Blogspiration and Project List

It's been a few weeks since I've posted. I'm trying to finish some projects so that I can write about them but it is taking me a bit longer than anticipated.

Our house needs no major work but it isn't really in my nature to stick with the status quo too long. I've planned minor facelifts for all the rooms in the house. No real design pojects, just decoration. Some rooms, like our bedroom, need more help than others.

When we moved in the house was painted completely white. It was airy and clean but it didn't take long for unwashable fingerprints to start showing up on the walls. I've re-painted almost all the rooms, keeping colours light and neutral and trying to preserve the light feeling that white walls bring. Sometimes it feels a little too neutral, though, and so most of my plans involve refreshing our spaces through textiles and accessories.

Right now I'm working on the nursery. It is an oddly shaped space that I decorated before we knew that we were having a baby girl. Once she arrived the room felt cold and so I decide to try to warm it up by changing the curtains, pillows, etc., adding new art, and moving some pieces around.

After the nursery is done I'm going to turn our attention where it is needed the most - our bedroom. It is cold (literally) and colourless. New headboard, rug, curtains and art will be in order.

Next on the list will be our bathroom, which needs nothing, but I have been dreaming of a navy or black bathroom forever and have decided I'm finally going to do it.

Then I'm going to tackle a few small projects in our living room, dining room and kitchen. It will be a busy few months so stay tuned for the results!

In the meantime here are a few of my favourite Canadian bloggers. These women are just like me - people who have a "day job" and are also interested in design and renovation. I like to read their blogs because their projects and ideas are really accessible. Most of the time their taste is similar to mine and they offer great inspiration while keeping the budget in check. I prefer Canadian blogs because it means if I see something I like, it is usually locally available to me.

• Aubrey + Lindsay's Little House Blog
• Rambling Renovators - I also follow this blogger, Jennifer, on Pinterest and recommend you do too. Her taste is excellent and she always has great pins.
• First Time Fancy
• 8 Foot 6
• Life Begins at Thirty, Right?

I also love this blog written by a man who lives in a little apartment in New York with his partner. His taste is a little spare but his posts are hilarious. Unfortunately he doesn't update it too often but it is worth checking in regularly just in case. I am obsessed with the doors he painted black in this post and if we still lived on Lucknow St. in a house with that kind of architectural detail I would definitely have painted all of our doors black. I think you need very light walls, brassy-ish hardware, and nice warm wood floors to pull this off:

So that's it for now! I'll post the nursery results in the next couple of weeks. Until then I'd love to hear about any great design blogs that you might be reading.

Buying an Ikea kitchen

In all of the projects we have done over the last five years, if a kitchen was needed we turned to Ikea. I asked Kerry this week how many Ikea kitchens he has installed since 2006 and he told me THIRTEEN, which seems insane. I've been directly involved with three but I think Kerry has pretty much elevated himself to professional status through the design and installation of multiple kitchens in our rental properties and other random projects.

The first one, and I think the best, was of course in our first project on Brunswick St. This is a really crappy photo, but you get the idea.

Ikea kitchens are very good quality and the cupboards come with a 25 year warranty. And of course they are an amazing value. I think this kitchen including the counters, sink, faucet and range hood, which you can't see, cost about $5500 (not including appliances). Shipping for an order of this size is usually a flat rate and is somewhere around $400. And Ikea regularly holds a "Kitchen Event" where you can get 10% of what you spend on your kitchen back in gift cards. Not too shabby.

The style of the Brunswick St. kitchen is "Adel Off-White". I am somewhat ashamed to admit that we have never been brave enough to stray from this style of cabinet. It is a very clean-lined and modern, casual style and that worked for us in 2006, and is perfect for rental properties. It is also one of the less expensive cabinet options that Ikea offers, which is a big plus if you have a tight budget.

The one downside of the Adel style of cabintry is that it is difficult to create custom solutions for odd spaces. The finish can't be matched because it is melamine foil, rather than solid wood. Great for durability and cleaning, not so great if you need cabinets or shelves that are different from the sizes offered by Ikea. So far we've been able to work around this, but it usually takes some creative design work and some sort of compromise on style.

We almost always end up with a green wall. I am pretty sure that all of the kitchens that Kerry has installed in the rental properties have a green wall. Remember this latest one on Hunter Street? Best green yet, I think.

