Sunny days spent underground

My office was closed today to observe Remembrance Day and after some remembering, Ian and I got down to business and tackled the mess in the basement. We inhaled a crazy amount of dust but we managed to organize, move and purge a lot of stuff. Once the basement reno is done we will have some proper storage and the remaining boxes can be unpacked once and for all.  I can't wait! As I type this my Dad and Ian are framing the walls-to-be for the bathroom, laundry room and furnace room.

More tiles!

Totally loving what I saw when I popped in to visit Apartment Therapy today!
Looks familiar :)

The hunt for the bathroom vanity...part deux

The vanity hunt for the upstairs bathroom was frustrating to say the least. There are a lot of ugly vanities out there. Oh and there was that super fun time we accidentally bought the wrong one and had to take it all the way back to Rona. Sigh.

Here's a pic of the ugliest of the ugly.....so far

We're leaning towards this:

Whaddaya think?

Yay and Yuck

Yay: Reno work has started in the basement. The plan is to have a second bathroom, proper laundry room, rec room/guest room and work space in the back. But before any of that can happen, the cement floor needs to be dug up so that the old clay pipes can be replaced with new plastic ones.

Yuck: The beauty of removating an old house is in the surprises. As in, "surprise! The dirt under the cement floor is soaked in oil from a leaky furnace!".  The only thing to be done is to dig it all up and get it out of the house. The whole place smells like oil. Ian and my dad have been digging like crazy and the buckets of oily dirt are collecting in the back yard.

The window saga

A couple months ago, Ian and I took the plunge and bought a real piece of furniture. By "real" I mean something expensive and not second hand or from Ikea. It's like we made a grown up investment (in comfort). We bought the couch at G.H. Johnson's on Dupont and I'd proud to say that it's not only Canadian-made but Toronto-made! Take that 100 mile challenge!

When talking about the new couch with a friend we learned that he too had purchased a couch at Johnson's and this couch did NOT fit through his front door. We had a good giggle about this experience and strongly assured everyone (mostly ourselves) that our large couch would fit right through our front door - no problemo. Well, low and behold...BIG PROBLEMO. No matter how hard they tried, Ian and Dad couldn't fit the darned thing through our front door. By the time I got home from work, the sky was dark, a storm was approaching, the couch was under a tarp on the front lawn and Dad, Ian and Sam were making some serious efforts towards taking off the glass in the front window so they could lift the couch through it. Stripped screws lead to high stress and despite extra careful hands, the outer pane of glass broke just as the sky opened and the rains poured down. But as you can see, the window came out and the couch came in and it's more perfect than I had even imagined.

We were without that second pane for some time and then we got new windows! I can honestly say, I never would have imagined that something like new windows could be so exciting. Not only do they look good but they'll go a long way towards keeping the heating bills down.

 

So now we have gorgeous new windows and a perfect couch that will never leave the house in one piece thanks to our gorgeous new windows.

AND we got the chimney swept so as it gets chilly outside, we can curl up on our new couch in front of a roaring fire. Love!

Return of the Leak

While walking down the hall tonight, I heard the faint sound of a repetitive drip. That's right. The sound of water dripping in my house..AGAIN! Thankfully, the hole in our ceiling that was opened up last time we had a leak has yet to be patched up and Ian was able to climb right up there. I can confidently announce that we have found the true source! We were wrong about the source before but it looks like we've got it this time. Thankfully, the roof is still under warranty and Dad will be calling the roofers tomorrow.

In more awesome news, we just booked a 5 day vacay to New York! Yay! So long leaky roof!

Interior design for dummies

Our house is small so we tried to make design choices that made the house feel as connected and large as possible but also relaxing and cozy. I'm no expert but I figured that if we used natural and complimentary colours on the walls plus warm wood tones throughout, we'd be alright. The plan was for each room to feel like a natural extension of the other so there's no disruption. I had it in my mind that serious design disruption chops the house up into separate areas and makes it seem smaller and messy. I'm sure any design major would shut down my theory in two seconds flat, but in the end, I think I was totally right! That's not to say that I didn't second guess myself many times. Thankfully, apartmenttherapy.com was there to reassure me. An awesome house tour was posted just a few days after we'd settled on our paint colours. The colours are so similar that I was instantly obsessed with clicking through the house tour to reassure myself that our place would look just as good. Boston House Tour. Thanks internet!

Happy House-iversary!

I am happy to report that we have survived one whole year in the house. Yay! Go us!
It hasn't been the easiest road but all limbs are accounted for and the house is indeed still standing. I even spent the day giving her a good clean and tidy. It's hard for me to relax when everything is a mess. Now that the cleaning is done, I can sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy our lovely, lovely home :)

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I'm obsessed with changing the layout of the blog! I'm also a bit indecisive so bear with me while I figure out what the final look should be :)

Talk about a work in progress!

