Finishing Up Is Hard To Do

Ok, well it is for me.  The post-reno decorating stops me in my tracks.  Then I'm in denial and I leave it for later.  Which turns into never. 

So why not put the pressure on and schedule get-togethers where people will come see the clutter and exposed wires and empty niches and poorly hung drapes? 

That will light a fire.

Clutter you say?

If there's anything great I can say about our new kitchen is that it's functional.  Wow.  Ikea kitchens are amazing for the organization options.  And I'm all about the organization.

That's my junk drawer on the right.  Junk drawer!  This is heaven compared to what it used to be: a shoebox shoved in a drawer with everything dumped in it.  Now I have a special section for the tape measure...I'm in love!!!

And so are the kids.  They have their own little organized drawer, too.

Moving on to those wires...

Now there's a chandelier in it's place.  Yowza! 

Ok, so this item wasn't hard to do.  It was just delayed a bit.  But getting the fixture and the installation coordinated ahead of company arriving was part of the denial process for me.  I was starting to enjoy the kitchen without the finish.  What hole in the ceiling?

I was skeptical when the fixture first went up - it's the only gold element in a very stainless steel kitchen...!  But the glow from the gold foil inside is perfection.  It's the warmth the kitchen needs.  And it covers the hole in the ceiling quite nicely.

(About the chandelier...it was designed by my friend, Kirsten, who took on the design of our whole renovation.  It was made by the very talented Dean, of Lampcage, in Toronto.)

Next?  Niche!

There was nothing but emptiness and now there's this.  The little 2'x3' space that stressed me out more than most of the renovation.  My goal was to get something gold in here to tie in to the kitchen chandelier...but no clutter and no competition with the walnut. 

Here's why I think what's here works for me: The frame works because it's not wood.  The print works because it's gold.  The candlesticks work because they don't compete and they have texture.  The little guy makes it a group of 3 instead of only 2...and he's kinda interesting & shiny, too.

(The sandstone candlesticks and tealight holder are here.  The frame is here and the print is here.)

Lastly, those drapes.

Here's a brief history.

Move In

First Attempt

Second Attempt

At this point, Kirsten came for a visit and I knew it.  The drapes were not right.  That window is not as big as the wall, nor is it centered.  So those drapes need to go wall to wall.

Fail

We lived like this again for a night because while rehanging the drapes, I lost all will to live.  True story.

Done Forever

But then I figured out how to go wall to wall while still screwing the bracket into the stud.  So I'm still alive and the drapes look much better.  Phew.

There's still more finish to be done in the rest of the house but...wait.  Hold that thought.  I hear the doorbell!

I Love Me An Ikea Kitchen

I've been trying to blog, but this renovation keeps getting in the way.  That's sarcasm, dad.

Too much has happened to sum up in one post, so I'm dividing by room.  Or type.  Or floor. 

Ok, let's just forget the intro this time and get to the meat.  Which is exactly what we'll be cooking in this kitchen very soon.

Here's where we were in one day.

Step One

And then it continued into the dining room.

Step Two

We had a little hiccup with the island.  A couple of weeks ago, IKEA had a country-wide shortage of material including the 3' x 8' cover panel.  As I write this post, they still do!  Who knew a carpenter's strike could have such an effect. 

Of course, as the kitchen was being built, I was told we were short one panel.  Enter a very smart carpenter who knows IKEA. 

Detail

That is the back of the island, where the marble counter will overhang.  Those are IKEA toekicks.  Brilliant.

Turn around to the pantry.  Here's where we were before.  

Hi George

And now.

Shelves

I will be living in that pantry.  No joke.  Just get the sink and countertop in place and I'm set.  You'll notice the base cabinetry changed.  The original piece was built shallower than the design, so the sink wouldn't fit.  Kudos to a contractor who notices, fixes and installs before the client can say a word.

Turn to the left, here's the shelving towers.  

Groovy Baseboards

Both bottoms of the towers are cold air returns.  So the baseboards are grooved for airflow.  When they are painted out white, they should be unnoticeable. 

Now turn around.  Here's the fridge area.

Custom & IKEA

The vertical cabinetry to the left of the fridge is custom.  The fridge area and above is IKEA.  Instead of trying to match perfectly, we're going with walnut doors on the custom cabinets.  Same as the shelves in the tower pictures above.

