First Home Dreams

Weekend Recap - A Day Late

2013-05-13T21:55:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I actually did something worth talking about!

On Saturday morning I drove five and a half hours to get to Ottawa for my oldest friend's bridal shower and bachelorette. I stayed at a hotel downtown so that it'd be easy to get home after a night of indulging in wobbly pops. Thanks to Hotwire, I got the room for half price!

We went for dinner at the Cornerstone Grill in the Byward Market and the food was great! If you ever find yourself downtown Ottawa and you're hungry I'd definitely recommend it. My friend and I were drinking Long Island iced teas by the pitcher. Where I come from, beer comes in pitchers. That's it. The novelty of this will not wear off for quite some time.

We then went to a comedy show at Yuk Yuk's and the MC was actually the funniest guy of the night. No one gave my friend too hard of a time despite being dressed up in your typical bachelorette accessories.

We ended the night at some bar that I can't remember the name of. It was 21+ which was kind of a relief...I pretty much hate the bar and being around drunken teenagers is not my idea of a good time.

The next morning I checked out of my hotel, ate breakfast, and drove the five and a half hours back home. The drive home was much less fun since I was so tired. Not hungover, I swear.

I made the decision to drive back roads all the way, and the extra bit of time it took was seriously worth it. If I didn't have this thing called a job or people in my life called friends and family, I would move to Bonnechere Valley Township. I drove past the most beautiful farm and I'm kicking myself now for not stopping to take a picture. There was an old abandoned farm in a wee little town called Sebright which was amazing, too. When I Google Sebright this comes up, though.

And now I really want one of those chickens.

I'm also pretty sure I saw a moose, but it could have been a moose shaped log and/or shrub. Either way it made me really want moose pepperoni.

So that was my weekend. What'd you get up to?

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5 DIY Ideas for Your Bedroom Décor

2013-05-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

This post is brought to you by Simons. Written by Mireille.

5 DIY Ideas for Your Bedroom Décor

With a bit of imagination and creativity, you can fully redecorate your home with self-made items. The possibilities are endless! For a unique bedroom décor, check out these 5 easy and original DIY projects.

Wood Pallets Bed Frame

Among the many things you can do with wood pallets – coffee table, bookshelf, wine bottle rack, etc. –, a bed frame is one of the coolest. Besides from being almost free, a wood pallet bed frame is durable and looks amazing. It is pretty easy to make and you can organize the wood pallets in many different and inspiring ways.

Capitone Headboard

Not only is a capitone headboard stylish and trendy, it is also really comfy and will be ideal for reading in bed. By buying a few items and spending a little time on the project, you’ll end up with a beautiful, custom-made and trendy headboard. Follow the simple steps of this very well made tutorial.

Wooden Picture

Tired of your good old framed pictures? Want to display your family, your lover or yourself in a different, original and unique way? Try and print out your picture on wood. It is so simple, a child could do it! And the result is just amazing. Check this video out to learn all about the making process of wooden pictures.

Drawer Ottoman

Got an old dresser you don’t use anymore? Before giving it away, take out one of its drawers. Steal Becky’s idea from her blog Beyond the Picket Fence and turn your old drawer into a comfy ottoman. Ridiculously easy to make and great looking!

Ruffled Curtains

With a little patience, a little skill with a sewing machine and lots of creativity, you can easily make ruffled curtains that are unique and beautiful. There are various styles of curtains you can make. You can go with Painted Therapy’s little top-of-window ruffles, of Bit of Blue Sky’s full panel curtains or Besserina’s fancy drapes.

Mireille is a travel, music and theater enthusiast. She wrote for the stage and television, and is now working as a freelance blogger for Simons, a major Canadian retail store providing trendy clothes and home decoration items.

Currently...

2013-05-07T09:32:00.001-04:00

Right now things feel a little overwhelming and crazy.

We're still sleeping in the living room. The cat is sick again. I have a doctors appointment on Wednesday and immediately following that Tass has a vet appointment. On Thursday my car goes into the shop because it's clunking around like you wouldn't believe. This weekend I'm heading to Ottawa for my oldest friend's bridal shower and bachelorette. Next week I head up to Ottawa on Wednesday night to help out for previously mentioned friend's wedding that's on the following Saturday (I'm a bridesmaid!).

