Life & Liberty Hotel Review

Life has been so busy lately! On top of day-to-day responsibilities  - which includes constantly chasing a two year old track star - I have been:

1. trying to get my resume and cover letter ready for my big job hunt

2. searching for house listings in our budget

3. getting ready for vacation next week

4. working on a friend's kitchen reno

5. working on my sister & brother-in-law's house facade facelift

6. working on my bedroom at the cottage

Like I said, busy busy busy. But I always prefer busy over bored. I'm hoping to get some quiet time while we are on our family vacation in Maine next week to update the blog on some of my current projects but in the meantime, here's what we thought of The Liberty Hotel in Boston.

{old jail entry with new hotel tower in the background}

Alright. Overall we LOVED our quick stay at The Liberty Hotel. It was such a beautiful space, and I love when an old unused building gets a new job...prison turned hotel was quite genius. After spending some time at The Liberty, I realized how perfectly the hotel follows a carefully thought out design concept - my studio instructors at UCLA would have eaten this up! School is soooo about concept!

Some examples of concept:

1. take a look at the lobby. old-style atrium jail layout.

2. the restaurant upstairs is named Clink and is designed around actual jail cells, bars and all.

3. the bar on the lower level is called Alibi.

4. the Italian restaurant is named Scampo, which translates to "escape".

5. even the geometric patterned fabric on the guest room curtains looked like metal jail bars with a closer look.

 {clink}

{alibi}

I really enjoyed our time at The Liberty. They offer free yoga in the yard on Saturday mornings, and the free coffee in the lobby was some of the tastiest I've actually ever had. I highly recommend staying there. However, I have to also say that for more than $500 a night, I wasn't overly thrilled with our room. It was nice but had, what seemed like, really low ceilings (did help with the claustrophobic jail cell feeling!), a plastic shower floor insert (ick, not good with nice tiled surround), and only 19 of the more than 200 rooms where in the actual old hotel (wish I knew that when I booked). We were also greeted Saturday morning with construction in the room next door, but the hotel have us breakfast vouchers for Clink which saved us more than $60. 

{our room + our mess}

 {yoga in the yard}

{awesome hotel loaners}

Like I said, overall a great time. And if you like the bar scene, the Alibi patio seemed like THE place to be in Boston.

Our BAH-stan

We are back from Boston, and I have a new love.

We in arrived in Boston on friday night and ended up taking a loooooong walk after a good, not great, dinner at 75 Chestnut in Beacon Hill. It was rated the best restaurant by Best of Boston magazine so we expected more but overall it was fine. Our walk was really nice, the weather cooperated and the city was buzzing with people out enjoying summer. I think my love affair started early...

In the morning we planned to start the day with coffee at the hotel's restaurant Clink. We had a bit of a complaint for the hotel (which I will tell you more about in my review of it over the weekend) so they thoughtfully gave us vouchers for breakfast at our chosen location. Score! 

After nibbling on our breakfast we took the subway out to Fenway park. This was purely for the enjoyment of my husband. I'm not a big sports fan, and walking around a baseball stadium for kicks was not my thing. Nonetheless, we went. And it was crazy with fans gearing up HOURS early for the game versus the Yankees.

We ended up doing a ton of walking and found a great used bookstore and also stumbled on the Boston Public Library's book sale where I bought an old encyclopedia britannica from 1892 for $2. Didn't realize until later that it was the edition that contains old info and maps for California and Canada - a great memento from the trip and perfect for us Canadians/Ex-Californians!

We walked back towards the hotel and ate at Figs in Beacon Hill and our pizza was so delicious, I really can't rave enough. Their must-have choice was the fig & prosciutto and it was so good I am going to try and replicate it - rosemary crust with fig & balsamic jam, prosciutto, gorgonzola and green onion...mmm mmm! On our way out of the city we grabbed some cannoli at Mike's in the North End and rushed off to the Bon Iver concert...

...which was AMAZING!

From a tourist's perspective, Boston is very lovable - 

amazing old architecture (which I didn't take photos of due to impatient travel companion)

lots of green space

easily walkable

yummy food

It was a great weekend! 

ps. Check back to hear about our stay at the Liberty Hotel. 

Boston Blitz

Tomorrow morning, at an obscene hour, Geoff and I are leaving for a quick weekend trip to Boston! This is our VERY first getaway since having our daughter over two years ago, and as you can imagine, we are excited. There are also some nerves involved, as the thought of leaving the toddler behind is a bit scary too. 

While she will be in great hands, playing away at the cottage, we will be soaking in the luxuries of the Liberty Hotel and some tasty Boston food. When Stephanie first blogged about this hotel a few months ago I knew I had to check it out - it's an old prison turned hotel and just opened in 2010. 

Cannot wait to see this place in person...

...need a drink from the hotel bar...

...get a goodnights sleep in a pretty room...

...and tour the city on one of these!

{all images via Liberty Hotel}

The reason for our trip is actually to attend a concert. We cannot wait for Bon Iver too...

I'll let you know how it all goes! Have a good weekend!

HomeGoods. No, HomeGreats.

We Canadians have a tendency to complain mention how shopping is always better in the US. Well, I have to say that after two trips to my local Toronto HomeGoods store in the last month, I really have to disagree! I am shocked at the affordable furniture and accessories they have for my eyes to feast on and have not been disappointed at all, not even a bit. For some economical furnishings, I am coming back to this place. I can't say what the quality is like, but for the prices, HomeGoods is worth a try.

