The Devil's in the Details

It's Tuesday, it's Spring-like, and this young man's fancy is not turning to thoughts of love, it's turning to sinks and faucets, and granite and stone, and tile and sinks...

And don't forget lighting. That's on my list too. Recessed pot lights, and a few hanging pendants over the island; under cabinet fluorescent strips; and what about the front entryway? Did someone say Sun Tunnel? How about sky-lights?

It's enough to make your head hurt - even if you weren't migraine prone.

And let's not begin to discuss sinks, and why they are half the price of your new stainless steel, side-by-side refrigerator - but all they do is sit there and hold water - they don't freeze it into perfect cubes; or dispense it at the ideal temperature...

I don't understand. And heaven forbid you want additional insulating properties on those sinks! You'd think I'd asked for KFC's secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices!

We spent a few hours this past weekend, camera in hand, looking for alot of things. Sinks among them - and we know what size we want, and yes, we understand the difference between 18/10 and 18/8 and mirrored decks and polished ones - it would just be easier if someone threw one in the cart and said "Here you go, Enjoy!"

Too many choices sometimes lead to no choices being made.

We did find a faucet for the island sink, which by the way will be a round sink used mainly for prep. here's a picture of the sleek faucet:



We're not spending more than the sink on the faucet, and we're not impressed by expensive names with expensive price tags. Form, function and efficiency please, thank you very much.

We looked at many different pendant lights - and happily snapped away with the camera so we could pretend we didn't have to make a choice until later. Here's a few that caught our eyes:

I kinda like the retro feel of these



And these next two have similar shaped lights, which might mean we're leaning that way without realizing it.




We're looking for something traditional to go with the style of painted maple cabinets with a hand-rubbed glaze top coat. But we haven't decided on cabinet handles yet - so we'll let the lighting decision simmer while we attend to more pressing issues.

Like tile for the backsplash... more on that next time!

Out with the old, in with the new

I sat and contemplated things yesterday in the erie silence that was our house. No distant hum from lights to colour the background; no constant furnace fan whirring around me everywhere I went; none of those everyday sounds that we've learned to ignore as we go about our days; nothing but the sounds of productive work echoing from the basement laundry / utility room.

Except the rumble of a gas-powered generator outside on the deck, as the electricians worked to remove the old electrical breaker panel that has served this house since 1962, and it's newer companion, the sub panel I had installed a few years back when I brought the Delta cabinet table saw back home and set up a scaled down woodworking shop space in our small single car garage.

I brought in a company to handle this aspect of the renovation, a company I use on a regular basis for electrical work commercially in the course of my regular life as a contract project manager for a commercial general contractor. The guys are almost like family - I see them regularly, know their stories and their natures, and they know me - so it's not your typical residential job for them, it's different, it's easier in a lot of respects, but more difficult at the same time - for while they know I'll give them free reign to correct and fix what they see, and I won't hover and stand over their shoulders while they're working, they also know that I'm not a one-off customer they won't have contact with again. The stakes are higher to produce a quality product.

But that's why I asked for the lead electrician I did, because I know he'll clean everything up like it's his own house and make it right; even more than right when possible, and he knows I appreciate his knowledge and his attention to detail.

Sure I dropped in on them now and then and checked their progress as they went about tagging, cataloguing and tracing the existing lines to make sure each one was accounted for and able to be installed in the new service properly and orderly, but I gave them space to work required, and they knew if they needed clarification on any aspect of the job I'd be there to assist them, and when they needed some 2x4 cut offs to attach the new plywood backer board, all they had to do was ask.

I think its important to give people space to perform their work, and not micromanage what doesn't need your input. It's a lot like raising children, sure they need boundaries and discipline and the knowledge that actions have consequences, but you have to let them grow and learn on their own for best results.

With this first tangible step in the renovation process underway, it struck my how much our lives are going to change this summer, and while I'm comfortable with the amount of upheaval that's headed our way, I'm not sure Karen or Riley is aware of what's barreling down the tracks right at them. But that's how we roll, I'll try and keep them comfortably unaware of the multitude of things going on behind the scenes as we approach that day when we can finally swing a hammer and start dismantling those past chapters of our lives tied into those doomed walls; like a good parent, protecting my crew from unnecessary stress and uncertainty, while at the same time, preparing them for the positive things coming their way.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Here's what was powering the house before:

(click to see full images)

And what we've got moving forward:

Now we have lots of room to grow; and so does our electrical service.

A look back

So here's where we started back in 1995.

Lovely 1960's bungalow, 1400ish square feet main floor, 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, finished basement, attached (small single) garage.

It's changed colours a few times.

The trees have been removed, and or replanted - depends where you're looking.

Here's a picture last fall:

Yeah, I know, it looks a little barren without the trees. I think so too, glad you agree!

Here's what we found inside back then:

The lovely 60's kitchen.Check out that toaster oven over the Harvest Gold range! "Here's George Jetson..."