If we do another Ikea kitchen for ourselves in the future we have talked about being more adventurous and choosing a solid wood cabinet style that would allow us to have a more customized kitchen by spraying the cabinets with paint. This is something Sarah Richardson did on season 3 of "Sarah's House" when she was on a tight budget. Sarah Richardson is the queen of having things sent out to be sprayed, by the way. I am not sure where you can have this done in Halifax though so in all likelihood it would involve me rolling on multiple coats of paint. By spraying the cabinets a colour of her choice, Sarah was able to add in custom touches, such as the island in this photo:


Source

The process to order an Ikea kitchen can be relatively straightforward - do not be afraid! The easiest way to get started is to contact Ikea's kitchen planning department and go from there. If you get a really great kitchen planning consultant, stick with them. Kerry found a keeper a couple of kitchens ago and now asks for her when he's starting a new project (hint: it's Priya!). Ikea has a planning software tool where you can plug in the dimensions and details of your room and then add in your cabinets, sink, hardware etc. The process gets easier each time but even our first attempt was pretty smooth.

If you have a bit more room in your budget there are many more options for kitchen re-do's. We are usually on a shoestring though, and Ikea has always worked really well for us. It may be time for a change, though, if you have any good budget friendly kitchen reno secrets you want to pass along!

Investing in rental properties

I am always shocked when I tally the number of properties Kerry and I own. Nine. Crazy right? One is our house on Almon St. and the rest are rental properties. Six in Truro's heritage district and two here in central Halifax. Twenty units altogether.

I have long seen the properties as Kerry's thing, with me supporting his efforts from afar. Lately, however, I've taken on the bookkeeping and seen first hand just how much is involved in keeping the houses running smoothly. Being self-employed, Kerry calls these properties his retirement plan. They are a business in themselves, however, and our expanding real estate portfolio is a testament to his vision and work ethic.

Our shared philosophy for rental properties it that if the quality of the apartments is high, there will never be any trouble renting them to good tenants who will respect the space and the other tenants in the house. Because of this, all of the properties we own have undergone extensive renovations. I participated in the first with a complete re-do of an old house on Hunter St. in Halifax. We started and finished that project in the summer of 2007. August, to be exact. It was one month of really hard work but it paid off when some really great tenants, who still live there, moved in. 

After the first Hunter St. property was complete Kerry snapped up six houses in Truro over three years. A lot of work has gone into the houses in Truro and that has been tough. There were some weeks where Kerry was up there two or three days a week. Pretty challenging to do while also maintaining a successful graphic design studio.

Kerry chose to invest in Truro because it is really hard to turn a monthly profit, or just break even, on income properties in Halifax. There are a few ways around this. One is if you are able to invest in a three or four unit property, rather than just a duplex. This can be costly given the higher down payment requirements for rental properties and the cost of multi-unit houses in Halifax. Another related way would be to make a large down payment, thereby keeping your mortgage payments low. You could also buy a house with multiple bedrooms and rent to students - something we are unwilling to do because of the turnover and potential for greater wear and tear. And the final option is to find a great deal on a duplex that needs work and renovate it into something spectacular, which is pretty much how we roll.

Buying in Truro is a different story. The prices are lower so it is easy to pick up a house with multiple units. The rental prices are somewhat comparable to Halifax. So, on a montly basis there is money coming in, instead of the opposite scenario in Halifax. The only catch is that it can make for a lot of commuting to manage the properties. Luckily Kerry has an amazing property manager up there who minimizes the stress by keeping everything ticking along smoothly. Kerry's restoration work on his Truro houses has been recognized by the Colchester Historical Society. Kerry manages all his properties under the name Urban Renewable. Check out his site for more photos.

After investing exclusively in Truro for the last few years, we decided to invest in Halifax again this past summer by purchasing a neighbouring house on Hunter St. I think it was Kerry's best work yet. With the help of his amazing carpenter he really took the time to do the work well, and paid attention to the smallest details. Here are a few before and after shots.

Being a landlord is not for the faint of heart. Kerry says that in the beginning it kept him up at night, but by learning as he went and finding help where he needed it, it has been an extremely gratifying experience that will pay off in spades. And given the recent announcement about Nova Scotia's shipbuilding contract maybe the time is right for you to think about investing in a rental property in Halifax!

Finding fabric in Halifax

I am very far from being any kind of seamstress extraordinaire but I can (occasionally) sew in a straight line and have taken on small home decor projects like roman blinds, pillow covers, and curtains. The one thing I do know for certain is that Halifax has a limited selection of interesting home decor fabric at affordable prices.

I only know of three fabric shops in Halifax that sell fabric on bolts: Fabricville, Abby's at Bellisimo, and Chintzy's. The selection at these stores is not the best. I would rate Abby's the highest because they do have the most contemporary selection and a few unique prints, and Bellisimo is one of those stores I wish I lived in. Fabricville has amazing deals but it would be really rare for me to find something I love - the selection is a little meh. And honestly I haven't set foot in Chintzy's since it moved from its location on Birmingham St. to Oxford St. a few years ago so it is possible I am missing some treasures there.

