Backyard Makeover | Week Two Update

fusion-mineral-paint-picket-fence

What a difference a week makes! We were busy little beavers at Chez Walker, especially over the weekend as we worked to move our lovely backyard makeover along. We stained the cedar beams and painted the Toja Grid components with Fusion Mineral Paint. The Fusion products were SO easy to work with, and they easily transformed the Toja components into something completely different. The finished product is exactly as I’d hoped – clean and visually calm in its simplicity.

We actually got the overhead sails installed right before leaving for San Diego as well, but I didn’t manage to capture that as we were rolling down the driveway – haha! I’ll have to show you that piece next week. The overhead sails are black, but a transparent black if you will, so they have a softer appearance than you might imagine. Once we hang some globe lights, I think the whole thing will come together and look maybe even the slightest bit magical. Here’s hoping! And here’s a shot of it pre-overhead-sails so you can get an idea of how things are coming together:

THE PROGRESS REPORT

toja-grid-painted-and-installed

As it turns out, it’s rather difficult to take a photo of a 20′ long dining pergola and not have it look weird – ha! I’m definitely looking forward to shooting this properly in a couple of weeks so I can share it with you properly!

Shooting that pergola may be difficult, but what wasn’t difficult was deciding on what outdoor fabrics to use for this project. There was really only one choice in my mind: Sunbrella. Outdoor fabrics take a beating, so it’s non-negotiable to have textiles that are water resistant, mold and mildew resistant, fade resistant and durable. You can even clean Sunbrella with bleach it’s so tough, so I know it can hold up to our outdoor celebrations with family and friends. Not to mention, Sunbrella is the biggest, longest-standing manufacturer of outdoor fabrics for luxury textile houses like Kravet and Holly Hunt. They basically created the category of outdoor fabrics and have partnered with incredible textile companies to take the performance textiles game to an entirely new level. What that means is that you don’t have to settle for underwhelming just because your fabrics are totally user friendly. Outdoor spaces can now reflect the taste we express in our interiors, and fabrics that are made for the outdoors are now being used indoors because of their incredible performance and design. It’s all a win-win.

I couldn’t be more excited about the direction this outdoor space is heading. As a reminder, here are the fabrics we’ve chosen:

Backyard Makeover Fabrics

And here is the inspiration for the style of new cushions we decided on for the sectional. I’m crazy about the soft French-tufted mattress style for the seating, aren’t you? It feels both effortless and refined. Stylish and timeless. I can’t wait to see how my lovely friends at Deka Home & Patio make this vision a reality!

french tufted outdoor seating

OUTDOOR CUSHIONS WITH STYLE + COMFORT

To add to the luxe feel of this outdoor space, Ashli and her team from Deka will be using Stamina Fibre in all of the back and toss cushions. This cool Canadian product bridges the comfort gab between natural and synthetic fibres, meaning you can have outdoor cushions that sit more like indoor cushions without worrying about maintenance.

stamina-fibre

DROOL-WORTHY OUTDOOR TABLES

With all of these gorgeous Sunbrella fabrics setting the stage for a luxury outdoor living and dining space, I knew the tables had to be somewhat magical. Well, magical they shall be.

Enter my lovely friends from Polycor and their beautiful White Cherokee marble. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Polycor, they are actually the world’s largest natural stone quarrier. Their stone has been used for both interior and exterior projects on buildings and monuments, in homes and in hotels, for decades. Not only has it stood the test of time, but they are a truly sustainable option for North American designers. White Cherokee, for example, is quarried in Georgia, and their North American marbles have a denser structure than European marbles. Polycor has several different varieties of white marble with grey veining as well as some GORGeous black veined granite that looks like marble AND some stunning, classic soapstone in their collection, and that’s just to name a few of the options.

But back to the White Cherokee and our plans for this North American beauty:

polycor white cherokee custom marble outdoor diniing table

The 10 foot long dining table will feature a quarter-matched or double book-matched top with 3 box-style base pieces, all wrapped in the stone. The brilliant team at Dinuovo (the fabricator behind that stunning OVO store at Yorkdale, PS) will be making this dream a reality, along with a gorgeous coffee table in the same stone to tie the two spaces together. Here’s the concept board for the coffee table:

backyard refresh custom coffee table.001

OUTDOOR CHAIRS DESIGNED FOR LINGERING CONVERSATIONS

When faced with the decision on which dining chairs would finish this dining space perfectly, I had several factors to consider. Firstly design: they had to be subtle but stylish enough to hold their own with the gorgeous textiles and marble we had selected. Secondly function: they had to be super deluxe low maintenance (we just aren’t the high maintenance types). That means easily wipeable and also stackable for easy winter storage. Gratefully, partner Structube‘s Masters Chair checks all of those boxes and is a super affordable option for any of you looking for a chair that can easily transition from the outdoors in. Not only will they be perfect for our backyard dining, but they will also effortlessly help us extend our indoor seating options for large parties during the winter months.

structube-masters-dining-chair

And that, my friends, is the Week One update on our (not so) little backyard makeover! There are still lots of juicy details to share with you, but for now our family is on a little workation (hubby works while we chill) in San Diego. Be sure to follow me on Instagram (especially stories) for a little behind-the-scenes on our trip, and check back next weekend or early the following week for my next update on our progress!

Sarah-Signature

By |August 2nd, 2018|0 Comments

Introducing Project Backyard Makeover

Backyard Makeover Fabrics

The best and most meaningful memories are made gathered around the table.

