Heading out to Insmill

FIVE days, my friends, only five days until we get the keys to our new home and pack up the memories, growing pains and amazing times along with the furniture and the knick nacks.  That, and move the most precious cargo we will ever have over to their new digs.  This is huge.  I've been sneaking in a box or two here and there and even took artwork off the wall today, so yeah, it's looking like a move is imminent now!

We bought our little home back in 2003 and moved in when my hubby and I were only dating. I bought it with my own financing, on only my little salary (at the time). We bought it the day it went on the market because we had been searching for weeks for the right place in the right location that fit our budget.  Believe me, we knew the minute it came up that we wanted it because frankly?  We knew that there was only one or two places in town that had anything close to what we wanted.  With already two second showings booked for the next day, and nothing else comparable on the market, somehow or other our offer was accepted on that very night. (We won't talk here about the fact that both of us were living with our parents at the time or about the incident in my car in a parking lot on the Rockliffe parkway.)

We thought we were the luckiest couple in the city.

It's crazy to think of everything we have been through here, and all the memories we created. Marriage, three miscarriages, birth of twins, job changes...and a lot of fun and adventure in between.  And yeah, the house itself went through a lot with us as its loving parents, starting with ripping out the main floor carpet immediately, and ending with a new nursery with a lot in between (and a lot you don't immediately see - furnace, air conditioner, roof....I HATE those bills. You know, the ones you just HAVE to pay for but aren't as tangible or pretty or picturesque).  Along the way, I blogged about some of the bigger changes.  The new kitchen, the new basement, the babies' nursery, our garden/deck.  It's fun to look back to see what got us to the point that this was how it presented for sale.

And now we have another home, and more opportunity to make it our own.  No, nothing needs to be done to it. It's lovely.  But, I am already envisioning the future, and that future has an even better, more personalized kitchen, and new paint colours, furniture and decor. At its centre is a growing, funloving, active family in a wonderful neighbourhood.  I can't wait to explore our future in our new home.

Going Down - Basement renovation is finally complete!

Had to elaborate on the title, but was tempted not to...

So yes, at almost 35 weeks along pregnant with twins, we FINALLY have a properly finished basement and thanks to said project, we've actually doubled our living space, which is amazing and will let us survive unscathed in this house for a few more years without going crazy like caged animals (sorry - just watching SYTYCDC and Blake's caged animal routine just performed, so...).

Because I know I am always looking for good before and after shots for ideas, I thought I would post the shots here for anyone who hasn't seen them.  Here they are:

 That was the wide shot of the before and after.  Here are a couple different angles, starting with the stairwell.

The old 'workshop' vs. the new 'playroom'...

(last one taken before carpet was laid).  And finally, the accent wall which will house the computer and media centre when we get the right storage/setup configured.

We'll spice up the twin's playroom a little more with colour and fun on the walls soon, but for now, we can at least move in the jumpers, the gyms, the playard etc to get it ready for the little ladies (and we have)!

And in the meantime, we are moving on to setting up the garage with all the extra storage and the new workshop area (I'm the powertool gal, so it has been weird watching everyone else get this stuff done around me!) and finishing touches on the main floor and the nursery.  Nursery pics to come soon for sure.

Oh, yes, and will be replacing our massive picture window in the living room because it becomes an unexpected flowing water feature into the room whenever there is a heavy rain we just discovered...!!!

FUN.

Movin' right along!

Finally.

Finally, the carpet installers got here and reinstalled new carpet in lieu of the botched job on the entire upper floor of our house.  What does that mean for me?  It means we have furniture again, and a spare bedroom again, AND we can FINALLY work on the nursery! I will be snapping photos along the way in order to create a before and after photo album to come soon. 

So, moving forward, we have a custom closet 'solution' we are working on, we have chosen some fabric and a friend of my parents' will be sewing curtains and crib skirts, and we have repainted a lovely wood dresser to prepare it to be both storage and the change table.  We have both cribs (one is together and the other to be assembled, likely tomorrow) and then from there, it's the little details.  Lights, wall hanging (I have a great plan for this, but will surprise you), etc. 

Of course, we also have to get the contractor in to tear up the entire basement and rebuild from ground up before October, and create storage solutions in our garage to accomodate the reduction in storage space in our home.  So.  Lots to still do.

Glad to be able to start!

