Versatile Blogger Award

I'm honoured to be awarded as a versatile blogger by Roncy Vic over at Roncesvalles Victorian Reno Diary, one of the blogs I follow.  I feel undeserving since I am horrible at keeping the blog up to date. Thank you nonetheless to Roncy Vic for the nomination.  Since I started this blog to keep friends and family up to date with our house renos but ended up with a few additional readers, it is too difficult to come up with 7 things that both groups wouldn't know about me so I will try to mix it up a little.

1- I love google reader and follow several blogs daily.  I admire those bloggers that post daily. At this point, I don't aspire to do so myself but perhaps if I could make it my job, I would feel differently.

2- I am 39 weeks pregnant and I have an identical twin who is also pregnant (33 weeks).

3- I am not very good at interior decorating/design as I never really have a vision for the rooms.  I love seeing other bloggers progress and the thought and planning that goes into each space. I'm not sure that I have the patience to plan my own space. Only time will tell!

4- I am excited to become a mom, although I still can't picture what my life is going to be like.  I don't plan on turning my reno blog into a space where I update about my new life as a mom, however I can see myself potentially starting a new bog for that reason.

5- I love getting a deal on big purchases.  I am not the best negotiator so I usually walk away while my husband negotiates and am usually thrilled with the results.

6- I like a good challenge and have challenged myself physically with a couple of half marathons and a triathlon. I am trying to think of labour as the same type of challenge.

7- Socializing is my livelihood and I blame that on being a twin. I have an older sister as well so we grew up in a house full of girls (my poor dad).  I think this is why I was a little taken aback to find out I was having a boy.

Many of the bloggers I follow have already posted their 7 "things" which I really enjoyed learning... keep them coming! I'll be back soon, if we have time for any last minute renos before the little one arrives.

The Nursery

We've completed the nursery! Well...almost.  The basics are in but we still need a few items.  We need to pick out some window treatment, likely a roll up blind that will keep hopefully both keep the bright sun out, as well as the colder air. I'd also like to find some cute art work but don't really have anything in mind.  The room we went with in the end, was the former office as it is the smallest bedroom.  The office has moved up to the 3rd floor and we've kept a bed up there since we still expect to have multiple guests at one time.

Other projects that have been completed over the past couple of weeks won't mean much to my readers but to me make a world of difference.  My husband installed the rest of the quarter rounds on the second floor, as well as in the living room and dining room.  Prior to this, you could see all the gaps in the hard wood next to the walls so everything looked really sloppy.  We still need to caulk and paint the baseboards but for now it looks great! Upcoming projects include: sand and paint the 2nd floor hallway and add light fixtures, add second coat of paint to certain walls in living room, paint dining room, carpet stairs (+ office).

Master Bedroom Complete

I wish I was a better photographer because as usual these pictures do not do the room justice.  Anyway, our master bedroom is complete and I am pretty sure it is my favourite room in the house.  We have waited a long time to have a master bedroom complete with furniture and paint!  The room itself is pretty spacious so we were able to upgrade our bed to a king and buy a bedroom suite (two night tables, a dresser with mirror and a chest of drawers). *I'd really like to get some new bedding but it really isn't a priority.

We also upgraded our living room tv, leaving the bedroom as the obvious place for our old former living room tv.  42 inches is a little unnecessary for the space but we mounted it on the wall and it seems like the perfect fit.  We used a tilting wall mount with an extendable arm so we can move it around conveniently. Because we mounted it on a concrete wall, C used his electric drill with a masonary drill bit and plastic anchors.  The process was much smoother that the living room tv mount (also on a concrete wall) -a perfect example of practice makes perfect.

Finally, we also installed some faux wood blinds (the first windows to receive actual window treatment in the house), as well as a ceiling fan light fixture, complete with a remote control dimmer.  All in all, I am happy with the choices we have made and really enjoy spending time in the master bedroom -a definite bonus since I will be on mat leave soon and likely spending LOTS more time at home.

We have completed the guest bedroom as well and are currently working on the nursery.  So far, every time we have gone out to get things for the baby, we come home with new stuff for ourselves. I am told that this is considered "nesting" so rather than feel guilty, I am feeling fortunate to have additional things completed before the baby comes.  The nursery pictures to follow soon.