Halifax is also home to a growing number of interior design shops (e.g. 31 Westgate on Agricola) that have swatch books you can peruse and select special order fabrics from. I am not a fan of looking through swatch books. There are just so many, and the prices are never listed so you often have to choose all the ones you want and then go ask for the prices. It's just not an easy way to shop for fabric, and the fabrics in the books can be pricey.

So a couple of years ago when I was thinking of tackling a slipcover for an old chair but couldn't find any nice, affordable fabric options, I turned to the internets for help. I love, love, love Sarah Richardson and she always seems to find her fabrics in a giant store where she just whisks through rows and rows of samples and pulls out something amazing. After checking out the source guide for her show, Design Inc., I noticed that a lot of the fabrics she was using came from a store in Toronto named Designer Fabrics. I checked out their site and was happy to find out they lend out swatches for free.

I really recommend that you test out your fabric choices with swatches before taking the plunge. The computer screen can do funny things and fabric can sometimes look wayyy different in person. At Designer Fabrics you pay $4.00 for shipping each way and you get to keep the swatches for three weeks (side note: do NOT keep the swatches longer than you are allowed - they will charge you for them).

This opened up a whole new world of interesting fabric for me.  Take a look at some of the pretty prints they are carrying right now:

 
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After searching the interweb a little more I eventually came across a little online fabric boutique, also based in Toronto, called Tonic Living. Tonic Living is an amazing store with a big selection of fun and interesting home decor fabrics. Tonic Living's swatch system also allows me to indulge in my swatch-hoarding pastime (I also have a paint fan deck hoarding issue but will leave that for another day). You get to purchase a swatch for $1.00 and keep it FOREVER. The swatches are a good size - often about 6"x6".  I am well on my way to amassing a collection of swatches representing all the fabric that Tonic Living carries. Check out some of these beauties:

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The prices are great - I think the most expensive fabric is under $30 a yard. The drawback is you won't find many super heavy-duty woven fabrics, but for projects like slipcovering, pillow shams and draperies the selection is perfect. In the coming months look for fabrics from Tonic Living and Designer Fabrics in many of my room "refresh" projects.

I would love to hear any Halifax fabric-finding secrets that you may have. Am I missing out on any fabulous fabric sources?


Update: I can't believe I forgot to mention this. Amazing textile artist, Jesse Harrod, recently told me about Spoonflower. It is a site where you can design your own fabric or choose from thousands of fabrics designed by others. You can have it printed on the fabric weight of your choosing. If you create a design and someone buys it, Spoonflower will give you a commission on the sale. I'm not crafty enough to design my own fabric but there are some amazing and unique designs available. It is almost overwhelming how many there are. I am going to try it soon and will report back on the experience.

Our home on Almon Street

It was really hard to convince Kerry to sell the big house on Lucknow Street. Once it was listed we had an offer almost immediately that fell through, and then it sat on the market through the slower summer season. We hemmed and hawed about taking it off the market. There were no houses for sale that we liked and for Kerry to agree to move, we had to be moving somewhere A-mazing.

Finally one day in July we got an offer on the house. It was a really good offer with a flexible closing date, but since we had nowhere to go, Kerry wanted to decline it and not sell the house at all. July is usually a slow time for the Halifax real estate market and the pickings were slim. One fabulous little house had come on the market a day earlier but we wrote it off because it was a) small and b) belonged to good friends of Kerry's parents, which we thought would make it weird if we bought it. Putting our reservations aside, we decided to go take a look at it with our long-suffering real estate agent, Ainslie MacNeil-Campbell from Domus Realty.

(Side note: if you are ever looking for a great realtor in Halifax I cannot say enough good things about Ainslie or any of the other agents at Domus - they are real pros that consistently go above and beyond for their clients. Also, Kerry designed their signs and website so you should at least check that out).

At this point we had already moved two times in the last three years. We were tired of doing renovations but recognized that since we are so particular about our style it would be impossible to find a house in our price range that was move-in ready. Until we walked through the door of the little house on Almon Street.

It's not as if we had never been in the house. I had visited once, and Kerry many more times than that. But something happened that day when we pictured ourselves living there and we decided we had to have it. Somehow we managed to get our offer through the door first. I think there was a line of buyers behind us hoping that the sale would fall through but it didn't and in the Fall of 2009 we moved in.

The house was almost half the size of our Lucknow Street home. We went from 5 bedrooms to 2.  But it was perfect. It needed absolutely no work. It was fully renovated in a style that was completely our own. Of course neither one of us is completely immune to the call of home renos and so we have been picking away at little things over the last couple of years.

