So it looks like after two months of intensive renovations (potlights, hardwood floors, staining stairs, painting, etc., etc.) and back-and-forth we'll be in the new house by week's end. To say I'm relieved is an understatement. My patience has surely been tested, especially by the several little problems and delays that have plagued us. None have been a big deal (a June table delivery delayed until August, our new door handles and hinges also delayed, a hood fan that I now have to find an extender for, a built-in cabinet that isn't yet perfect...) but I've admittedly been low on patience and its been annoying. Especially when all you want is to be in and enjoying your new home. Of course, in the big scheme of things these are all minor annoyances and well worth it in the end.
And it's not like after we move in there won't be any work. Ha. Fat chance. The aforementioned hood fan and delayed furniture deliveries (Sidenote: I've received great customer service so far from the place where I bought my table...a loaner should be in this week), not to mention getting the counter for our newly built island, finishing the powder room, eventually adding stone to the fireplace wall...but that can all come with time. The important thing is that, if all goes as planned, we'll be unpacking in the new house this week and that's all that really matters.
Then I promise--pictures! And maybe I can put away the take-out menus and actually cook a real meal on my new stove. How is your week going?
We had a most productive weekend. Along with the work coming along at the house--hardwood floor installed, stairs stained, paint colours chosen, island and custom bookcase likely ready to be installed by the end of the week--I also got quite a bit of packing done, including a storage area that I had been dreading.
And we also found our table! I guess I should say bought our table, because we found this one over a year ago. Since then we've looked around to see if there was anything we liked better or if there was a better deal to be found. After all that we decided to go back to our first love, which is made of distressed mango wood with a great stud detail. At 112" x 44" (285cm x 110cm) tablecloths are going to be hard to come by but I'm happy with our purchase, which should ship over from France by mid-month.
Our chairs (black fabric, nailhead) are getting made and will take a little longer (July) while our new sectional is getting made here in the city and should be ready for delivery by June 13th. So slowly but surely things are coming together.
Once we move in I'll be on the look out for some chairs to go with the couch, plus a coffee table, and also two chairs in a different fabric for the head of the table to break things up. Maybe a wingback. I also need to decide once and for all if we're doing wallpaper in the powder room (narrowed it down to two contenders). Decisions, decisions! How's your week going?
Even though our new house is brand new and never lived in we've managed to find quite a few renovation projects to delay our actual moving in. Potlights have been installed, we're swapping out the upstairs carpet in exchange for hardwood to match our main floor, we've got a custom made island and bookcase on the way, and we're in the process of choosing crown moulding. Choosing finishings and furnishings are still a work in progress.
The vanity looks like this with carrera marble top
The one room that seems to be coming along quite nicely, and (amazingly) under budget, is our powder room. While I had initially wanted to wallpaper the small space I think I'll hold off on that for now. I've been debating painting the walls black, but M prefers a darker grey, so I think we'll go with that.
If you'll remember we also bought a vanity, for which we now need to pick out a faucet. I'll be replacing the builder mirror and toilet paper dispenser, but I think we'll be keeping the toilet for now.
Light fixture looks something like this
I managed to score a sparkly light fixture for a great price to add some glam. Can't wait to see how it looks installed.
Now I just need to buy some pretty towels and eventually a piece of artwork, and I'm also thinking of installing a Roman shade. Which leads me to a decision as to what fabric to choose.
Do you remember my post awhile back about finding a vanity just like this one for a steal (the one above is from Restoration Hardware)? And how my husband wasn't thrilled about the style? And then I was all heartbroken and what not? Well, good news! After searching high and low for something else we liked M finally came around and decided he liked this washstand (which he's dubbed The Spider) after all. My faith in my superior powers of persuasion has been restored!
So yesterday we went to buy it and...guess what? It was even cheaper than the first time I looked at it. This never happens to me. Obviously this washstand and I were meant to be. Now I just have to decide on what fixtures to put with it and whether or not I want to change out the builder tile. I'm not 100% on doing that yet. I'd like to but there are definitely more important house things to spend money on first.
Due to exposed pipes M says he'll be installing a finishing valve like this one from Dahl.
