions & Netflix

Hey everyone,

It's been almost a month since the NYE ball dropped and it's always interesting to see if those New Year's resolutions are still sticking. Did you make any? This year, both Mr. Fix-It and I are determined to stick to his love for running and my love for the gym. Neither of us have put pressure on ourselves to run or exercise a certain times per week, we are just committed to feel as strong as we can and keep up with our minis. Getting to the gym or going out for a run doesn't only make us physically strong, but it's incredible on getting any cobwebs out.

The other "resolution", although not really new, is to continue the downtime and to do it better. More time to just veg out and sit. Once a week we have a dedicated move night with the kids. It's usually one night on the weekend where we all get in our jammies, the kids take turns picking the movie and we watch. It's a time for just us. To be. No homework, no rush. Netflix is our go-to. Obviously. Isn't it yours? Here are few movies that the kids said they want to watch.

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After the kids go to bed on movie night. Mr. Fix-It and I usurally order take-out or we make something yummy and head back downstairs. Mad Men is first up on our list. Have you seen Making a Murderer? Everyone is talking about it.
Oh and my latest Netflix hook...Dowton Abbey. I had heard the raves but really wasn't sure it was going to be for me. Ummm, yeah. It's amazing. The castle, the costumes, the characters. Love it!

I would love to know what your watching. House of Cards starts in March

 and Fuller House (yup, the cast of Full House is back) starts in February. Can't wait!

I encourage you to resolve to have more downtime in 2016 and get your Netflix binge on. You'll feel great.

Keep it Beautiful.

*I'm part of the Netflix SteamTeam and it's awesome. I have the addiction and I know you do too. It's a good one :) All the words in this post are mine. #NewYearNewView

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Bell Let's Talk Day!

Hi everyone,

Today is Bell Let's Talk Day. Mental health is real. It's as real as any other health issues that anyone has. As you know, I struggled with the loss of my friend Robyn and I realized that the only way I was going to get through it was to talk. I need to talk about it. I went to therapy once a week for a few months and it was amazing. Before, I admit I had always assumed that going to see a therapist was only for people at the lowest of their low, who laid on a couch, spilled their guts and we're traumatized forever. Oh how I was wrong. I was definitely at the bottom, that's for sure, but there is no couch and every time I left, I felt amazing. I felt strong, I felt happy and in control.

After Robyn died, I became obsessed with being sick. It consumed me. I thought every little pain, every little cough meant that I was going to die too. Robyn was one of my BFFs, she was my age, we lived together for 4 years in University, she was beautiful, smart, kind, ambitious, an incredible mom and she died. I just couldn't understand it and it consumed me. I couldn't watch the news because I felt like all the bad in this world was going to affect my family. My anxiety was not only affecting me, but everyone I loved around me.

I needed help. I needed to talk about it.

Now what. Now, I feel really good. I have "me" back again and it's amazing.

So, as someone who had never felt like I needed "to talk" or had an experience with mental health struggles, I hope that sharing my story will help to end the stigma of mental health.

Whether you feel like your issue is big or small. It doesn't matter. Let's talk about it! I promise, you'll feel better!

I've shared my video on FB and Twitter. Please feel free to share it. The more we share, the more we are aware.

*Just want you to know that this is not a sponsored post. I have had no contact with Bell on this. I just wanted to share my story with you*

Keep it Beautiful.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Need a Fabulous Rug? Mohawk Rug Giveaway!

Happy Friday everyone! Let's start this weekend off right. Who's up for a giveaway?! 

With the basement renovation taking up all our attention and definitely most of our budget, the rest of the house has been, just doing it's thing and certain spaces are needing more love. I’ve been re-arranging our area rugs on the second floor, moving our baby girl's tan shag rug into the boys room, and the boys white shag rug into her room. Rugs are awesome that way, easy to switch it up. A couple of years ago I won this Mohawk rug when I entered into a blogger's giveaway (you can't win if you don't enter, right?)



Until now, I’ve had it in the tv room but always felt like it was a little too blue in there against all the "greige". So, I put in the guest room and it looks great. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?
The bed doesn’t feel like it’s floating on the hardwood and it’s soft on the toes. Perfecto.

