Kitchen inspiration

I think I love the finishing details in these kitchen more than anything (that and how it's not all just white!).

 

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It's all about the kitchen today

I'm sitting waiting for the countertop guys to arrive with our new granite countertops for the kitchen.  We tore out the old (nasty) ones last night and stacked them in the backyard for a future trip to the dump (preferably on a day when it's not raining).

The kitchen looks like it's had it's head shaved.  Very odd.  And VERY hard to use.  Even opening a can of soup for lunch was a lesson in balance and patience.  (And the bathroom was used as a stand-in.)

Needless to say, even a day without a functioning kitchen throws me off.  Just a couple of months ago we were in this situation while putting in new floors.  It gets old, fast.

(Before and after pictures will be coming soon!)

And another thing...

Did I mention that we passed our final inspection this week?

Yes.  Yes we did.  :)  Goodbye green permit sign!

Kvartal Anno Sanela's, yahhhh

We hooked ourselves up with the Ikea connection over the weekend and grabbed a set of sliding panels for the back door (there are so many UGLY options for glass sliding doors, but I think this one is the most tolerable). We were crazy to try and figure this system out while in the store (busy Sunday) and got to witness other couples with big question marks over their heads and frazzled looks. This was not us though, because I have Trevor, Canadian superhuman-man who can decode strange Swedish illustrations and directions for window coverings. So we were successful (although karma bit us in the ass with a box that didn't include hardware -- now another trip has to be made for the last panel, hence the evidence above in the photo with only three panels).

The weekend

The weekend started off with picking a load of ripe tomatoes from the back yard and delivering them to a neighbour-friend on our street (she shares my bitterness for certain neighbours...LOL!). One plant has decided to make yellow tomatoes, while all the others are red. Makes for a nice photo!

We did more of the mega-house-reno's as well, and we were determined to get the kitchen/family room back up and functioning again so we can feel that one of the most-used parts of the house is NORMAL. We sanded and painted crown moulding (blegh...I really can't stand that job) and painted more of the kitchen cupboards. By Sunday evening we were able to load furniture in and clean the kitchen...I said to Trevor that I almost felt 'zen-like' at that point, lol. It was so nice to have a room almost done (I say 'almost' because we still have to replace the countertop in the kitchen and put in a tile backsplash, but that feels like little things at this point).
And at the end of the weekend we both realized that we only have two more weekends to go until we leave on our trip. That was scary...and makes it seem like these next two weeks will disappear like *that*. We still have to reserve car rentals for Toronto and Belfast and look at shore excursions in the Med. And then pack...I have a goal of getting the suitcases out this week and plopping them in the spare bedroom to gradually pack them (and avoid mass panic and forgetting things).

Living room/kitchen update

We've been working in spurts on the living room/kitchen at the moment, the ceiling has been painted (took almost two cans!), new ceiling fan put up, crown moulding nailed up (and being filled, then painted), and the kitchen cupboards are getting a fresh coat of paint. No countertop yet, and we returned the tile we bought for the backsplash so we can figure out the countertop first and then find a tile that goes with it (and not the other way around, which is wayyyy more difficult!).

Hardwood floors are almost done, just staining the vents and a transition strip to go and then we can cross that off the list.

Guess what I'm up to this weekend?

Yes, it's painting time again! (When is it not?) Lots to do around here, inside and out. Plus a meeting at the bank about renewing our mortgage. Excitement. All that aside, we'll be reno-ing it up on our 5th wedding anniversary tomorrow (I guess we can't call ourselves newlyweds at all anymore...I wonder what we could call ourselves? LOL...too many R-rated ideas there, must keep this blog clean you know.) ;)
photo via flickr

Ahhhh...gardens

I wish I had more time to spend in mine lately. I was out watering things this morning and there's lots to weed, trim, mow and prune (and I have a small garden!). There's one lonely zucchini that survived the slug threat, but I don't think it will produce anything (keeps flowering then *ptht* done). I am, however, ecstatic about the honeysuckle this year -- for years I just swore at it because it was plagued by aphids, but it's had a banner year with tons of flowers and now *gasp* berries! (Lovely berries that are almost a candy shade of red, very beautiful to look at.) So I'm not writing off honeysuckle anymore.

Work has been busy this week too. Lots of tight deadlines (not my fault) and a nice 20-page brochure that's due tomorrow (I stayed up until 10pm last night working on it...phew). I'll be sending out emails soon to let all the clients know that I'm gone in October, and fingers crossed things won't get too hairy this month before we leave (although I know I can wish all I want, it seems like it always happens).