Same with wallpaper. I'm planning on wallpapering our powder room and because it's a small space it will be relatively affordable if I'm good and pick relatively affordable wallpaper, but I may just paint it for now and do wallpaper down the road. I guess we'll just have to see where we're at when the time comes. Oh, and I'll need to buy a toilet paper holder, garbage can, mirror and light fixture. How is it my lists just keep getting longer?! There is the issue of lack of storage with this vanity, but I'm not too concerned as it is just for a powder room and I can always put a basket or something underneath if I feel the need.
Anyway, I'm just glad that the powder room vanity can now be crossed off our house To Do list! We had a pretty productive weekend in terms of furniture too, I think we've narrowed down our couch ideas and found some great contenders for a table. Oh, and yesterday I went to try Five Guys Burgers. I've heard a lot about them and decided I wanted to see what the buzz was about. When I got there the line was out the door. My verdict? Burger was definitely good, fries were meh, I doubt I would wait in that line up again. Have you tried Five Guys? What did you think?
If I had unlimited funds, no husband, and someone to constantly clean up after me I know exactly how I'd like to decorate my house. Considering I don't, I'd like to keep the one I have, and that person is generally me, the things I'd love to see in my house are not always practical.
White sofa? Not so much. Light coloured dining chairs? Likely not the best option. Carrera marble countertops? A bit too much trouble for me. Same goes with a sofa in a brightly coloured hue. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of changing out large pieces of furniture on a yearly basis so I'll stick with throw pillows to inject some colour into a room.
All of this debating--weighing what's beautiful against what's comfortable, what's practical against what's stylish--came to a head this weekend when we went looking for furniture. Originally M campaigned for a sectional sofa, but based on the layout of the room we've ruled it out. Then he sat on a leather sofa and fell in love. This couch was the real deal--good quality, supple leather with decent lines (I'm not into the uber modern leather look) and a good colour (I happen to love a vintage-y looking brown for leather but unfortunately it doesn't go with what we have, so the search has been on for a workable leather in another colour).
How great are the colours in this room?!
And while a good leather couch is likely more expensive than one in fabric it's also probably more durable and a hell of a lot easier to keep clean. I've always been drawn to a tufted, chesterfield-style sofa but have come to find that while beautiful it's also not as comfortable as other options, and I do want a couch that we want to curl up in.
So the question remains: leather or fabric? The decision needs to be made soon. Maybe one of each? I'd love to know what you think!
Our new house is scheduled to close at the end of April, which means my To Do list is growing and the time to get everything done is shrinking. Aside from things like, oh, packing we also need to do things like buy furniture (I'm looking for a new table, chairs, couch, etc.) and light fixtures, as well as choosing fabrics and colours. We did buy our appliances already, which means that I can cook and do laundry (I clearly didn't think this one through). Aside from that there are quite a few things we're looking to do post-closing. I thought it might be a good idea to use this blog as a way to organize and motivate myself.
Here are some of the things we're looking to do before we move in:
Adding moulding to the top of the kitchen cabinets
Changing the door handles and hinges
Painting (and finalizing colours) including doors and frames
I'll likely add more to this list soon...
We're also looking to change out the kitchen counters to granite, add a backsplash, change the kitchen sink and build a kitchen island, but that may wait for awhile. Also, I'd like to make some improvements to the powder room -- I just have decide on wallpaper and find a vanity that I like. So, yeah, quite a bit to do but I'm getting excited. What changes/renovations have you made to your home that you would recommend to others?
One of the rooms I was absolutely certain about how I wanted to decorate in the new house was our kitchen. When we first went to choose our colours I had picked out my perfect white kitchen and even went out to buy the perfect stainless steel accessories to match. When M and I went back for some follow up on Saturday I was stricken to learn that the builder has changed kitchen providers and my white kitchen was no longer available. Worse, if I wanted anything else in the shade I would have to pay $10,000 more.
Knowing how much I wanted the kitchen M was ready to capitulate, but I just couldn't see paying that much extra. So, my dreams of a white kitchen have gone down the tubes. Hopefully I'll get it in our next house, which M is now more determined than ever to build himself.
The new cabinets are set to be a kind of greyish-brown, which I do think will still be nice, even if it's not what I wanted. If we stay in the house we will change the kitchen later so I decided just to go with the standard kitchen with elongated cabinets, can't see spending much more on something I don't really want. C'est la vie.
From Left: Tile, cabinet, countertop, floor - I apologize for the bad quality cell photo!
