The Interior DIYer

#DarkRomanticLuxe

The launch of Swoon Worthy Scents signature candle collection

I had the absolute pleasure of being Kimberly’s [of Swoon Worthy] candle tester and guinea pig ahead of the launch of her incredible new candle line, Swoon Worthy Scents.

Kimberly has been working her ass off for nearly a year testing every conceivable variable, option and outcome to produce exquisite candles. Her hard work and dedication has been phenomenal. She’s thought of everything when it comes to her signature candle collection (and I have a library of WhatsApp messages to prove it).

No. 3 RACING HEARTS
“Of stolen glances and secret liaisons, pulses quickening with touch, a heady mix of rose and oud wood, softened with vanilla“

Kimberly sent me two candles out of her signature collection of five; No. 03 Racing Hearts [as above] and No. 4 Into the Wild [so below].

One of the things I love most about Kimberly’s signature collection, aside from them being damn gorgeous, is how eco-conscious every aspect of the entire line is; from the packaging to the candles themselves. When I received my candles, all the packaging items were plastic-free and 100% recyclable (plus, compostable packing peanuts). Kimberly uses 100% natural plant-based waxes with lead-free cotton ribbon wicks and vegan-friendly fragrances and dye.

No. 4 INTO THE WILD
“Of mossy trails and branches stretched, the invitation of an ancient forest, an enigmatic blend of cedarwood and fir, fresh lemon and heady musk“

The candles smell like paradise. When I lit ‘Racing Hearts’ the afternoon I received it, within minutes Robert walked into the living room and nearly shouted at me “something smells gorgeous!“. The scent in both ‘Racing Hearts’ and ‘Into the Wild’ is of the highest quality. The scent will envelope a room within minutes as the perfect olfactory addition to your space; it’s up to you to choose which one of her 5 candles will suit yours.⁠

I am so proud of what you have achieved, Kimberly. I know the painstaking work, blood, sweat and tears that went into her introductory (because you know this girl is just going up from here) signature candle collection. Kimberly, your #DrunkInteriors are so proud of you 🥂⁠

Bedroom

Cora’s Big Girl Bedroom™ makeover – before

For Cora’s 4th birthday we wanted to surprise her with a proper Big Girl Bedroom™. Previous to updating her bedroom, Cora was still sleeping in her Stokke crib, which we managed to get 4 years out of from the 0-3 year range [converted into a very low bed with one side removed for the last year so it wasn’t super-cribby].

Since moving into our house a year previously, we had done nothing with Cora’s room since. Her room is seriously tiny cozy and quite brown. It wasn’t very ‘her‘ and since all the furniture in her room was made from wood, it was just too many layers of brown for this spirited 4-year-old’s bedroom. With her 4th birthday fast approaching [and another lockdown impending] we were glad to have a fun project to focus on.

I feel it took about 20 seconds to photograph the before photos of Cora’s bedroom since her room seriously is tiny. There’s no storage incorporated into the design of the room, so it just about fits a bed, a storage unit and a few toys on the floor.

I quite like challenges like this because it means I have to be creative with a space. I’m not going to lie, it did take me a few months to get a plan in mind that made sense and made the most out of her tiny room. And looked good. And I did a mock-up on Google SketchUp, which I can’t wait to share on Monday! I’m hoping to share that along with a mood board as well as what inspired this makeover.

Baby

Our secondhand 1900’s solid wood cradle [and an announcement]

Trigger warning: this blog post mentions a previous miscarriage.

Today we collected quite possibly the most exciting secondhand find I’ve found in a long time. Our newest secondhand addition is for our upcoming newest addition …

We’ve been keeping a little secret this past while. Though, a not so little secret if you saw my midriff right now.

At the end of March we had a miscarriage when I was 12 weeks pregnant. When we found out in August that we were pregnant again, we kept it to ourselves for a long time. Entirely out of nerves and fear. We didn’t tell anyone, especially our families, until two weeks ago after my 20-week scan.

Way back in the beginning of 2020 when we were pregnant the first time, I was on the lookout for a crib / cradle for the downstairs of our house. I checked out my usual online secondhand sites and bookmarked loads of pieces, but never ended up contacting anyone because of our miscarriage. It was only this week that I started nervously looking for cribs and cradles again.

I returned to Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace to look for secondhand cribs when I noticed on Facebook Marketplace that one of the cribs I saved from earlier this year was still available. I contacted the owner this morning to see if it was still available and if so, we could collect it today. It amazingly was still available so we drove to view it*. Trust me when I say the photos of this crib do not do it justice. I feel I need to take more pictures of it in the morning in better lighting. It is huge and solid and gorgeous. The owner explained that they used it with their kids, that he was in it when he was a baby [he was in his mid-60’s] and previous to that, his mother was in it when she was a baby. It’s easily an Edwardian piece, possibly Victorian, but I think that would be a bit of a stretch. It is so gorgeous and huge and I am so happy it will now be part of our home.

The cradle was online for a year before I contacted the owner. A year! It was originally priced at $150, but was reduced to $75 earlier this year. I took a chance and offered $50 and the owner accepted [side note: they were the nicest most genuine couple, which just adds to how amazing this cradle is. They offered to bring us snowmobiling once it’s safe to do so – insert hormonal ugly crying face here].

For anyone wondering, no I will not be painting it. I’ve been thinking about adding a small monogram to each end of the cradle base, but that’s as far as I’d go with ‘updating’ it. I think it would be an absolute insult to paint just for the sake of it as it’s way too beautiful.

p.s. I’ve been so nervous to buy anything in preparation of baby’s arrival that I’ve only bought one tiny hat and a onesie so far, and now this cradle. I know this is common with couples who have previously suffered a miscarriage, but I never realized how much of a mental minefield it is. I’m scared to buy baby clothes and I’m scared every time I go to the bathroom. I almost don’t want to talk about it as I feel I’m jinxing something. But I’m also excited and so happy I could cry. Oh, and let’s not forget the hormonal guilt; by keeping it quiet I’m not celebrating this baby as much as I did with Cora [hormones should be illegal]. I want to be excited and I want to get carried away preparing for our baby. As I’m writing this I can feel her kicking away, reminding me to go to the bathroom. We have 4 months until her arrival [we’re due May 2nd!], so I’m choosing to let myself get carried away with baby stuff now 🖤

*We’re in a lock down here in Ontario and therefore took all the necessary precautions when viewing the cradle. We all met outside, all wore masks and kept very far apart from one another. As soon as we got home with the cradle I disinfected it entirely and we washed our hands thoroughly. We didn’t travel far to view the cradle either so were not visiting a city.