DIY Head Board

When thinking about the master bedroom, it was next to impossible not to think about getting a new mattress set.  The one we have been using is a memory foam queen mattress which was wonderful for years but has recently been leaving my husband waking up with a soar back.  I think this has something to so with the memory foam pillow top on top of the memory foam mattress.  Anyway, we decided to invest in a king bed mattress set.  It is amazing!  Especially now that I am pregnant and sleeping with pillows all around me, the extra space is much appreciated by both of us (and once and a while by Winston as well). Because we spent money on the new mattress it was hard to justify spending alot of money on a bed frame.  We were really drawn to the upholstered bedframes or headboards but they are so over priced for what they are. One day we popped into a sketchy furniture and fabric warehouse in our neighborhood, where we were told to let them know what we liked and they would make it for us for a hefty fee.  The light bulb went on, we were in a store that sold all the material!  We picked out some fabric, a large piece of foam, cotton batting, some buttons and were on our way.  We had a giant piece of ply wood sitting in our basement so we just needed to drop by Home Depot to pick up a few other material.  The list included: 4 pieces of 2 x 4; a staple gun and some staples, and wire for the buttons). We had some extra screws and nails hanging around the basement.

Step 1: Measure your mattress and cut the ply wood to the width of you mattress. Determine the height you would like, factoring in that the 2x4s will be the legs. Screw the 2x4s into the plywood around the perimeters of the board, leaving extra length for the legs.

Step 2: Cut the piece of foam (using scissors or an exacto knife) to the same size as your ply wood.  Using a spray adhesive, glue the foam onto the flat edge of your ply wood.  Once the glue is dry, place a large piece of cotton batting over the foam and staple it along the 2x4s at the back of the board. This just adds an extra layer around the edges.

Step 3: Once the foam and the cotton batting is securely in place, you are ready to add the material.  We picked out a cream coloured cotton/canvas material and purchased enough material so that we could cut a panel to staple onto the back, as the last step once we had completed the tufting.

Step 4: This was actually the hardest step -the tufting!  Figure out where you want to place the buttons and mark the back of the board.  Once you have it all marked, drill small holes through the ply wood only.  Using a long piece of wire,  poke it through the hole and have someone on the other end place the button on the wire (we used wooden buttons).  Twist the wire together neatly so that you can send it back through the original hole.  Have one person push hard on the button (I used the back of a screwdriver to push) while the other person twists the remainder of the wire around a nail until the button is well secured.

DIY Upholstered headboard

Voila! We have created a headboard much like the ones we saw in the stores or online.  We did end up buying a metal frame (often thrown in by the mattress store when purchasing a new mattress -we negotiated pillows instead -oops). We attached the headboard to the frame and added a bed skirt that matches the colour of the head board. I will post the final picture in my upcoming post about the work we've done on the master bedroom. 

Update on what we've been up to in 2011

I haven't posted in a while, maily because I haven't had alot to report.  Our renos were at a standstill for sometime mostly because of our busy schedules, lack of funds, and reno burnout! There was an incident with a leaky pipe back in January.  We had water dripping into our kitchen and had to turn the water on and off before and after our showers. This also left us using the toilet in the basement (which is just that -no sink, no walls, just a toilet). We ended up with a couple of holes in our kitchen ceiling (which still need to be patched) but the pictures were way too boring to share. Once we had the problem isolated, we realized that there was a tiny leak in one of the elbow joints so we called in a plumber to have it repaired.

Me, at 16 weeks

Also in 2011, we've received some good news which has provided us with a solid timeline to get additional work done around the house. I am due at the end of November.  We've decided to work on the master bedroom first, then tackle the guest room (which will be converted to the nursery), then the office (which will become the new guest room) and then the dining room (including finishing the hutch!). We still plan to carpet the two sets of stairs, as well as the 3rd floor bedroom (which until now, we have been using as our master bedroom). The room will be converted into the new office and we will leave the bed up there for guests. We are in the process of looking for quotes to convert the other room on the 3rd floor to a beautiful master bathroom, which once complete we can move forward on the carpeting mentioned above. Stay tuned for updates on the Master bedroom!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

