Friday, January 29, 2010

We're already at drywall!

Holy snot! Drywall is being installed today. DRYWALL! Already!

This is the best reno ever.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Yayness!

I am filled with squee.  Oodles and oodles of squee.  A little over two weeks ago, we left on a jet plane to paradise while contractors began gutting and fixing our woebegone second storey.  We came home to find the work had progressed very quickly.  I have taken the aforementioned awful before photos and, this weekend, will take and post a number of progress shots.

Let me first just say that I LOVE Gord Porrit and Norm Stubbes.  LOVE THEM!  They do this amazing stuff like call us, do what they say they're going to do, problem solve and take pride and care with their work.  They are actually ahead of schedule, if you can believe it.  After doing through a renovation nightmare last spring and summer, this experience with Stubbes Construction has been so completely and wonderfully pleasant and worry-free, that I almost feel like I'm leaving in a dream.  A dream of renovation bliss.  I honestly don't even mind having our temporary toilet installed next to the kitty litter boxes in the basement (the trick is not to make eye contact with the cats).

Right now, everything has already been gutted, the sub floor is in, the joists for the half storey have been braced, the knob and tube is gone, the plumbing has been roughed in, the beam and supports are installed to collapse the two bedrooms into one, the framing is complete on the pony wall and powder room and the electrical is going in today.  The Neptune Space shower was brought in to help ensure the lines were installed appropriately and I had a chance to stand on the base.  It's absolutely ginormous. 

In the meantime, once I get home, I am going to post a few photos from one of the rooms we booked at Casa Takywara
on Isla Holbox.  It was absolutely gorgeous - my exact idea of what an island retreat should be.  A lovely little garden, white washed walls, bright pops of colour and not one but two hammocks so we didn't even have to share!  Also, a coffee maker and electricity rounded out the features... fresh ground yuppy organic fair trade dark roast from the Kootenays throughout our stay brewed deliciously strong every morning along with More's fresh baked bread or croissants and ripe, juicy fruit...   Mmmm. 







  
  
  
 

 
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Sunday, January 3, 2010

Busy Weekend

What a busy weekend!  We spent a good chunk of it cleaning out quite a bit of the second storey to get it ready for demolition and setting up the main floor as an apartment.  It actually looks attractive and comfortable.  We also got the drapery my mom lengthened for us hung up in the dining room/bedroom area..  One of the things I've learned from living through a few renos is that you can't put a price on order and comfort when you're up to your ears in drywall compound. 

Here are a few photos.


 

 


 

 

Smudge doesn't seem to mind it at any rate.  Oh, and on a positive note, setting up the bed in the middle of what should be the dining room helped to settle the question of whether or not we should drop a chandelier into the middle on the canopy bed.  While it's a pretty idea, our bed is just way too high.  We don't have a lot of clearance at all at present so we've adjusted the bed to put the fixture closer to our feet so we don't sit up into the thing in the middle of the night.

Also, I am in love with our new bed.  I feel so cocooned and snugly in it.