The Interior DIYer

Spice filled curio cabinet

If you’ve been following my blog for the past few years you may remember that for my 30th birthday my parents bought me a beautiful vintage curio cabinet. After some time I decided to paint it black and hung it up in the corner of the living room in our Islandbridge Apartment in Dublin, but for a very long time I had no idea what to do with it or what to put in it. I mean like two years passed and it was completely empty. I eventually put some jars in it for the sake of putting something in it, but I was eternally haunted by having such a cute cabinet and no idea what to do with it.

When we emigrated last year and moved into our Lower Town Apartment, there was a space in our kitchen that would be absolutely perfect for my curio cabinet. And almost immediately, I knew I wanted to keep all my spices in it. Don’t tell Robert, but I packed and shipped some of my favourite tiny empty glass jars [yes, completely empty jars. I have a problem] to Canada from Ireland. Once I unpacked everything and got myself organised, I hung up the cabinet in our kitchen and decanted all the spices and herbs we use the most into secret little jars and labelled them with black labels and a gold pen.

As soon as I started arranging the jars, I was embarrassingly ecstatic. I love stuff like that; organizing and sorting and having a little project just for me that essentially makes me feel like a witch in the kitchen.

I’ve been wanting to paint over the brown in our kitchen [this shade of brown was in the hallway and is currently in our entire bedroom], but I keep getting stuck on the idea that a room should be complete before I can take photos of it. Which I know does not make sense. Our kitchen will be a work in progress for the next while, but for the moment, I am loving my tiny curio cabinet in lieu of a perfectly curated dream Pinterest pantry.

Lately

So my plan so far to share some #NoNewvember inspiration each day this month has been a total failure!

Over the course of 4 weeks, we had 2 conferences in work. The more recent conference took place this past week in Toronto and myself and my coworker manned the entire thing. We were those ducks who look calm on the surface but are wildly paddling underneath, trying to smooth over the many issues that popped up and fill in the gaps where the venue failed. Without using any swears [because toddler], it was bananas. There were a few 14-hour days leading up to the conference, then there was the lesser-known demon of Having To Catch Up On A Week Of Missed Work Once You Return To Your Desk. Oh, not to mention I experienced my first barometric pressure headache that was so compounding it gave me a fever and I was on the couch for 3 days. Then Cora had a fever the moment I left for the conference and as soon as I returned from Toronto I dove into Paranoid Mother Mode, rushing her to the doctor since her fever kept coming back [and peaked at 40.5°C].

I’ve been so busy and tired and my poor #NoNewvember Challenge has totally fallen by the wayside. I had every intention of kicking ass this month and [hopefully] inspiring others to buy secondhand, but without sounding too cliche or corny, life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.

I have more mental energy this week so in a last attempt to add more #NoNewvember photos to my hashtag 😆

If they’re good enough for Emily Gilmore

Around ten years ago my mom got us a pair of really lovely wine glasses for Christmas [one of them is the large glass in the middle above]. Unfortunately, one broke shortly after that, but ever since I’ve really loved the shape of that one glass that survived.

A few months ago when I was in Value Village I spotted a few of the exact same style glasses. I was standing looking at them when a woman walked by and said, “Oh those aren’t crystal. I’ll show you how to tell if a pair of glasses are crystal …“, and she kindly showed me some tricks to find out if some glasses are better quality than others. She was trying to help find some hidden treasures, but I was left feeling embarrassed for wanting the less-than-fancy glasses so I didn’t buy them. Later I of course wished I had, so now every time I see that style of glasses, I buy them. Crystal or not.

I’ve only found two medium and three small sized glasses since, but I’m determined to collect as many as I can now. I mean, if those glasses are good enough for Emily Gilmore, they’re good enough for me. Collect whatever you want. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. To finish with a quote from Emily Gilmore, that’s complete and utter …

 “Bullshit!”

Emily Gilmore image via here.

Also featured – black dining room hutch – diy dust covers – repainted red rose