Tag Archives: Renovation

Our Cottage Renovation

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This past winter we headed up to our cottage or our ‘cabin in the woods’ (fondly coined by my Father-in-Law) to begin a cottage ‘make-over’.

Structurally everything was sound; this renovation was more about aesthetics.  When the cottage was re-built in the early 1970’s the ceiling was only 7 ½ feet high (will never understand why!!) which not until recently posed any problem.  But now our very tall son whenever he passed under the ceiling fan had a good chance of being scalped!  So get rid of the fan or raise the ceiling?  We opted to raise the ceiling.  And this was also the perfect time to redecorate!

This project that has spread out over many weekends started one snowy day in early January.  During winter we are not able to drive up to the cottage so we walk in from the road.  There is no plumbing, the stove is not hooked up and the power often goes out in the middle of the night.  Brrrrr!  All provisions must be carried in and heated over the wood stove.

My husband and son emptied out the space and piled all the furniture into the bedrooms/bathroom/porch.

We also decided that since we were changing the ceiling we would get rid of the 1970’s wall paneling that in an attempt to disguise had painted red a few years ago.  Not sorry to see any of it go including all the red upholstery.  I realize now I tire of red real quick.  Accents yes, walls and upholstery no!!  Lesson learned.

Notice in the bedroom photo the taxidermy deer head!  This was given to us from friends (who no longer wanted it themselves – it scared the grandkids) and right now we are in debate as to whether it will hang in the new space!!!!  Stay tuned.

All images via Modmissy

 

My Corner Fireplace Dilemma

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When we purchased our home the basement was finished. Although many different definitions of ‘finished’ abound! The house is ~100 years old so a century ago the ‘cellar’ was never meant to live in. The basement was cold as insulation was not a factor in the home’s original construction. The previous owners tried to rectify this problem by installing a fireplace. A corner fireplace. Often considered to be the bane of designers! They also had a Santa Fe décor (note the purple wall colour) I believe to emulate warmth!? Due to the room’s layout the only place for the television was above the fireplace – terrible neck strain! Also, that meant that our sofa/sitting area was in the most narrow part of the room while the rest of the space was unused. We rectified this by flipping everything around. We got rid of the [ugly] corner fireplace and our solution to the cold factor was…..wait for it….insulation! In the process of figuring out the best solution as to how the room could be used we moved everything into different positions and lived with it for a while. After a long and dirty (we found out where at one time the furnace coal used to be stored) we now have a fabulous new ‘media’ room.

All images via Modmissy

 

 

Re-using 1970’s Paneling

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As I have mentioned in previous posts I live in a home that is about 100 years old.  Although there have been only 4 different owners throughout the homes existence there has been a number of ‘alterations’.  My home still has some of its original 10” baseboards, crown molding and leaded windows but a lot of the homes original features have been changed.  Mind you updated wiring, plumbing, windows and insulation are great changes.  We (hubby and me) have probably done the most changes to the home but a lot of those were necessary.  Every owner wants to put their personal style into the home so sometime in the ‘70’s all the walls on the main and 2nd floor had paneling applied to them.  Not cherry or gumwood but the ‘cheesy’ kind so well-known for the ‘70’s.  In the ‘90’s another owner decided to wallpaper over all the paneling but first had every single groove in the paneling plastered over to give the wallpaper a smooth finish.  Not an easy or inexpensive task.   When we finally became the homeowners we initially painted every single paneled/plastered/wallpapered wall but slowly, room by room we started to tackle the job of gutting the walls.  This allowed us to start putting some insulation into the house, to update the wiring and add new drywall.  Upon removal of the cheesy ‘70’s paneling we discovered that on the back side the paneling was made of mahogany!  Can you imagine, one of the more valuable wood species in the world that has always been associated with fine furnishings was degraded to cheesy paneling?  It seemed such a waste to dispose of this ‘outstanding’ paneling especially since mahogany trees are now endangered.  We kept these sheets of paneling and have since been using them to make items like my built-in desk.  Isn’t it amazing when you scratch beneath the surface what you may find?

     

                

Modern McDonald’s?

