It's Almost like an Ensuite Bathroom

With the upstairs bathroom under construction, the cast iron tub has been temporarily moved to the master bedroom.



Finnian checks out the cavernous, empty bathroom, complete with a little opening to the master bedroom closet. We presume that's temporary. It's difficult to imagine that someday, perhaps he'll experience successful potty training here. It's all coming together; the subfloor is now down, and the electrical is in.

The Back Porch: Built-in Air Conditioning!

Finnian: in the sunroom closet (future porch), March 2009.




At the very back of the house, a small porch of sorts is attached to the back, left-hand side of the sunroom. Years ago, it was a closet, when what we call the sunroom was a bedroom. It looks as though someone took some leftover shelving wood, and built the porch onto the back of the house. Our plan is to put a proper door there that will lead to the back yard. Currently, the structure allows for lots of air circulation, and fabulous views of the ivy vines outside, through the holes in the roof.

The Upstairs Bathroom - a Work in Progress

The only things that are staying are the original medicine cabinet, and the cast-iron tub. The rest is going to be refreshed and replaced!

José, we love you. Please tear apart our house!

We adore José, who is doing a smashing job tearing down the walls. We're (of course!) finding strange and wonderful things, like this odd frame sort of thing behind the wall of the sunroom. What was this, an old window? Are those barn boards behind it?

Out with the Old

The plaster walls and ceilings now live in this enormous bin in the driveway. There's no turning back now...

Is Child Labour Still Illegal? ....Really?

Finnian picks up a hammer to do his part on the demo, before inspecting the kitchen (which admittedly doesn't look very different at all).

The Living Room will never be the same...

Before..... and now! Finnian takes a look out the front window, in what used to be a living room with white plaster walls.


You can see the front mudroom area is still intact. The 4th and 5th photos look out to the hallway, where the powder room used to be, and will be again. Apparently, there were wall sconces (with the old knob and tube wiring) in the living room walls, that had long been plastered over.

The next photo is taken from the living room - the fridge is in the dining room, with the sunroom in the back, and the kitchen to the far left. The last photo shows the empty space where the woodstove used to be; you can see the window overlooking the front yard to the right.

Renovations have Begun!!!

And so it begins! The renos have started, and the entire main floor is ripped down to the studs.

The kitchen tile floor is still intact, but not for long. The front hall feels very spacious without the powder room - in fact the entire main floor feels very large and airy. Must be the missing walls.

Ideas for the Upstairs Bathroom Floor - Hex Tile

After some preliminary research about patterns for the hex tile for the upstairs bathroom floor, we've quickly settled on a "daisy" pattern, inspired by these photos. We're taking ideas from what the house might have looked like when it was built in the 1920s.

Lighting and Ceiling Fans

Some of our favourites - sadly the lighting fixtures are way, way out of our budget, but the ceiling fan might be a contender.

Ideas for the Upstairs Bathroom

We're at the "idea" stage for the upstairs bathroom. Right now it's a mish-mash of dark blue tiles, plaid wallpaper, lots of wood on the walls and an enormous, original cast-iron sink that dominates the space.






The first 3 photos are our bathroom - the other photos are just wishful thinking.





We want something that looks like it belongs in the 1920s, and apparently American Standard makes sinks, like the first photo, that resemble the 1920s art deco style.


We also love the look of subway tiles, and the hex tile floors! (Let's hope it's in the budget...)

The 1920s Kitchen (which is better than what we have)

According to Edic and Edic (1999), our 1920s kitchen, which is now gutted and waiting for us to put it back together, wasn't the greatest plan in its day: "Until the 1920s, most kitchens were inefficiently laid out. Families that could afford cooks had large storage pantries removed from the cooking area. With servants doing the work, there was little attempt made to provide convenience and comfort for the homeowner. In poorer households, the kitchen was a corner of the living area, which often resembled a basement sink area more than it resembled our idea of a kitchen.

In the '20s and '30s, a new kitchen design emerged based on the efficiency methods being employed in industrial assembly lines: separate work areas for washing, preparing, storing and cooking. Unfortunately, the work areas remained on opposing parts of the room, separated by runs of open wall space. The sink might use one wall, the stove another, the pantry would be around the corner, and the ice box would sit near the door for accessibility to the iceman's deliveries. The cook did a lot of walking. (Edic and Edic, 1999. 'Kitchens that Work: The Practical Guide to Creating a Great Kitchen' pp. 8-9)