Got cool reno albums?  Took photos of your nursery creations?  Would love to see them...!

The calming influence of chaos - who knew?

The 'transition' has begun. It's sheer and utter chaos in our home right now. We've torn up, torn down and moved around everything in order to start all the renos necessary to prepare for the twins. What's best is that the vast majority of the chaos is being led by my baby-boomer generation parents, who know no end to the energy stores needed to work towards tackling even the most massive projects.  Where others intimidate, my fabulous parents dive in.  God bless them.

So what do we need to do? We are painting the entire upper floor, including all bedrooms (and the nursery of course). We have ripped out the two closets in the two spare rooms to make way for some custom solutions - can't wait to make a cool cubby-rich option for the twins with little bars for the occasional dress and lots of great solutions for storing their little socks, toys, etc. We have ordered the new carpet and the thickest underpad possible for the entire upper floor and stairs, so the painting has to be done, then we will rip out the carpet and get ready for that installation.

What else?  Well, we are having a great friend of ours, a master custom carpenter Tobias create a wall storage, entertainment unit and bookshelf solution for our main floor that will hug three walls spanning the living room to the dining room - if we gotta stay in our great little home for a while longer, we need STORAGE!

We totally have to clean and organize our garage and buy some shelving solutions - it's gonna become a massive storage and workshop area - it never did fit a car in it anyway (stupid builders)...

Oh yeah - and we have to fully renovate and redo the basement to make room for an office/entertainment area and playroom for the twins.  We CANNOT have the big toys etc. on the main floor - no room.  So, we are gonna try get this done before they arrive.  Any great suggestions for awesome contractors? Please feel free to recommend!

Ah yes, and BTW, I will be creating a photo album for the nursery transformation.  Can't wait to see THIS...

...become a lovely, fun, vibrant nursery with white and bright stunning photography and colours.

And yes, the chaos means that things are getting done, and that makes Mommy start to relax, because that list above?  ... is long, and Momma don't have much time left!

Finally! Our kitchen Reno pix

For everyone who has been asking to see the tranformation, and for anyone who wants ideas or a look-see on kitchen design, take a look at the Before & After presentation deck I did up showcasing our new kitchen.  This redesign gave me storage and functionality as well as style that I needed to stay in our little house for a while longer and not have me go insane....

The Kitchen Reno

View more presentations from Pamela Stewart.

So...what do you think?  Show me yours - send links to your transformations too!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Controlled chaos and the excitement of a new kitchen

It's a new feeling for me, just watching something like this unfold before me. I have never had the money to afford to pay others to do home improvement jobs before, and I have to say, I am both excited and bored, patient and impatient, happy and kinda unhappy (I guess - just bummed that I am sitting here while it is happening). I am off for a week, but stuck here at home. Not truly motivated to do anything big, but getting a few little things done...just kinda waiting. (And heading to a workout shortly, of course - gotta beat Kerry and Leslie in the waist-loss challenge!)

but boy, is it looking good! Just wait until you see. There will DEFINITELY be before and after pix coming along shortly, but I will wait to post them.

I will cook some SEXY food in there, let me just say...

Goals and Dreams - A DIY Update

So here it is, the eve of my return to work, and I can happily report that our pantry shelves are in (and look so good, they look custom) and the garden is DONE - D-O-N-E, Done! The fence still isn't completed and the house is SUCH a mess, but it feels good to have some major projects done.

I have been doing a bit of soul searching to try and figure out what snapped and why I have been obsessively working on my To Do list, and I think I have got it. Here it is:

All my life, when I have had a goal/dream, I have been able to work toward it and achieve it. I have had control over that destiny, and have rarely retreated or taken a step backwards. It's not my style. So it has occured to me that the reason I have had SUCH a hard time accepting my miscarriages is because it is a HUGE step backwards in my goals. It has felt, both times, as though I am moving backwards and having to start again, and it has not only unnerved me, it has been VERY hard for me to accept! THUS, the most cathartic response for me has been to do what I can CONTROL, and tackle the home improvements to feel like I am still moving forward with my life, with my plans, and moving towards achieving my dreams. It makes sense, doesn't it? It sure has made me feel better...

And on that note, it is time to clean up the mess from yesterday's garage sale (sold a few big items and all told, took in about $75...not bad, eh?) and go downstairs to our gorgeous new pantry to start organizing and STORING all the items in this house that have never had a place to rest. It is going to feel great!

