The summer has been great, but I am now looking forward to enjoying my favourite season - Autumn! Yahoo!
My big project this weekend was to install the wood bar top behind the kitchen sink, which was a big highlight for me. The cedar is from the old family cedar mill - my dad had a few slabs stored in his garage for the last 15+ years. If you visit St. Andrews New Brunswick, it is very likely you'll pass by Bartlett Mills (and not realized it) which is the site of old family cedar mill. My grandparents lived in the house on the mill pond, with my grandfathers family further down the hill. My uncle Hughie took over the mill and I have memories trying to climb the hills of saw dust when we visited. My parents have an old mill stone at the top of their driveway, as a nod to the family heritage. My uncle Hughie prepped the cedar slab many months ago (thanks Hughie!) and this weekend I finally got the chance to sand and stain it. I love just it. Put your nose close and you get this lovely whiff of cedar, full of memories. Whenever we move from this house, the cedar is coming with me. Otherwise, still a few details to wrap up. The downstairs bathroom is nearly there with the sink, (seniors) toilet and shower door now installed. The space is compact but functional. I continue to have a moment of thanks every time I run a load of laundry. This week, the bathroom heater should be installed so ever closer to being done. We've had a working kitchen for a number of weeks now and are really happy with everything; it's so pleasant to cook in. Also a big plus, we can have people over to the house again so have been firing up the BBQ and having friends over. One last big project for us, besides painting all the trim, is the table connected to the island. Right now, we are using an old ikea table from the basement. My plan was to get butcher block, but was surprised at the cost, so haven't moved on anything. This weekend, Amy and I went to an antique sale and found an antique table top for $5. It is exactly 42 inches (width of the island), so that's a little gift from the reno gods. :) It's a bit rough so I'll need to spend some time refinishing the top, and then we'll cut it to the right length and find legs. It may not work out, but definitely worth the $5 to try. We are starting to turn our heads to the outdoor space, lots of ideas for next year (see picture of awesome back deck at Quitters Cafe), but also just want to simply live in the house for a while and do nothing. The only problem I want to solve today is that we have more tomatoes and hot peppers then we know what to do with.
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Yet another heat wave in Ottawa this weekend, reaching 46 with the humidex yesterday. Blah! I went for a swim at the local pond, but funny enough, the water was really warm. Luckily our air conditioner/heat pump was installed. Yahoo! We went with one unit, against recommendations for two, but it is just fine and half the cost :). We will enjoy the extra source of heat in the depth of winter and the air circulation year round.
Marc found a tiler, Todd, who was wonderful. Todd came when he said he would, did what he said he would, finished on time and with a high degree of attention to detail. Garby also loves Todd, though that might be due to the shared lunches they enjoyed together. So here we are and the bathroom floor is done, shower walls done, black-splash done. Todd also did extra tiling behind the laundry sink. With the bathroom floors in, our nine months hiatus is over. We can now clean clothes! OMG. The washer and dryer were delivered Thursday night. I know that it is good to go without and then enjoy all the benefits we have, but that was a long lesson to appreciate a washer. :) With the bathroom floor in, it is now possible to install the sink, toilet, shower door. Also need the kitchen vent, cabinet lights, plugs on island. I am not quite sure when that work is happening but soon enough. Either way, it doesn't feel like we are living in a construction zone anymore. We've unpacked the final boxes from the shed, and the kitchen is now all set up. We can spirolize zucchini, use the food processor for pesto, and make cappuccinos once more. Ottawa is currently in a heat wave - but what a lovely day at the beach it provided. Warm water for swimming and found a picnic table in the shade. Out front, the tiger lilies are starting to bloom and there are bursts of hydrangea everywhere! Our tomatoes are out of control and rapini have exploded. So much fun. :)
We took the afternoon off to relax as the kitchen is nearly complete! The countertops went in on Monday and a few days later we had had the sink up and running. We have kept the old appliances and old sink tap but they are fine, still working. The plan is to replace them as the they break... A few days ago, we spent the last of our ikea gift cards and bought the shelves for the pantry and some of the ikea drawer inserts to help organize utensils and what not. We built the shelves yesterday and this morning, no big deal, but so great to have all that storage space. Since we have the room, we started to unpack some of the kitchen boxes that have been stored since last year. It was like Christmas, almost (e.g. hey Abe, we own a food processor!). I'm surprised by how many empty spaces we still have, but no doubt will get filled over time. Still to do: install microwave vent over oven, under cabinet lights, a bit of trim, kick plates, backsplash, butcher block. Mostly there. We still don't have a bathroom or laundry- we are a bit stuck. Everything hinges on the floor getting done. We bought these great tiles on sale, but they are too big for us to install. Whoops. Problem is there are very few tilers available to install for us. We are brainstorming options, as we'd like to wrap this all up. We hope to have a plan this week. All in all, we love the space and the light. Still lots details to take care of, but we are back to having a kitchen, and enjoying all the function and details. The rest will come #ohmygodIwantawashingmachine What a week! Floor in, cabinets up and the temporary wall came down!
