Wednesday 31 August 2011

Countertops

New countertops have arrived! The old ones were very worn and not really worth saving although I'd have preferred that option. The seams of the old ones were worn and splitting from water and all those fun things. These turned out better than I had hoped for. Originally I had wanted almost completely black countertops with some sparkley bits in it but was talked out of it. This colour while dark incorporates brown into it which lightens it up and makes it a little more neutral. It will also go with the rubbed oil bronze faucet, and cabinet handles I picked out and white sink! I'm so excited to see things starting to change. It felt like so long we had gone through so much work with little to no visual difference. I'm in love with my new kitchen already, and it's not even functional yet!




Monday 29 August 2011

Fall musings

I always start to think about Christmas when the summer begins to end and the fall creeps up on us. I love to make homemade gifts for Christmas and I'm going to try to do more this year. Do you make homemade gifts? What sorts of things do you make? This year I'd like very much to ask for a vintage soup tureen. Does anyone else start thinking about Christmas early? I'm sure I'm not the only one!

Fireplace Update

I thought I would do a side by side picture comparison of my fireplace. Originally we were going to buy a new mantle but when we looked into it, they were all around $500 when it came down to everything, taxes and all. So, thankfully a family friend who is super handy said they would build us one and all we needed to do was get the materials. We accidently bought MDF at first, whoops but went back and got the right supplies. We used just flatstock to cap the sides of the fireplace, same as what we used for the window frames and then our family friend sneakily added the same detailing we used for the bi-fold doors! The fireplace re-do came in at under $100 plus some labour of a family friend which we thanked with lots of good food!




Sunday 28 August 2011

Busy busy!

Sorry I've been terrible at updating lately. I've been so busy with everything, all the renovating and having a regular job. Phew. I don't know how people do it without going insane. Thankfully I have help from my family. So, here are some photos to show the updates!


Sorry for the lighting, all windows now have flatstock around them.

Little hard to see but the bi-fold doors all have trim work added to them

Gutted bathroom, visual progress

Compare to my earlier post, fireplace has a whole new mantle and surround

New dinning light, will have crystals hanging at some point

Hall closet, I've added a chandelier to make it girly

$50 at Ikea! yay!

Saturday 13 August 2011

Madame

So even though we are under a deadline to get this reno finished, we took a day off. So since I have no progress to share I thought I'd just show some pretty pictures of my family's garden. I'm super jealous since my new yard is postage stamp sized and in some rough shape. I hope to get it into better shape eventually but first things first. I'm also a sucker for pretty books. I'm currently reading a beautiful red leather copy of Madame Bovary. It looks pretty cute on my new recipe book holder.







Glam Bath

So, while my house is in complete disarray I thought I would show you the powder room at my parents home. My mom is super proud of her bathroom. She wanted it to be glamorous and look like a "jewel" in her words. While it may not be everyone's style I commend her for her bold use of pattern in a small space. I also love the pink accents. I have a soft spot for pink. Also, I apologize for the lack of quality photos. My nice camera is all boxed up and prepared for the move and I'm too disorganized at the moment to find it.








Friday 12 August 2011

Work work Work

Here's some updates on the reno! Ripped out carpet in the two bedrooms, although we have tons more carpet to take out. Ripping it out yourself is a great way to save some money on new flooring. I'm putting new carpet in the bedrooms because I love a soft floor in the morning, but I'm putting in whitewashed oak laminate through the living, dining and kitchen. We have also patched and sanded the millions of little holes in the walls and have completed painting the two bedrooms including the closets! Phew!


This is the new colour, not a great interpretation but it is "natural linen" by Benjamin Moore
I'll try to get a better more accurate shot later.

My room is crisp Chantilly lace white (BM) and one wall of Wolf Gray (BM)

I officially hate painting closets.
xo

Broken

Bought new vanities for the bathrooms yay! Unwrapped this beautiful marble topped vanity for the small bathroom and it's broken! So sad to see the corner all chipped up and flaking. I got a great deal on this vanity because it's being discontinued and the nice lady at the home hardware gave me an extra deal on top. Thankfully she found me a new one and I'll be getting it sometime over the weekend. Only thing is, the vanity is one piece and weighs about 29852905 pounds and I need to return the broken one. It will all get done eventually, one step at a time!




xo

Map Print

I love this map print! It speaks to my inner Canadian. There are a variety of other super fun prints to choose from as well. You can check them out at http://www.boldandnoble.com/



 
xo

Home

So here is the home. Again, it was a rental for over 10 years so there is no love here. I love the bones of this place. There is good flow through the home, tons of closet space and the main bedroom has a nice two-piece right off it which is all I really need right now. The main living space through the living, dining and kitchen has great natural light just beaming through all the windows. I also like that the foyer is a seperate space. It is a major pet peeve of mine when a home opens right into a main space with no buffer or closet at that. So here it is!

 Here is the living room, with fireplace
and pass through to the kitchen. On the right side there is a row
of large windows and sliding glass door to a huge deck.
This here is part of the living room,
dining room and hallway
  
                             
Front entrance and stairway
                  
Front entrance, stairway and closet
                                                    

The kitchen. Currently trying to decide between a whole new kitchen or resurfacing the cabinets.


Main bathroom. Sorry for the yellow pictures, there is terrible lighting.
                                   

This is my bedroom! Boring right now, but just wait!
Little hallway with closets leading into the two piece bathroom
                                   
Little Bathroom!
This is the second bedroom. Going to be an office type space
                                                           
Lots of closets yay! They're huge inside too!

xo

Thursday 11 August 2011

Travels

I know I said I'd post some photos of my new home, but these one's I found along my travels are, in all honestly so much cuter! These one's here are from a recent trip to Nelson B.C. If you've never been, you must. I lived there for some time, and if it hadn't been for school, I'd still be there.

 I'm a huge sucker for yellow homes.
 I've heard a yellow home is good for the sale of the home as well.
I'd purchase this home if it ever goes on the market.


xo

Typography

I went to school for awhile for graphic design so I can really appreciate some good typography. I love to use signs and words and text in a variety of interesting places. It can really add an extra element into your design. Since I'm renovating and doing my own place, I've been doing lots of "research" for things I'd love to do myself. I found this, and while I take no credit felt I had to share. This is definitley going to be a project for my new place!





xo

Small space living

I promise I will put up some photos as soon as I can. Between renovating and working at my real job I've been so busy. I wanted to share a very fun DIY project for small space living. I know this isn't anything new but it's a super idea. Taking old vintage dresser drawers and dressing them up, painting them and adding casters to the bottoms. This makes great underbed storage that's easy to access. No more stacks of books piling up by the bed, or shoes floating around everywhere. I love this idea and can't wait to make my own because I'm a storage junkie! It may be partly because I have way too much stuff, but this will be a great addition to my smaller home.

xo

Tuesday 9 August 2011

The House

Thought I would share a little bit about my first home. I bought a duplex and finally get to decorate and design my own space! I'm so excited. I'm basically going to have to redo a fair amount of the home. It was a rental for over 10 years prior to my purchase and you can tell. No one has ever loved this home. It's kind of sad really because I see so much potential here. It's close to the ocean so I can hear seagulls out my window, and the sunlight in the main living space is fantastic!
I'll upload some pictures soon of the home, I've been a little busy with demolition!

xo

The Beginning

Hi there!

My name is Hope.
 Im a design addict who spend hours drooling over the latest trends and all things beautiful. I have purchased my very own home and can now do all the things I always dreamed about doing! I can't wait to make my house a home, so I'd like to share the process. 
This is my very first time owning a home so there's a fairly tight budget, so I'm going to showcase some fun homemade projects! 

xo