September 17, The Stair is the Thing

We have stairs! We have stairs! I am very excited about this. The house is completely changed by these lovely, floaty, lovely woodgrain, stairs.

Stopped by the house on my lunch to pick exterior house finish samples. There they were - the stairs guys. They were installed in three hours. There is one whole section missing- but we pretty much have a complete set of stairs! Here there are close up - can you see the nice wood grain. They will be stained to match the floors - and we will have glass railings with stainless steel handrails. They are all covered with plastic wrappers and wood pieces. They will be making an appearance later in this saga.

For now, we say good-bye to the ladder. The four year old will miss it. He could scale it like a little mountain goat. My mom, friend Sue and neice Kaitlin will be very happy to see the last of it, however.

Kellie

September 15th : On the Outside

Mid-September. The work continues, things moving forward. Insulation is in, drywalling starts tomorrow. Deck got built (except for floor boards). Garage doors next week. Stairs installed by the end of this week. Here's the front, as of Sunday.

But first some excitement. This guy has moved in. The husband got a call very early yesterday am, from frantic plumber reporting vermin in the eaves.

Mr. Thumbs walked right in the gaping hole in the back. They chased him out. He went to this spot. Stayed all day. Trouble was, he had no way down. The husband had to leave him the ladder ... we hope we escaped unscathed. But he needs to be evicted. No word yet today whether he came back or not. All seems quiet so far today.

Now that we think about it, we thought there were, ahem, traces on Sunday when we were there cleaning the site. (The whole family was there, stacking garbage, sweeping .. fun, fun, fun.) The garbage, it's everywhere. Construction sites, not so on the environmental side. We have no less than 5 bright blue recyle bins throughout the house, still there are coffee cups, water bottles, cans etc. strewn on the floor. Garbage cans (we have four) seem to be invisible to this particular employment sector. Therefore, we have all been spending our Sundays (especially the husband) cleaning up our construction debris and mess ..... Not to mention every lighting fixture, bathtub, cartons of nails, pieces of fireplace, piece of insulation , comes in a box, carton or bag of some kind.

Here's what we gathered in only one week. Lovely, isn't it?

But now for a much nicer view. We have quite a few outdoor spaces and we're starting to get a feel for what they will be like to hang out on. Here is the view from the main living area out to the back, though the garage door. The kids were enhaling some sugar there on Sunday ..... and then the opposite view, the back of the house:

And from the side:

Here is the doorway from our master bedroom to the balcony and then the view from there (view from best seat in the hot tub):

And the view out our front bedroom (the guest room) and the front balcony:

Will report later this week on stairs and interior finishing. Have quite a week ahead of me with picking tile for nine different areas, fabric for all window seats, sinks (we forgot about ordering those) and remaining furniture. This should be the most fun part of all .... the trouble is, I am fading. Yes, even me. I am losing energy.

Must. Gain. Strength.

Must. Keep. Shopping.

Kellie

September 2 : Got the minor variance!

Update from yesterday - the City Committee of Adjustments allowed our minor variance - meaning we don't have to build a protruding car port in front of our garage. This is great news. For us and our neighbours. I am sure they didn't want our house sitting on the curb.

Some time much later ..... like, May 16th.. A Long Overdue Update

I blogged myself out I guess. No posts from me since the holidays (they were lovely and relaxing). It was quite a whirlwind and I needed a break - from everything. I will post a full roster of photos of the finished product ... that's coming up in a few days. But for now, I gathered a few pictures of the January to April "settling in and finishing" period ...

Below you can see how the Christmas tree looked in front of the garage door. And to the left, we put up some lights on our new front porch:

Since then, really, we have been chipping away at a variety of things that needed finishing .. including shelving, hooks, towel racks etc. for the mudrooms and bathrooms. The hot tub went in and we enjoyed it all winter. We did this and that, moved through each room .... house felt finished for the most part.

We threw a "Vintage" New Years party .... some of these pictures show bits of the house. Thetile wall behind the dining room table:

And the window seats .....

And a few shots of Lily's new bulletin board fabric and window seat, which we completed over the winter.

With most of the inside done .... naturally, as the snow melted, the outside began to weigh heavily. There was still quite a bit of debris (we had an early melt ..) and it was pretty ugly out there.

Another post will deal with the landscaping and what we did there.

Until then,

Kellie

Tuesday, September 1: Closer and closer ....

It's September. That means it's Fall. That means I will be moving into my new home this season. It's getting closer, and it feels like it.

Seriously, I feel like my head is about to spin off. If only I had about 2-4 more hours a day....

With the kids back in school and a normal (albeit nanny-less this year) routine, we have to find some snippets of time here and there to get all of this stuff done. But between work, kids, dog, soccer, day care, making meals, laundry, cottage, more work, our friends and families .... there's just no time. We squeeze and multi-task like nobody's business. The house is sucking us dry right now. It's crux time.