Appliance!

Did you see that coming?  I did.  It was on my calendar.  And I am in love. 

It is huge.  And it will feed 3 growing boys. 

This showed up, too.

What Am I?

And now it's here.

Follow That Red Line

Double Fist Pump

In love.  Serious love.  Love for life. 
Cause we're never buying new appliances again.

Steve's Love

It's not installed, but it's in the house.  And Steve has a major crush. 

Is it weird to love a kitchen this much!?!?

In the meantime, here's what the rest of the house looks like.

Dust Writing

Layers and layers and layers. 

Every time I'm at the house, I have to fight the urge to clean everything everywhere.

Ode To A Really Great Stove

This is it.  The beginning is upon us. 
We are saying goodbye to random things as we go.

Tonight, it's the stove.

Goodbye uneven stove.

You're missing a rear left leg.  But you've made impressive meals.  Saved me with simple pasta.  Baked birthday cakes, seared mouthwatering steaks, and cooked authentic Spanish tortillas.

I can't complain. 

Thanks for the memories.  Good luck in your new home.
I'm sure you'll serve them well.

It's been a great 10 years...

...bring on the demolition!!!!

Hardwood Dilemma

My first order of business when we moved into our home 9-1/2 years ago was to replace the hideous floating laminate and bad tile floors with hardwood.  No brainer.

Then we were gently reminded how forgiving those surfaces are....and how we were a young couple about to start a family. 

For seven years, I haven't once flinched at metal matchbox cars flying through my kitchen or livingroom. 

But now we have a basement with ceramic tile floor. 

Mommy needs hardwood.

Basement steps

The only unpainted wood in this house are the stained oak steps to the basement.  Our goal is to find something that will complement it.  

You can see two samples in the picture above, next to the stained oak.  We received the long sample on the right from our designer, who is using it at another project. 

 
Not the best compliment, maybe a little light. 

I visited a flooring store today and grabbed the sample on the left.  Engineered white oak, brushed, matte lacquered finish.  It brings out the dark veining in the stained oak.  And I prefer its matte finish for the whole main floor.

I don't know how you choose a hardwood.  So I'm moving it all around the house, trying to get different views of it in different lighting. 

In bad hallway lighting

I had to show this picture...doesn't that square of dark next to the wall color look a million times better than the tile and laminate?  ugh!

Next to the back door

Half natural light, half bad lightbulb light.

In front of back door

I like the grain that really shows in natural light.

Then I thought, hmmm, how do I know if I'll like this really dark hardwood throughout the whole floor?  So I took it into the basement to see how close it is to the wood-look ceramic tile down there...

Where's the sample?

Um, yeah.  Isn't there something about picking the same thing over and over? 

There it is - I think...

Obviously, we wouldn't have the grout lines breaking up the planks.  But I can get a sense of how the dark would look in a large space.  And -maybe- an idea of how much dirt shows on a dark floor.  I'm always seeing dust bunnies and fuzzies on the floor down there. 

I have to say, our reason (one of many) for doing this renovation is to bring the basement up through the house.  We just love how it turned out down there and want to create that same look & style throughout the rest of our home. 

So if it's good enough for the basement...?

We'll see what my better half says when he gets home from work ;)

p.s. if you're reading this and have suggestions on how to choose hardwood, I'd love to hear!

2013 - Year of The Renovation

It's on.  I'm more excited than terrified.  And I'm ready to start demolition, like, NOW.

It all started last April, when we exposed the brick.  That sparked an idea to remove the wall between our master bedroom and "sink room" to make the master more spacious and functional.  Which then got us thinking...what if we moved the master to the 3rd floor instead and made it one big room (versus the current two rooms). 

Then summer came.  We left Toronto, spent lots of time away, and stopped thinking about the house.

We came back.  Started thinking again.  And got inspired.

The last four months of 2012 were full of planning.  2013 will be full of doing. 

Excited?  Me too.  Let's go through the plans for our new main floor.

Current Floorplan

In the current floor plan above, you can see the typical boxed rooms of an annex home.  Double door entryway on the left (we're the right side of a semi-detached) with a staircase straight ahead, and then living room, dining room, kitchen in a row from the front to the back of the house.  