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Have you noticed anything new on the horizon of late?  Ok, I will narrow that down a bit.  Have you noticed the new, re-designed, contemporary-looking McDonalds’s?  The world’s largest hamburger chain that serves millions of people around the globe every day is having a makeover, a facelift.  Keeping in line with their ‘forever young’ brand, McDonald’s restaurants are losing the plastic-heavy, childlike look and presenting a more contemporary, youthful face.  Gone is the signature mansard roof, the bright red and yellow colours and the loud tell-tale golden arches.  I always associated the restaurant as a ‘jungle gym’, romper room type of playhouse; not a place to eat.  Instead the new design of the exterior presents a building with contemporary architecture that is subtle and clean lined.  The roof is now flat and partially cantilevered; the colours are grey, white and a muted red.  Materials include natural and cultured stone.  Very nice touch.  The golden arches are still present but not as big of a focus.   Even the outdoor seating is more edgy and hipper looking.  Although I have not made it inside to check out the interior re-design I am told the old plastic seating has been replaced with leather furniture, plasma televisions and fireplaces.   The ‘new’ McDonald’s is much more architecturally interesting with greater curb appeal and I confess that it now gets my attention.  But would I falter from my claim to fame of “I have never in my life eaten a McDonald’s hamburger”?  Hmmmm?  But hey, I like the ‘tasteful’ new design!

    

          The BEFORE and AFTER Photos.  What was vs. What now is!

     

      Image via Modmissy

My Date with Mr Renovate

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Many years ago I went on a date with a nice man.  He had phoned me up and asked if I would like to join him for a game of tennis.  Sure, sounds fun.  After our game of tennis we went out for ‘wings and a beer’ and shared a bunch of laughs.  The evening was going well so after dinner I asked if he would like to see my house.  I had just bought my first home and I was a little proud.  The home was a ‘starter home’ complete with yellow shag carpet and yellow-flowered wallpaper.  I had removed the wallpaper and painted but the yellow shag carpet still remained.  After having the tour of the house my date stated “you know there is hardwood under this [butt ugly, decades old] carpet” and then proceeded to persuade me to rip that carpet up right there and then.  That was a Thursday night and garbage pick-up was the next day so out went that yellow shag carpet!  But then I started to panic as I looked at the hardwood floor and realized OMG the floor needs repair and refinishing.  I had three tenants in the house that had no intention of becoming renovators.  This was the ‘80’s and my mortgage was at 13 ¾ % and I had no money to hire someone to refinish the floors. So I looked at my date and said “you better stick around to help me refinish these floors!”  Well my date stuck around and helped me refinish the floors, add new baseboard, repaint the room, renovate the bathroom, repair a fence etc., etc., etc.  My date (who sketched me a picture of my first house – see below) certainly did stick around, in fact we have been married for 20 years and we have never stopped renovating.    My love of ripping, refinishing and renovating began on a Thursday evening after a game of tennis, wings and beer because the next day was garbage day.  Or did my date have an ulterior motive??!!

          

Great Design is Transparent

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‘Good design is obvious, great design is transparent’.

I came across this quote some time ago and have had it in the back of my mind pondering its meaning.  I have come to a conclusion that for me this quote means….Good design is obvious, it has accountability, and great design is transparent because it functions in a manner not evident to the user whereas by contrast bad design has no accountability nor does it function well.  Let me explain myself.

Three different homes I’ve owned have been 2-stories.  Three bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor.  Makes sense, very standard.  Obvious good design.  But where great design should have been transparent was the bathroom door not located at the top of the stair directly in line (and view) of the front door.  Instead in all three homes the house was designed so that the front door, stairs and bathroom door were all aligned so that when you sat on the toilette or stepped out of the bathtub you were in plain sight of anyone who came to call at the front door.  And you know that doors are always left open.  Terribly embarrassing.  Where was the design accountability because this layout certainly had poor function?  What was the designer, architect or builder thinking or rather not thinking when they planned the house?

In my recent home we renovated the bathroom (see my post – My Bathroom Reno) and tore the bathroom wall down to move the bathroom door over so that it was not aligned with the front door.  Great idea.  Now, no one will ever now that the bathroom door was ever in the wrong place because ‘great design is transparent’!