Wall decals and chandelier

Finally after months of trying to figure out what I wanted and where I wanted to place the decals I made the orders and this weekend Sheraz and I went to work doing the installations! We even did some light electrical work - note the chandelier in the bedroom - that was not easy to do!



It was great working with my little brother this weekend - I never realized how patient and hard working he is! He is also very good at complicated tasks! Maybe that's why he's so smart? No, no who am I kidding - he is smart because of me.

I am still waiting for some of my other art to arrive in the mail so stay tuned!

I got the idea to do these decals from a Belgian company called "ApplePie Design". They've got a lot of beautiful decals to choose from and some really unique ideas. I was ready to purchase from them but was lucky enough to come across a local company doing something very similar. They are called "Wall Juice" and are located here in Ottawa. They've got a great catalogue and are more than happy to put together custom designs. I am very happy with my purchase!

This is the bedroom:



And this is the living room - the quote is from my favourite book The Alchemist and reads: "It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting - Paulo Coelho"

Ahhh Summer!

It is officially summer here in Ottawa - the weather is HOT. I am not complaining because HOT is better than COLD i.e. -40 degrees Celsius. Ick.

I am working hard at putting the final touches on the place as I get ready for my housewarming party which will take place over the Civic Day long weekend!

I am looking for art. And I found some that I love. Here are pictures of areas where I want art to exist...ignore the baron cold walls and imagine beautiful prints appearing there soon!

Here are some prints I hope to get soon (the first two are by Yellena, and the last by BirdNerd - you can find out more about these prints and artists at http://www.etsy.com/)

The floors...

So after about a month of living in my great new place, I noticed that there was a dip in the floor in the living area. I reported this during my 30-day inspection and the floor company came by to check it out. Turns out that it was a pretty big issue, and this morning I had to turn my place upside down and clear out the living room so that they could get in and fix the problem...

Here is a picture of what the living room looked like last week when Mom and Sheraz came to visit. The pull out bed was open so Sheraz-berry cold sleep there..





And here is what it looks like today!!! It's going to take forever to put everything back in place
:(

Spring is here!

Finally the cold dreary weather has passed in Ottawa and beautiful warm days are here! This past weekend I was able to get some beautiful flowers planted and my balcony (a.k.a paradise patio) looks great! I find myself longing for the end of the work day so that I can head home and admire my pretty flowers. Take a look!

Before paradise patio makeover - it was just a boring old balcony...ick:

After the makeover:

There is, however, one thing that interferes with my utter enjoyment of this little paradise I have created...

I've named her "pigeon wench" because she traipses around the paradise patio with her boyfriend doing naughty things and together they make a big mess. Her infernal coo-ing is so loud that it wakes me up almost every morning and I am forced to run out there and shoo her away with a broom. Yes, pigeon wench has turned me into an angry bitter woman. Yesterday I reached my boiling point when I found her fashioning a nest in the corner of the balcony with her boyfriend. I swept the nest off the edge of the balcony and she swooped down and tried to fight me! Today my mission is to find a garden noam or some kind of real life looking owl or other fowl to instill some fear in the wench...I will keep you posted. Grrrr.

Time Flies!

So sorry to all my "fans" out there - time is flying by and I haven't had a chance to sit still and take more photos of the "mahals" progress. I've been dealing with hooking up cable/phone, paying bills and my first mortgage payment went through last week. YIKES.

Everything is looking great so far! All the furniture is in place and I've even had overnight visitors (EK, Pen and Olga). The place just a few final touches before it's officially complete. I will take pictures this week I promise! For the time being here is a picture of Esther and I at Olga's bachellorette party this past weekend - good times that had NOTHING to do with decorating :)

Slowly but surely...

Lucky me, I had a week off after moving to do all the little things that had to get done i.e. buying light bulbs, groceries, cleaning supplies, a ladder etc. I also had to make many trips to the local Rona/Ikea/Canadian Tire to return items and buy more "stuff". I realize now that I have lots of "stuff".

Slowly the new place is starting to feel like home! Here are some pics of the temporary set up.

Mom and Dad really enjoy my new kitchen - I also love it :)

There is still a lot of work to do! So far the bathroom is complete except for some pictures I want to hang up.

The living room still needs to be set up properly, which will be done once I finish painting. My Mom is busy sewing me some new covers for my sofa which are going to look great. I am also waiting for Rogers (grrr) to hook up my cable so I can arrange my TV and dining table the way I want. Right now I have the dining table pushed off to the side of the living room.

But the best thing so far are the sliding window panels...they are amazing and add a lot of drama in the room. Similar ones will be in my bedroom later this week.

Moving night/day - March 26 and 27

WOW moving really stinks. I did not enjoy packing at all, and it was a huge chore. The physical labour was also very unpleasant. I'm happy to say that everything went very well thanks to my wonderful friends who helped out with my move! Featured above are Tiana and I , Dave and Dan. Cheryl was our photographer.

March 26 was a blur - I went to work and then raced around town to pick up my keys from my lawyer, then to Uhaul to pick up my moving truck, then home to order pizzas and finish up packing before my trusty little helpers showed up. It was cold and rainy, and they still came out at 8pm to help me load up my truck! What troupers!

The next morning my parents arrived from Toronto and we were on our way to the new place. Dave and I did most of the work unloading the moving truck - it was tough, but we managed to finish up in a few hours.

At the end of the day I was so happy to be in my new place, BUT it was a disaster area and I knew that it would take a lot of hard work and dedication to make it look the way I want. See pics below of the chaos and stay tuned for the gradual metamorphosis from messy to marvelous :)

Today is the day!

I will be heading over to the sales office to sign the paper work which will allow me to move into my new place in two weeks! I can't believe how fast things have moved along. I found this condo in September 2006 and really liked the look of it as well as the lay out of the unit and most of all the price! I've been waiting since then to move in, which hasn't been that long at all. Attached you will see a picture of the exterior as well as the floor plan. My unit is actually 710 sq. feet, but the floor plan attached is a little smaller because it has a smaller entryway closet. Yahoo!

What's in a name?

Welcome to my blog everyone!

First of all, I am sure you are wondering "what the heck is a Baj Mahal"? My little brother bestowed this loving title upon me a few years ago. You see, he refers to me as "Baj" which is short for "Baji" which in turn means big sister in our language. I am sure the rest is self explanatory - Baj rhymes with Taj, and mahal rolls of the tongue so easily etc...

I decided to name this blog Baj Mahal because I am moving into my first home and would like to chronicle all the stages of decorating and setting up that it will involve. I am hoping that the final product will be a little palace of my own that I will enjoy coming home to every night!

Enjoy!