New Windows
When we renovated our first and second floors, we talked about replacing our windows but decided we didn’t want to spend the money. Windows are expensive and not as exciting…
First Floor
Kitchen Final Reveal
Our kitchen renovation was a long time coming. We first began talking about redoing the kitchen in 2016. We didn’t just hit on our hands for the last 3 years;…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 11 – Finishing Touches
Given how massive this project was, many of the tasks that are usually major milestones in a project seemed small in comparison. Painting One of the first finishing touches was…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 10 – New Cabinets, Countertops and Appliances
One of the biggest ticket items for our kitchen was our new cabinets and countertops. When we first began the design phase, we asked our architect what we should do:…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 8 – Framing and Drywall
Once the window and doors were installed, it was time to frame the interior and install the subfloor. This was probably one of the most exciting steps in the process…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 7 – Plumbing and Electrical
When we were looking for a contractor, we wanted someone who would let us do some of the work ourselves. Not only does it save on costs, but there are…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 6 – Structural Work
The biggest and most transformative part of the kitchen renovation was removing the chimney and installing a new window and door. The back of our house hasn’t received much love…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 5 – Demolishing the Kitchen
Once our contractor was finally ready to start (only 3 weeks later than planned…), we had to get the kitchen packed up so it could be demolished. Packing a kitchen…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 4 – Setting up a Temporary Kitchen
Despite what our contractor thinks, we know that this kitchen renovation is going to take longer than just a few weeks. And after living through our messy dining room wall…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 3 – Materials
Once we had our contractor on board, it was time to advance our kitchen project and start making some big decisions. With our general design nailed down, we could now…
Load-Bearing Wall: Part 6 – Patching Hardwood
After we removed the dining room wall, we were left with a small trench in the hardwood flooring where our wall used to be. We were planning on waiting to…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 2 – Hiring a Contractor
So… hiring a contractor in Toronto is a joke. The demand for trades is so high that you can’t get anyone decent in less than 12-18 month and that’s if…
Load-Bearing Wall: Part 5 – Removing the Wall!
I’ve had a hate-hate relationship with the wall in our dining room since we moved in. Even though we managed to make it slightly less ugly, my issue was with…
Kitchen Renovation: Part 1 – Design
We are FINALLY ready to embark on our kitchen renovation. We had scoped out a few architects when we were doing our basement underpinning, and already knew who we wanted…
Professional Renovations
Alex and I have been renovation super stars for the last 2 years. We’ve completely transformed the first floor and are working on the second floor of our home and…
First Floor Reveal
It’s been a year since we bought our house and a lot has changed. We’ve replaced our electrical wiring, fixed our fireplace, replaced our hardwood floor, painted the walls, installed…
Replacing Baseboards: Part 2 – Installation
Once our baseboards were cut, we had to paint them. We first made sure to number each baseboard so we knew exactly where it belonged! Painting We sanded each baseboard…
Vestibule Tile Installation
Our front door has a small vestibule. It was originally covered in tile, but when we replaced our hardwood floor we took this nasty blue tile out. We opted to…
Replacing Hardwood: Part 8 – Sanding and Finishing
Alex and I are tired. Over the last few months, we poured concrete, tore up our floors, built a wall and installed new flooring. With winter definitely here, we were…
Painting the First Floor
Once the subfloor was installed and the load-bearing wall was finished, it was time to paint! Choosing a Paint Brand There are a lot of paints to choose from: Benjamin…
Load-Bearing Wall: Part 4 – Drywalling and Pot Lights
This wall has made me both hope for a beautiful future together and wish harm upon it. These days, it’s the latter. Actually, if the stupid thing wasn’t holding up…
Replacing Hardwood: Part 6 – Subfloor
Replacing Hardwood (Part 6): Subfloor Now that our floor is good and shimmed (referred to in our house as the sub-subfloor), it’s time to work on the subfloor. The subfloor…
Load-Bearing Wall: Part 3 – Replacing Ducts
We currently have a duct running up our load-bearing wall that goes to the centre bedroom. After thinking about this for a while, we decided to keep the duct in…
Load-Bearing Wall: Part 2 – Demolition
I have (mostly) made my peace with the fact that our ugly little wall cannot be removed. But I refuse to let this wall totally win. When I’m done with…
Load-Bearing Walls: Part 1
Replacing our hardwood floor seemed like a simple idea. We would tear up the old floor, put down a new subfloor, install the new floor, and stain the thing. It…
Replacing Hardwood: Part 5 – Shimming
After yet another trip to Home Depot with an AutoShare cargo van, we think we have everything we need to start (and hopefully finish) the subfloor. Our house isn’t level,…
Fireplace Renovation: Part 8 – Fixing the Brick
Now that the hearth is done, we still have to address the missing brick in the fireplace. We had a couple of people come and look at what could be…
Fireplace Renovation: Part 7 – Finishing the Hearth
On Sunday we (mostly) successfully poured our concrete hearth. It was quite the feat – both in mind and body. Here’s what it looked like when all was said and…
Fireplace Renovation: Part 6 – Pouring a Concrete Hearth
Our mold was ready and we were excited. The day we were working towards was finally here! Today we mixed and poured our concrete. Prep To prep the area, we…
Fireplace Renovation: Part 5 – Building a Concrete Hearth Mold
Alex’s mom is visiting this weekend, but we stole a few hours for ourselves and made some serious progress. In the couple of hours we had before dinner on Saturday,…
Fireplace Renovation: Part 4 – Fixing the Backerboard
This week we installed the backerboard and I had a bit of trouble with the cement grout. But, with that in the past, we were ready to build a mold…
Fireplace Renovation: Part 3 – Installing Backerboard
Just when we think we’ve got it all figured out, we realized that we haven’t. Our grand plan was to patch the fireplace and pour the concrete (for our hearth)…
Fireplace Renovation: Part 2 – Preparing the Floor
We’ve been stalled on our reno work for a while because we’ve been trying to figure out what to do next. Our concrete hearth idea is complicated for newbies, and…
Replacing Hardwood: Part 4 – Leveling the Floor
I feel like I’ve read every article and seen every video on installing hardwood flooring. The most common advice I see if that the finished floor is only as good…
Fireplace Renovation: Part 1 – Demolition
I realized tonight that every single thing we’ve done to the house so far – the electrical, the hardwood – has only made the house look worse. We haven’t actually…
Fireplace Renovation: Inspiration
It all started with the floor. We tore up the old hardwood and with it came the stone in front of the fireplace (also know as the hearth). No problem,…
Replacing Hardwood: Part 1 – Hardwood 101
It’s been a while since my last post. I haven’t had much to write about because we haven’t made much progress, even though all we do is work on the…