We applied for a minor variance to the city planning dept. to NOT add a front carport addition on the garage (Long story, but if you can believe it, they felt our house was too far back from the sidewalk. As if. I can almost touch the street from the front step... it's ridiculous, but is due to some long ago by-law). We find out tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Electricians are finishing wiring this week, next week insulation starts. That should be a few days and we're counting on drywalling to begin Sept. 14th. Three weeks of that, then floors. Then painting, then installation of all cabinetry, built ins and plumbing and lighting fixtures ... counters, trim, blinds .. furniture.

Squeee ....!!

But we are still September 1st. And there's still so much to do ....

Last week,the husband and I took a full Friday to focus on final selections and other decisions we had to make. In two days, we accomplished more than we ever thought possible.

We ordered our bed and one side table ( I think it's rather art deco-ish):

With an 8 week delivery time, we ordered our sectionals, check out the downstairs one here (in white leather with the stainless steel legs, it's so yummy.):

http://www.legacy-leather.com/v2/grace.html

We ordered two fireplaces (one for upstairs, one for down.) I've shown you the upstairs one.

We tentatively ordered the kitchen for the downstairs nanny suite. Kitchen Craft, shaker white, quite nice. Except we "guesstimated" the length of one wall from our plans, rather than measure the actual wall and were off by a foot or two, so now we have to re-jig. It's all good, though. We just switched out the stove and pantry and we're back on. This kitchen will be installed by us, we're not using our uber-designer Tanner for the downstairs suite.

The lighting continues to drive us around the bend. Last week and this, the electricians (there is actually a team of electricians ... one of them a woman, which is rare but aweseme) are installing it all right now. As we speak. So, we had to decide last week - not later -- whether or not to do the kitchen island lamps - as Tanner designed - or use the typical overhead pendant lighting. We loved the lamps, but couldn't find anything of the right height or size. Because they will sit right on - and be wired to - the island (they are permanently affixed) they have to be right. In the end, we told the electicians to wire the island, we'll find something. One idea is to cut down some floor lamps. I've since seen a few that are close. We'll find something or use

Meanwhile, the dining room light fixture was imporant to us. Here are several choices. Please let me know what you think. Our table is very long - almost nine feet, so it has to be of a certain size.

This one? (from a local antique lighting place)

Or this one? (From a local modern design place?)

Can you see our poor, horribly bored four year old playing in the snooty modern design store? We were all there - the whole fam -- and I'm sure the staff weren't terribly happy about it. Words of wisdom: If you want to be left alone in snobby stores - bring kids ... the (typically childless) staff will give you a very wide berth. Our kids have been troopers actually. We multi-task shopping with family time, by bribing them with meals and treats. The four year old found one of those cool, egg chairs at this store and spent about half an hour spinning, around and around ... he'd just eaten a massive chocolate milkshake, so I made him stop .. just in case.

The brick work continues .. check out one completed side:

Our bricklayer is 72 years old! He's been in the business for 50 years! His grandson works with him, does a lot of the lifting, but it's amazing. Each one of the pieces is 75 pounds. I am in awe as to the precision, and quality of work involved in doing this. I am loving the results, it's beautiful. Next is the remaining siding choices - hardy board and corrugated metal. We've picked it, and are now looking for an installer. We still need to find the right wood for the wood sections. This is next on the list: possibly marine mahogany, maybe cedar ... we're not final yet. We don't want it to be too orange-y.

My mom is visiting. She saw the house for the first time Sunday. She even climbed a 14 foot ladder to see upstairs. Sixty one and she's still got it! She is already a tremendous help to us - watching the kids so we can run around, or even just walk the dog at night so we get a rare moment of quiet to make key decisons.

Today the husband is ordering the flooring, the countertops. Next up for me, pick tile (bathroom, flooring, laundry room) buy lighting, find chairs for dining room table (I'm close). We'll also finalize the landscaping plan and get that started. We need decks, walkways, driveways etc. etc.

With this plan, we are making the official leap to NO GRASS. I love it. Can't wait to not cut the lawn......

Kellie

Wednesday, August 19 - And now for the inside ....

The work continues this week. Interior framing and plumbing are done this week, HVAC stuff is largely done as well, moving now to the electrician. Our mason starts next week, putting up the stone. We still have to pick our siding and our "hardy board" which is a stucco like product. Picked beautiful Ariscraft stone (sort of a beige olive green colour) It's here. Ours is the smooth one on the bottom.

Have to get the lighting organized. We are doing potlights throughout the house, but I have to pick some ceiling fans and decide on a dining room light and the island lighting. Not too promising so far on the contemporary ceiling fans, but I haven't hit the biggest stores yet. Am thinking streamlined, steel, maybe kind of art deco looking, 20's feel. Like this or this:

Time to turn to the fun stuff ... the inside. As you all know, I love to shop. And shopping for furniture is one of my very favourite things in this entire world. The husband will even do it with me - so that makes it even more fun (and I don' t have to hide the bags ...)

