Bring It, Weekend!

I am counting down the minutes to the weekend. This one is going to be EPIC.

We have El Granto’s Mum’s SUV and a very long to-do list. When I say very long, I really mean it. We’ve started tracking our home to-do list, broken down into tasks on a project manager website called Trello. Our Backyard & Balcony lists are almost off the page. It gives me anxiety just looking at them.

However, we are making some progress! (even above and beyond our progress here.) We made all our outdoor fabric choices, and I ordered all the Sunbrella fabric for the whole backyard.  We’re talking new curtains, a daybed cover etc. As soon as the fabric arrives, we can get started sewing. Little secret… sewing was the first DIY I ever learned, and I almost went to school in Halifax for textiles. However, since we moved to the Storefront, I haven’t gotten a sewing machine out ONCE. Literally, I have not sewn a single thing in over three years. I hope I’m not too rusty, and I still remember how to make cording, and how to sew a zipper panel.

Here is what our weekend plans are:

Till backyard, and plant grass & clover seed.

Finish pathway.

Dig garden beds, edge and plant.

Buy lumber for deck pergola.

Build pergola.

Buy & install new exterior lights.

Install new door hardware.

Paint Doors.

Wash deck.

Finish this little outdoor side table project I started this week.

Bonus Project: We got a Bagster! This means we also hope to clear out all the reno debris and junk in the garage. [yeah, we still have reno debris from our kitchen reno, yikes!] We cant wait to get rid of all that junk.

Once the debris is out of the garage, El Granto can get to building a new work bench, and we can get permanent homes for some new tools we acquired over the winter (and we even added a few more new ones this past week.)

What have you got planned for the weekend? Wanna come over and lend us some muscle?

Is it Spring Yet?

Last week I had an especially bad week. I went in for my second round of iron infusions, and this session was not kind to me. I came home with a fever and my whole body felt like it had been run over by a truck. I took a few days off and got some rest, and finally this week things are starting to get better. Continue reading “Is it Spring Yet?”

Project Master Bedroom

Our Master Bedroom was actually one of the first rooms we started work on. (in the sense that it got a mini makeover before we started filming our episode of Holmes Inspection.)

Here’s a run down of what we started with: Our 2nd floor Master bedroom is on the small side at 10×12 feet, but we decided to make it our Master rather than the guest room because it had a large double closet, was quiet and away from the busy street, and it had an amazing private second floor deck. The room has one window, a glass door heading out to the deck, and decent height ceilings.

We purchased a new mattress, box spring and standard bed frame when we moved into the house, and brought along with us two tall dressers that my Mom & I had refinished glossy black a few years ago. That’s it. No bedside tables, lamps,  curtains or anything. For the first few months we used unpacked moving boxes as our bedside tables, and those temporary drapes that are made of folded paper. Then the ceiling started leaking in our bedroom, and we cut a giant hole and found ice in our ceiling. Thankfully the Holmes Group came in to help us, but that meant that our house was going to be on tv…with millions of people seeing it, and we had MOVING BOXES FOR BEDSIDE TABLES. Enter Kristen panic attack.

We needed to quickly get the room into a presentable shape before the Holmes Inspection crew came in to film our house, but without painting or doing anything to the actual room. So we did a few projects to get it up to a liveable state before construction. We built a headboard, got a few dressers as bedside tables, hung a mirror, got a couple lamps, curtains and threw in a vase of flowers…I know, its not much but at least we didn’t look like we were living in a shanty town when the camera crew came in.

Here are a few before (and in between) shots:

Master Bedroom Before We Moved In
Master Bedroom after mini makeover before Holmes Inspection Reno
Another View pre-reno

It still however had a long way to being complete!

Here’s some of our Inspiration:

Master Bedroom Pinterest Board

And here’s the Master Bedroom To Do List:

So check back for us (hopefully) knocking all those to-do’s off our list!

 

Weekend To-Do

It’s the weekend again. YAY. I am looking forward to having a nice weekend at home, getting some work done around the house, and competing in Beer Quest on Sunday.

Here’s my to-do list for these two days out of the office. Whats on your list this weekend?

Weekend To Do

  • Paint guest room board & batten
  • Paint guestroom walls, and put the room back to some semblance of order
  • Convince El Granto to let me cut a hole in the wall (more on that later, I hope…)
  • Do some small maintenance on the exterior of the Storefront in preparation for winter. WINTER IS COMING. Will also try to get a new mailbox and install that.
  • Clean up the vegetable garden (or whats left of it)
  • Oh and clean the house, cook, walk the dog, do laundry and all the regular stuff…

I am considering giving up sleeping…I hear its overrated anyways

Project Guest Bedroom

When we purchased the house, we envisioned a cottagy guest room, and both of us instantly thought yellow. We picked out a sunny buttery yellow, and purchased the paint prior to moving in. Our first weekend in the house we painted, and it was….BRIGHT.  We decided to try to live with it, see if we liked it any better. Then when Holmes Inspection renovated our house, they colour matched the room and re-painted, but the colour was even BRIGHTER. Now when the sun pours in the bay window every morning, it’s a bit…well…neon.

We did do a few things right, we bought a nice bed, linens, hung custom blinds, and re-used some dressers. It just needs a bit more “lipstick and mascara” (and maybe a pair of killer heels).

So here goes Project Guest Bedroom

Pinterest Guest Bedroom Inspiration Board

 

To Do List

Really?! All that for a room I thought was almost finished? Eeep, what do I get myself into?

Project Powder Room

Our main floor powder room needed some sprucing up, and you guessed it, de-beige-ing. We wanted something dramatic, yet still functional. I will be posting the results of our powder room facelift in the next week, but wanted to give you a sneak peak of our inspiration, and our to do list. Even though it was a small room, there are still a lot of things on that to do list! (and they are still not all finished…)

My Pinterest Bathroom Inspiration Board

TO DO:

  • Add Wainscoting and Chair Rail
  • Change Lighting
  • New Mirror
  • Paint
  • Hang Art
  • Change Towel Rack & Paper Holder
  • Add Open Storage for Towels and Toiletries

    *UPDATE* Check out this post for a view of the finished powder room