kitchen design

This is what we're thinking about for the kitchen reno now.  Since the last post we were undecided about taking the wall down between the kitchen and dining room, but I think we've pretty much decided that we want an island.  So that means, this minor kitchen refresh has turned into a complete gut and redo, including removing that wall and making it completely open.  Something we hadn't planned on doing, but I think it's for the best long-term. We're already spending a decent amount of money, and we plan on being here for a long time, so better to do something we're completely happy with. No regrets.

3D Views with the wall down looking in from the dining room. Basic design is the same as with the wall up, but we lose some upper cabinet space.

View from inside the kitchen looking out, thinking about a wall cabinet on the other side of the dining room to make up for some of the lost cabinets in the kitchen. I'm not sure if it will make the dining room too small, though?

Marn is meeting with the cabinet maker and a friend to this morning to discuss if the wall can actually come down without problems. I believe that it can as there's nothing under the wall and it runs parallel to the floor joists.  A load bearing wall wouldn't be like that.

New Windows Are In!

Well, the Windows are in, for the most part. They still have to come back and complete some of the finishing touches, like trim and casings and a little bit of the metal flashing and caulking to complete the outsides.  Then we'll have to paint to really finish it.

THEY LOOK SOOOO GOOD!!

We're really, really thrilled with them so far.  Still not thrilled at the price of them.  It's amazing what new windows do to the look of the house, though.  They totally clean up and freshen the whole surroundings! It's actually brighter in the house too. The old windows were so dingy. We actually ended up with slightly larger windows because the frames of the new ones are thinner resulting in larger glass.  Anyway I'm so thankful that we were able to do this to the house.

It's funny, I initially didn't think that the windows did too much as far as how warm it felt in the house until last night. They replaced the 2 monster windows in the living room/dining room, which likely was the cause for most of the heat loss/drafts. Well, I felt hot all night in bed. To the point of being uncomfortable. Then this morning  while playing in the kids rooms with them, I was sweating thinking why is it so hot in here?! (I wasn't doing anything that should be making me sweat!)  The thermostat was at the same temp it's been all winter on weekends, which admittedly, is a little higher than the weekdays.  So I turned it down 2 degrees (to 19) and so far haven't felt cold at all.  As a reference, it's -9 outside right now.  And the windows are not even completely sealed up outside yet! They'll probably get even better.
I'm sold so far. It's a painful price to pay for windows, but so worth it for the long-run.

Mostly-New Kitchen reno!

We are doing a kitchen reno this spring. Not a complete rip out, but mostly new. We want to keep some of the retro feel of our current 50's kitchen, but in all honesty, it's probably going to have only hints of retro by the time it's done.
We're still in the planning stages, but I think we have a pretty good grasp on what's going to change... and it's a lot!  The only thing remaining are the top cabinets. When we bought and replaced the flooring in the house, we originally bought enough of the walnut to do the kitchen, so we're going to bring that in throughout. All of the bottom cabinets and counter will be replaced, as well as the whole wall of cabinets where our fridge is.  The (new, slide-in) stove will move to the opposite wall with deep pot drawers on either side of it and will have a hood fan over it that goes up to the ceiling. The (new, counter-depth) fridge will stay on the wall that it's on, but be centered and surrounded by new cabinets, pantry and drawers, filling the entire wall. The dishwasher will slide over towards the sink a bit more to make room for an under the counter microwave with deep drawer under it.  The sink wall (with newly installed window!) will have 2 pull-out garbage drawers flanking both sides of the sink. One for garbage, one for recycle and compost - or something like that. And then the counter-top has yet to be decided on, but it'll either be grey or quartz (if we can find a good deal) in a white colour.

We are thinking a grey colour. Originally when we started thinking about this, we were going to keep a lighter colour of the sea-foam green that is in there currently - but that's changed.  :)

Here's a pic of the inspiration;

Some things we had to compromise on because of the space we have or cost to do them are;
No eat-in or breakfast bar type of space - no room
No island - no room
Not knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room that we originally thought when we moved in - if we did that, the top cabinets would have to go too, and then it becomes a much bigger ($) project and we lose any retro feel that it might retain (plus, our house quite literally becomes one huge open space).  If we did do that, we would turn that wall into an island extension, because we wouldn't take that wall out right to the window. The cost/benefit of that is something to ponder...

New Windows!

We decided to get new windows. It's been a sticking point in this house since we moved in. They were terrible. Painted and puttied shut from the previous owner. Hard to open, drafty, no screens, some were broken, and originally old... 1954 stamped on the inside aluminum!  We priced it out ~2 years ago just after Des was born, but decided that was bad timing even though it was a good price. We at least had an idea on what we were up against cost-wise.
Well we decided to have another look and called a few companies. We really liked the one company, even though their Windows were probably a little more expensive than some others. They really seemed to be top quality, and all locally designed and manufactured (London) which is important to us.  Centennial Windows and Doors.  Even though the company research showed up clean with good reviews (most did say they were more money than other companies), there's something about (all) window companies that makes you feel like you're getting taken for a ride.... there's just something very "used car salesman" about it.  We won't talk about price, because I still have trouble uttering the amount.  :p