Last weekend in Toronto, we bought these lovely chairs, to go in our library area. I love the nailheads. Have been dreaming and craving nailheads. Have been drooling over anything with nailheads. We got both, floor models, for a steal. While shopping is good, shopping with a deal is even better. It's like the fudge sauce on an ice cream sundae. Anyone can pick something expensive and have it look great -- but not everyone can find chairs like these for HALF PRICE. Ah, my talents have to lie somewhere .....

I sat in them and bought them in about five minutes. Literally. Ok, they are sitting in Toronto right now, we couldn't bring them home in our car. But I will find a way. Oh, yes. I will find a way, my friends.

Then, we found these cool stools: We wanted ones that swiveled, and we wanted backs and we wanted white leatha ... So haven't bought them, but will pick them up when we grab the chairs.

For the kids rooms, I am starting there with the decorating schemes. The kids rooms will be very cool -but small. We are doing loft beds and built ins. Check out this very cool bedding set I got for the 4 year old. Love it. His room is a dark tealish grey blue and the orange in the picture.

He is v. excited about it - and wants the bean bag!

Must sign off. My life is very exciting - have to go pick up toilets.....

Kellie

Wednesday August 12, 2009: Almost Enclosed!

A very exciting week.

Our windows are in and they are gorgeous! We are thrilled with them, they make the house feel so much more like what's drawn on the plans. We spent a large part of the day at the house last Thursday, doing a million things. That house - it sucks you in. There are so many questions, issues etc. that require our input, we can spend hours there and never leave. On this particular day we were doing a walk through with the plumber, working with the HVAC guy on the cold air returns, re-jigging some framing, getting quotes from the smart wiring guy, dealing with the exterior cladding stone guy, and doing the day to day stuff with Mark. It's a lot to manage - especially in one day! But, the more we stay on top, the faster we move, so we're really concientious about sticking close by, being on site every day, and being readily available for whatever comes up. However, it can be draining. The husband's phone never stops ringing .....

For anyone building or planning to build (or renovate) I think this is the single most critical aspect of a successful project to keep in mind. On site, available, and able to move on decisions quickly. Do your research as much in advance as you can, that way when the decisions are required - you're not starting from scratch. Delays - in my view - are almost always the fault of the owners.

Here is the how the house looks from the street right now with the windows in:

Also last Thursday, the framer guys were installing the windows the whole time we were there.. There are so many and some of them are so big that it's quite a process - first unloading from a large semi truck parked around the corner, then using a smaller truck to bring them to the house. See picture below. Then, they hauled these huge windows through the house, up the ladders - with nothing but their bare hands and brute strength. Then, it's like a puzzle to figure out which goes where. the doors are on their way in, as well. They were literally dangling them from upper floors and throwing them around quite a bit.

Golden Windows http://www.goldenwindows.com/ were highly recommended by our builder Mark. We are really glad we chose them. Here is the view from inside looking out:

In other news:

• We ordered both garage doors - the "real" one and the commercial windowed one for our back terrace/dining room. It will be very cool to see the back one installed. This is the riskiest thing we're doing and I really hope it lives up to it's promise.

• We ditched the idea of a steamroom in the shower. It was getting too complicated, we didn't have the space for the unit, and it was much pricier than we thought. So now we have this great option of doing an open door into the shower which will not require floor to ceiling glass and which will be great looking design wise. Tanner, our designer guy, has a great concept of an all glass tile back wall done in "stripes" of glass tile in two colours. We love it. It's going to be stunning. Kinda like this:

http://www.hgtv.ca/SarahsHouse/theshow.aspx?sectionid=210&categoryid=7783204822194542981&postid=47836

• Also, we bought a hot tub (I know, I know, a hot tub in an "eco" house is a bit of a juxtaposition, but it's a second hand one, so that counts!!) It is going to be on the balcony off our master bedroom and will be like a very a large outdoor bathtub for us in lieu of one in the master bathroom. Our upper balcony is taking form - and it's much larger than we thought it would be. Looks like it will be a real terrace area, with a real "rooftop" feel. I'm dying to get some great loungers up there where I imagine I will read and sip champagne cocktails! (Note: this will never, never actually happen ..... just a figment of my imagination. I may accidentally sit on one of the loungers to fold laundry, that's as good as it will get.) Anyway, some crazy hot tub delivery guy is somehow dragging it up through the house, to the second story and to our balcony. This seems impossible to me. He said he'd been doing it for 30 years and had never had a house that he couldn't get a hot tub into. We said, come and check out ours. He did, and said he was worried .. THAT'S how narrow our lot is. Anyway, he says it will go - just may require removing a header. Our framers will be thrilled, I'm sure to un-do their work and re-do it again.

And as a bonus, here is the four year old and Olive the dog, on the front steps .. getting used to the place!

Kellie