Starting Friday night, Abe and I started to tackled the pile of 150 boxes. Come hell or high water, we had to have the base cabinets in place for Monday, when a company was coming to template the countertops. The cabinet building went smoother than we both thought, just plugged away Friday night and all day on the rainy Saturday. I'd say we spent as much time installing and levelling the bars as we did building a lot of the boxes. Beyond the bar, the main pressure points were around securing the island boxes to the floor, building a custom unit, and the variety of drawers. No, actually the big pressure point for me was not having downstairs water for six days - as you'd expect, it is not fun washing dishes in the bathtub. And a big thanks to all the folks out there who post how-to videos on youtube , filling in the many mini-details hidden in the ikea instructions! We were good to go by Sunday. Monday am I got a call around 7:30am to say the wall was coming down that day! Not expected but yahoo! If you remember, we've had a temporary wall in the middle of the dining room keeping the construction work separate from our living area. It's been pretty scrunched since February, not able to have people over. Within two hours the wall came down and now our place feels like a palace. So much more space and also light. It's wonderful! Our old fridge and stove are out of the dining room and in the kitchen, and temporary sink in place. So here we sit, wall down, cabinets up, few doors up, countertop templated, and using the future floor tiles and waste plywood for counter in the mean time. The bathroom is still a hot mess, no washing machine, lots of finishing work to be done everywhere but so nice to have the open space. Due to the help of many friends (thank you Dean, Greg, Amy, Kasia, Margie!!), we now have a painted kitchen!! Yahoo! Looks more and more like a normal room (that's missing flooring and furniture). The electrician popped by and put up a few lightbulbs, some switches.
We pushed to get all the priming done in the whole area done by Saturday at noon, for the drywall inspection. Consistent with our experience, they did not show up. So annoying, they've already put us back a few weeks. We decided to just go with it, and continue on with the painting and not let them cause anymore delays. We kept with the same colour as the living room, one less decision to make : ). With the dark of the drywalerl is the light of friends. We super appreciate all the support from the friends that gave up some of their sunny weekend to help out - you are the absolute best! I also enjoyed the post-painting socializing, suppers and drinks out back, so not all work and no play this weekend. We've felt quite limited in our ability to have friends over these past few months, very much looking forward to opening the doors again. Our next deadline is June 17, when the countertop people come. By that time, need painting done (check), floors in (nope), and cabinets installed (nope). Not feeling too optimistic but will keep pushing forward. So this is a potentially a big weekend coming when we tackle those 150+ boxes and install the kitchen cabinets. Otherwise, life hums along. Ottawa is peak spring pushing into summer. Sundays Bike days are back, Yippee! What a lovely ride this morning along the canal. Garden is starting to filled up, rapini definitely growing the fastest. . And finally, Go Raptors!! What a beautiful weekend! With the Ottawa Race Weekend, flowers up, and the Great Glebe Garage sale taking over the streets, lots of fun to be had. Adding to the that another fantastic meal of our gourmet club last night and the Raptors win of the Eastern Conference, life is good.
And adding to that, we have walls! All the sudden the area looks so much closer to finished and has such a different feel. It went from a construction zone to more of an empty room in the space of a few days. They have some taping and sanding left to do, but I think I am spending the upcoming weekend painting and then get the floor going. If you are reading this and live in Ottawa, you may be invited to a 'bbq' - aka help Leah and Abe push through some tasks and get a tasty burger and beer in exchange. You have been warned. :) We have a deadline of June 7th, when the countertop people are coming to do their template. We will need to be painted, floor in, and lower cabinets built for them to do their work. Fingers crossed. There may be some tasks we have to get help with (e.g. floors) to get it all done in time, but so be it. The garden continues to bring joy. Every few days, a few new plants start to flower and another pokes up from the soil. The rapini planted last week is already up - eeee! Our back apple tree is in bloom and lilacs soon on their way. I just love it. Happy Mothers Day! Another beautiful weekend of sun and lovely temperatures. The tulips are blooming just in time for the start of Tulip Fest - which we have not yet enjoyed as we were too busy in the backyard (yahoo!).
