Updates to Our Reno Project | The Family Room & An Annoucement!

Hi everyone! I've finally put together some reno updates for you today. It seems every room in this 1989 home comes with a bit of a challenge and a backstory - the greatest of which would be the family room! As I mentioned to you before, this room was the one stumbling block that almost prevented me from putting an offer on the house! So needless to say I've been determined to fix that. Here's a reminder of how dated and cramped the space originally was:

So if you look at the blueprint above, you can see that the space is cut with really awful angles - the angled fireplace on one side, and the angled step down on the other. This made for a tiny amount of space & an awkward plan to place furniture. Then we discovered a needless storage space directly behind the family room - with an exterior door! And we thought, JACKPOT! Knock a wall down and easily expand the space. Easy? No, nothing with a reno is really easy. With a closer look we found that the storage space did not go the full width of the family room ... a bump out with the furnace and hot water tank takes up the far corner (who places the utilities THERE???). So I knew we had to get creative.

We started by riping out the railing by the step down:

There's hubby working hard to remove the yucky brick fireplace, don't let that cute smile fool you, that was one crazy hard job!

Carpets all ripped out:

And now you can see the back exterior door once we removed the wall to the storage room that was once behind the fireplace. See that bump out? In a perfect world I of course would say move the utilities!! But alas, too pricey to move the furnace so we needed to improvise!

One helpful improvement - increase the flow of the space by raising the floor and getting rid of that darn step down!

Next thing on the list, more light!! TA DA - a nice new window in what will soon become the back corner of the room:

So in the space with the bump-out, we chose to create a built-in with a new gas fireplace that goes back into the storage space rather than into the already small family room. This way we don't eat up any of the gained space. This will also be nearly flush with the bump out in the left corner, hopefully blending it in on the back wall:

New linear fireplace came in yesterday! Woo hoo! Now I've got to design up a mantle and surround.

The previous view from the foyer - a peek of the old brick fireplace:

And now - nice and bright sightlines from the doorway! So what do you think so far?

Oh and one more added room to the reno project I've been dying to tell you about (if you follow along on Instagram you've likely already seen this):

Eek! I sort of can't believe that everything is happening at once, it was a lot to wrap my head around at first but we are super excited and I actually hit the #20weeks mark today :) Stay tuned for some serious nursery planning! I've already got lots of ideas up my sleeves. Thanks for reading the whole way through this long-winded post ;)

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Reno Project Update | Powder Room Plans

Happy new week everyone! We are ploughing through with our reno project, it's felt slow up to this point because we have been in the midst of the 'tear-down' stage for quite some time now. But in the past couple of weeks we have had a chance to do some of the more fun stuff, like shopping for flooring, kitchen counters, fireplaces and tiles! I'm sharing some background on our plans for the powder room today ... funny to think that this tiny space of VERY few square feet is one of the most exciting spaces for me, namely because I didn't have a formal powder room in our last place.

Ok, you know where we always have to start, with the BEFORE! Here is an image from the real estate listing, you can see the (stubborn/evil to remove) wallpaper that was in place circa 1989. Red oak cabinet, wall-to-wall mirror & tulip style light fixture:

Here is the space as it stands today. Mirror, vanity, everything ripped out! Felt very satisfying to say the least ;) You can get a better look at the linoleum flooring that still needs to be removed in this photo:

So the next step is mapping everything out for the new design. Here is a moodboard giving you all the plans:

Scalamandre Zebras from DecoratorsBest | Vendome sconces from Circa Lighting | Tresa Lavatory Faucet from Brizo | Mirror from Wisteria | Gramercy powder room washstand from Restoration Hardware | Marble basketweave tile from Julian Tile

I just adore the look of a vintage-inspired cross handle faucet, and honestly the Tresa Lavatory faucet from Brizo is going to be the prettiest faucet I have ever owned!! It comes in 4 finishes, I personally selected polished nickel to tie in with the metal of the washstand and water supply kit.

This traditional style of faucet works so well with the delicate look of the metal and glass washstands.

The only catch here is that our current water supply comes up from the floor, so we've got to get a plumber to moves those pipes into the wall before we can move forward installing our vanity. Every step forward has 1-2 steps backwards before you can get to the pretty stuff! Just keepin' it real:

  

For the floor I am going with a bordered marble basketweave, you can never go wrong with the classics. If you have been following along on instagram you will already know I did a lot of tile shopping in the past few days! 

As for the vanity from RH, I found it was a lot more budget-friendly to purchase the washstand without the marble top. Pricing for having our own marble top cut and installed is much less expensive, and I can choose the piece of stone I want. I went with the powder room size vanity, which will fit perfectly into our tiny space.

So there you have it for now! I'll let you know how things progress as we keep moving forward. I'm excited to see this space come together, and I'm also thrilled that this little jewel-box is visible right when you walk into the entry of the home. It'll definitely set a first-impression. Have a great start to your week.