They started on them yesterday, and so far look great!  They were supposed to be back today to finish, but a winter storm rolled in and they had to cancel. They'll be back on the weekend to finish.  It would be nice to have them done before the weekend to get the house back in order, but there's nothing we can do about that.  They were all put in except the one in Desmond's room and the two large picture windows (which is actually 6 windows total) in the dining room/living room. After those 3, they have all the trim and exterior finishing to complete.  All windows except the large picture windows will be completely replaced down to the studs instead of "retro-fitted" where the original window frames remain. We chose that because we didn't want to mess with the "look" on the inside for those windows. They really give the room more character they way they are. We were told that you don't lose efficiency when you retro-fit - it's mostly just a cost savings and/or looks thing.  So we found out that it's more expensive that way - more labour, you end up with slightly larger windows (because they're not inset into the existing frames), so more materials, glass, wood, etc..

I'll post some pics when they're done. For now, I just have a cell phone snap that Marn bbm'd me yesterday of the window in our room. So it's pretty low quality.  SO excited!

It will be SO NICE to finally be able to easily open the windows, and not have 100 bugs fly in during the summer!!  I literally had to step into it to open them and ensure I kept a straight back as to not injure myself!

Back Yard Rink!

We decided to do a small back yard rink this year for the kids to learn how to skate.  We were wanting to do it last year, but never got around to it. We were thankful that we didn't because we had such a mild winter last year that it would have been a waste of time.

This year started about the same.  Pretty mild to start with an up and down January, but mid-way through Jan, we were getting reports that it was going to get cold and stay there for a while, so I jumped on it. Last weekend was gorgeous. It felt like the start of spring in mid March, but it was just a tease because the next week or two were supposed to plummet to -25 or more with wind chill (we got it "easy" as Northern Ontario hit all the way down to -50!!)  So I spent about an hour in the afternoon while Desmond was sleeping to head out with Violet and construct something small. I didn't know what I had to work with, but I had an idea and went with it.  I found enough wood that was long enough (actually left over wood from our deck that I built in Baden - yes, I brought it with me!) to make about a 12x10 foot rink.  I put stakes in the ground for reinforcements on the long sides since those were meagre 1x4's and the other 10 ft sides are made of 2x6 so those were ok.

 

As I started filling, the water was rushing to the back left side and I didn't think it was going to hold enough water to fill the whole thing before spilling over the sides, so I propped up that end with some more scrap wood and hoped for the best!  It seemed to be holding up well and there were no leaks in the tarp that I used, so it was looking good. It was supposed to drop below freezing the next day and then get really cold the rest of the week.  By Sunday night there was a thin layer of ice on it - probably 1 cm or so.  By Monday morning I thought maybe Marn could take the kids on it, but after testing in the morning she broke through with her foot...oops! By Tuesday morning, it was solid. Sweet, let's skate!

I had to stay home late Tuesday morning, so I took Vi and Des out after breakfast. They were both very shaky and scared to fall (understandable - I still am too!).  But it was really fun and neat to see Violet wanting to try it out and not wimp out.  Des wasn't bad, but he didn't want to let go of me.  After the first time he fell, he cried out, "I don't like skating!".  Too funny.  They were both sad to get off the ice when I had to leave for work at around 9:30, so that's a good sign. We went out again that evening, and every day this past week.  They've all been fairly short skates because of the cold, and because by the time we get out there, it's already close to bed time.  But that's ok by me...

"I don't like skating"

2nd time skating and loving it.
She was singing the whole time, "I'm learning to skate... I'm skating.."

practising on her own without the chair

This weekend was nice, it warmed up a bit so wasn't as frigged as this past week. Saturday we went out twice, once in the morning and once in the evening, and today (Sunday) we're doing it again.  Marn had to work this weekend, so we're going to wait for her to get home from work before we head out again.  Desmond is all gun-hoe when getting ready, but in under 5 minutes, he's ready to be done and wants his skates off. It's a bit frustrating and a little odd for him because he's usually the rough and tumble one and ready to tackle new things. I honestly thought that he'd be up and "skating" before Violet was, but she was off of using the chair for assistance on her 3rd skate!  She still prefers to use the chair and can really skate fast with it, but she's coming along really well without it too.

Growing like a weed!

Our little Violet has been going through a bit a growth spurt lately... at an unbelievable rate, actually!
We measured her in October and then again December 20 and in that time, she grew only about 1/2 an inch. Through late December and into Jan, she was eating a ton and *really* sleepy. Like getting 13 hours if she was able to. Now, she's always been our sleeper, but that's a little nuts.  So in Jan, Marn and I were looking at her and thinking, "sheesh, it looks like she's getting taller", but we brushed it off because we had *just* measured her not that long ago and she couldn't have grown that much. So we measured her again on Jan. 11 and she had grown over an inch in that time! I measured her again this morning, and she hasn't moved from that mark, but an inch in 3 weeks is nuts!

It's no wonder they call it a growth spurt!

Never mind this pic, she's not taller than the 43" mark.
The angle of this picture is throwing it off.

If you're wondering, she's up to about 43", and only just over 35 lbs.... c'mon 5 more lbs to get rid of that car seat and move into a booster!!  Demond on the other hand is only 5 lbs behind her at just over 30 lbs. The little meatball.