The laundry room is done- almost!

Like many other projects in our home, the laundry room was put on the back burner while we worked on more important projects- i.e. the wine cellar, walk-in closet, etc! Yes, our priorities were (are) all mixed up:)

The gutting of what would become a laundry room began after our basement flooded during a strong rainstorm in the summer of 2008. It then remained in that state until we sloooowly started putting it back together piece by piece in 2010 until 2012.

I unfortunately can't find the flood pictures which would give you a good idea of what the room actually looked like. Here is a description: The room was originally part of the garage but was separated to create a laundry/work space, the walls were shiny varnished wood paneling, the ceiling was stuccoed, the flood was covered in blue, black and white mosaic tile, one wall had a bathtub held in place by a bed of cement (Yes, a tub!), the washer was in one corner of the room while the dryer was on the other corner about 17 feet away, and there were countless exposed electrical wires hanging from the ceiling. Maybe it's better I don't have before pictures since it may cause nightmares!

The original room was divided in two so as to create a laundry room and a playroom. The laundry room is small but it works.

The room is now almost done. Here are some pictures:

  This side of the room is used for storing laundry supplies but also the outdoor spa products (hence the beach towels) and craft supplies.
Cabinetry: $400 at Home Depot
Stool: $18 at Zone on St. Denis Boul.
Clock: $10 at Home Sense
Rug: $19 at Ikea
Looking for a mate sign- DIY

Here is the actual laundry side of the room:

The baskets are from the dollar store ($2 for the large baskets and $1 for the small ones). Much less expensive than any of the other options I looked at. The floor is the original tile that we decided to keep. The artwork is from Home Sense ($34). I find it kind of kitsch but fun- a great option for a laundry room.

The room is bright and cheery. I decide to go with this look after purchasing the clock. I figured that since there was no window in the room, why not brighten it up with color. The rest of the house has a mature and sophisticated character so this was a great place to have fun.

What's left to do:
Caulk and paint the crown molding
Install the baseboards around the cabinets
Install the door into the room
Install a light fixture

One day, soon I hope, it will be complete!

 Smiles,
Nancy

Landscaping part 3: The Reveal

As previously mentioned, we had no intention of re-doing the pavers when we first bought our home (See part 1 of landscaping). That was, of course, until it all started sinking, tilting and simply looking horrible. In an effort to save some money we decided to keep the original pavers in the front of the house. But a little change was done by adding a border of new cobblestone-like pavers along the edges.

Here is the before and after:

You can see the retaining wall tilting in the before picture and the straight wall in the after picture. Also check out the add border- I find it calms the busyness of the pavers. Also notice that the driveway on the left side of the image is paved in the original pavers. Since it did not need repairing it only made sense to keep the original pavers in the front of the house so as to not have two different patterns.

Close up. Now if only I could get the city to fix the sidewalk!

The walkway on the side of the house was changed to the new cobblestone-like pavers. This is why we added the border around the front part of the house, we wanted the two types of pavers to blend. And of course, the great part is that the slope is perfect- no water accumulation along the foundation walls.

Another change was the addition of a black iron fence. I love the way it looks!

As for the backyard, we decided to get rid of the outdoor storage shed- I sold it on Kijiji. The yard looked so much bigger without it! We wanted a place to chill and the shed just took up too much precious space.

The yard went from this:

To this. Look at all the extra space without the shed!

To this:

See other landscaping posts: Part 1, Part 2


 Smiles,
Nancy

Our wine cellar: part 3 and reveal

Our wine cellar is a huge source of pride in our home. We love it!
 We didn't have air conditioning in our home for two years but we had a cooling unit for the wine cellar. I know, our priorities are all messed up! At least we had lots of cool  wine to dink away those hot summer days:)

Here is it is- our cellar:

We are currently running low-ish on wine since we restock in fall/winter during wine making season.
We painted the walls a light buttery color, installed wooden crown moldings stained walnut, and the wine racks were also stained walnut. Yes, we stained and assembled all these wine racks- it took forever!!! The wine racks were purchased at Aux Plaisirs du Bacchus on Bernard Avenue in Montreal.
You can also see the end result of the travertine floor. It's just the right look for a wine cellar.

 

We use an old wine barrel to decorate a corner of the room and we got some wooden wine boxes from our local liquor store to hide some wine making supplies. Tip: In Montreal if you ask your local S.A.Q. for some wooden boxes they'll give them to you for a small donation.

 We have a small bistro table in the room, mainly for good looks. We don't actually drink in the room because it's cold in there (10-12 degrees celsius). 

View from the wine room into the living room. We installed an exterior grade cedar wood door. Ideally, the wine should be in a dark room and the door shouldn't have glass. But I wanted to be able to see into the wine room from the living room so we decided on this door. The room is large enough that the light that flows in doesn't disturb the wine

View into the wine room from the living room. Love it!

The light fixture was purchased at Home Depot and it's the right size. color, a style for the room. Just to add some pizazz we also installed a decorative medallion.

I think it's now clear to everyone that I love my wine. Every year since we've been married Tony and I have made wine, about 200-250 bottles each year. We also like to buy some inexpensive bottles and of course we love it when our friends bring us gifts of wine bottles- hint, hint! LOL- just kidding:)

Smiles,
Nancy

linking to Between naps on the porch and other parties on my Party Link page

Living room renovation complete- the reveal

Hello, hello, hello! Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful summer weather.


At the start of the week I posted about our living room renovation. It was the second project we undertook and, with everything we had going on in our lives at the time (wedding plans, working on my Ph.D and, of course, work) it was probably one of the most challenging projects. Because it was a total gut of a large room in the home and we were new to the renovation world, we found ourselves overwhelmed! All the renovators out there know that little complication always show up, that time lines have no real significance, that budgets are meant to be thrown out the window, etc. But when your new at it, it's frustrating! 
At this stage in the renovation game (4 years in), I'm much better with all the challenges that appear along the way. One thing I keep in mind is that in the long run, it's always worth it. Also, all the little things that caused you to break out in tears or screams will actually make for good comedy once the project is over.


And after my rant, here are the after pictures of our living room:

We love the way the floors turned out. The color variations in cherry wood are just beautiful. The couches were hand-me downs from my brother. I'd prefer a darker color, but when its free you don't complain. You'll also notice from the before pictures below that the fireplace insert was spay painted black. If you plan on doing this, you must use spray paint made for fireplaces. The paint has to be able to withstand high heat. The light fixtures above the fireplace are the originals. I also sprayed them black (I know, I'm obsessed with spraying things black!) but I can't decide if I like them or not. I keep looking for alternatives but haven't yet found any I love.

The wall art is a reproduction of an Illustrated London News image from 1933. You can also see the train-station clock hanging on the wall.

View into the living room from the old kitchen. I am on the hunt for an area rug, but can't seem to decide on a style

View of our coffee bar. This is where we sit and have coffee every morning before work. I love this spot.

The bar, again.

Even our 17 year old cat Fonzi hangs out at the bar. He just waits to be served his milk. Cats can be so demanding!

Now, here are some reminders of what the room looked like before the renovation:

The fireplace remained more or less the same. The stone is stunning so I wanted to keep it. Everything else had to go.

View into the living room.

Entrance into the old kitchen

The bar

Let me know what you think. It still needs some decor so any ideas are appreciated.

Enjoy the beautiful day!


Nancy


See other posts about the living room transformation:
The before and the demolition  
Getting it done and choices 





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