And all I want to do is curl up in a ball and sleep and pretend like nothing is going on at all. Stupid adult responsibilities.

We don't have a date yet for when we get to move, but things are moving along and I hope I can share more soon!

And that's what's happening in my life right now.

Is it summer where you are yet? It's finally turned gorgeous here! Distract me from the chaos in my head, please. Aaaaaaand go!

PS. Sorry for the back to back sponsored posts last week. I have another one coming up at the end of the week...I hope you understand! Life is expensive, haha.

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Collecting Inspiration from Others

2013-05-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

This post is brought to you by Savills.

Inspiration from Others

Whether you’re a professional or a hobby-designer, in one way or another everyone takes inspiration from other people’s houses.

We can’t always rely on friends or family’s homes; they may not have a similar style, or they may just not have any style in the first place (and fair enough – not everyone is house proud!). One solution is to take some inspiration from beautiful dream houses. Once the green mist of jealousy subsides, the home-elite can provide a valuable source of creativity. Pinterest (of course), certain television shows, magazines and prestigious estate agents are all excellent sources of luxury home imagery.

The key is to look at these properties subjectively; thinking what it is about the place that you like down to the most basic elements of its design, and then consider how that would work in your own house. To demonstrate this, one example is the contemporary Branksea Avenue House found at Savills, in Poole, England. This stunning house has 22 photos, all displaying some sort of beautiful touch that could be adapted to some extent, in order to match nearly any style of home.

Before even looking at the location, it is clear from the architecture of the property that this is a waterfront home – the waves of the house demonstrate a flawless example of how a property’s design should take inspiration from its surroundings. These contours have been carried on into the landscape of the garden, creating a chic relaxing space. The chess set is a fun and quirky touch too!

Both the home gym and the walk-in closet above show how a relatively simple makeover of spare space could make a practical use of an area, as well as an indulgent and dramatic impact. With the right use of materials this could suit any home. Similarly, the elegant design of the simple sauna could encourage many to tackle an ambitious DIY project for unused pool houses (everyone has one of those, right?).

The breakfast bar is a fantastic example of how a simple touch of interior remodelling could work wonders in complimenting a somewhat awkwardly shaped kitchen.

The lighting used in this room, particularly the colourful strips to the sides of the television, would be an inexpensive and elegant method of transforming an ordinary living room into a home cinema.

These examples are based around significant projects such as remodelling and renovating. But similarly, dream homes can provide diverse and stimulating sources of inspiration for smaller interior design projects.

6 Key Modern Interior Design Trends for 2013

2013-04-30T15:13:00.000-04:00

This post is brought to you by Wren Kitchens.

6 Key Modern Interior Design Trends for 2013

1. DIY furnishing projects
With the ever increasing amount of DIY resources available, it’s no wonder that there has been an upward trend of people "doing it themselves". Industry professionals tip DIY furnishings to be prevalent in 2013, with even more people looking to personalise their homes through innovative furnishings produced by up-cycling the artefacts they have collected.

2. Exotic influences
Styles from around the world have been adopted in Western culture ever since ships first landed on foreign shores. Today is no different, as the design industry witnesses the wide embracing of African inspirations. From warm colours and animal skin imitations to intricately designed dark-wood furniture, it is easy to create an oasis right in the home. Browse through this Pinterest board for some inspiration!

3. Sketching and stencilling
The popularity of street artists such as Banksy shows that the use of text in otherwise plain spaces works really well, as a result more and more people are taking to stencil kits to add some personalisation in their homes. Get creative like these designers did and soon the writing really will be on the wall.

4. Green living
As there is a rising trend in environmental awareness there is also a concurrent trend for more greenery throughout the home. Designers have even resorted to building ‘green walls’ made entirely from living plants - however this is not easily implemented. Herb gardens are another popular source of greenery in the kitchen; however it is important to design your kitchen carefully, giving your herbs the optimum growing conditions. Kitchen designers from Wren Kitchens can help plan your kitchen to the last detail.

