Wow, what a year. The ups and downs of the last year have slowed our house projects considerably, as we faced some financial uncertainty due to the pandemic and its related job changes.

During the summer and especially during the first lockdown, I was able to clean up a lot more weeds in the backyard and daydream about future garden projects. For now I just had a small garden with some veggies, herbs, and flowers, and we really enjoyed sitting outside every evening and making good used of the BBQ

I also did lots of quarantine cooking and baking in my new kitchen!

We did still manage to continue with a few projects, the biggest of which was getting the basement and garage spray foamed! This was quite a big task as we had to move everything out of BOTH spaces and finish the demo in the basement. Now we can proceed with turning the garage into a full fledged heated workshop, which will make future projects easier! However it also means the office is now full of crap from the basement and the garage, which is driving me a bit nuts

This dumpster was 100% full by the time it got picked up!

Now the basement is a lovely shade of BRIGHT PURPLE! and is much warmer.

The garage got a similar treatment, and Alex has already framed in the walls and had me stain them so that he can start constructing work benches and organizing his tools

He also installed this lovely recycling station so we can keep everything easily accessible and well organized.

And.. we have a BIG achievement this week.. Alex has completed his part for the mini mud room! Now it is up to me to patch and paint. Almost done!! YAY! The mini mud room has been a bit of a running joke because Alex bragged to his cousins over a year ago that it would be done within 24 hours.. well, it may have taken a little longer, but now I can safely say it will (probably) be done in 24 hours! I have ordered some nice storage baskets to go on the shelves for our mittens, scarves, bike helmets, etc! He taught himself some new techniques that will come in handy for all of the cabinets he plans to build in the garage.

Trim has been a never-ending task as well, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with all the little leftover bits that were still on the to do list.

And here is a sneak peek at the beautiful art I create to help Alex with his math .. haha!

I also helped him with a scale drawing to try and figure out how to set up the garage workshop

We are back at it tomorrow to make the most of Alex’s time off. BIG THANKS to all our family and friends for supporting us through the challenges of the last year!!! Wishing everyone the best for 2021!

It has been far too long without an update!

Winter certainly slowed things down, as we were mostly focused on finishing trim but since the garage is not insulated (..yet: that is a project for another day! Alex wants to turn it into a full fledged workshop eventually) we had to wait for milder weather days to be able to use the bigger tools.

And then, mid March, COVID-19 became the new reality. Alex has continued working throughout, as he was deemed ‘essential’. Although my workplace was also considered essential, the drop in business meant that the owners opted for a temporary closure, so I have been off work since Apr 6. Alex was able to take an extra long weekend for Easter and I have been keeping myself very busy doing whatever I can to finish house projects here and there.

Here are the updates!

We did some decorating in the living room and I brought up the record player and records to keep myself entertained while I am off work. I built a cute little crate to keep records in since they don’t all fit in the credenza. The end goal is to have the records in the basement once we finish it, and we do have a larger storage unit for records down there, but we just don’t have a spot for it on the main level.

The light over the dining table was another arts and crafts project – we got the shade from Alex’s parents basement and then got a cord off amazon for it. I decorated the cord with macrame rope while watching TV. Our plants are loving the space since it is so bright!

Alex built these lovely floating shelves above the peninsula to keep my cookbooks handy

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We still have to finish off the peninsula countertop but we’re waiting for warmer weather to be able to epoxy outside

In the living area, Alex found this neat vintage tension rod light on Facebook marketplace (before social distancing became a thing), and we also got a small coffee table from someone in the area that refinishes furniture as a hobby

In the powder room, we just added some fixtures bought online – a small shelf for kleenex, toilet paper holder, and hand towel holder

We (thanks Dad!) hung a light in the upstairs hall, finally getting rid of the gross ceiling fan

The office is now mostly unpacked, but still a bit of a mess as it has continued to be a work space for tools for upstairs projects

The guest room is all finished, so it is really too bad that we can’t have any guests!

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The main bathroom upstairs is done – we built a nice cabinet from Ikea so there is lots of storage. I also wanted to keep everything off of the counter so we got a wall mounted holder for toothpaste/toothbrushes. Also got a cute little night light in case we are ever able to have guests.

