These photos don’t even scratch the surface of the goodness over at Le Dans La. Carve out some time and take a little break over there.

Enjoy the tour!

Names 

Bruce Lynn & Karyn Freedman

Occupations

Bruce – builder, designer, and owner of wood

Karyn – philosophy professor at the University of Guelph

Kids, pets?

Neither, though lately Bruce has been angling for a dog.

Year Home was Built

1910

How long have you lived in your home?

6 years

What’s your favorite room and why?

Karyn: The kitchen, hands down. It’s a calm and open space, and easy to work in. It’s the center of activity whenever we entertain. I love that friends hang out on the barstools (under the K & B letter lights I got from Perch ceramics) while I mix up cocktails. We opened up the back wall and now it gets great light during the day. I often start my morning there with a cup of coffee and the paper, curled up on the built-in bench under the big picture window.

Bruce: The basement. It’s my listening room, and I spend every morning there. For decades I carted around my records in milk crates, but now, finally, I have record shelves for them – it feels great.

How did you find your home?

Karyn: Friends of ours told Bruce about it while I was out of town. He checked it out and knew immediately that this was the house for us. The owner was partway through a renovation when she decided to sell. The upstairs looked fine but the main floor and basement were a disaster! It was basically a demolition zone, which was more or less what we had been looking for. We knew that the only way we could afford to get into the market was to buy a fixer-upper. My family thought we were crazy!

Bruce: We were looking for a house with good bones but which hadn’t been recently renovated. We saw maybe half a dozen houses with a real estate agent – we even put in a bid on one – but we felt as if we’d been thrown into a circus. It was stressful and discouraging. When we landed an opportunity to do a private purchase on a house that fit our wish list we didn’t hesitate.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Bruce: I’m inspired by a good challenge, and there was a lot of that in this house project. I also find inspiration in music and art.

Karyn: My mom has a modern aesthetic, and I grew up in a home that had a relaxed, mid-century feel, with lots of natural light and wood built-ins. I think that had an important influence on my own sense of design and it’s a look which continues to inspire me. I also spend an almost obscene amount of time flipping through design magazines and browsing design blogs (the marion house book is a favourite!). I love to see the interesting choices that people make in their homes.

How did you end up living in Brockton Village?

Karyn: We live in Brockton Village, just next to Parkdale. We had both been living in the west end for years and didn’t want to leave the area. We love this part of town. It feels like home to us. The neighborhood is great, quiet and friendly, and close to all the new shops and restaurants on Dundas and Queen.

What did your home look like when you first saw it? What work have you done on it to make it your own?

Bruce: The previous owner had been in the process of turning the house into a two-unit rental property. The main floor and basement were half demolished while the upstairs was already functioning as a self-contained apartment. We spent the first three years up there while we worked on the main floor and basement. We took the house back to the brick and rebuilt it from the ground up, doing much of the work ourselves. We moved slowly, partly because that’s what we could afford but also because we wanted to get a sense of the space before we made certain decisions about form and function.

Karyn: We did a ton of work in those first few years but it was all behind the scenes, so it wasn’t much to look at. But since then we’ve moved onto the fun stuff. Bruce has built us new staircases, a kitchen, and some beautiful shelving units. His handiwork is all over the house! It’s been a long process and we’re not quite done yet, but we love it.

What would your dream house look like?

Bruce: I sure hope it looks like this!

Karyn: This might be it.

What was the last thing you purchased for your home?

Bruce: Karyn found our dining room chandelier on Etsy. It’s the finishing touch on our main floor.

Thanks Bruce and Karyn for inviting us into your home!

All photos by Kristin Sjaarda for The Marion House Book. 

It’s a juniper bonsai tree and as you can see it is quite small! I’m really quite besotted with this little thing. I can’t help but imagine a tiny village of people living underneath it.

It’s also in one of the prettiest ceramic planters I have seen. Isn’t that the exact colour you want to paint your walls right now?