Naturally builder's prices for anything are exorbitant so we were lucky to find a standard tile, which is pretty and matches the colour scheme I have in my head. It's a grey-taupe neutral that I think will work well. We are also going with the standard countertops for now, which we will switch out to granite once we move in (at half the cost at doing it through the builder) and build the island I'm planning for the kitchen. We ended up going with a greyish stain for the wood floors, called "Pewter," that I loved but was hesitant about in terms of maintenance. M loved them, though, and we eventually decided to just go with that. Right now I'm just crossing my fingers I won't have any trouble with the builder in terms of the non-standard measurements for our fridge/freezer.
Our Afrodite Range Hood
We had originally wanted a resale house we could renovate, but when we couldn't find anything we agreed on we went the new home route. At times like these I sometimes regret the choice, making any changes is prohibitive due to the costs associated when it comes to the builder (although we did add a major structural change to the main floor that I think will really be worth it in terms of design and dramatic effect). For example, just asking them not to put in the cabinets over the stove so we can install our range hood (ourselves) would cost us over $300. So we told them to leave the cabinets and will have to remove them once we're in.
Hard to tell but this couch is a greyish-blue-silver hue. Surprisingly comfortable. What do you think of it with the ottoman?
On a brighter note, we also did some furniture browsing this weekend. We know that we want a distressed heritage kind of table (something like in the first picture above) and have already come up with some good options (like this one). Now we just have to make sure the wood blends with our floors. And then there's the challenge of chairs. I know exactly what I want, but what I want may not be practical (light colours, easily stained fabrics, etc.) I find I'm having the same problem with the couch, balancing design aesthetic with comfort and function. I'd love any suggestions or what you went through when choosing your furniture (and what you regret or love).
I saw some great pieces--couches, chairs, exotic carved consoles, screens and storage units--during our shopping trip and then we stopped at Niche where I had a yummy espresso macchiato and to-die-for hot banana bread covered in Nutella in their charming back patio. I just about died.
Spotted: A pretty bust--only $69!
To add to my weekend frustration the traffic was crazy because of multiple road closures and I had to rush to pick up my parents from the airport before heading back into the city to attend the Taste of the Danforth.
Like we usually do we ate at a restaurant instead of from the street vendors, but it's fun to walk among the crowds and music before and after, though. What did you do this weekend?
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was great, although busy as usual. My birthday festivities continued with dinner and drinks with some great friends on Saturday night. We ate at Buca on King West, located in the same alley as Cheval. Buca has a very cool subterranean design, all exposed brick, distressed heritage tables and low lighting. The menu is extensive and is supposed to change daily, but I understand that many of the mainstay items remain the same. We were five couples so a lot of food was ordered and shared (and I really need to get better at bringing my camera so I can take photos of all the dishes).
I had a three cheese tasting platter with preserves (very good mozzarella di bufala, ricotta di bufala and parmeggiano reggiano) and tiny garlic knots (don't try to eat with a fork and knife) to start and then the pizza with mozzarella di buffalo and prosciutto. The pizza was good, but not the best I've had in the city, and I ended up picking all the prosciutto off. I had bites of some of the other stuff and thought the ravioli with peas and gnocchi were both good. Lots of raves at the table for the sausage stuffed olives as well, although I'm not a fan of olives so I can't vouch for myself. Overall I thought Buca had a really great atmosphere and good food, but not the best around.
I'm also super happy to report that M and I finally decided on appliances for our new home yesterday. I've been kind of stressing because there are so many different options to choose from and I didn't want to make the wrong choice. I also wanted good, quality appliances that didn't break the bank. So the search was on and I'm pretty happy with what we came up with.
We debated getting a cooktop of built in ovens, but decided to go with the range instead. I really like the one we chose, although I was kind of into the idea of having a double oven. I'm also pleased with the size of the fridge and freezer. The only drawback is that there's no water dispenser, which I've been finding is typical in these types of industrial styles. We also went with an LG SteamWasher and Dryer, a Bosch dishwasher and a stainless steel range hood. I'm hoping we made good choices and can't wait to see them when our kitchen is finally ready!
After our purchases we stopped for some food at Kelsey's where we found out they are having two-for-one appetizers throughout the summer. I love appetizers, so I felt like it was my birthday all over again. Needless to say I didn't order an entree.
After what feels like a bagillion years of searching M and I have finally purchased a new home! We had originally wanted to buy a resale, but you know what they say about the best laid plans...Anyway, we've decided on a new construction and I wanted to share the plans with all of you!
