In the two weeks since I first wrote about us buying a house we’ve managed to get a lot done. The problem is you can’t see any of it because we haven’t started any of the physical work just yet. So far it’s all been behind-the-scenes stuff. We’ve been working hard to get as many quotes as possible for the various projects we want to do and doing our own research on virtually everything. This is crucial when you’re trying to stick to a  budget because the sky is truly the limit when it comes to home renos.

Last week,  Scott Yetman, a family friend and an incredibly talented interior designer spent four hours with us inside our home. He’s out of our price range but we really wanted him to help get us started on the right foot. He designed my room when I was five! Together we picked window treatments, as well as a paint color for the interior (Benjamin Moore White Heron). We also decided to make an entrance from the office into the living room because the office is right off the kitchen and this door will create a better flow when we’re entertaining (how grown-up sounding!).

Scott also confirmed we need to rip out the tile in our powder room (I believe “offensive” was the word he used). I think we should wallpaper it with a really fun pattern, or go with a more simple grass cloth (can you tell I have trouble making decisions?) We also started talking about furniture layouts and lighting ideas. We are going to replace the light fixtures in two of the bathrooms, and the pendant lights in the kitchen. We also need a new front entryway light to improve the overall look of our front entrance. We were initially thinking of getting a new front door but that project is currently on hold after we learnt the type of door we want costs $7000. Seriously, like who comes up with these prices? Are they even for real?

The main projects we have to do before we move in include: sanding and re-staining the wood floors in three bedrooms; creating a new doorway from the office into the living room; ripping out the powder room tiles; and re-painting the entire interior as well as the exterior trim of the house. It’s currently brown and we’ve been trying for days to find the perfect shade of navy to replace it with. Here’s hoping we actually get started on the physical work next week. You can’t believe how hard it is to find professionals you can trust and who return your calls. Stay tuned.

xoxo

Val