I don’t know anything about raising bonsai so I will have to do some research. Someone told me you need to trim them everyday…is this true?

Unlike Home Decor 101 which was put together before I arrived at Chatelaine this magazine I played a bigger role on. In the hazy first weeks when my head was spinning with all the new challenges I would take home these pages and work on the copy. Section by section it got written.

The issue is a warm weather style guide on relaxed and laid-back summer design ideas.

It is full of design tips, beautiful rooms and easy summer projects you can do at home in the city or away in the country.

The magazine is broken down into five sections – live, eat, rest, bathe and projects. The projects section has so many quick weekend DIY’s everything from making your own potting shed to dipping your mismatched cutlery with a bright coat of paint.

The issue is available now on newsstands throughout Canada and should be available soon to purchase online here.

Did any of you pick up Home Decor 101? What did you think?

Looking for some ideas for throwing a graduation party or maybe a new engagement? Check out my May moodboard for HGTV.

One of my favourite summertime (actually anytime) past times is checking out antique fairs. I always find it easier to go with a few things in mind so I don’t get overwhelmed by the selection. Here are the  top five objects I will be looking out for in the next couple of months.

If you’re renovating your kitchen this summer you might be interested in the five trends I’ve noticed that are on the rise. Can you guess the one above?

Finally, if you’re doing some gardening on your balcony this summer you might want to read this post. I didn’t actually write this one but my good friend and gardening expert Sarah of My Luscious Backyard did! Invaluable advice!

Have a good weekend!

They feature women’s clothing from exclusive designers, unusual handcrafted gifts from all over the world, luxurious home accessories and unique designer jewellery.

They travel around the world to source products that are original in design and beautifully crafted. They also work with artisans and co-operatives from Africa to Asia as well as designers that are just out of college.

When they asked me to pick my favourite pieces from their Spring Summer 2013 Collection I happily obliged. You can see my picks over on their blog.

As a thank you they’re offering you, my readers, a 15% discount on all SS13 full price items. Just use the code “EMMA” at checkout. The offer is valid for the next four weeks. I hope you find some good things!!

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Thank you once again. I have to say that I do think apps like instagram really inspire us to find the beautiful in the everyday. If you haven’t downloaded a camera app for your phone yet you might want to give it a try. You might be surprised at how addictive it is.

Now on to June. I can’t say it is one I am looking forward to…getting back in shape. It’s been a good two years (what with being pregnant and looking after a one year old) since I have done anything for my body. This isn’t about losing weight or looking good but about strengthening my heart and muscles and feeling invigorated. First up…buying some new running shoes.

It was a hot and muggy day in Toronto not that different from today. I went about my day as usual had a quick visit with my midwives at their clinic (I was 3 days overdue) and picked up some groceries. Around 5:30 pm I picked up Henry from daycare and walked home to make dinner. We sat down to a lovely dinner of penne with prosciutto and peas. As we were finishing up I felt what I know now was a contraction. (I had to be induced with Henry.) It was about 7:00 pm. I continued to wash dishes and tidy up when I felt a few more contractions. I didn’t think anything of it but luckily my husband did. He insisted we call our midwives and tell them what was happening. They decided to come by and see what was going on and thank goodness they did because Orla was born a mere hour later at 8:18 pm upstairs in our bedroom! By 11 pm we were all tucked in bed and ready for sleep.

Tonight I’m going to make that same pasta again but we’ll finish it off some celebratory cupcakes instead!

We love you baby Orla.

It takes someone with a pretty clear vision of what they like to create a space like this. It belongs to fashion designer Yvan Mispelaere and is located in a former gym in Paris, France.

The kitchen is housed inside this black box which helps separate the living area from the dining area.

The whole place reminds of the movie “I am Love” featuring Tilda Swinton. If you’ve seen the film than you know that the Italian villa (Villa Necchi Campiglio) where it was shot plays a starring role (some would even say scene-stealing.) Definitely worth a look if you haven’t seen it.

What do you think of this loft?