How are you? The sun is out right now, makes for a better day. It’s been gray for a month and the sun feels like a welcome old friend. Sort of how our past feels, isn’t it? Memories of childhood are like an old friend that comes to visit every once in a while, to remind us of our youth, the day we tried bobbing for apples, the first time we tie-dyed a shirt or had a sleepover or jumped in puddles or had our first glass of wine. The smell of coffee that takes us back to summer days when our mothers sat around on lawn chairs in the back yard and we huddled in corners planning “shows” to torture them with. It’s nice. Even if there were hard times, there is always some nice. Some jumping through sprinklers, some ice cream, laughter that made Coca-Cola come out your nose. Finding Bits of our History When we started ripping up the bedrooms, it was just a gross experience (read back to the first or second blog about it). But a few days in, tearing out the floors, my brother in law, Ben, and I found old newspapers plastered to the […]
HI!! Sorry, am very behind on blogging regarding the renovation. We took a 2 week hiatus from online stuff over the December holidays, and have been so busy upon our return that social media has basically been the last thing on the schedule. But this morning, after spending the weekend unpacking boxes (our POD was returned on Friday), and organizing the main floor and the basement, it dawned on me that I been living in chaos for six months. And, although this isn’t super educational, it’s funny, and insane, and will make for some fun reading. Besides, I have zero brain power right now to write anything of a serious nature. Before I go any further: THANK YOU! You are my outlet, my friends, my clients, my place to rant today. I don’t often rant for a whole blog. But hey, it’s my blog and at the moment, I need the therapy. I promise next week to get back to business. The truth is, I would never ask my clients to do this. And as I have posted before, undertaking a renovation of this size, when your very handy husband is doing almost all of the work, is very stressful. […]
Well, last year Santa gave us the task of working on his living room design. I think we did a great job. You can see the feed on our instagram from December 2015… This year, we tackled his bedroom which was quite the challenge. It was full of random Christmas items from bygone years (thing #TBT). A bit of overkill if you please. Mrs. Claus was really concerned when we started. “You know, Nicholas really likes to have Christmas all year round. He won’t be happy if you completely take it away.” Then, guiding me out of the room by the elbow, she whispered softly, “But I am a little tired of all the hooplah, if you know what I mean.” She winked. “I wouldn’t mind a little more…glam.” A giggle escaped. She really was looking for a change. Often, as a designer, I encounter times when husband and wife have different ideas about what they are looking for in design, function and budget. It’s like being a home therapist. We have to balance their desires, without making either feel that their opinion is worth less. It’s delicate. But can be, and is often, a part of what makes us […]
Renovation Stumbles and Tumbles SO this week I was supposed to write about the den. And although that’s fun, to be honest, I haven’t really finished that design, and many more interesting things have happened during this renovation. Let’s talk about the time we tried to put in the beam in our kitchen… There are a lot of things that get “assumed” in a renovation, by both the architect and the engineers. They have to do this, in order to create the plans without tearing your entire house apart. BUT, they are assumptions. And we all know that assuming makes an *&^ out of you and me”. In our home, the one big assumption was that the bearing wall that runs along the house was well built. That it was thick enough, that it had posts and footings that would be needed in order to build up above them. Let’s remember, 1945. The new areas, built in 1971, perfect. 1945…not so much. Let’s get some definitions out of the way: Beam: Horizontal wood or steel beam that is used to hold up the ceiling or floor joists which in turns holds up your floor or ceiling Post: The vertical wood […]
