A Scandinavian Style Holiday

Did you know that despite having long, dark winters, Scandinavians consistently remain on the top 10 list of the happiest countries in the world? Without a doubt, they are the masters of Hygge* and this holiday season, I am ALL ABOUT comfort, cozy and the less is more mentality. When it comes to decorating, embracing Scandinavian style during the holidays can easily be achieved by taking a minimalist approach. Decorate using ordinary objects you may already own and simply layering them with a few key pieces in muted tones to achieve a fresh, scaled back approach to the season.

I love the simplicity of these mini trees wrapped in craft paper and twine. Ever thought of scouring through your pantry for holiday décor ideas?

One of my all-time favourite DIY’s is this nut garland by Emma from The Marion House Book. She fused an assortment of nuts together and created this beautiful texture through the various tones and shape of each shell. I don’t doubt drilling into each nut came easy but the end result is a beautiful handmade piece that can be enjoyed for many years to come.

Hosting a dinner party? This place setting from Bo-Bedre displays the perfect palette for a Scandi inspired spread. Layering whites, nudes and natural wood pieces creates a balanced nature inspired scheme, something the Danes are known for. The less is more approach really allows for minimal holiday décor to really stand out. This can be as simple as layering a delicate sprig of spruce over each place setting and combining knitted textures secured with either scraps of leather or any left over ribbon hanging around to really to tie this look together.

I love the idea of hanging a few little bells with greenery on your door. This simple little touch adds a bit of festive to your entryway or any door in your house for that matter! If you’re not into the bells, you could easily use some extra tree ornaments and it would look just as lovely.

Scandinavian design is simple, minimal and often placed on a white backdrop allowing the natural textures and colours to take centre stage. If you’re looking to take a simple approach to holiday decorating this year, or maybe you’re a little behind (like me!) try drawing inspiration from natural elements of the environment to create an understated yet elegant look. I’ll be pulling out all the greenery an twine this weekend!

*Hygge: pronounced “hoo-gah”, means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life.

Sources:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Bathroom Reveal

Say hello to my little black and white bathroom. I actually can’t help but smile as I type this because WE ARE DONE. Honestly, I can’t believe this is the same room. Even with a teeny, tiny budget, we managed to completely transform our main bathroom. It might not look like such a dramatic change in the photos but boy, it makes a world of a difference to wake up to this in the morning!

Do you recall what it looked like a few short weeks ago? Here's a little reminder for ya:

For the floors, I originally wanted to go with small, mosaic tiles. But because it was a lot pricier, we opted for these larger 12x24 tiles that we found at a tile warehouse sale. Bonus! Well, I'm happy to report that I love how the floor turned out. Although we did have some issues with laying the tile, everything worked out in the end.

I love the clean lines of our new floating vanity from Wayfair. As you can see, it's a lot less bulkier than the old vanity. It almost seems to disappear into the white wall. Goodbye dark brown, hello white! I searched high and low for a good quality faucet in matte black and this model from Wayfair fit perfectly.

A few days ago, I posted this photo that my dear friend, Andreea shot while she was in Mexico. I loved it so much and it was the perfect dose of colour this bathroom needed. It also feeds my wanderlust which is always a good thing, right? If you want to get your hands on some beautiful art for your home, check out her new shop here and use the coupon code ESCAPE for 25% off!

Ok, a shelfie in the bathroom? Instead of hanging a traditional shelf over the toilet, I opted for a picture ledge. I wanted to keep things extremely minimal but also functional. A bigger shelf meant more stuff and we wanted to reduce stuff in this tiny bathroom. Now my favourite soaps are in arms reach. I found this cute, black & white canvas basket for a steal at Simons. It's perfect for holding extra rolls of toilet paper. 

Let me tell you, this simple towel bar makes SUCH a difference. We lived with those awful towel hooks for years and we couldn't dry anything on them. Also, the matte black was a no brainer. I paired it with one of my watercolours in a simple white frame.

And that's about it, folks. This bathroom would not be possible without the help of my Dad and husband, David. Thank you for putting up with me these past 5 weeks. Thanks to Tan and Brian for helping us fix the floor (if you're reading this, you guys rock!). Also, a big thanks to Linda from Calling it Home for creating the One Room Challenge and of course to my wonderful sponsors, Wayfair!