When Mohawk reached out to do a giveaway on here, I obviously knew that you guys would love the chance to win a rug. Um, ya! Woot!
In the meantime, the tv room floor was left feeling a wee naked. So I chose this Mohawk rug to replace the blue one. Moroccan rugs have been trending for awhile and some of their price tags are oh-so-out-of-my-budget. This one is soft and priced right.



I like the colours of it in the room better than the blue and the blue is happy in the guest room. Win.
GIVEAWAY TIME! 
Do you want to win a Mohawk rug for your beautiful space? Wouldn't it be fab to put your winter toes on something cozy? Thank you Mohawk!! #ilovemymohawkrug

If you win, you need to show me how fab it looks in your space :) 
Mohawk Rug Giveaway



Happy weekend friends!
Keep it Beautiful.



Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Living Room Gallery Wall

Happy 2016 all! Hope you had a wonderful holiday and are jumping two feet in to 2016. I have lots of goals for Keep It Beautiful Designs this year and hope that you will join me on the journey. To start the year, I thought I would FINALLY show you a quick project that I didn't get a chance to show you last year. I know the new year is about starting fresh but I did promise to share it with you and it's got a few easy tips that I thought you might want to hear.
 

It’s a little gallery wall in the living room. I have left the walls on either side of the fireplace blank for so long, in the search of two fabulous paintings. My original idea was to find two pieces of art that were similar in colours but different paintings. However, I just couldn’t find the right one for the space. Then, while sitting in my girlfriend Lisa’s house one night I was admiring the four square prints she had flanking one side of the mantle.
 
Inspired by this, I decided that a mini gallery wall would be the answer to the empty space.
Where to start? If you’re thinking of doing a gallery wall, look for the first piece that you most definitely want on it. While in the check-out line at Homesense, a cute little “This is house if filled with love” box was my inspiration. I knew that I wanted it on the wall.
 
Next stop…Ikea.  The boys bounced around in the balls while I got to browse by myself. Trying to move around Ikea with little kids is like herding cats.  I hit the frame section and placed a few different sizes on the floor to map out a “look”.
 
So now I had a few frames that needed something. My girlfriend Gemma is a fellow blogger (check out her fab blog!) in Ottawa and sells adorable prints. I picked up the "darling let's be adventurers" print. 

Now to hang. Hanging pictures can be one.of.the.most.frustrating things in life. Honestly, it can be brutal. I totally get it and trying to do it with a partner can be even more "pull your hair out". So, here are a few tips that made hanging this gallery wall a piece of cake and very easy. Promise.
 
Tip #1: After laying your frames out on the floor and deciding on the positing, trace the frames on carboard, kraft paper etc. I used wrapping paper. Cut out the shapes. They don't have to be perfect lines, just close.Tape them to the wall. It's not pretty but just go with it. Try to keep your spacing between the frames relatively even (no need to measure). This will keep your wall looking cohesive and not messy. Move them around until you get the perfect ensemble.

Tip #2: Holding your frame, measure the distance between the top of the frame and where the nail needs to go. If you are using different frames, the spacing might be different. Usually, on the Ikea Ribba frames it's about an inch. Estimate the centre (or measure, I'm too impatient) and nail the hole directly through the wrapping paper, into the wall.


Tip #3: Tear off the paper and voila, your nail is in the perfect spot. Easy peasy. No secretly wanting to throw a hammer at your partner for hanging them crooked ;) Just place your frames on and voila!
 A photo of our cutie pies fit in the last frame and our living room wall has gone from empty to filled with love. We had the painting on the other side of the mantle, in the breakfast room but now it has a new home. Actually, it did have a new home until yesterday. I had taken it down for a Christmas painting we had and when I went to put it back up yesterday, I dropped it and the glass smashed. Ugh. I really love it so I'm going to try to have a piece of glass cut. Fingers crossed!

 
One final tip! Have you noticed that the Ikea frame mats are off white? It's always annoyed me because I need it to be pure white to match all the other white in the house. Here's something awesome. Just flip them over. On the other side, they are perfectly white. Yes! 

Gallery walls are trendy. Some say, trending out. I say, they’re here to stay for awhile, at least for 2016. Who doesn’t love a wall of gorgeous photos? Who doesn’t love a wall of your favourite things? I say go for it.
 
I would love to see your gallery walls. Please share and I’ll share your work here.

Keep it Beautiful. Happy New Year! I'm coming for you 2016.
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