Before Pictures: Kitchen

As promised, here are the before pictures of the kitchen... they aren't amazing, but I am trying to work with the angles and space that I have to take the 'best' pictures of the entire space.

Picture 1 - This shows the storage that we have in the kitchen... ALL of the storage (we barely have any).  You can also see the colours that we have currently, a chocolate brown on the cupboards, a cream tile and a multi-coloured mosaic backsplash.

Picture 2 - The worst area for storage in the kitchen is the top of the fridge... we have cupboards there but you need a chair or HIGH step stool to reach one and 'Go-Go Gadget Arms' to reach the other.  Hence the mound of crap on top of the fridge.

Picture 3 - The entry to the kitchen is decent but with the table, it is severely narrowed.  Also, the table is only used for my computer... we never eat there so this is all wasted space.

Picture 4 - Not sure why I included this but it's what brings everything into full circle... the fridge is right beside these doors.  

As you can see, the kitchen is a very small area and with all the dark colours (walls, cupboards and backsplash) it really makes it an even smaller space.  I can't wait to be able to show 'after' pictures.

Up Next:  Picture of the plans and hopefully some of the finishes.

I have an appointment with Tracy on Tuesday, May 9th to make some more decisions so I will try and take pictures of backsplash/floors/counters, etc while I am there!

Design Consultation Round THREE

Step Four: Revisit choices and confirm plans... oh, and pay a 50% deposit

Oh my goodness... do I ever feel better about life after this appointment.  Questions have been answered, plans have been 'finalized' and colours have been picked (for the most part).

After our last consultation (Round TWO), I was overwhelmed and confused.  I actually think that I had more questions when I left than I had answered while we were there.  Even though, at the time, I didn't realize it, I came to understand that I needed a full cost outline of the plan for each room so that I knew where we were spending out money.  With a price of $70k, I had to make my accountant brain clear on the cost of all the big ticket items and know that we were getting what we wanted for the price we were paying.

Kicthen:

Tracy was BOMB... I had emailed her to let her know that I was having a bit of trouble understanding the cost so she did a nice detailed outline so I was better able to see the prices clearly... LOVE that!  We sat for just a short time to go over the numbers for the kitchen and then headed back out to the showroom to, once again, look at our choices and see if we still loved them.

I'm so glad that we took our time between the two appointments because I fell out of love with our original counter choice (I had actually said in the previous post that the colour was way different than I thought I wanted) and we found an amazing one that fit every single hope that I had.  As in, it's exactly what I had pictured in my mind.  We stuck with the original floor (greige) and cabinets (white) and with the new counter... the big ticket items have been checked off.  We also solidified the backslash (a matte white subway tile with a medium/light grey grout) and faucet (a delta, goose neck, brushed nickel).  Our sink will be coming from my parents as they just bought a new one and will be replacing it with an under-mount one when they reno their kitchen.  We just need to shop for appliances, lighting and cabinet pulls and we should be done with all the kitchen choices.

Bathrooms:

Once again, we started by going over the cost of each room and were able to see the detail to better understand what we were getting... then we headed out to the showroom to solidify our choices (actually, make most of them as we didn't do many previously).

For our two main bathrooms (2-pc powder room and full bathroom that the boys use), I let Murray and Steven (to a certain extent) make most of the choices.  We are getting a deep grey vanity with a cupboard and two drawers with a white marble counter and built-in sink for each of the rooms, along with a classic porcelain toilet.  For the full bath, we are changing out tub/shower combo into a walk-in shower, so we chose the tile (a white/grey marbled tile with an accent tile of deep grey/metallic glass).  All three bathrooms with have a vinyl tile that is too difficult to describe with a matching grout.

For the ensuite... I went totally different.  A deep brown/greige vanity and build-in cabinet along with the same counter and sink combo as the other bathrooms.  The main tile in both the walk-in shower and around the bath will be a shiny white marble tile with grey veining but the accent tile is probably my favourite thing we picked out... is that weird?  It's a blue/green glass mosaic tile with mixed textures and a marble stone... YOU GUYS... I am in LOVE!  I wish that I had thought to take pictures but I will have to go back so we can make paint choices so I will take pictures then.  After two hours, my brain was done!

Last up... more money talk!

While we still weren't able to get it down to where we wanted, we were able to bring the price down a little and are now sitting at $63,000 with tax.  After making all the choices and seeing how everything would come together... we finalized the plans and are ready to make a FIFTY PERCENT deposit!  YIKES!