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The ensuite bathroom is ALMOST done! We have been working on some floating pipe shelves for the nook beside the toilet, but they still need the finishing touches! We put in a wall mounted magnifying mirror in this bathroom as well

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Hmm, what else!

Another project that is still a work on progress is our headboard! We found a brilliant plan which only required one sheet of plywood to make a floating headboard with side tables, which is exactly what we wanted! We still need to add finishing touches, varathane, and add bedside lights (which we plan to mount on the headboard)

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The basement is still an unfinished disaster but I was able to condense the remaining unpacked boxes so it is much less cluttered. The basement reno will have to wait until I have a regular paycheque again

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Another project that will also continue to be on hold is the stairs

There is still lots to keep me busy, but we have to use up the materials we already have as much as possible since we don’t know how long this COVID-19 business will last. For now we save our pennies, try to maintain social distancing, and enjoy what we have accomplished so far.

At least Miss Peachey is happy to have one of her humans around more often!

Happy New Year!

Trim slowed us down quite a bit, as well as just being busy with work, life, and the holidays. We are still picking away at the trim – the downstairs is done except for the powder room and the office upstairs is totally done. The main bathroom is installed but not painted, and the bedroom and ensuite still needs to be installed. Lots more painting for me to do!

We got the linen closet shelves installed upstairs and the door put on. I got some bins to help keep things organized and dust free. Just needs a nice door handle.

After finishing the trim around the windows and getting it painted, we were finally able to have our blinds installed downstairs! We are very pleased with the result from Blinds to Go. We are no longer living in a fishbowl!

We also received a very nice generous Christmas gift from family of four dining chairs from Structube to go with our dining table. They are super comfy and a big hit with our feline overlord

We enjoyed our first Christmas at the new house and look forward to doing it bigger next year!

Now it is time for me to go wash some walls in the office so we can put the furniture in place and actually unpack, so it can stop looking like this mess!

Trim is a big job!

We managed to get a lot more done this weekend.. most of the downstairs has been installed, including the fireplace trim!

We still need to fill the nail holes and paint, of course. Heaven forbid I run out of painting!

Life has been very busy at work and otherwise, so we really enjoyed having a day to hibernate and pick away at house stuff.

Alex also got the best deal EVER last week at Lowe’s on a table saw. There was an error on the website where the saw was listed at $100, and they honoured it in store! This will be a big help in completing the rest of our projects. The cat got a big box so she was happy as well.

We have really been enjoying the festive atmosphere on our street, so I had to get some lights up!

Well, this weekend went by too quickly .. looking forward to the next one!

Wow, already end of November?!

We took a couple weekends off to enjoy the house, see some friends and family, and get back to full energy.. so now it is back to full production!

In the meantime, we did put up a mirror in the master bath

And pick out our floor registers

Alex spent Saturday doing a big clean up of the garage

Today was trim day!

While Alex perfected his trim technique, I finished clearing up my mess in the backyard and did some raking. It was a gorgeous day!

I also cleaned and painted the closet door for the upstairs linen closet – the only door that was in good enough condition to keep during demo

We are blown away by what a difference trim makes.. it is a big job but every piece that goes up finishes things off so nicely!

In the evening we enjoyed a nice supper and a couple of brews with Dad, who graciously delivered a snowblower to us that he no longer needed! Peachey was pleased that he dropped off some of Stittsville’s finest beer from Covered Bridge brewery. She needed a good rest by the fire after today’s activities.

While the cat may have been enjoying the open concept space, I am quite happy that we now have all of our doors installed!

However, I was not happy to have to paint all of them!

Two coats each on 7 doors got a bit tedious. However Alex sure enjoyed installing them – he is a pro now!

We had another productive week with Dad finishing up the attic work and adding some extra insulation, as well as finally having our appraisal for the purchase plus improvements plan we did with our mortgage. I painted the rest of the kitchen, and also had a consult with someone from Blinds to Go. Now that it gets dark at 5 we might want a bit more privacy.

We kind of rushed the assembly of the wood countertop for the peninsula in order to pass the appraisal. We plan to do quite a bit more with it before we add a resin finish – but it is looking good so far!