I believe this had a $600 price tag...solid, heavy wood people!

I know these chairs were only $200 each because I would have two for the ends of my dining table if I had my house by now...

Loved this for our cottage, maybe it will come home soon. Can't remember price but think it was around $300...

Yes! If I had my office, this would be delightful. It was $500...

ps - the table, not the ottomans :)

A fun little mirrored chest...

These Wegner wishbone stool knock-offs were $96 each!

And the only thing that actually came home with me from this list, a pair of wire farm baskets. Ah hem - $12 each!

I also picked up an adorable little glass and steel terrarium greenhouse thing that I love but didn't take a photo. I will show it off when my bedroom is finished at the cottage. We also loved this raw-edged shower curtain for one cottage bathroom, displayed so beautifully by my daughter for my mum via text.

Target + Missoni

I just read about Target's next designer collection with Missoni and almost fainted. Wow. I need a little Italian jewel-toned joy in my home accessories collection, and thus I've already started planning a short road trip to our friendly southern neighbour in mid-September. 

{via Missoni}

Cannot wait to see the home-wares, of course, but I'm also hoping to find something to add to my closet (and its lonely Missoni scarf). Coming to Target September 13, 2011.

Project: Muskoka Bedroom

I've started to think about our cottage bedroom and have been getting my hands dirty with some minor projects for it lately. While we are trying to save all of our money for our first house purchase, I am attempting to reuse old furniture and items my parents have hanging around - many of which were already one step out the door and on their way to the dump!

Here is a little peak at one item I salvaged from my aunt and uncle who have a cottage next door. This turquoise number has started its transformation...

It is an old, dovetail joint tool box from Scandinavia that has been waiting patiently for a facelift. My dad's uncle gave him an almost exact match which was never painted and it looks beautiful in the cottage entry. I can't wait to see this one in our bedroom! You will have to come back and see how I plan to use it...

Project: Muskoka Front Door

It has been hard finding time for blogging with this great summer weather we are finally experiencing in Toronto! As I promised a few weeks back, here are some after photos of our cottage front door, all painted and pretty!

We wanted something that worked well with the putty coloured faux-wood board and baton and shingles, and the orangey rough douglas fir accents. We were also trying to stay away from the usual cottage suspects - dark green, deep rust and brown. 

The solution: BURNT ORANGE

In order to minimize, or play down, the orange colour of the fresh douglas fir, we chose a burnt orange. It may seem the opposite, but by using an analogous colour-scheme (where colours are from the same side of the colour wheel) and using a colour that blends in with the redwoods, it actually makes the orange shade of wood less noticeable. Analogous colour-schemes are more relaxing and pleasing to the eye - perfect for easy living at a cottage! If we had chosen a blue or green paint, the colour-scheme would have been more dynamic complimentary scheme (where colours are from the opposite side of the colour wheel) and the douglas fir would have actually appeared more orange. 

the perfect napkin

While at the cottage and sipping away on these...

...and browsing through the June issue of Better Homes & Gardens, I found these PERFECT napkins. The best of both worlds, MYdrap are made from real fabric (cotton or linen) but breakdown after six washing machine cycles. I love how I can offer guests real napkins, in an assortment of gorgeous colours and patterns, and don't have to worry about keeping them free of stains forever.

They also come in various sizes from cocktail napkin to placemat, and are handily unrolled like paper towel. So cool!

Project: Muskoka Getaway

Today I'm going to introduce you to a project that I have been helping with, on and off, for the past couple of years! My family is lucky to own a fantastic little piece of Muskoka - aka beautiful cottage country in Ontario.

Over the past few years my parents have been renovating what was a tiny summer cottage (I am on the hunt to find some before photos) into a larger all-season home (see below). While I don't get final say in ANYTHING (boo!) my brother (an architect) and I (an interior designer) are asked our "expert" opinions whenever possible - this was hard while I was living in California which was the reality until a month ago. 

 A little background, this new cottage was designed by an architect before my brother was even in school to become one, and also before I started ID school. This is also not my parents' first stab at home renovation. They built my childhood 4,000 square foot home from the ground up - my father's hobby is very likely the reason both of his children fell in love with architecture and design! Back to the cottage, we LOVE the architectural design, but there are definitely issues that we all wish were realized and addressed before building commenced. Seriously, think about how furniture will be placed in each room while you are still finalizing floor plans and elevations,  and deciding on colour-schemes and materials BEFORE you start these types of projects is highly recommended! Figuring things out as you go is NEVER easy or best!

Enough talking at you, here is the basic shell of the cottage when you arrive...

{cottage in 2009 via cell phone camera}

We've been working slowly at finishing more of the entry, both exterior and interior, and here's a peak at some of the completed parts and other things that are in the works...

I'll reveal what we've finished after this weekend. The front door colour was a difficult decision!

living in a treasure trove

We are currently squatting at my in-laws while we permanently settle into the city and find a house to buy. While helping execute a small purge of the garage and basement, I rescued a few items from the yard sale box. One man's garbage, another man's treasure right?!

I saved a few adorable vintage bottles/beakers and a glass apothecary jar, a handful of really old books (I'm talking 1800's) and my favourite, a pair of vintage silver pineapples...

I can't wait to use them to style my future home but the best part is that they are actually an old lighter and cigarette holder. So darn cute! Pineapples are also signs of hospitality, so they are great to display in a public area of your home. Can't wait to see what else is hiding down in that basement...

Have a super weekend! x