I haven't posted in a while for a couple reasons...one, Chris and I took a well-needed week vacation to Mexico and two, we haven't really been doing much work around the house.  This weekend however, we visited Home Depot and brought along the running list of items needed for the house.  I forgot how much I liked going there.  Not so much the act of being at Home Depot but everything you can accomplish once you've returned.  Here is a list of tasks we completed over the weekend:

1) Fixed the kitchen sink that had been leaking for months.  We can safely remove the bucket and stop telling people to use the right sink only!
2) Replace the halogen light bulb above the sink.
3) Painted the white lines left behind from the painters tape in the living room.
4) Rearranged the living room furniture
5) Mounted the tv... which led to a visit to ikea, to find the perfect tv stand.
6) Put together the "tv stand" which is actually a beautiful book case... which led to another trip back to Ikea.
7) Sought out a piece to match the book shelf that would even out the other wall (beside the tv).
8) Purchased drapery hardware (still no curtains though)

And here is the end result:

Before

After

Beware of smell and alert the neighbors

A couple of weeks ago, I left town for a girls weekend.  While I was away, Chris slaved away over the hutch that we (ok he with a little help from me) started this summer.  I was really surprised when I got home because not only did he build the doors and the shelves but he finished the sanding and added detail and trim.  The idea behind the hutch is to have it match the diy dining room table. Chris started staining the hutch this past week (pictures to follow).  Each piece requires two coats of stain and at least one coat of polyeurethane for the finish.  The stain and finish smell REALLY strong and even cause some light headedness so Chris opened a couple of windows in the basement and we went out to walk the dog.

Diy Hutch in progress

When we returned from our walk, we noticed a fire truck on our street.  I looked at Chris and said, "that's never a good sign..."  and before I could finish my sentence I noticed some neighbors gathered on our lawn and a group of fire fighters walking out our front door.  As it turns out, our neighbors who are attached to us smelled a strong smell in their house and thought it was a gas leak.  She had noticed me come home but had not seen us leave with the dog.  When she knocked on our door, she could see my purse and phone and with no answer, feared that I was in the house passed out from the "gas".  She called 9-1-1 and the fire fighters came, broke in through the opened basement window, and toured our house.  They knew the smell immediately and even complimented Chris on the hutch.  Luckily, no one was hurt, our house is still standing, and no charges were laid.  We have taken a break on the staining though so you'll have to wait to see the finished product.

Happy 100th!

We got a letter in the mail this week from Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).  It showed us what our house/property was assessed at in Jan. 2008 and a few other important details.  The most exciting detail was that we finally have confirmation of the year our house was built.  We knew that our house was definitely built in the first half of the 20th century but now we know that it was built in 1910.  Our house is in its 100th year! That really does amaze me.

Roof -Before and After

Before

 As you can see from the picture, we went with black shingles for our roof.  I don't think you can tell from the picture but we decided to go with the architectural shingles. Our attached neighbors had told us to pick a shingle we liked, when they were ready to have their roof redone, they would use the same design .  We consulted them on our final decision for the black architectural look and asked whether they would be interested in having the roofers re-shingle their side of the peaked roof.  I am glad that they agreed because it really adds curb appeal now that both sides are uniform.



After



In the back of our house we have an area of roof that is flat.  The flat roof needed to be stripped and redone as the old roof was rotting away.  This seemed to be ALOT of work as it took one guy several days to complete the area.

All in all we are really happy with the work that was done. If you are looking to have your roof redone, please leave a comment and I would be happy to recommend the crew!

Roof Update

Well... our roof is finally complete!  It took a gang of roofers almost a week to complete but we are REALLY happy with the results.  I haven't been able to take pictures in the day light so I will post the before and after pictures next week.  For now, I would just like to say that the roofing company we hired were a staff of diligent, efficient, hard working individuals.

Happy Halloween!

Today was our first Halloween as homeowners!  Yesterday while walking the dog, we picked up a pumkin, carved it and toasted the seeds.  I let Chris do most of the carving.  I think he did a good job, although I am pretty sure when I wasn't looking he tried his luck with the jig saw. 

We had about 30-35 kids come by and they were all sweet as pie.  We had one little girl carrying two bags and asked whether she could have extra for her friend who was too sick to trick or treat. 