5. Bright colours
Decorating feature walls with bright colours is a great way to add some flair into a home. As long as it is used in moderation and in rooms with plenty of open space, you can use it to break up the sometimes-dull creams and whites.

6. Natural Materials
Natural wood grains are being used to create the most impressive pieces of furniture and home art available. The beauty about using natural wood is that it will work with pretty much anything within the home. The only drawback with using natural wood is the price tag that often comes with it.

Spring Flood

2013-04-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

For a short time each spring, the Minesing wetlands swell with water, giving us the illusion of having water front property. After fall, it's my favourite time of year here in Ontario. Bird watchers flock to our road in hoards on the weekends, but in just a few weeks when the water recedes, grazing cattle will replace the scavenging seagulls and quacking ducks.

I'm surprised (and thankful) that Tass didn't jump right in. Would have been a little bit muddy, I think.

I'm going to miss this road. But the new property has it's perks, too, and I can't wait to explore it.

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Let Auction Season Begin!

2013-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Well, our first auction of the season has come and gone, and it was a fairly good one. It was in our community, too, so we only had about a five minute drive. It was packed when we got there with trucks lining both sides, but thankfully Mike's Dad has a shop on the same road and we were able to park there and walk over.

I only stayed for about an hour and a half because it was freezing cold, but even by then we had bought a few things. I missed out on an old wicker and leather fishing creel (pretty similar to this one) and I'm kicking myself for it now, because it only went for $35 and I see ones with no leather for $80+++ in antique stores all the time. Sometimes I'm way just way too cheap. And then other times things truly did go too far out of our price range, like a vintage butter churn (sort of like this) that both Mike and his mom were bidding on before it went too high. I think it went for $65.

Anyway, here's a peak at some of my favourite buys.

46 (yes, 46) grain sacks, $11.

They were pretty filthy after sitting around unused for who knows how long. They've all gone through the wash once, and whenever I go to use one, I'll wash it again with some bleach or other stain remover. With this many, I might end up selling some...but for now they're all coming with us to the new house.

The ever elusive lawn darts, $7.

Mike knew these were going to be there, and he was dead set on getting them. I think there was only one other guy who was half-heartedly interested in them, hence the $7 price tag. They haven't been sold in Canada since 1989 so they're definitely hard to come by! And really...if you use common sense they're not dangerous in the least.

Vintage cash register, $45.

This was our spendiest purchase of the day. It's works, but it's in pretty rough cosmetic condition. We might look at restoring it at some point (that chipping blue paint isn't original!), and it will likely end up as a display piece in our future bar area.

Sunday was spent finishing off priming the rooms upstairs. I'm hoping we'll be moving out of the living room soon!

What'd you get up to this weekend?

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Primed and Boring

2013-04-17T13:49:00.001-04:00

It's hard to share anything more than snippets here and there of what's going on with the house, especially since I'm not the one actually doing any of the work (everything seems to be happening while I'm at work). And...I just don't care. My heart isn't in this house anymore. There's no excitement of a before and after - we're planning on leaving things in a decidely "during" phase when we sell (whenever that may be). I still want to blog, I just have nothing to say these days. I haven't done anything that I'm proud to show off to the interwebs at large.

But in case anyone is interested in how things are progressing, here's a few shots of the rooms upstairs.

The room above previously looked like this. Please believe me when I say that the walls were not as nice as they appeared in the photos...

This room never made it onto the blog before now. It was pink when we bought the house, and then we painted it a soft blue colour. The back right corner had a huge ugly patch in the plaster, apparently necessary from a long time leak in the roof. There was only one electrical outlet - it now has four, plus hookups for satellite and phone (the rest of the rooms got the same electrical/phone/satellite upgrade).

This wee narrow room was the office, and it never got a chance to show off it's face here before now either. The very first night we stayed at the house was in this room on an air mattress. We spent half an hour sucking up cluster flies with a vaccuum because the buzzing was driving me insane. I don't remember what colour it was when we bought the house, but we painted it a dark red soon after. When I was gone for Christmas the first year we lived here, Mike spent hours sanding down the original random width pine floor, but we never got around to finishing it. It has amazing potential, though, and whoever gets this house and refinishes it is one lucky son of a gun.

