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.
Continue reading “A Designer’s Renovation – Part 8 – Preserving History”
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…
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.)
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…
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.
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.
Well. I don’t often write about what can go wrong on a jobsite. But, being in the world of design and construction, the odds are, something will go wrong every once in a while.
Drapery hardware is a huge mystery to those who do not manufacture or install it. Many clients of mine will stare up at their windows and look at me, a blank look on their faces, and say “I don’t know what to do. How do we hang it?” I generally smile back and respond with a bunch of technical information and then let them know that I’ll just email them some finial options for their decorative rods, or I’ll pull a piece of I-beam out of my bag and hold it up for them. The explanation of the hardware ends up taking up more time than deciding on the actual style of the drapery and its glorious fabric. Here are some basic hardware options, and their applications.
There comes a day, in most adults lives, if you have been working at your career long enough, when being humbled happens. Click. Humbled.
For me, this happens often.
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?
Continue reading “Designer’s Renovation Journey in Toronto Home!”
