From Plan to Execution

Couple of weeks ago Robin and I spent some time planning the layout and dimensions of the kitchen and cabinetry. We drafted up the layout with measurements right on the wall and referenced it every step of the way.

We are very fortunate to pull of such a massive reno without much impact to the vision and the budget. In other words no surprises. Only issue is some bowing in the wall which will force us to consider a small, mesh backing tile for the kitchen back splash.

We have our eyes set on a 3/4" x 3" cipollino marble subway tile back splash.

Getting Closer

Here are some photos of where we are at to date....

Update!

So last Sunday Duane, Rico, George and I spent the morning emptying out the storage unit which contained some of our furniture from 205 Booth. Big thanks again boys!

Completion is in sight! We are almost there, but now comes the tedious parts....

The cleaning...house is full of dust and debris. Everything on every floor has a film of dust

Unpacking...it's easy....unpack...but where do you put it? Pantry has no shelves, neither does the walk-in closet, Sebastien's closet, 1st floor closet....where do you put it?

Time to install....the kitchen appliances are in....all toilets arrive on Saturday as does the vanity for the powder room and the master bathroom

Tiling....master bath still needs a couple of days to cut tile, set, bond to cure....grout....grout to cure....then paint and install shower glass (which is sitting on the third floor waiting to be installed)

The tiling will create another mess of the master bedroom. Robin will have to cut tiles...it will get dirty again in there.

Most of the first floor and second floor is painted. Lost of touch ups required.

So we are close, but definitely not livable just yet.

It's starting to take it's toll on myself, Trish, Sebastien and baby#2 (its a girl by the way!!). We are tired and desperately needing to be in our own home. At the end of our rope but we will persevere...with great sacrifice comes great reward!

Sister Lisa Gets in on the Action

Picked up my sister Saturday morning and made our way over to the "stone guy" to have a look at the counter top and sink. We went with a pure white Cesar stone for the kitchen. Looks pretty decent at the shop, can't wait to see what it looks like in the actual kitchen. I also picked up this great in-counter garbage bin that is under mounted right by the sink. Spent some time with the stone guys measuring the best location for the bin. Still debating on whether to install or not.

Pros: under mounted, flush with the counter top
saves space under the sink or in a cabinet
easy access

Cons: hole in the counter top smelly? ( the container and all parts are stainless steel with a rubber ring around lid)
may take away from the aesthetics of an open, wide counter space

Still haven't made the final call. Feel free to share your thoughts on this one.

Here's a pic of what it looks like....

Also managed to pick up the pocket door for the master bath, most of the light switches and outlets and ordered the master toilet (elongated bowl and dual flush of course!) and dual sink. Thanks Lisa for helping me pile everything in a hatchback.

Time to Blow Some Steam

The stain went down on the floors last Thursday so we had no choice but to let the stain dry and blow some steam.
I scored some tickets to the Bills vs. Colts game at the Roger's Centre. Adrianne, George, Trish and I enjoyed the game together.

Marble Slab 1, Geoff's Middle Finger 0

Our "Floor Guy" calls yesterday and says he will come in a day early to start sanding the floors on the second floor.
Well this means that we have to clear everything, I mean EVERYTHING off the floors. Furniture, mattresses, materials, etc. all had to be packed somewhere either on the 3rd floor or basement.
What about the first floor you ask? Well the "Floor Guy" will move to the first floor once he is done the second.
We are going to lose 2-3 days to the schedule as the stain and treatments need to applied and cured.
Geoff, Alice and Mike showed up last night to clear out the 2nd floor.
Geoff and I attempted to move a marble slab for the fireplace mantle off the floor. heavier than we expected....
marble floor 1
Geoff's middle finger 0
Geoff, thanks for the sacrifice.

Never Lose Sight of What Means the Most to You

This experience so far has taken up almost every minute of free time for Trish and I. But through it all there are certain things that should always remain priority.

Thanks Sebastien for being so patient with Daddy.

(Photo: August 15th, 2010)

Aint No Party Like A Cabinet Building Party!

So Dwight, Enjoli (Adrianne), Trish and my boy George (sorry not Boy George of Culture Club fame, George Xavier...my boy from way back) got together last week and built up all the Ikea cabinets for Robin to install.

Some reasons on why Ikea is the way to go....
1. Cheap. inexpensive and if installed properly...solid.
2. Easy to update....change the doors and panels and you've just updated your kitchen
3. You can put the cabinets and drawers together yourself .

You ultimately save on materials and labour! Take what you save and get a killer counter, upgrade the appliances, etc.

Things to watch out for....

1. You will lose hours you'll never get back going back and forth to Ikea planning your kitchen. Go in with a detailed plan with drawings and measurements. We spent four hours building out the kitchen at Ikea and we came in with floor plans and exact specs on the cabinet boxes (again, thanks to Kirsten our designer). At the end of the four hours, we were applauded by the Ikea rep for being most prepared and efficient....average is 2-3 visits to Ikea to map out..we did it in 4hrs!

2. Panels. They can be a bit of a b*tch. Intent is to have them line up properly without exposing the sides of the cabinets. Make sure your measurements are on.

3. Custom appliances. Ikea builds out their cabinets to Euro appliance spec (and the spec of their own house brand appliances). Go in with all your appliance specs and build around it...avoid surprises

4. The Ikea rep only knows what you tell them. You need to give them guidance and be definite in your design and in your measurements.

Expensive kitchens should be about the appliances and stone...not the cabinets!

Laundry Chute

How great is this! A laundry chute running from the 2nd floor to the basement. No hauling laundry from the 2nd floor all the way down. Just drop it in the chute!
We are able to do this because of the stair case we removed exposing a column running almost three stories....
check out the pics...oh...wait...how do we get the laundry back up? I guess you can't have it all!