A view down the main floor hall. Yep, that's green and then blue carpet... wowsie!

The built-in mahogany china cabinet - in the dining room which is across the hall from the kitchen. (see past said china cabinet into kitchen doorway above)

The Gorgeous pink upstairs bathroom. Note the Hospital green painted insides on the vanity cabinet...

And not to be outdone, the blue basement bathroom... (and we BOUGHT this place?)

Yes, yes we did. I'll save you the shock of seeing the basement today, you can only handle so much. The previous owners left this house in the 60's with the decorating and furnishings too - the half-moon coffee table and purple sofa greeted us when we toured the open house.

Yes we got the place for a steal.

We saw the bones of the house and its potential. It was well built, all Douglas Fir framing, and straight and square, so we knew we could start over and have the house grow with us as we went. So we tackled the obvious issues; carpet, paint, added some built-ins and then lived in the house for a few years and figured out where we'd go from there.

Sure, well meaning family members told us to paint the kitchen cabinets for the time being, but we knew better, we knew we'd be tackling that room soon. Soon, as in this lifetime, it turns out, and not 'soon' as in the next year or so, but our intentions were good. We bought new appliances for the kitchen and adjusted our expectations once Riley arrived. But we kept fine tuning things, like paint colours (I think we're on the 4th or 5th colour in the master bedroom and at least that in the living room, dining room and main hall) and home office vs master bed room vs nursery locations - for awhile there each of the three main floor bedrooms got a crack at being one or the other.

Finally we stuck with the current arrangement, Riley's room at the end of the hall (blue carpet above) Master BR left hand side of end of hall beside that, with the 3rd BR becoming the office, across the hall from the former pink bathroom. We gutted that bathroom and redid it about 5 years ago. Good bye pink, hello earthy greys and greens and maple cabinetry and in-floor heated tile. I'll try and find a picture for you. But don't ask about the lack of doors on the medicine cabinets. They didn't get built. And then after a few years of living with the sans door concept, we tore out that set and recessed new units into the wall and ordered mirrors custom cut to fit into the solid maple doors I was making.

Anyone remember what happened with that project last year? High 4 1/2 if you do!

Next time, more pictures of the current main floor, and maybe a quick look at the basement before and after.

But first, lets hold hands and sing songs. I've got the electrician in tomorrow to replace the existing electrical service panel and sub panel in the basement, so we'll have a fresh new start for the new wiring that's coming in the expanded kitchen space. That's the first real step in this project.

It looks like we're serious about this!

Home Sweet Home...for now.

Ahh, spring time in Paris! The cafes; the blossoms; the architecture...

No wait. Check that.

The calendar says Spring, but there's not much springing up and growing anew just yet, and this isn't Paris, it's Winnipeg, which once Spring starts happening is very wonderful and fresh as it removes its winter trappings and begins to green up and bloom, but it's not Paris.

And this ain't a love song.

This is the beginning of a story, a journey to find something new, of recreation and rebirth. It's been a number of years in the making (don't ask, it's been awhile, trust me) and its finally here; we're renovating the house.

Sure, we've done minor rehabs to the interior in the past, including the main floor bathroom (complete gut) and the basement including full bath down there too, and numerous coats of paint and new trim and roof, and seemingly endless variations of yardwork including 2 decks, 5 or 6 raised flower beds, the shed, and the fence. But this year we're tackling the kitchen.

And if you know us, you also know that its not going to be just a simple kitchen redo, with new cabinets and flooring and lights etc.

No, I've been blessed with a broken switch that allows things to grow, to blossom into much larger, more grander incarnations of their original plans. Like vacations, but that's another story...

It all started with an Island. Actually that's not true, it all started moments after we moved into this house, and made a list of the things we wanted to change about it, to make it our own. Like removing the green carpet on the main floor, and the pink and white shag carpet in the master bedroom, or the blue carpet in the back bedroom. Under all of which we found oak hardwoods. Or the pink bathroom fixtures upstairs, or the raised velvet on the black and red wallpaper in the rec-room that went so well with the dark wood panelling, and the black vinyl-upholstered front on the wet bar, which matched with the vinyl coverings on the support columns...

With all those areas fighting for priority, the kitchen got pushed down the list - though we knew we wanted to change it. And so we planned it out, while we worked on the other areas. And as life is known to do, plans change. Riley was born, certain areas of the renovations took greater immediacy than others, then vacations grew... and grew again, and again...well, you get the idea.

The time has come, the time is now.

And so, this year we've decided and embarked on the plan. Not the same plan for the kitchen that we first started with, mind you, or the second or third... And truthfully, if we had built any of those we'd be redoing the kitchen again, for those first plans wouldn't have solved the main issue we had with this house: that the main traffic flow to the basement went right through the too small kitchen.

Next time: some pictures of the old, and a look at how we got here.