There are so many amazing makeovers this season. If you're looking for some inspiration for your home, have a look at the other featured designers here and the guest participants here. 

Sources:

• Vanity: currently sold out but you can find similar options here.
• Faucet
• Vanity Light
• Mirror
• Picture ledge
• Towel Bar
• Floor Tile

Sunday Loves

It seems like everyone I know is tackling some type of spring cleaning in their home. Last year I KonMari'd most of our house and I'm ALL about it. There's definitely a lot more we need to purge but we are slowwwwly getting there. We've sold a bunch of furniture and accessories that I found at thriftstores years ago but I was just holding on to them 'just because' (slight hoarder tendencies over here). But I've actually cut my closet in half, keeping only the things that I love and wear on the regular. It's like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Have you tackled any spring cleaning or Kon Mari'd your closet? I'd love to know if you did and what you find the hardest to tackle. 

And speaking of closets, I've always wanted to try creating a capsule closet. Specifically this 10x10 challenge by Lee Vosburgh. It involves creating a micro-capsule of 10 pieces from your closet and using it to create 10 different looks. She started it in 2015 during a 30-day shopping fast!  

David and I have been OBSESSED with our Saje essential oil diffuser (and this is not sponsored, I actually love this product). We purchased the Aromaom White Diffuser and we use it every night before we go to bed. It's become a nightly ritual because our sleeps have never been better. Get this: it runs 3 hours continuously and shuts off right after. If you're thinking of trying it, check out the tranquility essential oil. It's so good.

I love this Brooklyn townhouse. Wood herringbone floors? Yes, please.

The Love Studio's feed has me craving a vacation, stat. I love this interior she snapped while in Mexico:

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! It's been raining non-stop in these parts but a few hours of sunshine today has me feeling re-charged. Wishing you all the best for this new week, XO.

One Room Challenge - Week 5 - Bathroom Makeover

Week 5, woohoo! Home stretch, people. If you're new to these parts, I'm Amy Carrillo– I run a small design business in the Greater Toronto Area. I wear a lot of hats but I mainly provide interior/prop styling and graphic design services. 

5 short weeks ago, I decided to mini-reno my bathroom for the One Room Challenge. By "I", I mean volunteer my husband and Dad, plus a contractor to help me :)

via kbhsnedkeri.dk

Now, when I browse through ALL the bathrooms I've pinned for inspiration, there's clearly a common thread. Well 3 to be exact: black, white and minimal. A black and white bathroom has always been on my someday list. A simple, airy space to start my day in. Working in the creative field, I always look for inspiration in my surroundings and once we are done with this bathroom, I just know it will help keep me inspired. I'm all about the bright white and negative space. It almost makes me feel like I can breathe deeper, think clearer and come up with my next big idea. Am I crazy? 

So, on with the progress. Our light is up and so is the mirror. I picked up a few accessories and brought in a few underused items that I already had around the house. We definitely needed a new towel bar because we inherited two towel hooks when we moved in - they were awkward and didn't really hold anything. If you'd like to take a gander at the before's, knock yourself out. l

So before the full reveal next week, here are a few close-ups of the pretty:

If you've been following along, stay tuned for next weeks FINAL REVEAL! I can't wait to share the finished space. 

Don't forget to check out the amazing 20 featured designers here and the other guest participants of the One Room Challenge here.

One Room Challenge – Week 4 – Bathroom Makeover

I see the light at the end of the tunnel, guys. Our main bathroom has been out of commission for longer than expected which was a little frustrating. We had to move all our toiletries down to the tiny powder room on our main floor and our hallway was a mess to navigate through. But hey, first world problems. I feel very fortunate to get the chance to give our main bathroom a little update, even on small budget like mine.

I only have a few photos to share this week but things are going well and we are on pace to finish by the deadline (week 6 is the reveal). Woot, woot!

Our vanity and faucet (both from Wayfair) has been installed. I’m loving how sleek the black and white looks. A big departure from the ornate, heavy brown vanity that was in there before. It was way to bulky and took up so much space (visually and physically) in our small main bath. The white vanity makes the room feel a lot lighter and the depth is perfect for the space.

