A storytelling home by Léa Plourde-Archer

8 time tested tips for an easier wake up, early in the morning

25 March 2013

For some reason, I always end up having a job where I am required to wake up really, really early in the morning. It’s been like that pretty much constantly for the last 6 years, when I started working at a bakery.

I’ve had to set my alarm as early as 4h45 AM to go to work. Even in the peak days of sunlight duration, it’ still way dark out at that hour.

Getting up and ready isn’t always an easy task, so people are often asking how I do it.

Over the years, I’ve managed to create a routine that works well for me. I’m well aware that not everyone is built the same way and that it may not work for all people, but I still think that some of these ideas could be useful for people who are trying, but having a hard time in becoming morning people (growing into adulthood kind of forces most of us to become that way!). Here are 8 tips to help you wake up early in the morning and have enough energy to get through the day:

1: Have more than one alarm set. This helps so you can wake up a bit more slowly. The first alarm will wake you up, then you can relax a little bit more until the next one sets off (5 or ten minutes later). I usually set 7 different alarms. I’m crazy, I know, but I rarely let them all ring. It’s just a safety so that I don’t sleep right on through and open my eyes 1 hour later, when I should be arriving at work. Knowing that all these alarms will make sure I get up helps me calm down and have a better night’s sleep.

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Untapped Cities: Quirky buildings of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal

17 March 2013

In my latest post for Untapped Cities, I published a second installment of my series on Montreal’s quirky buildings. The first one covered the structures built for the famous Expo 67 (1967 World fair). This time around I decided to present two very peculiar buildings that were constructed for another big event in Montreal’s history: the 1976 Summer Olympics. Check out the article here.

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A case of the winter blues: Montreal, I love you but…

11 March 2013

It’s just one of those days that come at the end of a long, gray winter. I’ve had enough. For a few months, I loved the pretty white flakes, the red cheeks, the evenings spent at home watching Mad About You and the countless excuses to drink hot chocolate. Now I’m sick of it. Spring couldn’t get here fast enough and summer too…

Many Quebecers and fellow inhabitants of cold regions spend thousands of dollars each year to travel to ‘the South’ (most often, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Mexico). There are also those of us who just can’t afford that. We resort to sighing, whining and daydreaming.

Let’s muse together for a few minutes.

If only the view out of our windows could suddenly change from this:

To this:

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Cheap art: 9 tips on how to decorate without breaking the bank

4 March 2013

Everyone wants to have pretty things on their walls but most people don’t have the money to buy expensive works of art. This lack of funds does not have to mean that you can’t own nice, original art to display in your house.

Here are 9 tips that I live by in order to decorate without breaking the bank.

1. Buy drawings instead of paintings

Drawings are much cheaper to produce then paintings, so the price tag goes accordingly. Some artists specialize in drawing, while others will sell sketches and preparation studies that were done for future artworks.

Where to find some on the Internet: numerous Etsy shops like Old Passion, Amelia Herbertson and Teva Gallery. The Untapped Cities Shop on Society 6.

Where to find some in person: Decorating stores, Art Galleries (In Montreal: Galleries at the Belgo Building)

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Furniture makeover: the dresser

25 February 2013

These last few weeks I’ve been busy working on my home’s decor. I have been gluing, stapling, painting and mod-podging almost non-stop. I’ll be sharing the results of these makeovers with you, because many of these are drastic and I’m quite proud of how they came out.

Let’s start with this dresser.

It was given to me by a former work colleague who was moving back to France. Even though it looked quite worn out, I immediately saw it’s potential. Besides, who says no to free furniture ?

For months, I left it as is (it was a neutral brown shade). Then I put a few coats of white, thinking it would fit nicely into my decor. Alas, I was still not satisfied, finding that it lacked character and looked unfinished.

After weeks of searching for inspiration, I was just about to give up when I saw a photo of a room with a color scheme not unlike that of my living room, in which one of the pieces of furniture had been painted a pretty shade of light blue.

I haven’t been a fan of baby blue since I passed the age of 12 and stopped liking boy bands and Kangol hats, so I was quite surprised that I liked it in this context. Figuring that I had nothing to lose that another coat of paint couldn’t fix, I went out to buy a few bottles of acrylic paint, along with some easy to install handles.

Here’s the dresser in mid-makeover process:

And here’s the final result:

I’m really happy with how it looks. Oddly enough, I think that if I saw this dresser in a store, I’d find it too classical, but in my decor, it really fits.

The process itself was easy but I’ll recap it for you if you want to do it yourself:

– I started with a coat of white primer. Let it dry (in my case, for many weeks)

– Chose a shade of blue (I used Americana acrylic paint in Baby blue DAO42). I used 4 bottles.

– Got 3 handles at the hardware store. Installed them.

That’s it! No sanding or varnishing was required but it may be in your case depending on the texture and use you will make of the furniture. I’ll let you be the judge on that!