I've Moved!

I moved this past weekend! I could not be more happy or excited about it. I moved into a beautiful house that one of my friends owns, in my most favourite part of town - where (save for the last couple of years) I've lived most my life. I am so happy to be back! Also, not only is my friends' house beautiful, but I've referenced it when talking about what kind of home would be a dream first home. I a little bit can't believe I'm actually there. At this point I only have a few things left to do to be fully settled, but it's already starting to feel like home! :) 

I didn't realize how stressful moving can be. Also tiring - I'm pretty much a walking zombie today. But it's oh, so rewarding too.  

In honour of my move, I thought I'd share this little ditty which also happens to be one of my favourite songs...

Shoe Housing: Past, Present, Future?

I love shoes, you love shoes, we all love shoes! But as you build up a collection of shoes it can get harder and harder to find room to house them. Traditionally shoes go on the floor of a closet but there is only so much useable floor space in a home before you start carpeting your house with shoes. I'm very lucky with where I'm living right now - I live with a girlfriend who also has a good amount of shoes so we have a room dedicated to our shoes! It's supposed to be an eating area off of our kitchen but since we have a substantial dining room and it's just the two of us, this seemed like a better use of space. It also leads to our balcony so there is some stellar lighting in there. 

Our shoe room consists of a giant full length mirror at the end of the room, two 50 pair racks on either side of it (one for each of us naturally) and at the other end of the room we have two red bucket chairs with a table in the middle facing the mirror (which we've used to showcase our shoes at our shoe parties). It's a good little area.

But recently, I ran into a bit of a problem. My shoe rack started to buckle. Not just because I have too many shoes (just kidding, there's no such thing as too many shoes) but because I put my boots on the top rack which weighs it down quite a bit as you can imagine. I should also mention that less than 24 hours after I took the buckling picture below, it full out collapsed. So, I had to go out and find myself a new rack. Which I did. I picked up the stainless steel beauty also seen below.

Now I will say I am quite happy with this new rack and how it turned out. It holds just as many shoes as the other one but is more visually pleasing and also, for whatever reason, feels more compact to me. BUT I am still worlds away from the shoe housing of my dreams - hopefully, the shoe housing of my future...

The dream.

My dream is to still have a house with a shoe room/closet but to have white shelving  house all of my shoes. A step further would be to have that white shelving inset into the wall but that I realize, is quite ambitious. I previously posted about Coach's shoe closet which would be a dream. I've also expressed not just that I would like to have Jennifer Hudson's closet, but that I would be happy live in it - it would be more than enough space for little 'ol me and my clothes and shoes, haha! Her closet is a little off the charts but SO amazing.

How do you store your shoes? Do you have any shoe closet dreams of your own? :)

Coach's Shoe Closet

I have never purchased shoes from Coach. Nor have I ever associated shoes with Coach. That is until late last week when Coach changed their cover photo on Facebook. Initially I was drawn to the look of the "Shoe Closet", then after a closer look I realized it was their shoe closet with their shoes! And what lovely shoes they appear to be... 

After clicking through to see close ups of their selection, I picked out a couple of favourites! I really liked their Lizzie Heel in Bright Coral (that kind of remind me of the Kate Spades shoes I previously shared) and the Coco Flat Sandal in (neon) Yellow/Ginger. I can picture wearing those all the time in the summer along with my favourite Sam Edelman Gigi sandals! 

I think it might be time for me to rethink Coach and pay more attention to their shoes!

It's a Shoe! It's a Chair! It's a Shoe Chair!

I am not normally one to show off presents that I receive, but this one is WAY TO COOL not to share quite frankly! After Christmas dinner my family all gathers together and the presents get passed out to the appropriate people, then we all open together. Pretty standard stuff. Until this GIANT present lands at my feet - so big in fact, it's wrapped very carefully (and creatively) with a red table cloth! It's from my Gramma. First, it's huge. Second, it's kind of triangular in shape so I don't even bother with guessing! 

When I start opening it, it's wrapped in cellophane so it's still hard to see but I can make out what I think is leopard print... yup, it's leopard... it's a chair... that is shaped... like a... shoe? It's a shoe chair! How cool is this?! Apparently she found it in the summer and immediately thought of me. It's pretty perfect! And it fits in really well with the overall decor I've got going on at my house! (My house is not what's pictured - that's still at my parents.) Shortly after Christmas a few girlfriends and I got together for a snacks and games night, and as a joke and a way to show off my new present, I pulled the shoes chair up to the table while we played. No joke, that thing is incredibly comfortable! I couldn't believe it! Anyway, like I said, I couldn't help but share my latest and greatest addition to my home. 

Thanks to my Gramma, my passion for shoes has now been translated into the most unique and fun piece of furniture ever! :) 

I want to live in Jennifer Hudson's closet

For real. It's not necessarily because she has great style, which actually she does, but rather because she's got a good vision when it comes to what a closet should look like. She recently bought a house and had the closet of her dreams designed and built. I couldn't help but share.

Check this thing out!

Shopping Bag Art

I'm not sure about you, but when I go to an upscale store, or a unique store, I love saving the shopping bags. I don't know exactly why, but I think it's just another keepsake of a brand I like. These bags however, usually sit in a closet with other bags I reuse, but these ones never get reused themselves. I like to keep them in mint condition!

Apparently I am not the only one who does this. I recently saw a picture of someone who used these bags as art by framing them! What a great idea!

I think it's a very creative way to make use of these bags so that they don't collect dust, and a cool way to show your style/taste but in a simple way. My normal taste in artwork is fairly simple, so this would stay true to that since most bags are fairly simple in design. Gonna have to try it!