Next on the list:

• paint the baseboards a bright white 
• install the new light fixture
• install towel bar (umm, I refuse to pay $100 for a matte black one. Any ideas? Spray paint?)
• install shelf (still on the fence with this...can't decide on a shelf)
• hang mirror
• add accessories

We are so close, I can taste it. Stay tuned for more updates on my stories and if you’re interested, check out the other guest participants here and 20 featured designers here.

top image via A Merry Mishap

ONE ROOM CHALLENGE – WEEK 3 – BATHROOM MAKEOVER

It’s week 3 of the One Room Challenge and just like other seasons, I am once again surprised at how quickly we have reached the halfway point. For months, I have been busy prepping 2 rooms in our house for a Leon’s photoshoot which was on Wednesday (hooray!) so now it’s time to get this bathroom DONE. 

If you read my last post here (or seen my recent insta-story) you might recall our little incident with the tiles. They have been re-installed and here's a few in progress shots:

Next on the agenda is painting the walls. I think I've narrowed it down:

I showed the 2 colours to David and he replied with, "Great. White and white". These are actually so different on our walls. Decorator's White has more of a cool undertone while American White looks a little on the pink side to me. Totally different than what's on the paint chip and what it looks like in the tester can. 

I still have to pick the lighting and decide on a few other fixtures. But thankfully, I feel like the biggest job is complete. I’ll be sharing more on my stories as we knock things off our list. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, check out what the 20 featured designers are up to here and the guest participants here. 

XO,
Amy

Photo via cm studio

One Room Challenge – Week 2 – Bathroom Makeover

I can't believe it's already Week 2 of the One Room Challenge. The first week has been a learning experience of sorts. We’ve hit a few bumps to say the least. But that’s pretty much expected when you’re undergoing any type of renovation, right? After putting down the new tile floor over the weekend, we had to pull them out on Monday. We waited 24 hours for the cement to dry, removed the leveller clips and all the tiles starting shifting! Like, really badly. It turns out most of the cement was still wet which caused the shifting and it didn’t help that our floor is a little uneven. So, it's going to happen this weekend but we're not getting our hands dirty this time. Some things are just better left to the pros, guys.

At least we tried, it was a learning experience!

But before I get into too much detail, how about a look at the before’s? I’m so horrible at taking before photos. I quickly snapped these shots before the floors were pulled out. But this is about it, this is our main bathroom. It's definitely on the smaller side, but good enough for 2 people.

As you can see, I did absolutely nothing with this bathroom since we moved in 2 years ago. I was feeling so uninspired and we really didn't have a budget for it. But with a little help from Wayfair, we're going to transform our small bathroom into a sleek oasis. Here's my plan/concept board:

Very simple, very black and white, very ME. I want this bathroom unfussy, minimal and clean. We're keeping the walls white, putting down a grey tile and incorporating black fixtures. Our old vanity (what a fiasco that was to remove. It was HEAVY and scratched our floors!) was sold on Kijiji and I'm replacing it with this sleek white vanity from Wayfair. 

I'm finally going to hang some art on the walls – this one I took when we travelled to Spain and I loving the texture and lines in the photo. Plus my hubby is in it, so what's not to love? I may or may not be adding a little brass and marble, I love this shelf from CB2. I'm a little unsure about the brass brackets though. I'm not a huge fan of shiny gold, I prefer things with a patina on it but we'll see because it caught my eye years ago and I keep going back to it :) Let me know your thoughts! Yes or no to shiny gold? And because the room is so black and white, I hope to bring in some warmth with some natural material and wood tones in the mirror and basket. So excited!

If you've joined in on the ORC this season, I hope you're first week was a lot more productive than mine! I'm a little worried about the floors, I'm hoping we can get them done sooner than later. In the meantime, I'll be stalking the rest of you, to see how far you've gotten.  

If you haven't joined in on the challenge, will you be renovating or taking on any makeovers in your home? I'd love to know! This stuff excites me. I'm sure you can tell.

Stay tuned for next weeks update. Hopefully we'll have the floors done by then! You can also check out the 20 featured designer projects here and the guest participants here.

