Before and After - Dining Room

The dining room was pretty much a blank canvas when we moved into the house. The walls were the colour of a paper bag (much darker than the pictures show, and there wasn't even a chandelier hanging.

Here are some of the before and after pictures:

 Dining room before

Dining room before

 Dining room after. 

I think I posted this picture in a previous post, but it shows the whole dining room well. The table and chairs were given to us by my Aunt.

 View from the other side showing my frame and mirror collage.

 Sideboard (bookshelf) from Ikea and rocking chair passed down from my Mom and Dad.

This one shows our new chandelier well.

Eventually, we might get a different table and chair set that seats more people, but this one works well for us at the moment. It's from Ikea many years ago and is actually 100% solid wood. That's very rare for Ikea now!

Lola

We've been having a really lazy Sunday Afternoon here. Lola has been all for it and has enjoyed lying in the sunshine.

Before and After - Main Bathroom

I've been busy doing little projects around the house to put the finishing touches on some of the rooms. I finally got around to finishing up the bathroom.

Here are some before and after pictures:

Main Bath Before (showing mirror damage near the tap)

 If I was in charge of naming this colour for the paint company, I would have probably called it 'salmon rose'. Not really my cup of tea.

Main Bath before. 

 Main Bath After - Framed mirror, fresh paint, new chrome toilet paper holder and coordinating soap pump.

 Main Bath After - New bathmat and waterproof fabric shower curtain.

 Main Bath After

Main Bath After - Poppy paintings that we previously had up in our old living room, new chrome towel rack and coordinating towels.

The final thing to do in there was to frame the bathroom mirror. It's not very visible in the before pictures, but there was some damage at the bottom of the mirror. It ran about 12 inches  either side of the tap and went up about 2 inches. I think it was just water damage, but I really didn't like it. I though about replacing the whole mirror, but when I started looking at mirrors that were big enough, I realized that they were way too expensive (around $200+)

I went to Rona (DIY store) and picked up two 8 foot pieces of MDF moulding. They have a cutting area there, so I brought the measurements of my mirror to them and got the guys in the store to cut the pieces to the right length at 45 degree angles to make the frame. It was so much easier than trying to cut them myself and making a mess (and possibly a mistake).

The moulding came primed, so I just painted it with some soft gold acrylic paint before I put it up.

Once the paint was dry, I applied LePage 'No More Nails' to the back of the pieces and put them up one by one.

This project was super easy, and I think it makes a big difference. The total cost for this project was under $15. Much better than buying a whole new mirror!

Memories of the UK Part 2

 Quayside. Gateshead looking over onto Newcastle, England.

Holyrood Abbey Ruins, Edinburgh, Scotland

Hamilton obelisk and the Governor's house, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland

Another Thrift Store Treasure

Ever since I can remember, my Mom has loved a bargain and loved going to thrift stores. I used to go a lot too, but I kind of got out of the habit when I lived in the UK. Since moving into the new house I've definitely begun to love them again. A new Value Village opened up in the summer and it always has really interesting things in it.

On a recent visit, we found a candelabra. It was really tarnished and dirty, but it looked like it had some potential. First off, it definitely looked like it was real silver (or at least silver plated).  It also weighed a tonne. I thought this  would be a plus just in case I was home alone one night and had an intruder (who needs an ugly baseball bat hanging around when you have a trust candelabra?) It was for sale for $9.99. The original price tag was still on the bottom and read $149. We found a bargain! My Mom said she wanted to buy it for me as a housewarming present. She also said that she'd clean it, which was great.

Have you ever wondered how to clean silver? Well if so, apparently this method works quite well.

Step 1 - line the bottom of your kitchen sink with aluminium foil

Step 2 - fill the sink with warm water

Step 3 - add the silver that you wish to polish

Step 4 - sprinkle liberal amounts of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda for all my British friends)

Step 5 - wait

Apparently this shines up your silverware like you wouldn't believe!  There is no scrubbing needed. I wasn't with my Mom to witness the magic, but the proof is in the pudding!

This is the shiny end result.

I found the deep red candles for 3 for a dollar at a local dollar store, so I have one extra just in case. I think it looks pretty impressive for something that only cost $12 in total and a bit of baking soda.

What I Painted!

So a while back I wrote a post about some frames I bought at a local thrift store. I decided that I wanted to paint some poppies. I've had a little obsession with poppies for a few years now. I think that they are probably my favourite flowers. I just love the colour of them and how they seem to blow in the breeze. I didn't take and during pictures, as I tend to get into painting too much to remember to.