Ah, the master bedroom that we will never sleep in. You first saw it back here, when it was jam packed full of crap and demolition debris. It didn't have an overhead light before, and the closet had no light at all. That's been changed now, just in time for us to not enjoy it. Ha...

Well, that's all I've got.

Later days, folks.

Check Out Blogger Homes!

2013-04-15T10:27:00.001-04:00

I'm a big fan of Pinterest, and the section I spend the most time browsing is Home Decor. But sometimes, there's just too much other stuff that's managed to find it's way into that category that doesn't belong (like recipes, fashion, etc), and it drives me a little nuts.

So when I saw that Shannon Acheson of AKA Design had created a new blog specifically for showcasing blogger's homes, I was pretty excited to check it out.

Different spaces are labeled right at the top so that it's easy to find inspiration for the rooms you're currently working on. But of course if you want eye candy in no particular order, you can just browse through the posts one by one, too.

I think my favourite part is that these rooms (and photographs!) are for the most part done by bloggers themselves. No fancy magazine equipment or budgets here. And even better? You can submit your own room to be a part of the site.

I know some of you out there have amazing spaces to share - go get in touch with Blogger Homes!

This is NOT a sponsored post. I willingly offered up space on my blog to spread the news about Blogger Homes.

The Reading Room - Ideas and Inspiration

2013-04-10T20:10:00.000-04:00

Despite not living there yet, and the fact that I've only ever been inside the new house once (true story)...I've already given most of the rooms names. I think that's pretty normal.

The space that I've been thinking about lately is what I've been calling the reading room. It's on the first floor, and is the first room off of the kitchen when going into the rest of the house. It's a bit of a fancy room, with an original to the house tin ceiling as well as a corner fireplace that was added by the old owners.

Being a Queen Anne, the new house sort of asks for a more traditional and formal decorating style than our current house, especially in rooms like the reading room. Traditional and formal don't have to be boring, though, right? Traditional Home happens to be one of my favourite shelter magazines, so I don't think so!

My main source of inspiration for the room comes from these two images...

Please click on the image for the source.
I'm picturing dark walls, dark wood, white trim, and classic furniture.

Which lead to me making this haphazard moodboard...

1. Since the room is going to have a lot of white sort of "built in" with the ceiling, fireplace, trim and doors, Benjamin Moore's Temptation would give it the cozy feel I'm looking for.
2. I can't remember what sort of light is currently in the room, but if it's not something original to the house I plan on putting up an antique pan light that my parent's brought us from their house when they came to visit this summer. It's similar to this one (restored by JC of My 1923 Four Square), except it has just three lights instead of four.
3. With all the heaviness going on with the dark walls, I thought a bit of floral would be a happy juxtaposition. It would also inject a bit of colour into an otherwise fairly monotone room. This mint green pillow from Etsy is really cute, although I'd probably try my hand at making my own pillow cover.
4. This fabric (Hyde Park from Tonic Living) is another choice for pillows.
5. I have a wingback chair that was Mike's grandparent's and I plan to use it in this room. It's currently pink, and in desperate need of being reupholstered since the cat may or may not have had an accident or several on it (gross). I like the idea of getting it done in something classic like a grey herringbone. This is an oversized herringbone from Colefax & Fowler and while I looooove it, it's unbelievably out of my price range.
6. This is the Amy Hamilton print I bought for the gallery wall I'm envisioning for this room. I'd like to find frames in antique bronze or gold to tie in with the antique light.
7. Awhile back, Mike's aunt gave us an old Victorian settee and I think it would go great in this room. I want to take off the red velvet that it's sporting right now and replace it with this gunmetal velvet from Tonic Living.
8. The table pictured is just to represent the dark wood that I'd like to have in the room. In reality, that element will come from a side table, the wood of the settee, the legs of the wingback chair, and the vintage secretary desk that another one of Mike's aunts gave us. While I do like this coffee table (found here), I don't think the room is wide enough to accommodate one.
9. Like I mentioned above, this room has a fireplace that was added by the old owners. It's a white corner unit, and I can't remember whether it's electric or propane. Either way, it's awesome.

