lookin' real good

It's like a whole new kitchen in here! The lower cabinet doors went back up tonight. Love it! There's a few tiny things left (3 electrical plugs, caulking, tile sealing) but we'll make our deadline for Friday for those things. The ceiling is one major thing left to fix up but that is just going to wait... so daunting. Instead we'll relish in this nearly complete beauty of a kitchen!!

getting frosty

Project of the day: frosted glass for our upper cabinets. Looking pretty slick. Might just new to paint the shelves inside since you can really see the white through the glass. Plus, one day I plan to paint the whole insides a fun colour, and organize the junk that's still partially showing through. 

bam, grouted!

I'm especially pumped about this almost-final step because it's like icing in the cake, and I had a major hand in the results. My first grouting experience is in the bag. My lovely assistant helped too of course, this really was a team effort that took the afternoon. And the kids were as accommodating as we could ask for with grout up to our eyeballs. "What doing mama?", A's reaction to me up on a ladder awkwardly perched above the sink. 

grey and white

Not done but EXCITING!

the end is near

I imagine anyone who has/is renovating can understand this sentiment: almost DONE! Yet that finish line is still just over the hill. Small things like switching electrical outlets, getting glass cut for cabinet doors, hanging shelves, grouting and the most dreaded task - scraping/patching/painting the ceiling are yet to be completed. All the tile is up now though! And painting the lower cabinets is well underway. Here's the latest: 

painted uppers

More progress! The upper doors are painted and up. Well 7 of them. The other 4 need new glass cut for them. The paint is Benjamin Moore Advance and it's been fantastic to work with!

And now on to painting the lower cabinets... New Years deadline? 

more tile

Another month, another project moving along. Life got in the way for most of November but we managed to tile another wall this week. It isn't grouted yet because we still have to tile the backsplash on the other side of the kitchen. We're far from experts but each bit of tile is a bit more learning and we've been working together at it pretty well. 

Above the sink there are going to be 2 shelves and a storage element from Ikea. It'll be kind of nice to move some things of the dining room table when that's done!  

The goal for completion is Christmas, which is rather daunting with December being tomorrow, but we might just be able to power through. Fingers crossed!

oh so beautiful

These beauties speak for themselves... :)

fresh paint

Out with the blue and in with the new! The kitchen is now freshly painted with CIL Atmosphere and looking fine. It feels awesome to be checking things off our list and painting walls felt like a dream after sanding/priming cabinets. Of course some parts, like above the sink, will be tile so that part awaits our counters/sink/faucet to be installed - and tomorrow is the big day for that! 

countertops pt 1

Things are starting to come together! Our biggest ticket item(s) - Silestone counter with new sink and faucet - are being installed on Friday so it's been great motivation to keep other parts moving. So while we're feeling the countertop love, the side counters got a nice upgrade today. They're Ikea Akerby in Birch, a nice easy change to replace our 80's laminate. Since most of our food prep is done on the peninsula it was an opportunity to use something more affordable and have the warmth of wood. The cabinets are only primed but I'm loving the change already. Their thunder will surely be stolen at the end of the week, so for now, we'll oogle over our new side countertops! 

let there be light!

Things are getting bright in here! It highlights how horrible everything else looks right now but it's super exciting to have much better light. 

kitchen to be

Our Oct. 1 "deadline" may have passed but our kitchen reno is underway and has been occupying a ton of spare time since June. It's not a total re-do, it's working with what we've got and making it awesome. A few very un-glamorous progress shots:

playroom

Our formerly adult living room is now a play room. It's pretty cute so I'm okay with it. And super awesome that it includes mini furniture from my own childhood!

laundry update

Another extremely overdue post! Before miss A arrived in March we updated our laundry room. Paint plus a re-purposed counter that I snagged from a reno at my office. Huge difference! And we took the door off the room as well so we have more space for hooks and things since our mudroom is now filled with mini-sized jackets and boots for our wee ones. And since we do a LOT of laundry it's a well loved update. 

bathroom redo

Last fall we stated updating our downstairs bathroom. What an enormous difference one band of tile could make! The 80's are gone. Plus a new vanity, faucet, shower curtain (sliding doors be gone), toilet, paint, trim and accessories. It's kind of a Young House Love type of update. Cheap and awesome. And complete well before miss A arrived. 

kitchen re-fresh part 2

Coming along! A million and one flooring samples later we've made a decision and are awaiting the arrival of our new flooring. That'll get underway in January. Followed by new countertops and backsplash. And eventually dark refinished cabinets. Exciting stuff!

project bathroom de-80's

Progress has been moving along on operation "fix up our house before baby #2 arrives". It's slow-going but it's happening so that's what matters! The bathroom was first to get started. Ripping out the 80's strip of tile was probably the most gratifying home reno I've ever done! Closely followed by removing the frosted bird shower doors. And the new paint looks fab, though isn't pictured. Left to do is: 1)Flooring 2) Install Vanity 3) Replace Toilet 4) Replace light fixture 5) Hang Towel Bars/Hooks. The changes in our bathroom are relatively minor but here's a little sneak peek.

kitchen re-fresh

It's time to do something about out kitchen... before life gets crazy busy with 2 little ones. We have always hated the ceramic tile - it's grey but has dashes of a kind of pink in it - and now I have even more reason to dislike it. Last week I dropped a plate which shattered into a million pieces and made me incredibly thankful that L was in his high chair at the time. But it's not the first time, probably about the 4th, that glass has fallen on the hard tile and it's no good. So to replace it we are looking for options to go over it because it is directly on the cement pad. The innovative Clik systems make that possible, and easy to install. It has to be kitchen/mudroom/bathroom/laundry friendly, covering under 400 sq. ft. Cork is a definite option. Or vinyl planks. It meets up with gorgeous cherry hardwood so its a balance to figure out what won't look terrible. And with new flooring comes the possibility of painting or staining our oak cabinets and replacing the countertops. Hmmmm....

pennies

Eep, I forget where I found this sweet sweet flooring idea (Facebook maybe). Anyway, it is awesome! Canadian pennies are stopping production very soon so I'm going to try and get my hands on a whole bunch before then because I think this idea would also make a bad-ass backsplash.

clever design

What a clever idea for all your favs! Side table by Etsy seller janedandy.