Sarah Walker The Curated House, Author at The Curated House

Project: Kitchen Refresh | Lighting Option #2

Thanks so much for your feedback last week on Lighting Option #1 for my little kitchen refresh project! I’ve decided I want to nail down the lighting first before I move on to any of the other details. I really think the lighting will have a lot to say about the final direction of all of the rest of these little updates and help set the direction for the details.

OK, so I’m guessing you’ve all picked up on the memo that brass continues to be HOTTER THAN HOT in design this year. There’s something sexy and glamorous about the use of it, even in the humblest of spaces. Just take this charming butler’s pantry below:

{image via Pinterest}

I’m totally in L O V E with the sophistication of the brass fittings and light fixture added to the mix of finishes in this clean and elegant kitchen below:

{image via Pinterest}

Fierce + fabulous, isn’t it? I could move into that kitchen tomorrow.

So my heart stopped momentarily when I came across this simple and modern pendant at Lamps Plus. I’m so in love with its warm and vintage antiqued brass patina that I want to bite it like its made of maple candy.

Seriously sexy, right? This fixture is totally a modern classic. Love at first sight. I would choose to pair it with accessories like this whimsical hand from Black Rooster Decor:

And this pair of Swedish 1930’s Bjork vases from 1st Dibs for a regular rotation of fresh flowers:

My dilemmas are two-fold.

ONE: I don’t want to change my cabinetry hardware. I like it a lot, and while I do believe it is possible to mix white and yellow metals successfully, I have a definite white-metal-dominance in my kitchen right now {for example, check out my Emeco counter stools below}.

TWO: I only have 8 foot ceilings. One of the things I l-o-v-e about this particular pendant is its long and lanky elegance. Unlike many pendants where the downrods make up most of the length, the shaft of this fixture is itself quite long. I don’t want to have a stubby little bit of downrod emphasizing my less-than-extravagantly-high ceilings. I worry that my ceilings and these pendants would each fail to do each other justice.

The thing is, I’m utterly smitten with this fixture! What do you think? Too many changes required? Too long for my rather pedestrian-height ceilings? Too much contrast with my cabinetry hardware, counter stools and statement of a stainless steel apron-front sink?

Can’t wait for your feedback!

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|January 24th, 2013|0 Comments

Design Find | Armadillo Co Rugs | Australia

Today I thought I’d share a little eye candy with you in the form of some beautiful, flat-woven rugs hailing all the way from the warm shores of Australia. On first glance, you’ll see why the classic and modern patterns and highly saturated colours of Armadillo & Co‘s rugs caught my attention. But when you read their story, that’s when you’ll really fall in love.

I’m torn between the “Casablanca” burnt-red-on-cream {second from top}, the “Crosscut” red and orange and natural grey directly above and the goldenrod, grey and cream “Persia” below as my favourites.

Gorgeous, right? These pieces are all from their Designer Collection. Modern and graphic yet classic and timeless, these rugs could make just about any house feel like home.

But I promised you a good story today, didn’t I? Yes, yes. Theirs is a delightful one. Because this story {similar to that of Heavenly Organics} is a story of a business that cares for people. You see, their products are completely fair trade, and Armadillo & Co treats their artisans like extended family – with the kind of care, respect and love they would a father, mother, brother or sister. They select their artisans for both their hands and their heart, seeking out those who are both skilled and sensitive to their design aesthetic while carrying on an intricate tradition of weaving that has been passed down through many generations. Their wages are above average and integral to the health and well-being of their local community, and the lineage of handicraft they preserve in the work they do now.

They are working in meaningful ways to redeem an industry that has historically abused the people to create the product. As supporters and advocates for “Care & Fair,” they are working to ensure that child labour in the carpet production industry becomes a thing of the past by helping to finance local education and purchasing play equipment for the local school in the region of India where their rugs are woven.

{When purchasing any rug or carpet made in India, look for the ‘KALEEN’ label. Issued by the Carpet Export Promotion Council  of India, it guarantees that child labour was not used in manufacture.}

So happy to find a company that meets my “beautiful process, beautiful product” standards! So happy to be sharing them with you today.

Stay cozy and be kind to one another!

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|January 23rd, 2013|1 Comment

Renovating Breakfast | Going Green

I have a confession to make. OK, I think maybe I’ve already made this one: I am not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. Mainly because they feel like a set up. You gear up and gather together all your best intentions and declare to the world “I am going to CHANGE in 60 days or less!” and then you fall off the wagon somewhere around Day 12 and feel like you should hide under a rock to avoid the shame. Nope. Not for me.

That is not to say that I don’t believe in change. I do. Just gentle change. Lasting change. Keep-quiet-till-it-sticks change.

So, I’ve been making some changes.

If you follow my food posts, you’ll know by now that I have gone gluten-free in recent months. What I may not have shared is that the lead-up to this decision was a quiet 60 days of a rather strict anti-inflammatory diet. The basics of this diet included: no gluten, no dairy, no caffeine, no wine {and I tried not to whine about it} and staying off a list of other inflammatory foods like nightshades in an attempt to help my body heal. It. Was. Hard.

Gratefully, the 60 days ended just before Christmas so that I could reintroduce things like BUTTER. Man, I missed butter. And dairy in general. And my classic, daily breakfast of fat-free greek yoghurt, maple syrup and blackberries.

{photo – gabriela hansen}

This was {and still is for others} a happy, healthy breakfast and one that I looked forward to every morning. The thing is, I found that my body wasn’t happy returning to that much daily consumption of dairy. I can take it in small doses {the occassional yoghurt based sauce, some butter in cooking or baking, the rare bit of cheese} but not that much every single day.

So, what’s a breakfast-loving girl to do?

I had tried juicing my breakfast before. I had gathered together my best intentions and – resolution style – had tried to follow the classic “head of romaine, whole lemon, inch of ginger and a few drops of Stevia” green breakfast that skinny New Yorker’s swear by. But my taste buds fought me and won. I just couldn’t stick with it. Why? I think I realized it was missing three things: creaminess, a gentleness on the palate and some good fat.

So, I decided to get creative, and I’m very excited to share my new breakfast routine with you. If you’ve wanted {and struggled} to adopt a green smoothie start to your day, maybe this will be the one for you!

Here’s what I put in my morning kickstarter:

Juice of 3 large collard green leaves

Juice of 1/4 lemon

Juice of 2 baby cucumbers {or 1/2 an English cucumber}

Juice of 1 large apple

Once all of this is juiced, I transfer it to the blender and add the MAGIC. I seriously think these last 2 ingredients are what have transformed my green-smoothie-dreams into reality.

1/2 an avocado

2 Tbsp NutraVege Omega-3 {a vegetarian Omega-3 oil with more DHA than flax}

Liquify the avocado and oil into the juiced veggies/apple in your blender and voila! Breakfast.

The NutraVege has a remarkably gentle and slightly sweet, citrusy flavour that softens the overall taste of the smoothie. And because it’s a vegetarian source, there isn’t even a hint of fishy aftertaste. The avocado adds more healthy fats AND that creaminess that I was missing from the other green juices and smoothies I’d tried. I’m getting loads of vitamins and nutrients from the collard greens, lots of anti-inflammatory goodness from the cucumber, cleansing benefits from the lemon, and you know what they say about an apple a day! I’m so happy to say that I’ve found a breakfast I love that is brimming with health benefits and leaves me satisfied and energized for the morning. It is genuinely delicious and I hope you’ll try it!