Where did the blog go? It’s been over a month! It’s been forever!! I want to see pictures of the renovation! Of the kitchen! Send me something! What happened to the Designer’s Renovation Journey? Those are some of the comments we’ve received lately from readers and clients. Thank you so much for keeping in touch and caring and reading my words! We were a bit trapped. Unable to post new pics of the kitchen, because…well, until just yesterday, they belonged to someone else… In the early fall I received a call from someone at MOVATO Home. They publish several home magazines, including Toronto Home Magazine. “We’d like to feature your kitchen in the magazine. It needs to be complete and ready for photos by January.” Who says no to that? I was so excited. The Article from the Toronto Home Kitchen issue is below. You can pick up a copy at most newsstands, Chapters, Indigo, Amazon etc. Or you may get a copy from me…I have a few… The Deadline Steven (husband who is basically doing the work all on his own), was not so pleased with the deadline. He looked at me, knowing very well that my January deadline […]
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 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 […]
The Renovation’s Time Capsule Ever planted a time capsule? Grab a newspaper, maybe a hockey card or a note you wrote when you were 10 and along with a few timely treasures, stick it in a box or tin can, then bury it in the back yard? I did. I must have been around 10 at the time. My friend Maral and I found a little box and put some tokens into it. I can’t remember what, and we buried it in our “fort”, amongst the trees at the end of our street. I wonder if it’s still there… Then you hear stories. So and so was cleaning out the attic and found a priceless teacup. Or that neighbour of that guy, tore down a wall and found a sack of cash. Must have been stashed there a hundred years ago! Warning: Yucky stuff No such luck here! The first thing we found was a treasure trove of mouse droppings. Yes. Poop. So much poop, in our old bedroom ceilings, that we put on overalls and masks and, with many a shriek, took down ceilings, insulation and drywall. Small body parts fell on our heads. We uncovered nests, likely for […]
The Renovation REALLY starts! The day after we received our permit, we set out to get things done. As a result of my neighbour and the permit process, we had lost over two months of precious time. The first thing on our list, was to dig out some footings in our basement, to support the opening we created on the floor above. My kitchen was to open up from a tiny 11’ x 12’ space to a 22’ x 12’ stunner. But to do so, meant a big beam, and some supports. It was amazing to watch the space grow. Light began to flood into the house from the front windows. A once dark space was now bright. The cramped rooms opened, creating flow and ease of use. And most of all, I had ordered a ten-foot island. Cooking is going to be amazing. I can actually have people in the kitchen now. But all of that comes with many decisions. Like what colour to make the perimeter cabinets. What stain on my island? Countertops? Flooring? Fabrics? Paint? I panicked. I had been there five years, and I still couldn’t decide. Isn’t that what you do for a living? Don’t […]
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 […]