Without a doubt, some of the happiest memories I’ve ever made have been gathered around the table with my family and friends. I feel like savouring daily meals together is one of the healthiest practices we have as a family. Turns out I’m not alone. In fact, researchers are saying that eating meals together as a family improves our health and even improves our kids’ vocabularies more significantly than reading them books at bedtime! And did you know that the only thing you can do to improve on the healthy, happy habit of eating around the table together is to do it outside? That’s why this little backyard makeover is so close to my heart.

dining-area-before backyard-before-sectional backyard-before-view-from-entrance

Not totally offensive, but not exactly pretty and inviting, right? So over the next 3 weeks, our plan is to create a space worthy of making summers last as long as possible. We had Thanksgiving dinner out here a couple of years ago, and I’m hoping we can do the same thing this year but with way more comfort and style.

Here’s the plan:

  1. Using the most stunning Sunbrella fabrics, including some delicious accent fabrics from their collection for Holly Hunt Great Outdoors, my friends at Deka Home & Patio are going to sew new seat, back and decorative cushions to bring the sectional back to life. Check out the first photo in this post for a peek at where things are headed there.
  2. I’ve wanted a dining pergola for forever, and thanks to Toja Grid, my dreams are going to become reality. Their super deluxe easy system of brackets is going to take the stress out of creating our dining structure, and then our friends at Deka are going to create some beautiful outdoor panels to frame it in and warm it up using more Sunbrella goodness.
  3. We’ll be painting the whole thing out with VOC-free, non-toxic Fusion Mineral Paints. We recently stucco’d the house a warm white and want the dining pergola to blend in.
  4. We are having our friends at Dinuovo create a ridiculously gorgeous custom dining table made out of stunning natural White Cherokee marble from Polycor. I can’t wait to show you more about our plans for that next week.
  5. To tie the dining and living spaces together, Dinuovo will be making a new cocktail table out of the same natural stone from Polycor for the seating area. (Bites lip) It’s all going to be so GORG.
  6. That dining table will seat 10, so we’ll be selecting some new dining chairs from partner Structube as well to complete this fresh, modern classic outdoor entertaining area.
  7. Generally tidy up, trim and refresh everything else for a truly inviting finished space for family and friends to gather.

We’ve given ourselves a rather ridiculous timeline to get all of this accomplished, in large part because summer is basically halfway done already! I do hope you’ll follow along with our progress as we transform this “almost there” outdoor living/dining area into a “we want to spend all of our time there” kind of space. While I’m definitely feeling daunted by all of the work yet to be done, I can also envision the finished product, and that is what is driving me forward.

Check in next week for the juicy details on the custom dining table, coffee table and chairs, and be sure to follow my Instastories in the meantime for some behind-the-scenes updates. Oh yes, and we will be throwing in a week and a half trip away to San Diego while we’re at it just to keep the pressure on. Because why not, right?

Looking forward to catching up with you and filling you in further next week!

Sarah-Signature

By |July 26th, 2018|0 Comments

Celebrating The Latest From Caesarstone

Is there a better way to celebrate good design than with traveling, wining and dining? If there is, I haven’t met it yet, and that’s just what I did recently with a lovely little getaway to Prince Edward County with our friends from Caesarstone. In addition to falling deeper in love with the County, it was a brilliant opportunity to take in the latest colour releases from Caesarstone in context (and a ridiculously charming context at that).

Amongst all of the good food and wine (including a new favourite cider from The Old Third that has the bubbles of champagne and a finish that tastes like buttered popcorn), we had the opportunity to put Caesarstone to the stain test. Spoiler alert: it passes with flying colours, regardless of which colour you’re playing with.

And speaking of colours, the newest releases are right on the money. In addition to a brilliant terrazzo, there are several versions of concrete that make minimalist custom surface treatments a dream.

I’ve been a fan of custom concrete counters and even custom concrete furniture for years. The difficulty with them is they can be delicate and prone to cracking. Well move over, concrete. Caesarstone’s new concrete colours allow you to achieve the look without the delicate sensibilities of a poured surface.

caesarstone-metropolis-new-colours

From top to bottom:

AIRY CONCRETE – Slightly quieter, this Caesarstone new release still has lots of movement and a kind of dimension that feels authentically poured.

CLOUDBURST CONCRETE – The depth and movement in this Caesarstone slab has an effortlessly industrial edge. And speaking of effortless, how beautiful is the food styling on that dish by Chef Sean MacDonald? Brilliant.

TOPUS CONCRETE – With the slightest and most sophisticated whisper of blush, Topus Concrete reminds me of a high quality travertine in the colour we always wished we could find but never did. Wish no more. It’s here.

FROZEN TERRA – Terrazzo is definitely making a big comeback in flooring, so this one is great news for all of the Terrazzo-lovers in our midst. Consider it the perfect finish to the stone story of your Venetian-inspired dreams.

EXCAVA – This one is the singer in the family, and definitely one that needs to be seen in person for full effect. The rusty-hued veining is inspired by foraged industrial objets whose patina feels as rustic as it does refined.

I admit that our little tour of the County reignited in me the dream to one day build a summer retreat for my sweet family on the water. What better place to do that than the County, and what better surface to deck it out with head-to-toe than minimalist, Scandi-inspired Caesarstone concrete counters and fireplace surrounds? Here’s to dreams becoming reality – scratch-resistant, stain-resistant, sustainable reality!

Happy Friday, friends!

Sarah-Signature

By |May 25th, 2018|0 Comments