And reno's keep on going. I'll have pictures eventually, but we're still living with hardly any furniture in the room. Crown moulding goes up this weekend, and I have to put a coat of paint on the cupboards to freshen them up. (Oh, and have I mentioned that Trevor offered to have a BBQ at our place next weekend for some relatives visiting from LA? Yes, it's true...nothing like a deadline to get things done.)

photos via the very lovely Woodhams (which I might just pop into when we're in London!)

Highlights of the week so far

• The world returning to a normal schedule (muahahahaha...kids back to school!)
• Almost finishing the hardwood floor (sans transition strip and vent covers)
• Painting and cleaning the windows in the family room/kitchen to a point where you can't see the glass it's so darn clean (ahhhh!)
• Emailing/calling clients to update them on their project status and not having them get back to me for two days which means I can finally do my own thing (business cards, laundry, painting, mowing the lawn, cleaning the office) without feeling guilty
• Ripping open a bag of potatoes we planted to find that potatoes actually grew
• Picking ripe tomatoes from the garden
• Remembering to pick up my passport from the post office (and seeing that the picture is nowhere near as horrific as my driver's license...*eyes are burning*)
• Finding the photo of the orange telephone above

I think it might rain

We had a debate on the weekend on whether or not it was going to rain. We had just chucked three rolls of carpet out the door into the backyard and the sky looked like it had been divided in half -- sunny and blue skies on one side, looming dark grey clouds on the other. Trevor thought it was going to rain, I thought the blue sky would win out. Not wanting to buck three soggy carpet burritos into the car to the dump if it rained, we agreed to move it if it started to rain (which I said, 'no, no, it won't'). Well here's proof (and you can copy and paste this all you want Trevor!)...I WAS WRONG (...but not by much!). A few drops of rain and I was out moving the carpet into the garage. And that was it, just a few drops, not even enough to get the sidewalk wet. We did, however, have the longest-lasting rainbow(s) ever in the sky:

As seen on the weekend

We were über renovators this weekend and went full on with putting the new hardwood floors into the kitchen/family room. They are looking sw-eeeee-t! So much better than the ugly lino and berber carpet combo that was there before. We're still working on finishing it (and nursing our cuts, bruises, aches and pains!), but here's a smidge of the progress we've made (the room is almost done as of today, but no pictures of that yet).

Merry long weekend!

I'm sure most of you will be kicking back and soaking in the last unofficial weekend of summer. Well, not me! Big plans are afoot with the reno-ing: ceilings are being patched and painted, appliances moved, countertop and fabric decisions being made, and flooring being installed. Can you say e-f-f-i-c-i-e-n-t? I can!

Updates to come next week!

Goodbye kitchen floor

The destruction started last night. Scrapers, crowbars and hammers galore. Soon there will be a pretty hardwood floor to look at.

Updating on all the goods

I figure there should be a post on what's been happening around the house with the reno 'situation' as of late. Well, it's all going swimmingly so far; we're almost at the end of the basement (touchups, caulking, painting, some laundry room assembly to do) and now we're striding ahead to the main floor again.

In the last while I've painted the living room, dining room, entrance area, loft and stairwells (they all share the same colour as there's no doors to break them up). Just this week I've moved on to the kitchen and family room -- and that's close to being done as well, although the kitchen area is a bit more challenging with all of the things I have to move. Trevor's been spending the week installing pot lights in the kitchen (good bye ugly puffy ceiling light!!!) and figuring things out with his media center (I say 'his' because I haven't been given the tutorial on how to use it yet).

We had Home Depot come out and measure the countertop in the kitchen and they came back with a rotten price for doing it, so we're investigating other options and going to consider a solid surface option that might be economical (really I'm saying 'economical' with a cringe because I have no idea what that means anymore). We have also picked out a new hardwood floor for the kitchen/family room which is now sitting in our living room adjusting to the temperature of the house (yes, you have to do that).

And in the midst of all of this I have a full day photo shoot in Stanley Park to direct tomorrow (nice early start there *yawn*) and then I plan on taking most of Friday off to wipe off the doorstep for my sister and her hub who are coming to stay with us for the weekend (yay!).

So if the posts are spotty for the next few days, you'll know why!

Extra long weekend

You'll notice how there was a large gap in posts from Friday until Monday. Blogging was not on the priority list as there are major advances going on with the reno's at home. The basement (yes, THE basement, it seems like I've been rattling on and on about this forever) is a hair closer to being complete -- the bathroom is almost done (just racks and railings to put up and some caulking to do), the laundry room has some technical difficulties at the moment but is still operational, and we bought blinds to put on the windows. The upstairs landing/loft/stairwell/hallway has been painted and just needs a second coat rolled on and that can be put to bed. Go team go! :) (photos to come eventually...)