Our big project this weekend was to build the garden boxes for the front. Last weekend we prepped the area, which included hours (!) of tacking the dense ground cover (ivy?) and moving the pebble rocks around to make space, lay down landscaping paper. Sort of tedious but had to be done, and lots of chatting with neighbours walking by. We learned that there used to be a huge tree out front that fell down two years ago - so that explains all the shade plants out front where there is so much sun and the roots in the ground. It was also nice to feel more and more connected with the area. All the kids know Chickpea and Garby by name. As of this afternoon, we now have two boxes that are 4 feet by 8 feet by 1 foot. We spent two hours yesterday to get the boxes built and in place. Abe found a good deal on kijiji to get a landscaping company to deliver a whack of soil - so much better than buying all those bags - and the huge pile of dirt was a real push to get the project done as we need the driveway for tomorrow. An hour later and both boxes are full of soil (our backs a bit sore), and a few things planted that we picked up at the Experimental Farm Plant Sale from today. Fun! We also planted a few cedars in the very front to get a little more privacy - and as a Bartlett of Bartlett Mills, I think I have a duty to plant a cedar tree. I'll probably plant some radish, spinach, lettuce, carrot later on this week provided I can figure out a good system to keep the squirrels out. Abe took the lead on installing a door at the front fence. Since we moved in, we've been using a little low doggy fence to keep Garby in but wanted a bit more security for the back area. We used to have a little shed off the back deck - which is now our future pantry, so they took off the door and closed up the gap. They were going to just throw the door in the garbage but figured we could maybe use it for something..... : ) To get shed door to fit, the door had to be shortened. Abe started worked away with the hand saw but was then suddenly very motivated to fix our electric circular saw. He watched a few youtube videos, did some googling, and lo and behold the saw works. I am still super impressed he fixed that circular saw. The revamped shed door is in place, looks a bit kitsch but is a good temporary measure until we tackle the bigger project of updating the fence. I liked having a lock entry to the back yard. In terms of the house renovation, it was a big week. All the electric and plumbing are roughed in and we passed the inspection. I am only mildly amazed we passed. Things should move along quickly now, dry wall up soon. Or the dry wall better be up soon, as our "kitchen" arrived on Saturday morning - so we now have over 150 boxes spread in the upstairs rooms. Not a huge deal, what's a few more boxes at this point, but all the same - shows how far behind the schedule is. The shower kit and laundry sink also arrived and are sitting outside under tarps. We are ready to be past this point, no more moving deadlines. Soon with the contracted work done, the shift of labour will be over to us. Our jobs coming up are to be ready to prime all the drywall once it is up , then paint, then install the floor- then the kitchen cabinets---and so on. No problem....or at least at that point, the schedule is under our control. Looking forward to plugging away at all the upcoming projects. :) Sun came out today - we are both quite sun kissed - what a nice change.
We spent a lot of today outside, tearing down and then putting back up a gazebo (with the help of Greg - Thanks Greg!!). A big thanks to Tammy as well for letting us take that off her hands. The backyard looks a lot more appealing with the gazebo in the back corner and now the patio table and umbrella set up. We are getting to really enjoy the benefits of the move this weekend, with all the outdoor space now much more usable and weather more pleasant. I am talking about the sun. I am not referring to the snow that fell during the Outlaws Ultimate game on Saturday #nomoresnowsvp. It was a big week here for the construction. They are not talking anything else apart, just building things up from here on in. Now that the posts are in, they have very quickly framed the new bathroom and put up the exterior walls and window before the rain on Friday. The electrician and plumber are here this week to do final stuff before the inspector comes. Wow, things are moving quickly now, rapid fire decisions to be made now. We are now working through the size of the shower - if we go smaller than the 7 feet and put in a side shelf to help fill the space, it will be standard size (60-72 inches). The other plan required a rather pricy custom glass door, so good to find a new solution. As neither of us really care how big the shower is, seems like a good thing to adjust. All needs to be decided by Tuesday. We went to the store and bought our countertop on Saturday, taking advantage of sales. We borrowed one of Amy's drawers with the same finish as our future cabinets so we could match the colours. Surprisingly no one else was walking around the store with a drawer.... We ended up with something more detailed than we were planning but we both like it so just went for it. It is quartzite with streaks of white, green, grey, tan and will have a leathered finish - looks a bit softer i guess, makes the tones a bit more muted. We bought it at one store and then drove across town to select the actual piece of stone, a bit weird. We also picked up some bathroom floor tile - seriously discounted - good thing as we quite-a-bit overestimated our bathroom square footage. Oh well, guess we might end up tiling the upstairs bathroom too. and the front entrance. and behind the sink.. We had chose a different tile a few weeks ago at a different store, but this was a fraction of the cost and we liked it, so just went for it. Quick decision making is working. Though the construction side of the budget is over due to all the structural fixes, we have come in quite a bit under on the materials budget so far (kitchen, counters, sinks, tiles, etc). A bit of a silver lining. We keep catching sales, but I am guessing they happen every spring. We are just following the mob. #kitchenzombies? I am excited to see how quickly things move these next two weeks. They better move along, as the kitchen is being delivered on May 11th (eek!) Our future bathroom/laundry is a bit airy right now.... The plan is for the techni-posts guys to come this week and then the walls go back up. To get the post machine in, we have to traverse one of the neighbours driveways and take down a section of our fence. In the process, we have had the pleasure of connecting with Vince (to the west, said no) and Bob (to the north, said yes). Thank god for Bob. Once we get through this step, I have been told the pace of work will be shocking. Given that we have now passed the six month mark with no laundry (thanks Amy! #URthebest), I am very excited to be shocked.