Next up:

May 2 - Signing the Contract and Paying all the monies!

Thankfully, Murray works close to Home Hardware so he will be popping in on Tuesday to make the deposit payment and sign the paperwork.  Then Tracy will place the order for the cabinets/counter/flooring and give us a delivery date.  Based on what my parents were told when they signed, it will be about a 6-8 week turnaround time before the items are ready for install so we are looking at mid-summer for the start of renovations.  Eek!

PS.  I promise pictures are coming... at least the before pictures and the plans.  Just haven't been able to take them yet.

Design Consultation Round TWO

Step Three: Pick out ALL the things for the new spaces & find out what we will need to spend

WOAH, my brain is spinning... that appointment was more overwhelming that I ever thought that it would be.

First up, we got the new plans/layout of the kitchen and all three bathrooms (pictures will follow in next post) and I am in love.  The kitchen is so much better than I ever thought it could be.  Tracy was able to incorporate all of the ideas that were in my head and then take it to the next level.  We have storage on top of storage and, what I think will be more space and an overall better flow to the entire room.

The bathrooms didn't change all that much as we are keeping the plumbing where they are now which makes 2D plans a little less exciting.  However, our ensuite currently has NO storage, at all, and the new plan has a built-in cabinet for storage and I am so excited... I don't even know what I will do when I won't need my Tupperware tower for storage anymore!  WIN!!!

Next up we moved into the showroom and picked out finishes... counters, cabinets, flooring, and bathroom vanities.  This is the point that my brain started spinning.  I like to think that I am a pretty good eye when it comes to colour and co-ordination, however, when you are starting from scratch, and then looking at tiny samples, it's really hard to imagine what it will look like in the grand scale of a kitchen or bathroom.

We were able to come away with some samples for the kitchen, so we can see how they look in the natural light of our house... a white cabinet, greige (grey/brown) wood floor and a granite counter... I love the colour choices, even though very different from what I thought I wanted.  Now to see if we love them just as much at home as we did in the showroom (it's gloomy today so can't tell just yet).

Last up, MONEY talk!!

If my head wasn't spinning before, sitting down and finding out the price of all 4 spaces, with the finishes we have picked, has me feeling like a cyclone.  Before paint and appliances, we are currently looking at $70,000 with taxes included... about $20,000 more than we thought it would be (our price is based on knowing NOTHING about anything renovation).  I think what my biggest issue is, is that my accountant brain is wanting a breakdown of costs.  I want to see what we are spending where and if there is anywhere that we can save money to bring the bottom line more in line with what we thought we would be paying.  Now, this isn't to say that we can't afford what we are looking at, but let's see if Tracy can work her magic and save us a little green.  If I can get the paint and appliance cost in that $70,000 price, I think I would be a lot happier!

Next up for design:

April 29 - follow up appointment with Tracy

At our next appointment, we will have a more accurate cost of the labour and Tracy will hopefully have saved us $10,000 (or more) and we can move ahead with picking out even more of the goodies.  Once we finalize the cost and plans, we will be putting in the order for the cabinets and get the date for the start of work.  Eeeek.

Still very excited, yet anxious to see where we end up!

Design Consultation

Step Two: Get our plans on paper and out of our heads!

It's time to set our plans in motion!!  

We have learned, a loooong time ago, that we are not meant to do our own work... like at all.  I've painted, but I hate it... we installed flooring, but never officially finished... yep, it's just not our cup of tea.  We are much more of the planners and this time, we are actually going to be putting those plans on paper and setting the whole plan into motion.  OMG, am I ever excited.

To get this plan in action, we have actually enlisted the help of Tracy from Home Hardware to come out and listen to our ideas, give us hers and officially start the ball rolling.

Where did Tracy come from:

I'm not talking about her background, but how did we find Tracy?  Well, my parents are using her to complete their kitchen renovation and, honestly, I trust their opinions.  They are happy with the process, the price and Tracy so... that works for me.

April 4 - Design Consultation

You guys... my mind has been blown.  I have created Pinterest boards to outline all of the ideas that I have and the colours that I am thinking of... from cabinets to flooring to paint colours.  When Tracy arrived, I had my boards all ready to show her and told her some of my ideas... she took those and ran with them.

We started in the kitchen and when we finished (after only about 30-40 minutes of chatting and throwing ideas back and forth), the layout of the kitchen will be changing... not the overall layout but some major changes are coming down the road.  The fridge will be on the other side of the kitchen, we will be getting a corner sink, a shorter counter to make the entry into the kitchen easier.  My favourite part is the 'breakfast bar'... not a place to eat at, but a place to make toast and store bread that isn't on the main counter surface... is that a weird thing to be excited about??  Oh well, I don't care... it makes me freaking giddy!