The dining room is our biggest problem.  It's a repeat of space for us, since we eat in the kitchen.  The focus of our renovation is to reconfigure the layout to eliminate that dead space. 

New Floorplan

Ta-Da!  I know, lots going on.  But what you don't see anymore are walls.  No boxes.  Just open living space with a new entryway, kitchen, pantry, slider to the deck and....a powder room!  Dream.  Come.  True.

So, how did we get here?  Where did we come up with this plan? 

After deciding the main floor was on the chopping block, we immediately recognized that redesigning it was more than we could handle.  So we called in a pro, Kirsten Marshall, from Palmerston Design Consultants.  Steve immediately took a liking to her style.  And since I was lucky enough to be friends with her before I knew what she did for a living...I was sure we'd work well together. 

I was just happy she said yes.

Her familiarity with old homes like ours is key.  And her ability to come up with fresh, contemporary ideas that are highly functional but aesthetically pleasing is incredible.  Not to mention her love of ikea kitchens and making them look custom...need I say more?

Let's see some elevations.

New Kitchen

No uppers, but big drawers and lots of shelves for storage plus a huge new stainless-steel fridge for a house full of growing boys....

...goes here.  We're saying goodbye to that little window facing the backyards of my neighbors who face north, but we're saying hello to a big 8 foot slider across the back wall (to the left in this pic). 

Now turn around and face the opposite wall.

New Storage

Looking left to right, two banks of built-in shelving and a barn door (that slides across the entire wall) which reveals a walk-in pantry...

...goes here.  No, I won't miss any of this.  Except maybe remembering all the blood, sweat and tears that went into painting those crazy cabinets.  But definitely not that knocking fridge, uneven stove and 5 year old dishwasher that can't clean glasses anymore.

Let's move into the current dining room.

New Dining Area

Although we're eliminating the little kitchen window to allow for the hood and backsplash, we're keeping the bay windows.  In the plan, you can see the built-in buffet along the wall that...

...goes here.  We're parting with our dining room table and chairs this weekend.  Thank you, Kijiji/Craigslist.

The living room will generally stay within its current footprint.  We're still working through an elevation including a fireplace and a TV. 

But as exciting as planning a new kitchen is, the living room certainly isn't an afterthought.  In fact, part of the living room was a sticking point for the floorplan.  My next post will outline the structural elements that go along with our plan to remove all the walls...fun!

Stay tuned!

90 Minutes of My Life That I'll Never Get Back

Plasticizing the windows.  That's what we call it.  It falls under my column of jobs to do and I simply hate it. 

Today was an unseasonably warm day, and since I dragged my feet all through November (did I mention I HATE DOING THIS?), I had to git 'er done. 

When we moved into our house in 2002, all the windows were new.  Little did we know they must have been installed wrong, because most of them leak like a sieve.  That's being nice.  Freezing bitter cold Canadian winter air blows through them with such force, you may freeze to death while eating dinner at the kitchen table.  I almost have.

I only plasticize the first floor.  I should probably do all the windows, but the others aren't as offensive.  And since doing the first floor is all I can handle, it's all that gets done.

So to celebrate many years of plasticizing, here's how we do it up in here.

Put the double sided tape around all 4 edges of the window.  Overlap the corners, so there aren't any gaps in the adhesive. 

Remove the tape covering and put up the plastic, starting with the very top of the window.  Move down the left and right sides at the same time, keeping the plastic relatively taut.  Leave the bottom as the last part of the plastic pressed onto the adhesive.

Then start blowin'.

Keep blowing until there are no wavy streaks in the plastic anywhere.  I even blow along the outside of the adhesive edges to shrink the plastic as much as I can.

You'll have ugly edges...

...just cut them close.  But not too close.

Then you're done.

But if you're me, you have to do two more windows.

Before

After

Before

After

I know.  These are horrible pictures.  It's a horrible job.  I'd rather clean the kitchen floor on my hands and knees with a toothbrush.  I can find joy in that.  I find no joy in applying almost-impossible-to-remove adhesive to my windows and covering them with awful looking plastic that stays up months longer than any holiday decoration ever does.

So this post is an official GOODBYE to plasticizing.  With our Springtime main floor renovation, comes brand new windows.  That will be installed correctly.

Farewell, dear plastic.  Although I've become a pro at installing you, I can't say I'll ever look back fondly at our times together.