We ordered our kitchen on Saturday. An overall weird experience. We decided to go with the in-home designer (you pay $250 but then get it back when you order the kitchen, so free). She spent around five (5!) hours one Monday night drawing up a plan. Still no drywall up so I was very happy to have someone else take all the measurements and make adjustments. We'll have to move a plug or two but should be good. We are part of a seemingly huge group of people trying to get the current deal on the kitchens. We had to make a few trips to Ikea to have our number called and get it ordered - though did have a lovely supper there one night (love the salmon with dill sauce!). Who knew Ikea was licensed?!? It all felt like a bit of a game, like by buying a cheap mini-fridge, we got an extra 5% off the order. Isn't that kind of strange? We got coached through the 'buy the cheapest appliance' by a few different people. What happens with all these unneeded mini fridges (or oven fans)? I am glad to have the most of the kitchen decisions made and move on. And in the end, who really cares what door and which drawer. There are probably a thousand different permutations that would have been great. The best part of the last two weeks has been that spring has sprung, so starting to enjoy the yard more. I was out in the sunshine on Saturday, raking up the leaves and planning the raised bed. A few of the neighbours popped by to say hi and give Garby a pet. I bought a concord grape vine to plant, just need the ground to fully thaw. And we had our first almost-outside bbq as well, sitting out on the deck while everything cooked. Very fun. :) Another weekend of snow....but life lightened by a friend's lovely wedding and some birthday celebrations. Reminds me how many awesome people I have in my life. New job has also permitted more lunches with friends and walk homes (sometimes with Abe), so really enjoying being back downtown. It was a bit of a dark time in the winter and this spring has felt very light and positive in comparison.
Though little has been done physically on site at the house, we've continued to move forward. The electrician has done the wiring for a lot of the lights and plugs. Based on input from friends and family, we have the pot-lights and island lights on separate switches, and all will be on dimmers. They have levelled the floor in the pantry and re-insulated, installed a light. I've never had a pantry, think we'll love having the storage space. Based on Herman's suggestion, we took down the wall over the interior door and opened it all the way up to the ceiling. Small thing, no real cost, but opens up the space visually. The plans for the back bathroom/laundry are confirmed so now just waiting for an engineering report from the city. We knew this back area had issues, the floors were so wonky. So we are removing and rebuilding two of the exterior walls and installing new posts - a bit more serious than we thought but what can do. This part requires taking down part of our exterior fence to get the machinery in, so we are hoping that the neighbours don't mind giving us access through their driveway......blah.....I keep reminding myself that at the end, we will have a level, warm, safe space.... We are having to start thinking about finishes for the space, which is fun-ish. Preference and price are in a constant dance. The kitchen planner from Ikea is coming on Monday. I've already drawn it all out and used their online planner - but why not get an expert opinion. At this point, any cupboards and drawers sound like luxury. We also went to the tile shop, to get a sense of what we both like. By some miracle, we look at 500+ tiles and both somehow selected the same 2-3 options. What the?!?!? I have no idea how that happened but have lit a few candles to the home renovation gods, to show my thanks. |
Author: Leah BartlettLover of projects, big and small! I try to not be intimidated by lack of experience/skill/know-how. Archives
September 2018
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