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Our Reno Project | The Full Before Tour!

Happy June everyone! We've got a good start on the tear down stage of our summer reno project in the last few weeks, but for today I am going to start at the very beginning!! The full house tour of the home exactly as it was posted on the MLS website (taken by the realty company), complete with the 1980's furnishings and wallpaper. This home is approximately 2600 sq ft and was built in 1989; it's 2 floors and has 4 bedrooms upstairs and 3 bathrooms total. It's got good bones, and it's in our preferred neighbourhood. We are crossing our fingers that through this reno we can make it our own and be happy here for years to come. Let's start with the entry way:

Pink  carpets and wallpaper with borders every where you turn. This place was honestly a time capsule in that way. And truly everything was kept clean & in good condition. You can just get a peek of the powder room to the left (more on that in an upcoming post!). To the right is the living room/dining room:

These entry rooms are fairly decent-sized, and lots of light. The mantle is actually in good condition but we will be knocking out the surround and the actual fireplace unit. Do you find it interesting how far apart the sconces are? Definitely need to change that!

We've got this funny pony wall separating the living and dining space, and from this view you can see the drop down with 2 steps. For budget's sake we are going to keep the step-down here, but we will knock out the pony wall and create steps the entire width of the space.

Dining room is pretty standard - definitely going to be switching out all of these tulip-style light fixtures ;) Can't wait to show you what's going in in place of it!

I'm excited to see some decent changes in the kitchen. We are blessed that the home came with a new oven & fridge, but we will need to replace dishwasher, and of course cupboards, counters, backsplash and more. And that light-box!! It followed me from our previous home's kitchen! Too funny.

The kitchen eating area is a little tight, so we've gotten rid of our large kitchen table and I'll be hunting for a smaller round one. We'll also replace the French doors in here. Gotta love that tulip-style light fixture again ;)

This family room is really the part I dislike most about this home. It had me second guessing putting an offer on the place. But I think I've got some tricks up my sleeve to make it work - including getting rid of the step down and the entire fireplace in here. More to come on this yucky space soon!

 The den on the main floor:

Main bathroom on the second floor:

Bedrooms are pretty standard boring stuff for now:

Our master is rather huge, the first time I toured the home I kept saying, "Why couldn't they have borrowed a few square feet for the tiny family room??" But I do think it will be quite fun to create a sitting area in here eventually:

And finally the master ensuite, also huge, and a total gut-job. Scary thing is that we are afraid it'll eat a huge chunk of our budget so we will have to wait and see but it may be left as a future project at this point. I definitely want to do this space justice and do it right!

So that's our official starting point!! I'll be updating you more frequently now on the progress. I'd love to hear any ideas or thoughts you have for these spaces! Follow along on instagram for some current updates as well. Wish me luck ;)

 

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BlogPodium 2015 heads to Vancouver

Have you heard the news? Last week it was announced that BlogPodium, a Toronto-based top-notch blogger conference, is headed my way!! I had the pleasure of attending in 2012, but this time I am so excited to attend this conference in my own fabulous city. I learned so much about the business of blogging; everything from how to utilize social media platforms to your advantage, how to connect with brands interested in working with bloggers, to how to effectively monetize your blog. Local bloggers, I encourage you to pencil this fantastic and educational event into your calendar.

BlogPodium 2015 will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2015 at the beautiful Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver. This year will feature a handmade market, more lifestyle content, and other developments to be announced in the coming months.

If you have a great idea for content or collaboration please email your thoughts to info@blogpodium.com. If your living in this beautiful city I call home, I hope to see you at this years' event!

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New Adventures In Renovating!

Hi everyone! Thanks for popping by today - I'm excited to finally have the first "before" shot of the home we recently purchased (and many more 'befores' to come soon!!). We haven't quite got our hands on the home yet, but soon enough we will be in demolition mode; there is plenty to  tear down including walls, a fireplace, pink carpets, and 1989 wallpapers everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. I'm nervous but excited. Any wallpaper removal tricks you may have are much appreciated ;)

For today, a look at the exterior of the home. It's on a great street and it's got good bones but needs a bit of re-working:

So here's what I'm dreaming up ... of course budget may come into play but if we can we would love to add shakes, replace the upper windows and the front door, add oversized lighting and shutters, paint, and re-do the landscaping. Here's a wee mock up of what I'd love to see happen to this little diamond in the rough:

Can you picture it coming into our current decade? I think little changes could go a long way in modernizing this home. I'd love to hear your thoughts and your ideas of what you would do if you were to renovate the exterior of this home! I'm quite thrilled to share the process along the way with you, honestly my first reno was the reason I even started blogging some 5 years ago. Thanks for joining in my next journey!

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