Update: I didn't include any mention of the floors because they are currently carpeted. I'm remembering pink, but that could be something I dreamt (nightmared?) about. Anyway, I'm hoping the house's original hardwood is underneath it, but we won't be looking into revealing that for a long time to come.

The reading room could easily become one of my favourite rooms in the new house. In addition to the tin ceiling, it has a stained glass window, huge baseboards, and two antique doors - complete with hardware - leading from it. Hooray for architectural character!

So there you have it. Are you planning any rooms that you might not be tackling for an indeterminate length of time?

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The post in which I dump the entire contents of my brain.

2013-04-09T09:13:00.001-04:00

How's that for a wordy title? I hope you're not expecting a brilliant post, because I promise you, this is not one. In no specific order...this is what's on my mind right now.

1. Last night was a little dreary and rainy, so we had homemade chicken noodle soup and bread for dinner. The soup was decent (except I way overcooked the noodles into mush), the bread was a glorified pancake. It went into the compost this morning.

2. I get overwhelmed easily, so I used Manageflitter last night to unfollow anyone on Twitter who hasn't been active in the last 30 days. It's free, which is nice. Thanks to Tasha from Life of a Canadian Angel for mentioning it in one of her tweets.

3. I bought six prints from Society 6 a few weeks back for a gallery wall that I'm planning for the new house. One of the prints is by Ontario artist Amy Hamilton, and her stuff is eligible for free shipping right now! Go here to check it out.

4. The drywall upstairs is allllllmost done. There's still some sanding to do, but I'm guessing that I'll be able to start priming the walls this weekend. I am so ready to move out of the living room.

5. Does anyone out there coupon successfully? I ordered a bunch and they came yesterday, but I have a feeling I'm going to forget about them and they'll just expire. I do use Checkout 51 almost every time I shop though.

6. I'm still working on the re-design for the blog. If you follow me on Twitter you've seen some sneak peaks. I have a dummy template set up and I want to make sure it's really ready to go before I make it go live.

Now...please tell me what your favourite food is? Because I'm hungry.

Plumb, level, or square.

2013-03-20T09:27:00.000-04:00

Pick two, when it comes to old houses. Or so the saying goes.

In the case of our second floor, pick none would have been more appropriate. Take a look at the shimming going on up there:

The walls have had their share of shimming, too, but that's harder to get a picture of. It's also not as dramatic as 2x4s. Although the rooms are losing inches, I'm happy with the decisions we've made to get this house ready to sell. Fingers crossed that when it's all said and done, it sells quickly! We still have no concrete listing (or moving) date, but hopefully in the next few weeks we can get a general idea.

Anyone else shimming lately? Or shimmying? That sounds like more fun.

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Forgive me for complaining.

2013-03-15T13:08:00.000-04:00

When we first ripped into the bedrooms upstairs, I mentioned here that sleeping in the living room felt a little bit like camping, and that it doesn't anymore.

Well now it really doesn't feel like camping, and it's really just making me cranky.

I know it's not forever - in fact the end might only be a couple of weeks away. It was just really hard coming back to a construction zone after staying in clean houses and rooms during our wedding and honeymoon. And what's the point of having a personal blog if I can't whine and complain every once in awhile?

With the chaos currently happening in the house, there's no room to do anything besides sit and watch tv (almost all of the reno is getting done while I'm at work). It's getting old really quick. I want to create something. Make something. Do something. Once the weather warms up I can get started on sanding and repainting all of the baseboards from upstairs, but right now it's decided to be winter again despite fooling me earlier this week into thinking that spring might have arrived.

Believe me, I know all of this is temporary, but I'm frustrated none the less. Not at anybody, of course. And not necessarily at the situation either because it's getting us to something really, really good. Does that even make any sense at all?

Blerg.