Before

After

I've put them up in the dining room above our 'sideboard' (an Ikea Expedit bookshelf turned on it's side)

The colours in the painting seem to pick up the colours in the vases above nicely.

I'm not the best painter in the world, but they didn't turn out too shabby if I do say so myself! 

Old Window Project

I've had two old windows from my parent's farm sitting around for over a year and a half. I was storing it in their basement, and once we moved, they brought it over. One of the windows had all of it's glass in tact, and the other one had a few smashed pieces. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to make a mirror out of the one with the smashed glass, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the other one. I thought about making it a table, but it was a bit too fragile for that.

I finally decided on making it a picture frame. I ordered my prints online, and picked them up at the grocery store near my work. I decided to fill the frame with more pictures from our time in the UK. This weekend, I started working on the window.

This was what the dusty window looked like before

The frame was loose and the glass was nearly falling out.

I had to do some Molly-style DIY with some wood glue and string to hold it while it dried.

I put painters tape around the edges of the glass and painted the frame with white enamel paint.

I found the plain white too stark, so I tried putting a wash of brown paint and water over the top and then wiping it to give it an 'antiqued' look. I then put the pictures in and backed them with deep red scrapbook paper. I STILL wasn't happy with the way it looked. Something about the white paint made it look too new. My husband suggested that I try painting it brown.

I applied 2 coats of dark brown acrylic paint. After it dried, I painted the frame with gold paint, and then rubbed it off with dry paper towel. 

I'm so much happier with the way it looks now. I still have to find a place on a wall for it, as it's quite large. I'm probably going to wait to hang it until I'm finished making the other one into a mirror, but we'll see!

Our Big Tiling Weekend

This past weekend we kept busy by tiling the back splash. I had never tiled before, but it wasn't too bad. It was more time consuming than it was difficult.

We started out by mixing the mortar that's used to stick the tiles on the walls. I'm sure different kinds of mortar have different instructions, but this one said to put the mortar and water in a bucket, mix for 5 minutes, let sit for 10 and then mix for another 2 minutes. I would definitely recommend using a corded drill as I think this would burn a cordless drill out in no time. It's about the consistency of peanut butter when you're done.

I didn't get a photo of the mortar on the walls, but you use a mortar spreader to put it on, which makes ridges. This makes the tiles adhere better. The fun part about putting the tile up is going around all of the outlets etc. We had 4 outlets, a phone jack and a window to contend with. Put spacers in between the tile to make sure they're the right distance apart.

After all of the tiles are up, wait for around 24 hours.

The next step is the messy bit. Grout! We chose a charcoal coloured grout. The mixing process was similar to the mortar. You use something called a grout float to apply it. You have to be quite quick while you're doing this part as it dries really quickly.

It looked pretty horrible at this point. I was really hoping it would wipe off and look nice! After 25 minutes, we started to wipe the excess grout off with large sponges.

After a lot of wiping, it finally started to look good. We had to keep on rinsing our sponges off so that we weren't just spreading the grout around. In this photo the grout is still wet.

This is the finished product up close.

Before

After!

I'll put more after pictures up when it is completely finished. I still have to do some painting around the windows, and caulk around the counter top.

I would definitely recommend that everyone try tiling at least once. The end result is really rewarding!

Lola

This is our new goldendoodle puppy named Lola. She's 13 weeks old in this picture. She's getting bigger by the minute and will eventually weigh around 70 pounds.

It's amazing to think that she was only this big a few months ago!

Another Curbside Find

A while back my Mom gave me a stool that she had found at the curb on garbage day. It was still sturdy, but the  fabric on the seat was a bit worn and dated.

I measured the width of the seat and added about 6 inches just to be safe. I then went to Fabricland to look for an upholstery fabric that would work. The fabric I chose was in the clearance section, so I think it ended up costing me around $6.

The seat padding was still in good condition and the seat fabric was clean, so I left them both on to make this project even faster. If either were not in good condition, I would suggest taking them off and starting from the bare bones.

All I needed to do was cut a piece of the fabric the same size as the seat cushion (adding a few inches to wrap around), pop the seat out (it wasn't secured down with anything), staple the fabric down tightly and put the seat back on.

I don't have any during pictures, so if I do a project like this again I'll make an effort to get some.

This is the recovered stool.

The legs are wood. I haven't decided whether I'm going to paint them or not. They are somewhat scratched, but I kind of like the way they look. I think this is another great find. At least we were able to save it before it ended up in a landfill.