Not as great as some heat and sunshine would, though - where is our warmth?

Now get out there and SELL, SELL, SELL!

So here I sit, in the time honoured tradition of homeowners everywhere, trying to sell my junk and old furniture outside on my driveway. Some of what I got is junk, admittedly, but some of it is memories, great furniture, and solid value-added material, but still not a bite!

Admittedly, it only stopped raining about 1/2 an hour ago, and the weather isn't exactly ripe for this, but it is an annual community event, and so I thought that maybe that would help....but perhaps I should have put up signs too....

All I know is that I do NOT want this stuff back in my house, so what's a woman to do?

NONE of this is going to be allowed back into my old workshop and onto the new pantry shelves, that much is certain.

Hope my hubby gets here with my Timmy's soon. I'm lonely!

More DIY, More Projects, More, More MORE

So many projects, so little time. Everything takes so much longer than you think it will. Seriously. I have been working like a frenzied obsessive workaholic on gardening, home projects and yup - shopping - and feel like I need double the time I have had to even get finished what I have begun. And believe me, the to do list is still skyscraper long compared to my little bungalow 'crossed off the list' list.

But it has been good therapy moving forward with plans that have existed in my head only to this point. And now that the ball has started rolling, I don't intend to let it stop. For the longest time I just looked at my list, then flopped on the couch, nabbing the remote and looking for escape from the onset of the headache I got just LOOKING at my To Do List. Now, it feels like I am getting somewhere.

And considering that in other ways, I keep taking big steps backward in my plans, that is soothing to my soul.

Shopping as therapy

So, will spending $14,000 on kitchen upgrades help me through all this? Hey, we'll see! Met with Home Depot tonight to discuss how I can keep from either a) pulling all my hair out due to the headache I get when I look at my old kitchen, which is overrun with things we can't find places for or b) setting a bomb for distruction as a way of just 'taking care of it'...

So yeah...new, shiny granite and a little cool storage as therapy for a broken heart? Might work, right?

Worth a bloody try, I say!

Let the renos begin!

$800 + dollars later, we are home with two new toilets, paint for our external back fence, some screening for our patio door, grass seed and other odds and ends, and this is just the beginning! Nothing like a baby on the way to force the "project hand"!!!

Time to give our handyman a call (yup - we have a GREAT handyman!) and outline the multitudes of jobs we have to get completed this summer leading up to our first born. Looking forward to it all, actually, but it just simply feels good to have started, which for this Type A big picture thinker, is half the battle. You know the type, don't you? The ones who have wonderful, gradiose and creative ideas, but can't seem to break the process into smaller parts and GIT ER DONE!

So yeah...it wasn't warm and lovely weather like I was hoping, but we got something done, and THAT feels like a ray of sunshine to me nevertheless.

Shrinking weekends

So really. If I were to take care of my house, my errands and my DIY to do list each weekend, I wouldn't have time to eat, let alone relax. That could very well be why, embarrassingly, I haven't cleaned (you know, REALLY cleaned) my kitchen in likely a year or so. Yikes. It literally took me about 6 hours over two days to get it done, and even then, we have decided to use some of our hard earned money to get new burner thingies for the stove. I mean, really, that seems like a damn good investment to me, over spending another hour or so with cleaning gloves and those blue-gummy SOS pads. Do I not deserve a little downtime on weekends? I do, dammit.

But hey...now the kitchen is clean for another year, right??? My Mom is rolling over in Arizona...

But back to the shrinking weekend title here. Two days is never enough. I discussed this with coworkers and others last week - the discussion was this: Would we not get the same amount of work done with a shorter a) work week or b) work day - and by this I mean working 5 hours days over 7.5? I truly believe that if I was at work for a nice, tight 5 hours, I would work hard and focused for 5 hours, and be happy to be there, then be happy that I had more time in my day for balance.

I also come at this remembering a great story from my childhood, when my father won a commendation award at the Air Base in Edmonton because he spearheaded a fitness challenge base-wide, which allowed participants to take an extra 1/2 hour each lunch (so 1.5 hours for lunch) and play organized sports happening all over the base. They had to participate, otherwise they didn't get the extra time, but all told, productivity among those working less time in a day ROSE 40%.

So...what do you think? Let's propose to get our same salary for 12 hours less of work a week. Think it'll fly?