We had the stucco exterior of the house painted before moving in. I think painting stucco may be a bit of a no-no but it had been painted in the past so we just chose a new colour and went with it. With a large lot, there was space for Kerry to fulfill his long-held dream of building a "pod" - a home office in a separate building in the backyard. Last spring I mostly won the fence battle with Kerry and we replaced the low, wire fence that allowed people to see everything we were doing in the backyard, often with comment, with a custom-designed cedar beauty. I almost worried this plan had backfired when, for about two months after the fence was built, we had a steady stream of people stopping to touch our fence and ask about who built it. It's not like it is that amazing, it is just different than most standard fences around the city. Our contractor took some liberties with the gate header, and I really don't like it, but we are stuck with it for now. It looks a little less ornate now that it is stained.

The Pod and fence have both been stained since this photo but I don't seem to have anything more recent. I will take one as soon as the sunny weather returns. We stained the fence a dark greeny gray to match the foundation and the Pod to match the house.

This past summer we finally put in some plant beds in the yard and this winter I have a list of little projects in each room that will hopefully provide fodder for this blog over the next few months.

Moving on

After we sold our house on Brunswick St. we made a quick move to the south end of Halifax near Saint Mary's University and also close to the neighbourhood where Kerry grew up. The house was a similar vintage (c. 1888) as Brunswick but about twice the size and with more original details - 4 stone fireplaces, huge crown moldings, pocket doors, giant old cast iron radiators - it was amazing. With 5 bedrooms we thought this was the house we would be in for the long haul. There was minor work to be done. Many of the old floors had been painted and the plaster walls were lumpy and cracked. The colours were terrible and the kitchen was very dark with black floors and a black counter.

When we were done with the cosmetic updates the house was beautiful.

And I hated it.  

*Photos by AMac Photography, courtesy of Domus Realty

That house turned me into a crazy person. In order to afford the mortgage we had to rent out the apartment in the basement. We had a lovely tenant but I just could not get used to living in such close quarters. The house was also semi-detached an identical house that had been split into two apartments. Sounds were carried across the wooden joists that ran the length of both houses and I found I just could not stand the noise of other peoples' lives. I became completely obsessed with it. The only solution was to move.

Poor Kerry - untroubled by noise he was perfectly happy there and loved the neighbourhood and the house. It was so central and just a few minutes' walk to downtown. But for the sake of our sanity he agreed to sell the house and in October 2009 we moved to our current home. More on that soon!

After!!

I really, really like a good "before and after". Mostly what motivates me with any type of home renovation is the  idea that I am creating some sort of spectacular transformation. I love the contrast of a new space or object with what it was. Our house on Brunswick Street was the most significant renovation we have ever, or will ever, take on and the before and after photos are astounding to me every time I look back at them.

We started on Thanksgiving weekend with help from many supportive family members and friends. The plaster walls were unsalvageable so they came out. We removed almost 10 tonnes of plaster and other construction and demolition debris by the end of the project. The house was semi-detatched so it only had three outside walls, two of which were rotten and so they were re-built. The wiring and plumbing were completely replaced. The wood floors on the main floor were rotted through in spots so we replaced them with a polished concrete slab with in-floor heating. I think this is the thing I miss the most about that house. Concrete floors are virtually indestructible, especially if you have an over-exuberant chocolate lab that likes to scrabble around. 

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In the end, we were able to save the floors upstairs, the beautiful hand carved banister,  the plaster crown molding in the hallway downstairs, and the door trim. My father and I spent countless hours burning and scraping the decades of paint off them to reveal the original details of the trim. When we were done I actually had my lead levels tested just in case (I may have a wee bit of hypochondria). We fought to keep the decorative molding in the living room but the carpenters damaged it in a desire to work from a clean slate. I am sure this is a battle many other people trying to restore heritage homes also face. We put in an IKEA kitchen, built a deck, and replaced the debris pile out back with a garden.

Although we moved in less than three months into the project, we did not finish all the little details for another year. In the end the house was a perfect mix of old and new. And then we sold it.

When you are living in a renovation all you see are the little details that still need to be taken care of, or aren't quite perfect. Everything you do that makes one thing or space look better seems to just make the undone projects around it look extra crappy in comparison. We only stayed on Brunswick Street for 18 months and I think part of the reason was because everywhere we looked we saw the little things we hadn't quite done perfectly, and the memory of the stress of doing such a huge renovation in a short period of time. We learned so, so much from working on that house and there are still things about it that we really miss but we had to move on. Looking at the photos I still see those little imperfections and mistakes we made and so it makes me glad that we sold it when we did.