Memories of the UK

We moved back to Canada from England in September 2010. I really miss certain aspects of the UK. I definitely miss my family and friends there, but I also really miss the scenery and history.

I have so many pictures from our time there, and a lot of them adorn the walls of our new house. Here are a few of my favourites. I feel so privileged that I was able to spend 6 years in such a beautiful place. I'm looking forward to visiting as soon as possible.

The view from Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

Whitley Bay Lighthouse, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear

Seaside sunset in Seaton Sluice, Tyne and Wear

Our New Chandelier

When we bought our house, there was a big hole with electrical wires sticking out where the previous dining room chandelier hung. I'm sure that the previous owners are definitely not supposed to take light fixtures, but I didn't complain, because it wasn't my style anyways. It also meant that I didn't have to live with a chandelier that I didn't like and that I could find one that I liked right away.

This was the real estate photo that shows the old chandelier.

I went on another search to find what I wanted. I knew I wanted something quite modern, but not too out there, as I didn't want it to date too quickly.

I started out looking for ideas like I normally do online. I have to say that most of the chandeliers I say were way too ornate and fancy.

The first one I saw that I liked was at Canadian Tire for $188 (seen below)

It looked really nice online, but when I got to the store, it seemed a lot smaller and underwhelming.

While I was there, I noticed one that I liked a lot more. It was modern, but not too modern and had nice simple clean lines.

It was the exact same price, but looked much better in person.

I went home without it that day, because I saw an ad in their flyer that some of their lighting was going on sale for 50% off starting the next day. I thought I'd wait and hope for the best. Sure enough the next day it was on sale and I bought the last one.

We had never done any electrical installations before, so I asked my Dad to come over to help. Both of my parents came over, and my Mom actually ended up installing the light. My Dad isn't very fond of heights, so he volunteered my Mom for the job. The first thing we did was shut the power off to the fixture **very important** and after a few false starts, my Mom did it! She had never done this before, but my Dad guided her through it from the bottom of the ladder.

This is the final product.

I'll add a more zoomed out picture once the dining room has been completed.

We're really satisfied with how it looks. Another plus is my Mom can now add electrician to the many hats she already wears.

Tile, Tile and More Tile

Our new house doesn't have a back splash in the kitchen. I know this isn't something that is essential, but we had one in all of the rental properties that we've lived in previously and I knew that was something I wanted to do. Because it wasn't an essential item for the house, I put it to the back of my mind and told myself we'd be able to do it 'one day'.

A little while after we moved in, my parents came over for tea. My Mom handed me a card. I never expected anything to be in it, as they had already done so much to help us with the move and redecorating. When I opened it, it was a nice little card to welcome us into our new home, and it had a cheque in it. They let us know that they would like to see us use it for a back splash (they knew how much I really wanted one). I was thrilled to know that I could start doing some serious searching on the internet for some tile ideas and get started on the project.

I knew that I wanted something like a mosaic tile, but I was open to different colours and materials. I was looking through the hundreds of tile options on the Home Depot website and came across one that I really liked. It was a 2''x2'' slate tile (shown in the picture below).

I liked that it had so many different colours in it and would match almost anything. They were also a really good price for tile ($9.99 per square foot)

I let my Mom know that I thought I had found the tile I wanted, and measured the walls so I knew how much tile I needed to buy. After measuring, I worked out that I needed 20 square feet, including 10% waste for cuts etc. It seemed like a lot more than I needed, but it's probably better to have too many tiles than too few. This is a picture of our kitchen before. 

I might be wrong, but 20 square feet? Really??

 We went out shopping recently, and I suggested that we stop at Lowes to see their selection before making the final decision.

Low and behold, Lowes had a very similar tile, but it was 1''x1'' tile instead of the 2 inch option at Home Depot. I liked the look of it even more because it was smaller and looked more like mosaic tile. It also has less blue-ish tones in it than the picture above,which I preferred. Another bonus was that it was $8.99 per square foot instead. I got the required square footage, the mortar and the grout (a charcoal grey) and we were on our way.

I've decided that if we have a lot of tiles left after completing the the back splash, I might look into replacing the tile around the fireplace in the kitchen to match (shown below) that way it would tie everything together nicely.

Real Estate Photo of the fireplace area (not our furniture)

I'm really excited to see how this turns out. I've never tiled before, but my parents are going to help out. What would I do without them? They are pretty amazing people.