Kitchen Hardware - and the Kitchen Sink!

Oh, the horror. After much soul-searching and browsing of catalogues and websites, we have chosen some drawer pulls. We love the shell pull (shown here as "B", in antique nickel finish) from Lee Valley, and the art deco drawer pull, shown here in satin nickel. So, the question is, can these 2 different nickel finishes co-exist in the same kitchen? We love the look of both, and weren't able to find them both in the same finish. So, what now? Do we incorporate them both in our kitchen? Will unmatched cabinet hardware render the kitchen a disaster? Will 2 different kinds of nickel ruin the entire house? Please, advise!!






We have also, at long last (not because we were spending so much time deciding, but more so because we got behind on things) chosen a kitchen sink. We really like this one - it's very pretty and is cast iron. We also really liked the first one we chose, but as it would likely be installed 2 weeks AFTER we moved in to the house, we decided we liked this one best, as it's going to arrive at the house well before we move in - God willing.

Sunroom and Kitchen - Introducing Paint!

Just as we were getting used to drywall tape, the kitchen and sunroom are given a new look - "Butter Milk" and "Glazed Green"!

The Dining Room - Mossy Green and Getting There

The dining room is a darker shade of green - right now it houses the main floor's radiators. The rads have been power-washed this week, and will be spray-painted white to match the trim shortly.

The Upstairs Bathroom - Primed

Ready for paint...

The Painting Begins!

Suddenly, the house is ready for a lick of paint!! The painters arrived this week, and made short work of painting just about the entire downstairs. They were clearly relieved that they weren't going to be responsible for painting the upstairs bedrooms, all of which require the walls to be sanded, holes patched, and likely several coats to cover up the blood-red paint.

The Living Room - Glazed Green!

The Most Beautiful Porch... Ever.

Our foreman, Scott, suggested that the rather ancient siding that covered the porch be taken down.

The first photo shows the whole family in the overgrown backyard back in May - you can see the original white siding on the porch.

It'll be easier to tie in the new steps to more secure siding. Scott figures that the porch is nearly as old as the house itself, which we guess to be nearly 90 years old. Lovely and vintage, to be sure.


We love that those wee wooden sticks that are currently holding up the porch leave so much space for the kids to play. That'd be a great place to put a sandbox or something, to keep the kids nice and shaded when they play outdoors.

And More Drywall - a Feast for the Senses

The main floor is really coming along - the drywall looks fantastic. If only we could nail some drywall over the technicolour paint on the upstairs bedrooms...




The main floor powder room is coming together nicely, and the upstairs bathroom is progressing nicely.

Ready for Cork!

The kitchen floor was in rough shape, once the green ceramic floor tiles were pulled up. The old floorboards have given way (not literally) to a fresh new plywood floor, all ready for the cork flooring to be installed.

The word from our contractor is that the floor will be installed after the appliances arrive from the heavens on July 23rd.

Grey Water!

After much soul-searching, we have decided to put our money where our mouths are, and buy in to a grey water system from Ecoshift.ca. Grey water comprises up to 80% of water waste from homes. It is neither fresh water, nor "black water" (i.e. water with feces, chemicals, etc.). A grey water system diverts the water from your shower, bath and bathroom sinks, filters it, and uses it to flush the toilets. While we won't save any money by doing this - there are no incentive programs just yet - on the bright side, we'll have a lovely 250L tank in the basement, and we'll flush our toilets with water that otherwise would have just gone down the drain. We aim to do our part to avoid wasting water, because we don't want to make David Suzuki cry.

While our contractor Mark admitted that we were the first house that he had outfitted with grey water, it's been a cinch to re-plumb the house in order to make it work. Our plumber has labeled the "grey water" pipes going into the toilet with "do not drink", which should make things clear, right?

A Celebration of Drywall

We've never been so excited to see drywall! From the sunroom, you get a good view of the front door on the right, and the living room window on the left. The walls and ceilings of the living and dining rooms are just about up - it's starting to look like a real house!!

Keeping the Heat In

This past weekend Patrick slipped over to the house to wire in some ethernet cable - his last chance to tinker with the exterior walls before the insulation went in. The fact that we're ready for insulation means that anything having to do with the exterior walls is finished - even the venting for Patrick's amazing cooktop is all set and tucked in.

We opted for the non-toxic insulation, even poking holes in the plaster in the mudroom, and spraying insulation through the wall going up the stairs. Even though it looks like we've had a shoot-out in the front hall area, it's going to make things very warm and cozy when the snow flies.

The Walls are Coming Up!

This week things have sped along with the renovations. The electrical is finished, and the drywall is going up! When you walk in through the side door, you can still see through to the living room, but now there's drywall!