Winston was a great sport too --he pretty much only growled at the scariest looking kid. Happy Halloween!

Youngest Overnight House Guest

This weekend we had our first overnight baby house guest. Our friends Mike and Erika came from Ottawa and brought their 7 month old daughter, Addison.  It gave Chris and I an opportunity to see what it would be like to decorate a room with baby stuff.  Since the Master bedroom remains unfurnished (STILL!) it was the perfect room to set-up a makeshift nursery. We also proved that the house is very sound proof as it was possible to entertain 9 loud dinner guests while the baby slept soundly.

See you next year ...hopefully new and improved!

With so much work to do inside the house, it is difficult to find both the motivation and the finances to work on the outside. During the spring we pulled some weeds and removed some ferns/bushes and tried to grow some grass. 

Below is a picture of the backyard.  It is a decent size, especially for Toronto. We have grass for the dog, a slab of cement closer to the house for the bbq, and little gardens with flowers and trees. We also have a nice wood fence on the left hand side to create separation between us and the neighbors, a chain link fence at the back which slopes downward into a hill before meeting up with the next yard, and  another chain link fence on the right side which fortunately we share with really great neighbors.  It's been fun making use of the back yard for bbq's and the occasional party but now that the season is coming to a close, I can't help but dream about the work we could do back there.  I would love to finish the fence, add a deck, buy a new bbq, pull some more weeds and grow some more grass.  Hopefully this is a project I can blog about in the spring or even late summer but for now, I will just keep dreaming!

Baseboards

Before

Once removed

New Plaster

Complete

I have been delaying this post because I think that baseboards are really boring.  That said, they were a lot of work and actually made a big difference in each of the rooms that we have completed.  Here is a simplified, step-by-step summary of the project (in my terms).

Step 1: Chris removed the old baseboards before we ripped up the floors.  It was a painful job because they were the old thick wooden baseboards and were nailed in very tight with really long nails.  He was also trying to be careful not to remove too much of the plaster from the walls and originally we thought we may want to reclaim them (in the end it was too difficult to save them). 

Step 2: The second and third picture depicts my responsibility in the baseboard project.  My job was to plaster and re-plaster all of the removed areas.  In some cases, I slabbed on so much plaster and it likely would have been easier to cut a piece of drywall instead. Once the plaster was dry I had to sand and re-sand the surface area to make them as flat as possible for step 4.

Step 3: Cutting the baseboards.  This was Chris' job and it was quite tedious. Because the walls are all different lengths, the boards will all need to be cut accordingly.  Also, the ends need to be cut on an angle in order for the corners to match up.  

Step 4: Applying the baseboards.  We went with the tall boards since we have nine foot ceilings and the old wood ones that we had just removed were also the tall ones. We used MDF (medium density fiberboard) rather that pine or other wood.  The main reason is beause it was more affordable. I think it looks clean and nice. The caption on the last picture says "complete" but I am pretty sure we are adding a strip of quarter rounds which I will post at a later date.

 

Step 5: Caulking the baseboards. In order to hide the gap between the wall and the baseboards, we used caulking.  Most home renovators would know about this magical white filler but it was news to me. Once the baseboards were caulked, they looked great and very professional.

Because the baseboard removal project was such a pain, we decide to remove only the quarter rounds on the second floor, in order to prep for the new floors.  That is, everywhere except for in the master bedroom. We will be putting new baseboards in the master bedroom soon (which still remains empty by the way).  The "before" picture is from the second floor with only the quarter round removed.

New kid in town...

I couldn't resist! My sister got a puppy!!! It's a Bernese Mountain Dog.  In this picture he is 7 weeks.  They live in Ottawa.  I can't wait to meet the little guy.  His name is Guinness.

Peeping Tom

It has been 9 months (almost 10) since we moved into our lovely home.  We have not purchased a single window treatment.  In the master bedroom (which still remains empty) we have a large sheet draped from the windows and in the guest room, we usually hang a couple of towels.  The previous owner left us some venetian blinds on the third floor (our current bedroom).  The only room that really effects us at the moment is the living room.  The top is a picture of our living room window and below are a couple of options I pulled online.  Any suggestions?