The long-awaited day has finally arrived and here you have it Greenery 15-0343, Pantone’s 2017 colour of the year. I don’t even know where to even begin with this one!! I think the general feeling about 2016 is let’s move on and get a fresh new start for 2017, and this colour will definitely send us in that direction. Greenery gives us endless possibilities with so many different applications and colour palettes!! Its just one of those colours that can blend into any style of space. Green is otherwise known as nature’s neutral and as all other neutrals it can be applied as such, without being boring beige! It has the unmistakable ability to feel comfortable and yet vibrant, natural and pop-art. Whether you want to be bold and make a powerful colour statement like shown here in this modern designed bedroom or a more subtle and calming execution like shown in this transitional and serene bathroom, it can be achieved with this natural beauty Greenery. We love this bedding! More up our alley here at Monaco Interiors. Very calming, and almost a little coastal? Don’t forget that big, bold green doesn’t have to be your statement for the year. You can […]
The Kitchen Renovation/Design Do you love to cook? I LOVE to cook. I LOVE to bake fancy cakes. I LOVE to eat (which really explains it). I have a LOT of kitchen stuff. Pots and pans, machines of all sorts, rolling pins and buckets of fondant, cookie cutters, crockpots, you name it. And I want more. It’s my sanctuary, second only to my master bathroom (which doesn’t even exist more than a stud outline at the moment.) Before Working in my last kitchen, the tiny 10 x 11 micro-space, was brutal. LOOK AT THE PHOTOS! It was ugly, zero work space, and I used an 11” Ikea buffet as an island. A remnant from my single days. I couldn’t even roll out a pizza on that thing, let alone chop onions. **This is the photo from the listing when we purchased the home. These are NOT my roosters… When we got the plans for the house done, we expanded the kitchen to double its size. More so because we took down some walls to enable a huge island. And there began my long fall into despair. A journey into a black hole filled with cookie cutter kitchens. A veritable plethora […]
In the 60s, shag rugs began to surface. The TV show Mad Men has one designed space that blows my mind. The bohemian vibe, and shag rug over high pile rug make me feel a little nostalgic for the 70s, when this was all the rage, I am pretty sure one can link the rise of asthma with the popularity of these rugs. People went wall to wall. Often making catastrophic mistakes, that within a year or so, they regretted. As shown here…sometimes you really have to stand back and think about what you are doing. What is this really going to look like? Is there any possibility it will be a little too over the top? Too committed to the trend du jour? Shags have come a long way. We use them now as cozy rugs. Fun and inviting floor dressings that we can snuggle on, roll around on, and sink our feet into. I love this one. It’s contemporary, yet soft, and the large scale design makes it feel more like art than just an area rug. For hits of colour. Shag rugs are available to be custom made too! They come in so many colours, and […]
Permits Before the renovation could begin, we had to do what’s called a “site plan application”. Basically, if you are trying to do something that doesn’t conform with your site’s by-laws, say trying to build too close to the street or too high, you must amend your site plan. The steps we had already taken, included the design approval (you read about that last week). We also had to get an updated survey, grading plan and submit our final drawings. Once the town was satisfied that we had what we needed (took almost 3 months for them to let us know), and we got the official letter stating that our application was ok to submit, we happily submitted our site plan application. It was mid-January. At this point you should know that in 1971, the previous owner had built a 400 sf addition onto the main floor at the back of the house. That’s the photo from last week with the living/dining room. He had done so without a permit, and illegally because it’s too close to the property line. The north-west corner of it is actually about 3 feet from the property line. About 2 feet short of conforming […]
Good morning! How do you like the title? There’s No Place Like Home. It’s true, isn’t it? And not just for Judy Garland, but for all of us. Our home is a safe zone. A place where after a long day of work, we go to throw our shoes off, eat our meals, hug our families and hide from the reality of our stresses. I say this in jest. I have 7-year-old twins. You get it. A renovation feels like it might just threaten that safe zone. Over the last 15 years, I have been invited into countless homes. Some just want an opinion on colour, others want a total renovation. And many, want to build new houses. What they all have in common, is the desire to improve their home, and the bone-chilling fear that they will pick a shady contractor, a snobby designer or some other unpalatable trade. Scope of work has little to do with it. As does budget. It’s their home. So, here’s a behind the scenes look at all the stuff your designers, contractors and other trades do, so you don’t have to. And the best part is, that while you may experience some of […]