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Raise the Roof

2013-03-12T10:59:00.000-04:00

It would be more accurate to say "replace the roof", but that doesn't sound as cool.

Now that the wedding is over, we can finally concentrate on fixing up our house and getting it ready to sell. All four bedrooms upstairs are currently gutted, new electrical was put in just before we left, and insulation is being finished up. Next week we're hoping for drywall to get cracking.

I hate to show pictures of the destruction, because I don't want to give the impression that tear out and replace is my preferred mode of action when it comes to old houses. I don't have any pictures today, but I might down the road, who knows.

Instead, today I'm going to talk about the roof. It needs replacing, badly. It's been patched a number of times - sometimes with shingles, sometimes with more sheet metal that doesn't quite match. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there's an entire second roof hanging out underneath it, either. You can see some of the patching in the top right corner of the picture below, which is from last summer after we had cleaned up the disaster that resulted from tearing down the shack. It doesn't look so bad from this side, but I don't have any pictures of the worst bits.

I'm in a bit of a hurry to get this roof done. You see...we have bats (no, we still haven't gotten rid of them despite my post about it way back here). That being said, the bats aren't here right now. It turns out, in the winter they migrate and hibernate. They'll be back, and soon. I would love to be able to get this roof replaced and sealed up before they return. I sort of feel bad that the little guys will be homeless...but...they'll manage.

We have a number of options for roofing material, but we've decided that sheet metal is our best choice. It installs much faster, and is comparable to the cost of shingles - possibly even less expensive if you do it yourself. Which I'm almost positive we will. "We" being Mike, his dad, and his brother, I'm guessing.

How about some examples?

Tamarack Custom Builders

Connor Homes

Connor Homes

Steel Tile Metal Roofing
I'm not sure what colour we're going to go with yet, but I'd prefer a charcoal grey. I'll keep you posted!

Are metal roofs common in your area? Would you ever put a metal roof on your house?

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I'm baaaaaaaack!! And with some wedding pictures.

2013-03-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

After 3 weeks of fun (and exhaustion), I'm back to reality and finally able to relax. The whole extravaganza was a whirlwind, but honestly amazing.

The wedding went off without a hitch, and despite a slow spot early on in the reception, we were up and dancing until 1 am. My feet killed! And then they killed some more when Mike dragged me all over Los Angeles on our honeymoon.

We don't have our pictures back from the photographers yet, but here are some that our guests posted to Facebook. Some people on Twitter have been demanding to see some pictures, so hopefully this will satisfy them!

And my favourite picture so far...

Ta ta for now!

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Later Alligators

2013-02-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

This is my last post as a "single" person!

I head out early tomorrow morning on my flight to BC. The blog will be dark until I'm back (March 6th), but you'll likely be able to catch me on Twitter and Instagram in the mean time.

Take care!!

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House Royalty

2013-02-05T14:21:00.002-05:00

The new old house that we're moving into falls into the architectural category known as "Queen Anne" (more accurately, Queen Anne Revival). Since I can't show you pictures of the new place yet (and won't be able to until we move in sometime in the late spring/early summer), I'm hoping this will mollify your appetite for house porn, if only for a little while.

Queen Anne's can range from incredibly intricate to almost plain, but the common characteristic that I see over and over again is that they are asymmetrical in their footprint. Sometimes jarringly so, sometimes subtly. Often coated in "gingerbread" and bright paint colours, the opposite can also be true.

These first two examples sort of explain why Queen Annes are sometimes referred to as "painted ladies". Colour schemes can include three or more colours, depending on the trim work.

1893 Queen Anne, Georgia

1891 Queen Anne, Wisconsin
A common identifying structure of a Queen Anne is the presence of a turret, as the first two pictures as well as the next one show.

1909 Queen Anne, Texas
It's not mandatory, though...

1907 Queen Anne, Iowa

1889 Queen Anne, Ohio

1888 Queen Anne, Ohio
Our new old house is brick, as are most old homes in Ontario. It doesn't have a turret, and it is most definitely on the plain end of things. But, it's a Queen Anne. It's asymmetrical, it has a generous front porch, side porch, and upper level verandah (although any gingerbread and fancy balusters that the porches may have boasted originally have been lost and replaced with more modern things). Most of these houses also have various surface textures that make up the exterior - ours is almost entirely brick, with the exception being the gable ends (all four of them!)which are covered in wood planks.