Option 1

Option 2

Office

Originally, we wanted to turn one of the rooms up on the 3rd floor (the one that currently acts as our bedroom) into an office.  Our plan was to carpet both sets of stairs and have the room on the 3rd floor carpeted at the same time, and turn it into the office.  Chris was starting a new job in mid summer where most of his work would be done from a home office. Since we still had not (and have not) gotten around to the carpet project, nor have we competed our bedroom project, we set up the office in our small spare room on the 2nd floor.  The desk and area rug are from Ikea (mix and match).  The rest is from Staples.  That was easy! (kidding -of course).

Dining Room Nook

There is a nook in our dining room that we have been contemplating on how to fill. Since we ended up making our own dining room table it only made sense to complete the set. Chris measured the space and drew up the plans and we set out to the nearest Home Depot to build our new buffet. We picked up more planks of pine and started the glueing and sanding. Once the hutch is built we will stain it in the same colour as the table.



In the interim, we filled the space with a bookshelf and a couple of bar stools (for a lack of a better plan for both the nook and the furniture).

Here is a picture of the hutch as it stands now. We plan to build a shelf in the middle of each section and doors on the outsides. I can't wait until it is finished but since we (by we I mostly mean Chris because he prefers to work alone) haven't worked on it in a while, I figured I would blog about it instead. Please stay tuned for the end results!!

Dining Room Table

My husband Chris, and I were really eager to get a dining room table and chairs so that we could start inviting our friends over for formal dining. We started to price out tables and realized that we had expensive taste (when it came to dining room tables). We really liked the rustic look, as well as harvest tables. Chris decided that it would be both fun and cost-effective to build his own table. He did some research until he was confident to make his own plan. He has promised to write step-by-step instructions on how to build a table so I can post it for those of you who are interested in giving it a try **stay tuned!**

The table was made to seat 8 comfortably and designed a little taller than your average table because Chris' family is really tall -another benefit to making your own. We purchased the chairs from a great warehouse store in Mississauga, called ARTeFAC. They have an assortment of affordable chairs and really great service.

I absolutely love the table and wish I had taken pictures throughout the process.

Work plan

By day, I am a Project Manager so I cannot help myself when it comes to developing spreadsheets and work plans. Below is a plan that I drafted in December to keep our renovation plans in check. I reviewed and updated it as best I could. I am hoping that this table will help keep me on track with my future posts.

	Activity	Timeframe	Status
General
Electrical	Replace Knob and Tube	December-09	Completed
Stairs	Remove Carpet	January-10	Completed
	Lay new carpet	January-10	*Still required
Back Yard	Build gate	December-09	Completed
	Reinforce corners	December-09	Completed
	Build fence	Spring 10	Moved to Summer 10
	Lay brick	Spring 10	Moved to Summer 10
Basement	Remove/replace toilet	Pending	Future project
	Purchase washer and dryer	January-10	Completed
	Install washer/ dryer (add dryer vent)	Pending	Dryer vent still required
	Remove laundry sink	Pending	Future project
	Complete bathroom reno	Pending	Future project
Floors	Purchase new floors and materials	Dec/Jan 10	Completed
	Remove baseboards	January-10	Completed
	Remove old hardwood	June-10	Completed
	Reinforce sub floor	December	Completed
	Lay new sub floors	December	Completed
	install new floor	Jan 10 (main fl) June 10 (2nd fl)	Completed
	Purchase and Install new baseboards		80% complete
First floor Rms
Front Hall	Knock down wall	December-09	Completed
Living Room	Knock down wall	December-09	Completed
	Purchase new curtains	Pending	*Still required
	Paint	February-10	Completed
Dining Room	Purchase new curtains	Pending	*Still required
	Purchase dining table and hutch	Table created (March 10)	Hutch to be completed soon
	Paint	Pending	*Still required
Kitchen	Purchase new appliances	Pending	Future project
Second Floor
Hallway	Paint	Pending	*Still required
Master	Prime	Pending	*Still required
Bedroom 1	Purchase ikea bed frame		Completed
Bedroom 2	Purchase office equip and set up	July-10	Completed
Sun Room	Remove Fridge and Stove	December-09	Completed
Third Floor
Bedroom	Carpet	Pending	*Still required
Bathroom/Kitchen	Remove Fridge and Stove	December-09	Completed