home tour

Favourite Holiday Home Tours 2014

It's Christmas week! As of today I'm officially on a break from work and am looking forward to relaxing, spending time with family, and doing tons of cooking. Today I wanted to pop in and share some of my favourite holiday home tours with you. Click through for the full tour of each of their homes.  


Designer at Sarah Richardson Design, Lindsay Mens Craig's holiday decor is subtle and elegant. She matched her holiday colour scheme to her existing palette of blue - my favourite colour. 



Jennifer from Dimples & Tangles used lots of red, green and gold and a variety of patterns and textures to create the ultimate, traditional holiday home. 



Though not an official holiday home tour, Julie from Elliven Studio shares a ton of pictures of her gorgeous Christmas tree and other little snippets of holiday vignettes around her living room. 



Over at The Hunted Interior, a lot of Kristin's holiday decor is colourful and bright, incorporating lots of pink in a way that meshes youthful elegance in the space, and I love all of it. But there are also a few subtle moments around her home like this one that I equally love - faux fur, a little greenery and mixed metallic ornaments in an oversized champagne bucket under her bar car.


I've been slowly incorporating holiday moments into my own decor this past month and still have a little more to do before hosting my family on Christmas day. I won't be posting my own holiday home tour here on the blog, but I will share vignettes here and there on Instagram, so be sure to follow me if you aren't already so you don't miss any updates. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Best wishes to you and yours! 










Home Tour - Old Port B&B

Today I have a real treat for you, friends!  A tour of a stunning, gorgeous, beautifully decorated Bed & Breakfast - the Old Port B&B in Port Dalhousie, near St. Catherine's in southern Ontario.  Owners Joy and Quinten ("Q") took ownership a few years ago and set to work renovating it right away, rolling up their sleeves and doing a lot of the work themselves.  They maintained its centuries-old heritage style without sacrificing on modernized amenities.  When they took possession, the B&B only had one bathroom upstairs to serve four guest bedrooms!  Joy and Q's renovation removed a bedroom, but resulted in two rooms with ensuite bathroom, and one room with its own bathroom across the hall. Joy is a natural at decorating, but I'll stop here for now and let the pictures do the talking... 

Common Areas

Welcome to Old Port B&B - a rocking chair on the porch!  You can see yourself sipping coffee here on a relaxing Sunday morning, can't you? 
                  




Archway leads to the patio and the yard at the side of the B&B






This sitting room was my favourite room at the B&B - I can't get over these chairs!

Original 150-year-old pocket doors divide the sitting room at the front from the formal dining room.




Guest Rooms

The Royal Alex Bedroom: 

This headboard was a thrifted find that the owners painted and finished to give it that French antique look




Each room offers a water carafe and stemmed glasses on a tray

Modern, renovated bathroom


The Queen Anne Suite: 




This dresser is one of Joy's favourite pieces of furniture at the B&B (mine too!).  She picked it up off a seller on Kijiji, but didn't originally intend to - she was actually purchasing another item and the seller was getting rid of this dresser because it was in really rough shape.  But Joy noticed that the drawers were solid and intact on the inside and saw its potential, so she took the piece with her.  After sanding it, painting it a shade of metallic blue with pewter trim, and adding new hardware, she revived the dresser to become the statement piece of the Queen Anne suite.


Ensuite of the Queen Anne room has this claw foot tub and a glass shower.




The Newport Guest Room: 


This is the room my Mum and I stayed in - the beds are so comfortable


You've seen the Beds, now check out the Breakfast!  Eggs Benedict is my favourite brunch menu item so I've eaten very many that were prepared by a variety of different chefs and I can honestly say that Q's Eggs Benny were the BEST that I've ever tasted.  Perfectly poached eggs, divine Hollandaise sauce, salmon and asparagus.  YUM.  



The town of Port Dalhousie is quiet and quaint and located only 20 minutes from Niagara Wine Country - if you're looking for a weekend getaway, consider booking a wine tour and stay at Old Port B&B for the weekend.  Your hospitable hosts Joy and Quinten will take very good care of you.  

To book a room, or for more information, visit their page on BBCanada.com.