The house was built in 1906 to replace an older original home. I'm hoping that when we get in there we find that they recycled some of the hardware from the original house!

So...which house is your favourite? Or is Queen Anne really not your thing?

PS - all of those houses were listed for sale! Click on through to see how much they were going for, if you're interested.

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A wee update

2013-01-31T09:25:00.001-05:00

Things are chugging right along at our house. We're currently sleeping in the living room while the four bedrooms upstairs are being dealt with. At first it felt like camping or something and it was exciting. Now...not so much. The electricians were in yesterday and are coming back tomorrow, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they're finished by then. They did an unreal amount of work yesterday - I am so glad we decided to hire this job out rather than tackle it ourselves. What they did in one day would likely have taken us at least a week.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share. The power is cut off upstairs, and the furnace is blowing dust around like you wouldn't believe. I tried to take a couple of pictures yesterday with my phone when I got home from work but all you could see were dust particles.

Once the electricians are done, some foam insulation is going up over the barn board (you can see what I mean by barn board in pictures from this post), and then we'll be ready for drywall. There is no way things could be moving along so fast if it weren't for Mike's dad and brother. They've been working their butts off to help us get this house fixed up while Mike and I are at work and I will be forever grateful. We're crossing our fingers that everything will be ready for mud by the time we leave to BC for the wedding. We'll be out of the house and the pets will be out of the house so it'll be easy for the guys to come in and mud and sand and mud and sand and mud and sand. I'm glad we're hiring that job out, too.

As for the new house, if all goes according to plan we close on February 12th. We have some paper work to figure out before then, since we aren't going to be the only owners of the property, but I'm not expecting that to be a problem. It kills me that I can't show pictures of the new place yet. I drive past it every single day on my way to work and IT'S SO PRETTY.

Ta ta for now...hopefully sometime soon I'll be writing a post that includes pictures.

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My First Love

2013-01-24T21:13:00.000-05:00

I think I confused some people on Twitter when I started shouting gibberish about "free shaping" and getting the dog to get in a basket. So I'm going to explain myself a bit better here.

As some of you know, my first blog was actually a dog blog and I started writing it soon after I had stopped fostering. Back when I was fostering dogs, I fell head over heels for training and behaviour. More specifically, "force free" training and behaviour. Finding a way to get a dog to do what you want it to do by making it use it's brain? Challenging, but in my world...fun.

Take a look at this video. THIS is what I've been trying to get Tass to do, and what I finally managed. I use a clicker instead of my voice, though, but the concept is the same regardless.

Over the last little while my mind has been occupied by other things, but I think I want to try and make it a priority to work with Tass more often. It's something I really, really enjoy, and it tuckers out both of our brains!

Have a good weekend!

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From here to there.

2013-01-22T20:21:00.000-05:00

I confessed last week that we're leaving our first house, which was supposed to become our forever home. I bet there's a bunch of you scoffing about how naive I was to think that this would be it. I know that's how I feel, at least amongst the sadness and the excitement and the stress.

There's no point in dwelling on those feelings of inferiority, though. We've got a lot of work to do.

In order to actually get the new house, we have to sell this one. And it won't attract any buyers in the state that it's in, especially since we'd admittedly like to turn a bit of a profit. The only room that we're essentially leaving alone is the kitchen, since we figure that someone would prefer to come in and be able to make their dream kitchen rather than pay a higher price on the house.

Thankfully the bathroom is pretty much finished - we just need baseboards, window trim, and then some touch ups here and there. I can't believe it's taken us almost a year to finish that room.

The living room will be the most difficult, since it needs a new floor in addition to drywall and electrical work. All four bedrooms are getting new drywall and electrical, however the hallways are actually in half decent shape and we'll probably just do some patching where it's needed. The floors upstairs will be patched, sanded, and refinished. Or not. We might leave them as is for the new owners to refinish in a stain that they're happy with.

