it's nice and sweet.......artwork and unfinished projects.

We thought we'd interrupt our regularly scheduled program to give *snaps* to our resident artist.

He doesn't actually live here, though we wish he did. Then we could work him all hours of the day night. He'd be at our beck and call, we'd chain him to his paintbrush, we'd probably make him cook and clean too......

DJ (Darryl) Berger is a friend, writer, blogger and artist. Over the years, we have slowly filled our walls, piece by piece, with his artwork.
It has become a Christmas tradition, actually. Every year Jamie, or I, gift the other a painting.

Give a Berger, Get a Berger.
That's what we call it.

Here are some pics of the painting I gifted Jamie, this year. It's HUGE and it's in three pieces (a triptych) that will be hung a few inches apart, on one of the walls in our vaulted staircase.

The cities on the caps are places Jamie and I have lived, places where we fell in looooooove.




it's nice and sweet, mixed media on cradled wood panel; 60 x 40 x 1.5 inches; triptych; the string series continues.

You can read more about this piece on Darryl's blog, HERE.

Darryl also needs to be given credit for all of the artwork on this blog. He designed the title banner. He actually designed about 20 different banners for us to use and play around with. We love every single one of them.

We feel really fortunate to have Darryl around. He and I are really different but he puts up with me, typically without too much complaining.

When I have a crazy idea (and I have about 10 of these a week), I'll call/email/Facebook him and say "Hey I was thinking, I want to do *this* and *this* and *this* SO, can you do *this* and *this* and *this* and make it all look fabulous?"

I can tell what he wants to say is:
You're insane.
This will never work.
Please stop calling me.
Have you been drinking? (he actually does say that sometimes...)

What he says is:
Okay.
I have a few ideas.
I'll get back to you.

And then he does, with way more than we'd ever expected.
He's good to have around.

You can check out more of his artwork on my blog Yippie!

Also, just so you know that we are indeed working busily this week, I thought share some of our projects on the go.
Don't let this shock you. It shocked me.

When you live in a reno, you somehow forget about all the things that aren't done.
Until you walk around with a camera looking for them and then *BAM* you realize you're living in a shit storm.
Enjoy!

Welcome Back!

Our new year started with a *Bang*.
We totalled our truck on a New Brunswick Highway with our two sweet little babes in the back.

Not an ideal way to end an ideal holiday.

We're finally home and we're all okay, but we've been moving through the first weeks of 2012 a little more slowly than usual.

A little more resistant to resuming normal life.

In the spirit of simplicity, this week's post is pretty subdued. Nothing flashy or over the top, just an old dresser with a slight change of color and some new knobs.....giving it new life in a new space.





Jamie and I bought this old dresser at a flea market in Gananoque, just weeks before Winnie was born. We were living in a tiny 1 and 1/2 story house and we were desperate to find a change stand that would do double duty as storage.

We searched for weeks but couldn't find anything with the right dimensions....until we found THIS! I wish I had an original picture.

It was awful.

But it was the size and shape we'd been searching for and it was $25.

We didn't even know how bad it was until it was paid for and being loaded into the back of our VW Golf......It had been buried under mounds of flea market *treasures* that masked the manky smell and wobbly drawers.

Oh, but it was ours and there was a baby on the way.

We managed a quick fix: a serious clean and a coat of white paint we had lying around. I wasn't excited about the handles but, no time(!), they'd have to do. Even the wonky drawers were left, well, wonky.

It seemed ridiculous to bring this dresser with us to the new house....

We have a much nicer dresser/change stand for Pippa.
It was cheap.
It had served it's purpose.
The drawers drove me crazy.
It was ready for the dump.

But then, we realized....we have an entire master bedroom to furnish!

Hmph.

We could use that old dresser after all.

Hmph.

The dresser stays.

Double Hmph.







Jamie fixed the drawers.

He gave it a coat of sophisticated taupe-y neutral paint.

I found antiqued brass pulls and knobs from Lee Valley.

We fancied things up with a mix of Dollar Store and vintage silver trays, turned into magnet boards for our favorite pics and quotes and to-dos.

**I think the magnet boards are my favorite part of the project but the dresser is holding it's own.

I'm happy it's still a part of the family.....for now.

Holidays.....

The Painted Pear is, technically, on holiday. We're taking a few weeks away from life and the computer (for the most part) and projects.....unless you count the odd snowman as a project, in which case, we are working away!

So we're on holiday, yes, but we're at my parents new home on PEI.
And it's beautiful.
And we're so excited.
And we just couldn't resist one little post.

My parents began building this house in the summer. For anyone who has ever built a home, you know that the laundry list of decisions can be overwhelming, to say the least.

While I was home for visit in August, my sister and I decided we would try to take the pressure off my mum and help her make as many decisions as possible. We stayed up late and made a HUGE shopping list. Room by room. Item by Item.

And then we shopped. 'Til we dropped.
We spent the entire following day going from store to store.

We chose every light fixture, tile, paint color, cupboard and vanity.
It was insane.

The one thing that proved the biggest challenge was bathroom vanities. We couldn't find what we wanted.

We looked and looked (as much as you can look in one day) and then we gave up on finding the unique pieces we were envisioning.....and we decided to make them instead.

We found this cupboard on sale at Wicker Emporium.



We picked out the most beautiful sea blue.
And then turned the vanity (cream originally) into this:







My favorite piece in the house.

That's it! There are so many beautiful things in this house but holiday starts NOW!
See you in 2012!

Merry Christmas,
Jamie and Jill

The Secretary Desk.

"A secretary desk is made of a base of wide drawers topped by a desk with a hinged desktop surface, which is in turn topped by a bookcase usually closed with a pair of doors, often made of glass. The whole is usually a single, tall and heavy piece of furniture, not meant to be disassembled after manufacture, no matter what problems might be incurred in moving it from place to place.

The main work surface is a hinged piece of wood which lifts up to a vertical position and is tilted to an angle of about 45 degrees or so towards the bulk of the desk in order to enclose secondary work surfaces such as small shelves, small drawers and nooks stacked in front of the user."





I thought this was a secretary desk when I bought it but there's, obviously, no bookshelf?
So, I did some research.......and found out it's actually a slant top desk.

The Lesson?
A Slant Top Desk = A Secretary Desk - The Massive Bookshelf on Top

I stand corrected....

Either way, it was a mess.
Here it is: Painted New and Improved!

Student Trash Made Good.

This baby was ready for the dump. Found at the side of the road, this was 100% a student special.

The legs were sawed off, probably to help it fit through a door.
There were water stains and and broken drawers.
Terrible finish.

But, it had great shape. It was the perfect size. And it was free.
Jamie threw it in the back of the truck and brought it home.

6 new stainless steel legs, some TLC from James, and a coat of paint later......not too bad.









*Note....the legs are adjustable! The desk regularly sits at proper desk height but we lowered it nearly to the ground for the kids at our cookie decorating party last weekend. Check it out here.

CHristmas: In Pink & Apple Green!

The Old Coffee Table.

This actually isn’t too bad.
We painted the table this color three years ago when it was given to us.
Before that, it was bad 70’s veneer.
We can do better than that.
Oh yes we can......

I used to think, I hated pink.....
I was wrong!







Happy December 1st!
XO
Jamie & Jill