We also had some furniture delivered that we got from someone on facebook marketplace that refurbishes older pieces – their prices are amazing and the stuff is very well done! Check out PNR Style

Alex also got the gas fireplace working again!

Dad installed our peninsula light

I gave our oven a good cleaning and did lots of cooking to get ready for another work week. Since we were just doing housework all day Sunday I took the opportunity to make some homemade bread

Peachey is all worn out from all this activity!

We got our countertops this week, and backsplash! Yay! This means I was able to unpack my kitchen stuff. We have so much more storage space now! I am really going to enjoy cooking in this kitchen, and I gave it a good test today when making food for the work week

Alex also got the door face onto the dishwasher so it is hidden

We also installed some more bathroom fixtures and a mirror for the main bathroom

Alex had to work on Saturday so that cut into his reno time, but then he installed doors for our bedroom and the main bathroom. While he was at work I did lots of cleaning.. reno is messy work!

We also had some living room furniture delivered that we had ordered quite some time ago

Finally got to bring Queen Peachey to her new home! She was excited to explore!

Handles! Countertops! Sink! Faucet! Dishwasher! Backsplash!

Stay tuned for more!

Had a wonderful weekend with absolutely delightful sunny fall weather!

Friday I was completely exhausted so I had a quiet night and made lots of food for the week in Dad’s functional kitchen (so that we don’t end up resorting to Dollarama chili… again..) Now our fridge at the house is fully stocked! Alex picked up a dining table we found for cheap on Facebook marketplace

Saturday was a bit of a mess of a day as nothing seemed to go right until we quit trying to be productive and went out for dinner and drinks with friends. Alex and I both stayed at the house Saturday night so we were up with the sun (since we haven’t put up curtains yet) to enjoy a super productive and wonderful Sunday!

Alex started off with finishing all the backing and filler bits for the peninsula. We used cabinets from IKEA for the majority of the peninsula but a lot of custom cuts were required to finish off the look.

In between assisting him with the table saw I started working on clearing out the back corner of the yard, as it was an overgrown mess. I got carried away and ended up getting a lot done which will make life easier in the spring. I will enjoy planning the backyard garden over the winter months!

Alex’s mom Astrid arrived and provided assistance with the garden mess and help with identifying the plants from the weeds, and brought a wonderful lunch which disappeared VERY quickly!

My Dad also came to help with hooking up our washer/dryer, and en route picked up our latest Facebook marketplace acquisition – bar stools for the kitchen peninsula

I also played assistant while Alex planed all the wood we got for the kitchen peninsula countertop

For a first timer, Alex did very well! It looks awesome!

Our kitchen countertop install is expected this week for the main part of the kitchen and I can’t wait! Then I will be able to unpack the kitchen and stop living out of tupperware

I am excited to see what the week brings.

Another reno weekend has come and gone but this weekend was a long one thanks to the Thanksgiving Holiday

Alex took some extra days off to have an extra extra long weekend. Unfortunately the first day of his holiday was monopolized by Ikea’s returns department. We had a number of items we ended up not needing which allowed us to use the funds freed up for items for our walk in closet. We also purchased our kitchen peninsula thanks to the generosity of Alex’s aunts and uncles who gave us a very generous birthday gift.

Alex got the peninsula assembled and began work on prepping the wood for the countertop in this area

Alex also got to relive his glory days working for Bronson Johnson Seamless Eavestroughs and gave us some new troughs! The old ones were completely filled with junk and no longer functional

In the meantime, you will never guess what I did…

Alex’s mom came by and fed us and cleaned windows, and holy crap!!!! They were next level filthy!! They look like totally new windows now. The difference is astounding.

Dad installed a few more sockets.. including some with USB charges built in. So fancy!

I also received some fixtures for the ensuite that I ordered long ago on Amazon.. and the Engrish on the packaging provided some entertainment!

So, all in all a very productive weekend. Lots of skilled work for Alex left to do, but not a lot that I can do without guidance since I am almost out of paint..

Soon we will be able to unpack, but at least we can live there and move our meerkat in! Although I think Dad’s is her favourite place ever now