This past weekend, Ian and I had the pleasure of joining Shimon's family at their "cottage" up near Parry Sound. I add quotations around the word cottage because the building is really more of a luxury house backdropped by acres of forest than a cottage. Shimon's parents bought the property about 10 years ago when it was more garbage dump than scenic forest. The original main building on the property is a ramshackle bungalow up by the highway where they camped while building their dream house closer to the water. Though the house is still very much under construction 10 years later, the family has now said goodbye to the bungalow and are using the new building full time. I have to say that I have never been in a space that was so unfinished yet so finished at the same time. With original art pieces hanging up on untaped drywall, antique furniture pieces in every corner and a world class stove perched atop wood blocks it was perfectly gorgeous and functional though far from finished. I don't envy then the years of work they have ahead but I must say it all seems pretty worth it when you get to sit in front of that amazing fireplace with a glass of wine surrounded by good music, good food, good wine and good friends.

 p.s. Ian caught a big fish. I caught a small (albeit much prettier) fish but there were no cameras handy to catch the magic.

Wise words from Paul Rudd in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

"When life gives you lemons, say 'F*ck the lemons' and bail"

This pretty much sums up how I feel about our newest home reno project. You see, this is not some new and exciting reno, this is patch work and Sherlock Holmes style detective work all rolled into one. Our ceiling started leaking on Sunday morning after a night of rain and now we have to a) figure out where the water is coming in and b) fix it. I pretty much just want to bail and ignore this whole turn of events completely. It'll repair by itself...right? Ceilings have self-healing powers....right?

As you can see from the image below, Ian is none too pleased.



UPDATE: The leak has been sourced and the ceiling has been temporarily tarp-ed until the fellas can patch it up. Sherlock Holmes would be proud.

Toilets

My dad came by this morning with two new toilets. One for the basement bathroom to be and one for the upstairs extension (master bedroom and ensuite). I can't believe we're actually going to have more than one bathroom. I'm getting excited!

Happy 1 Year Anniversay!

It has been one whole year since we took possession of the house. Well, technically it's been one year and 2 days. I remember getting the big news while working a shift at the store last August. After work, I walked back to our apartment on Roncesvalles positively bursting with excitement. I couldn't wait to see Ian so we could celebrate! Now we've had a year of celebrations right here in this gorgeous house and I'm looking forward to many many more. That reminds me, it's about time to start planning that backyard party!

How to go from Yucky to Awesome (Backyard Edition)

Step one: Dig some holes


Step two: Put posts and cement in aforementioned holes


Step 3: Say "Hi" to the neighbour cat (a.k.a. Tinga's new boyfriend)


Step 4: Add boards to aforementioned posts


Step 5: Plant more flowers


Step 6: Painstakingly assemble a BBQ


Step 7: Add a gate


Step 5: Find a home for the BBQ


Step 6: More flowers!


Step 7: Check out the new fence


Step 8: Start planning backyard parties!!!

But it looks so good in Portugal!!!

I have heard this argument several times in the last few weeks since we've returned from our two week vacation to Portugal. You see, Ian has been bugging me to tile the front of our house....and I keep shooting him down. As much as I love that virtually every building facade in Portugal is covered in amazing tiles I somehow don't think it would work here. Now just because I won't agree to tile our house, doesn't mean I can't enjoy the beauty of the tiled buildings that so inspired him. Here's a couple shots from our trip.







This photo is of the oldest restaurant in Portugal, The Tavares Restaurant. Waahooo Family History!

Back to Work

Well, we still haven't managed to get any pictures on the walls and the basement is still full of unpacked boxes but we are super happy and comfortable here in our little house. We've even started upgrading a bit with a new TV, new mattress and a new couch (on order still). What I've really been itching to get to though is the backyard. It's been a long time since I have had outdoor space to work with and so far, it's seemed pretty daunting. Thankfully, my parents are masters when it comes to creating a beautiful garden and they brought their expertise and muscles over today. It's not much to look at yet but I am beyond excited.

Before


And After (still a work in progress but soooo much better)






In other news, while my grandparents were in Portugal, the family pitched in a gave them a whole new kitchen! It was an awesome surprise. My grandmother's cupboards were jammed packed with stuff that she'd forgotten about and most of those items got piled up in a spare room rather than put back in the new kitchen. I did insist on saving one special item though. It's an owl cookie jar! This little guy now lives in my kitchen. I think I might use it to hold wooden spoons and stuff since I never bake cookies.

Now that the house is pretty much done...

...I've been spending my free time at the craft table again. My mom asked me to make a book full of cards for her good friend as a birthday present and I had a blast putting it all together. I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the actual book but I did photograph the cards. I made 20 cards total and here are my favourites:

New year in the new house

I know, I know, I've been ignoring the blog lately. You can blame the holiday season, my new job and general laziness for that. But better late than never, here are some before and after shots.

Bathroom Before


Bathroom After


View from front door - Before


View from front door - After


Kitchen Before (1)


Kitchen After (1)


Kitchen Before (2)


Kitchen After (2)


And last but not least, here's a pic of the lovely Tinga watching the action on the street. Notice the bum leg - so cute. She's actually perched atop two of my re-upholstery projects - both projects done using Amy Butler fabric.