Sunday, June 10, 2007

Renovating

Today was finally a day for Alex and I to hang out. Of course he slept in a lot following his gig last night at Savannah House as part of NXNE. The show was really good.

After he finally woke up, I found out that he didn't have to go to work afterall. It was a day for us. So we went off to the tile stores at Lawrence and Dufferin. Picturesque part of town (I wish I could write in sarcastic fonts).

Anyway, after many no's, we agreed on a couple options. My favourite is a tumbled mosaic marble tile (2" x 4") in "Botticino" (beigey white) for our backsplash. It is beautiful. Looks like a mini brick.

The other options were 3x6 matte white or chocolate subway tiles. Pretty and probably OK, but not great. The chocolate I think would be too dark for our kitchen, which is already painted a brown-grey colour.

We're still looking at counter top options. The chocolate subway tiles are an option, but I'd really like a dark stone-like large tile. We just couldn't agree on any. I saw a couple of limestone options that looked very nice. But then, if we go with the marble tumbled mosaic tiles, will a stone-like counter top be too much texture?

Tough choices. But we need to decide soon, as we'll be having a lot of people over in mid-July and our kitchen is currently a construction zone. Ugh. I also hate that I can't currently cook in there.

Exciting to look at the choices, but we're not being very efficient with our time and I'm a little concerned about actually getting it done.

At the same time, we have another window quote coming in tomorrow night. A lot of money about to spent at the WebGoddessCathy house in the next short while.

I just want to like my house and be comfortable. But still on the list includes:
  • landscaping - turning our lawn into a garden, regrading the soil, filling up my container gardens, buying patio furniture so that people have somewhere to sit when they come over for a BBQ.
  • front porch - definitely redoing the railing, possibly changing the decking boards
  • house exterior - possibly new siding or possibly stucco, which appears to be a very expensive option, but may be OK to replace a small portion at the front that is currently very badly stucco'd.
  • laundry room floor - we finished the main part of the laundry room structural change over. Now we need to put in the floor so that I can put the dryer back in.
  • ceiling fan - the master bedroom has a ceiling fan that has just been sitting there on the floor for months. Months!
  • dishwasher - taking out one cupboard and adding a 1/2-sized dishwasher. It could save our relationship.
  • master bedroom painting - painting a third wall jalapeno green and painting a headboard onto the wall above the bed (in white and brown, I think)
  • kitchen sink replacement and possibly repainting the cupboards and redoing the under-counter lighting.
  • entryway table - restaining/painting the baker's rack by the door to match our decor


But I do take comfort that we have done:
  • floors
  • painting (only a few small touch ups needed and master, as above)
  • garden clean up - the stuff that's there is at least clean and neat
  • laundry room head room
  • air conditioning
  • over the range microwave - just the cupboard door to put back on
  • curtains - designed and sewed by me and my mom!
  • insulated the attic - I am a superstar for doing that crappy job!


Oh the never-ending joys of house ownership. It's exhausting.

2 comments:

Raye said...

wow cathy ... nothing about this post makes me want to invest in a house ... ever. Good think it's not even close to a reality. whew!

Unknown said...

Raye, I don't think I totally understood what people were saying when they said, "there will ALWAYS be something to do on your house."

However, keep in mind that this is me at my most mental/overwhelmed panic mode.

Have you read any of my posts when I'm about to leave on a big trip or about to move and how weird I get about packing? This is how I get about the To-Do list for my house.

Also keep in mind that I have an OLD house. It was built before WWI. So it's got some quirks.

Buy a newer house, or one that's already been renovated and you'll be fine.

Actually, my house is probably fine as it is. But now that I know people are coming over for a BBQ in July, I'm all paranoid about it looking beautiful. Why?

Because I'm a little crazy.

Don't be scared. This is just my place to vent my crazy.