Tracy also looked at all three of the bathrooms and we are basically taking the full bathrooms (we have two full baths and one half bath) back to the drywall and building them from scratch.  Our main bathroom will have a walk-in shower instead of a bath/shower combo, a new vanity and just brought into a more functional, updated space.  The ensuite is also going to basically be taken to drywall (with the exception of the soaker tub) and get a new stand-up shower, new tiling around the tub and totally modernized!  

OMG, the colours in my mind ... the look that we have planned... I am SO excited!  I want to make an oasis with soothing colours and functionality.  We have planned spaces that are going to give us everything that we want.

Next up for design:

April 18 - Second appointment with Tracy

Our next appointment is going to be at Home Hardware where we will see the plans actually put on paper.  We will also be picking our finishes and colours and all of the fun stuff (appliances, counters, flooring... eek).  Most importantly, we will see our price in full on BLACK AND WHITE!  We have a number in the back of our heads of what we think the cost will be so I am interested to see what the number actually is.

Stay tuned...

SHOW US the MONEY!!!!

Step One: Money to make the dream happen

Well, this has turned into a shit show!  Our first thought was getting a home equity line of credit because our house is worth so much more than our mortgage however, our mortgage is with some third party lender so TD (our bank of choice) doesn't want to play nice with us.  Umm... WTF TD?!  Why you no like us?  After an hour at the bank, we left with nothing and I was pissed.  I think if they had said that we didn't qualify for the loan, I would have been able to accept that better than them just plain saying "We don't work with your mortgage company".  So now what... are we screwed?

No, thankfully, we are not screwed... thanks to our awesome sister-in-law, we are going to re-mortgage the house and work the money we need into a new mortgage amount.  Technically, this is a way better option because we can amortize the house for a longer period of time so that our payments are manageable and not have a revolving line.  BUT... the work to get this done is so time-consuming!  Ugh... the digging through old files is insane.  Working in the accounting world, dealing with an annual audit, I guarantee that whatever you need will be impossible to find... happens every single time!

March 27 - start the process of re-mortgaging

March 28 - got approved with TD (of all companies) for a new mortgage to include the amount we will need to do all of our renovations and maybe some added things we would love to do to help us out in the long run

March 29 - April 3 - run around like chickens with our heads cut off to get all the paperwork needed for TD.  Just a side note to anyone working with TD... they are STRICT when it comes to the weirdest of things, like lawyers you can use or appraisers or basically ANYTHING.  If it isn't on a list somewhere in their database, it's not happening!

April 4 - Set up appointment with the lawyer for signing all the bottom lines... dotting those "i's" and crossing those "t's".

April 10 - Appointment with lawyers

April 13 - New mortgage closes and the money will be OURS.... mwahahahah!

Here we go!!!

Building Our Dream Home

Nine years ago, my little family up and moved across Canada.  We left our home (a 2-bedroom condo) in Surrey, BC and moved into a 3-bedroom, 3 bathroom townhouse in Courtice, ON.  It was a huge step in our 'grown-up' life and one that I would do again and again and again!!  I love our house, I love our life and would be happy staying right where we are for the rest of our lives.

Move forward nine years and our little home that we purchased for $200k is now worth $420k and houses in our complex are selling for a HALF A MILLION DOLLARS (that just sounds way cooler than saying $500k, right?).  Not only would I not pay that much for the our house but if we were to sell, we wouldn't be able to afford ANYTHING remotely close to what we have now so there is no point, at all.  So, we have decided to make our house, our dream home!

What needs to be done to our house to make it a dream home?  EVERYTHING!  We have tried the whole 'get a friend to do this' thing and it sucked.  While we thought it looked great at first, the result two-years later is horrible... cracked tiles, broken grout, dull cabinets and scratched banisters (although let's just thank the cat for that one).  We put in about $5-$10k (including the carpets) and it was all for not.  This time around, we are doing things properly!!

BUILDING THE DREAM HOME:

The Wish List

• Kitchen
• ALL three bathrooms
• Family Room

When I list these spaces, I mean EVERYTHING involved with the space... from flooring to paint, appliances to showers.  EVERYTHING!!!  

To do this, we need money... so, our next step is to go to the bank and see if they would like to help us... eek, the chances of this is starting to get way real!!