Dear faithful blog followers,
My absence over these last few weeks was not the result of us giving up on 212; rather, it was me stockpiling all of the progress so that this blog post could be a double dose of exciting. SOOO.... We now have real house walls! AND colour! Painting was our most recent project, and I can proudly say that we were able to complete all of the bedrooms, the living room, kitchen, foyer, library, and bathroom in one weekend! (Thank you to my parents for lending a hand on Sunday :)). While I have mentioned countless times on this blog that I couldn't wait to pick out the colours, when Kyle and I actually went into the hardware store Friday, it was more than a little daunting. As Kyle said, we spent so much time taking down the walls and rebuilding that there was pressure in choosing colours that were special and didn't take away from the grand finish. We ended up choosing our most neutral colour first, which we put in the living room, foyer, library, and laundry room. This colour is a pale cream called "Cappuccino White," and acts to anchor the house and connect all of the other colours together. Friday was spent cutting in and painting the living room and foyer. On Saturday, we moved on to the library and laundry room. We also chose the colours for the master bedroom--a pale green, and the bathroom-- a teal-like blue. The ladies at Home Hardware were incredibly helpful, giving us colour cards and books until we could settle on shades we liked. Admittedly, we probably now have half of their colour book inventory cluttering my desk and Kyle's dashboard! Sunday was spent painting the bedroom, spare room, bathroom, and kitchen. The most difficult thing about this painting day was picking the kitchen and spare room colours. We wanted colours that went with the colour story of the rest of the house, but we didn't want them to be boring and blend in. "Oyster Shell" is this pretty brown colour that we picked for the kitchen and "Satin Sheets" is a mauve-grey that is in the spare room. Again, thank you to Home Hardware for your patience with our many visits this weekend! The house is so different to walk through now. Each room is beginning to have personality again, and has a warmth that hasn't existed since we started the reno last fall. The next steps are: flooring, trim, and windows :).
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We are again in the season of wooly scarves, potted mums, and the spice of dying leaves, and 212 is in the final stretch of renovations. Funnily enough, I received a notification on Facebook this week about it being the one year anniversary of this blog. How weird it is to think back to the very beginning of this house! ...The drywall phase is upon us! Just to recap, after tearing down layers and layers of old insulation, lathe and plaster, and buried treasures, we re-framed, insulated, and vapour barriered the walls. After we are finished drywall, we will move onto taping, then the very last step, which is painting. Who knew walls were such a complicated process?! So far, the first floor is all drywalled. The house kind of feels like you're on the inside of a cake box, as the crisp white drywall has closed up the rooms, and you can no longer slip through the walls like a ghost. That said, I much prefer the closed in walls to bare framing, because that means that 212 is almost liveable :). Kyle and I spent last weekend finishing up the vapour barrier. Then, Kyle and his dad put in many hours in the kitchen and front entrance, measuring, cutting, and setting up the drywall boards. These boards are super heavy and chalky along the edges. What is tricky about the drywall (besides the weight) is that circles have to be cut out for each of the light fixtures before they are nailed. This is especially tricky on the ceiling, where there are multiple pot lights to consider. We now have hired workers to finish up the drywall for us. After only a couple of hours in the house on Friday, it is incredible the progress that they made. I guess this shows how you really cannot underestimate the skill and precision of trained tradespeople. Having a company come in speeds everything up and ensures that it is topnotch. Drywall was unimaginable just a month ago and now, seeing real walls drives us on with new hope that there is an end. Hope you felt a similar drive this first week of the new school year! |
About MeKyle and I just became new homeowners. The house we purchased is not what one would classify as "move in ready"; in fact, it is quite the opposite. Built at the turn of the 20th century, our Victorian style house is both beautiful and terrifying in its ancient status and will be a project in renovation. This is a documentation of our triumphs and lessons learned, as we deconstruct and reconstruct this house. The end result? A space that we can proudly say we created. Archives
December 2016
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