Image credits: Bathroom by InForm

A big thanks to Linda from Calling it Home, for creating this challenge and getting my butt moving! 

Win A Klein Sofa From Leon's Furniture!

I happen to love the start of a new week, it always gives me a sense of renewal and excitement. And today is even more special because I’ve partnered with Leon's Furniture for this amazing Instagram contest. Starting today, you can enter to win your very own sofa from the Klein Collection – it's seriously so easy to enter, so don't miss out on this one!

You may have seen these sneak peeks on my Instagram feed:

I had the pleasure of styling my very own set with the GREY Klein Sofa and here's how it turned out. I happen to LOVE this colour. It's a timeless, neutral hue that goes beautifully with other muted colours or even bold colours and pattern. 

And guess what, there are 3 other colours to choose from! Simply visit my instagram post HERE to see the rest of the colours available, pick your favourite and to enter the contest! Good luck everyone! XO

One Room Challenge Week 1 - Bathroom Makeover

The Spring One Room Challenge is here! For those of you who are new to the game, it’s a 6 week challenge where 20 featured designers and 200+ guest participants (like me) are challenging themselves to complete a room transformation in 6 short weeks. Yeah, we crazy. This is my my 4th ORC– I’ve completed my office, master bedroom and a client’s living room that even got featured on House Beautiful!  A big thanks to Linda from Calling it Home (the brainchild behind this event), because without this challenge, my house would probably still be a  complete disaster. 

If you’re new to these parts of the interwebs, I thought I would introduce myself. My name is Amy Carrillo and I’m from Mississauga, Ontario – a small suburb just outside of Toronto. I’m self-employed and run my own little business that specializes in creative direction, interior/prop styling and graphic design. We moved into our house in 2015 and we are slowly making it our own. If you browse through my site or Instagram feed, you’ll see I have a minimal aesthetic. I'm drawn to Scandinavian interiors and clean lines but I also like to mix and match different styles. A good mix is always good!

Now let’s get down to business. This season, I will be tackling our master bathroom. To be honest, it’s a tiny space but good enough for my hubby, David and I. The vanity is completely outdated and the floors are a yellow cork that match the also yellow walls. And I've done absolutely nothing with it since we moved in. For now, here are some inspiration photos:

With only a teeny budget to work with, we’re going to transform our space into a light and airy main bathroom. I’ll be sharing before photos next week and also some progress peeks on my stories! 

You can check out what the other guest participants will be tackling here as well as the 20 featured designers here. I'm also excited to see 3 amazing Canadian experts on the featured designers list this season. Christine Dovey, Jacquelyn Clark and Jen of Rambling Renovators. I'm a big fan of all 3 of them. If you're looking for more inspiration, check out their projects. 

Image sources:
1  /  2  /  3  /  4

Sunday loves...

I hope you're all having a glorious weekend! On Sunday nights I like to plan out my week and I try to do a little bit of meal prep. When I have time, I like to cook a big batch of something delicious like a kale & quinoa salad or protein balls – something that will last us for a few days. It just saves time because in all honestly, this girl has almost no time to cook. But I do have a pot boiling as I write this! Miracles do happen. Do you have a Sunday ritual or do you plan your meals on Sundays? I'd love to hear any good recipes if you care to share. 

// If you follow me on Instagram, you might have caught a glimpse of the protein balls I made. If you have a sweet tooth like me, this is a great way to satisfy that craving and it's much healthier. I followed this recipe which was super simple.

// I feel like this entire post might be about food but whatevs ;) David and I LOOOOVE Mexican food and this Friday we went to our fave resto, Milagro. If you haven't already tried it, check it out. And may I recommend the playeros tacos and the suizas enchiladas.

// I mentioned in my last post that I'll be giving our small living & dining room an update. I'm partnering with Leon's Furniture to create a space that finally feels more like home. I can't wait to share more details but for now, the image above has been inspiring me. I'm thinking of switching out our wooden chairs for some light grey upholstered chairs :)

// We've been trying to minimize and live with less. I love how this family of three does it!

via Dwell

// Speaking of minimizing, I started a new Instagram account to sell some of my pre-loved items. Follow along here if you're interested. Items coming soon!