Slow Monday

Well, no completely slow with all the work drama I have going on at the moment, but slow mentally! We were busy this weekend, and yes, I did manage to clean the siding on the house (a few failed attempts and then I managed to find a scrubbing brush solution that worked!), mowed the lawn, cleaned all the windows I could reach, pruned and cleaned up the garden, and Trevor went wild putting up more moulding, a hand rail to the basement, putting up closet doors, installing laundry room cupboards... *whew* It was a weekend. And we plan on doing more than that this coming long weekend.

But the big drumroll is...we can now officially call in for a FINAL INSPECTION! Almost a full year ago we were starting, and now we will be close to taking down the horrible neon permit sign on our front window. Hurrah! There's still a lot of painting, filling and caulking to be done, but that's just the icing on the cake right?

Weekend warrior (hopefully)

Well, it's Friday again (hurrah!). It seemed like a short week -- probably because I'm used to working 6 day weeks the last little while. Big plans are afoot here for the next two days, with reno-mania-mania setting in. My plans are to hop on a very high ladder and attempt to clean the siding of the house and gutters (we'll see about how high I really get, confidence is brimming at this point...), and Trevor is going to finish the bathroom in the basement and put up the railing for the stairs. (And maybe even start on the laundry room? hint...hint...)

I figure it makes sense to tackle the outside jobs here while the weather is nice and not scorching hot. Painting inside a 'schweaty' house is never fun, nor a good idea (paint that dries way too fast).

We've also been pondering a dining room table (our house lacks one after ridding it of a horrific wicker and fabric hand-me-down) and our choices are now:

From Pier 1:

From Crate + Barrel (with customs charges...worth it? I don't know.):

I'm leaning towards the Pier 1 choice, it's got a darker stain and a nice wood grain on the table top, and it has an extra leaf that can extend it out for 6 people to sit at. We would keep it as a square though, as our dining area is teenie. (Trevor's vote might go towards this one as well, because the square shape 'defines his eating space'...LOL!)

Now to find chairs...

The weekend (we can loosely call it that)

We both took only one day off this weekend (even though it's a long weekend, or extra long weekend for most people). We spent our 'non-weekend' days working and our one day (Sunday) doing things around the house (Trevor working on tiling the bathroom, me painting moulding) and sweating like mad in the 37C weather. Whew!

Here's some shots of the one day weekend action:

Insane in the membrane

Things with work have gone bonkers (again). I think it's something to do with the moon, or maybe the crunch to end the school year. I really don't know, but people have bees in their bonnets, whereas in previous years, I would be preparing for the inevitable summer lull in work. This summer, I'm having to book things 2-4 months in advance! What is going on here!?!?

I've thought a bit about some things to do this summer (seeing as July 1st is coming soon and I figure it's a good way to jump-start things):

- Reno's (of course...they never end. We need to paint the new backyard gate, complete the basement and have it inspected, continue on with painting the inside of the house, paint the trim on the outside of the house, wash the vinyl siding/windows, replace the porch carpet, pressure wash, finish the master bathroom, start on the kitchen/family room reno's...the list never ends!)

- I'd like to read a book (start to finish). I imagine it in a loung-y summer-y way in a hammock with lemonade and a warm breeze; I think the reality will be quite different.

- We're also thinking of taking a mini-trip (maybe just overnight somewhere) to celebrate the completion of a work project that's been ongoing for the past two and a half years and finally coming to an end! Maybe Seattle? Portland? We like both cities, I think Portland might win out because of the awesome hotel we've stayed in, cool bookstore and no sales tax! :)

- I'd also like to do other things involving parks, picnics, BBQs and popsicles.

Unveiling the office

This is almost an emotional post for me to do! Going through some of the pictures in this post brings back memories of starting this huge task to renovate this basement. There were many times where we both couldn't imagine having the basement at this point (livable, and not being used as a storage locker). I think this means a lot more to both of us because we didn't have the budget to just run out and hire a contractor to do everything. We tackled (and are still tackling) framing, insulating, electrical (with some help from awesome Mike!), ductwork, flooring, tiling, painting... We did everything but the drywall, which we thought about doing, but smartened up from that idea pretty quickly once we realized how much work it was.

So, it's with a lot of pride that I unveil the office that we built, step by step:

This is the first photo taken of the 'disaster area' that our basement was -- and is the front corner of my office now.
This shot is with framing, insulating and vapour barrier-ing done. (I can still say that I HATE insulation.)
And here we are with the washer and dryer pulled out for drywall. This is also when we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. (And the part where I had no idea how long it would take to prime drywall and paint.)

*Cue dreamy music* As if by magic, here we are today!
Even though this is just the office completed at this point (well, there's still a little trim work to be done around the window, but I'm nit-picking), there will soon be other photos coming of the rest of the basement as well. Hurrah!