Latest update from the Kitchen

No matter how much time you spend visualizing and deciding on what you want, you'll never end up with what you first envisioned. Some changes are good, some you'll just have to live with.

The kitchen has been an interesting area to work with. The original design had lots of wasted space, large powder room, nooks and walls that just did not make sense. Washer and dryer on the same floor with no place to fold your fresh clean linens, undergarments, knickers, etc.
I think we did a great job maximizing the space. With a little help (ok, whole lot of help) from Kirsten (who I highly recommend) we redesigned the kitchen area to include a walk in pantry, streamlined powder room (with exposed brick) and a laundry chute from the second floor to basement (yes, my idea!!!!). I'll post some more photos of the kitchen area once the cabinets go up.

The one challenge we faced is the floors. As per my earlier post Trish and I debated back and forth on floors vs tile in the kitchen. Well we decided on tiles and ripped up the old floors and sub floors only to find that the floor was not leveled. Up to 2 inches in some areas! I guess when you're dealing with a decent size space its hard to tell unless you are Robin the all seeing, all telling reno and friendly neighbour man.

The cost was ridiculous to level the floor and lay down new sub floor that can withstand the weight of the tiles. So we reverted back to the wood floors. We were able to source out identical wood floors that match the old Victorian floors. We will sand the living room floor and stain it with a new colour to match the stain we plan on using in the kitchen.

Lots of pics to check out....

Eat in kitchen...

Pantry...

Powder room...

Closet off of the dining room...

Could this be the stain of choice?

24 Hour Woman-Adrianne

Dwight, please buy Adrianne a bottle of Enjoli, say its from me...She deserves it...
Thanks Adrianne for doing what you do!

Is There a Method to the Madness?

Yes. I hope so.
Check out the original floor plan for the 1st and 2nd floor. Note Phase one-kitchen on the main floor and Phase two-bathroom/walk in closet on the 2nd floor plan.
And now for the proposed plan. I believe what we are doing here makes sense.
Phase one has us opening up the kitchen to the rest of the living space.

Phase two has us completely removing the 2nd bedroom and converting it into a bigger bathroom and walk in closet.

So yes, there is method to the madness!
Update: kitchen cabinets have arrived and the framing has begun!

Dane and Ross Get Down to Tear Up!

Floors in the kitchen are gone! Dane and Ross blazed through it all last night!
Big thanks to the boys for showing up and working so hard.
Dane's metabolism kicked into high gear...when you got to go...you got to go....

Keep the hardwood or replace with tile?

I say...Keep the hardwood, refinish it with a new an unique colour to create a separation with the living room and kitchen.
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...lots of work to rip up the wood, pull out nails, yank out the sub-floor
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...we need to lay down new sub-floor that can withstand the weight of the tiles!
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...floors are not leveled! We''ll need to level the floors!
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...our costs will go up as will the timeline!!!!
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...

Phase Two: Two Rooms become One....

So yesterday we decided to begin Phase Two and run it at the same time as phase one.


Why? Well I think its because we are a little nutty. Biting off more than we can chew? I've realized over the years that biting off more just makes our "mouths bigger" with the desire to take on greater challenges...or we really are nutty.

First floor is pretty much gutted. Floors need to come up, plumbing and wiring to be sorted. Up to the second floor we go.

Here's the plan....

Current: Master and 2nd bedroom are adjacent. Small, and I mean small bathroom in the middle.

The Plan: Join both rooms together, enlarging the bathroom into the 2nd bedroom so it can accommodate humans and not Pigmy's (apologies to all my Pygmy friends). Remaining area of the 2nd bedroom turns into a walk-in closet.

Check out the pics.

Friends and a Father-in-Law

Dwight is in flight!

Duane is insane!
Mike is alright!

Rico the freak-o! (so nothing really rhymes with Rico)

and Ron....Big Papa!

Dwight shows up...hauls ass...tears it down...rips it up...dumps it out...get down and dirty.

Duane shows up...in the middle of the day...puts time in...back home in time to pick up the kids...good job daddy.

Mike shows up...two days in a row and apologizes for not making in three!

Rico...just itching to get at it again

Ron....pick up truck with trailer....loads...unloads....and still finds time to tell me that I'm his favorite son-in-law. (ok, so he didn't really say it but I can see it in his eyes...or should I say apple in his eye).

I would say we managed to save about 5-6 days of work because of these lads. My friends...brothers. Thanks you.

Phase 2 (running parallel with Phase 1) has begun....

These hands....

These hands....

These hands are cryin...

These hands never seen as much work until I married you....

These hands....

Phase One: Kitchen meets the Living Room

Phase One:

We started phase one yesterday, Robin our contractor and neighour (see first post about our good neighours in Leslieville) started the tear down of the servant's staircase separating the grand living space from the dated and "brown" kitchen.


Had a couple of good friends come by and lend a MASSIVE hand in the tear down. We basically saved 3 days in our timeline by having these lads tear up the kitchen, load up the truck with debris and rip up the separating wall with staircase. Payment came in the form of jerk pork and beer.


Big thanks to Duane, Rico, and Mike for representing...true friends indeed!

Check out the before and after shots....

315 Carlton...our new home

I've decided to start this blog to document the renovations of our new home at 315 Carlton.

Trish and I absolutely love our home at 205 Booth. Leslieville has been so good to us as has our neighbors. But with Sebastien and number two on the way, 205 Booth just can't contain us anymore...so we bought a great Victorian home in Cabbagetown. A home we expect to stay in for many years.

But with a great Victorian home comes a great deal of renovations. The previous owners did a meticulous job in maintaining the home...but updating it? Not so much. The best way to describe our new home...."frozen in time".

So let the renovations begin.....