We have some brickwork on the exterior to take care of, and we'll also have to deal with the bats in the attic. Plus a million and a half other little things that I can't seem to wrap my head around right now. First we have to junk out and pack up, though. Living in a whole house gut and reno is going to make my head explode.

As I said, there's a lot of work to be done. But, at the end of it all we'll still likely be selling the house "as is", take it or leave it. We'll see how that goes...

Because this is an old house, we have some challenges in getting it ready to sell (such as heating the two south bedrooms that currently have no heat source). I'll hopefully be documenting things here and there to share with all of you who check in. Now, I know there are some of you who are cringing when you read "drywall". But the reality is that the only thing holding the plaster on the walls is multiple layers of wallpaper. In my opinion it is not in the least bit worth the effort and time to save it. And that's that.

Of course this is all happening while we're in the depths of wedding planning. One month to go today!

And since blog posts without pictures are weird, here's a picture of Tahsis being a total suck face.

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Well this is awkward.

2013-01-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

Has anyone ever noticed that the word awkward is awkward itself? Like the spelling, it just looks....awkward.

Anyway, that's not the point of this post. I'm just delaying talking about it. The point is...we're moving.

And that's awkward because, HELLO?! The name of my blog is FIRST Home Dreams. We were bound and determined to make this house ours, to turn it into our forever home. But...I fell out of love with it. I can't help seeing what it's not, and what it never will be. It makes me sad that I want more out of our little old brick house than it can give us, and the thought of leaving it makes me sad, too. Leaving means it won't be ours anymore. At least we only have two years of memories here, instead of five, ten, fifteen, a lifetime.

I also sort of feel like we've failed. We had so many dreams for this house that will never come to be. Realizing that I can't live in a gut job of a house without completely losing my sanity was hard. I thought I could, but I just can't. At least not when the plan was to take a decade or more to make it better. But I suppose that's okay. Dreams change, right?

The new house though? Ooooh, the new house. It's the definition of my dream home. Brick, built in 1907, stained glass windows, a back staircase, a second floor balcony, and the very best part?

It's on a farm. With farm buildings. Hi there, childhood dreams.

I suppose you're probably itching for some pictures. And as soon as I can share some, I will. But...you might be waiting for awhile. We probably aren't moving until spring/early summer, and I'd like to protect the privacy of the current owners.

Now that that's out in the open, please start suggesting new blog names, ha!

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Office Ideas

2013-01-09T22:24:00.000-05:00

The other night, for what is probably the second time ever, I was upstairs working on wedding stuff in the teeny tiny little room that we've designated as an office. You've never seen it on the blog, because it's not picture worthy in the least. Nevertheless, it felt really good to be sitting at a desk rather than crunched up in an armchair with the laptop in my lap, which has a tendency to make my thighs really hot. That sounds...weird. But you know what I mean.

Our office is really Mike's office - full of his papers and electronics and stuff that I've banished from other areas of the house. But working up there made me realize how much I would really really love to have an office space of my own. Somewhere I could keep all of my documents (and lets face it, all household documents), craft stuff, and safe keep all of my antique hardware that I seem to hoard for "some day". Or not even someday. I just love it and don't care if it ever gets used.

So this is me dreaming of an office space that I may or may not ever have.

I discovered Society 6 thanks to Sara of House Bella, and I came across this print that I am head over heels in love with. It's not very often that art "gets me", but this one does.

The Big One by Jay Fleck
I don't really know how to make a mood board but here's my attempt at one anyway with the octopus/ocean/moon print included.

1) I'd love to use one of the chairs that I rescued and rehabbed from an auction in an office. I'd throw on some antique casters to be able to move around in it a bit (like these ones that I bought for an ottoman redo gone bad). I'm still not great with the camera, so you'll just have to take my word for it that the yellowish tinge on the chair isn't there in person.
2) I bought 8 antique zoological prints off of eBay a few months back - Mike isn't crazy about them so having a room that I'd have free rein over would be amazing.
3) This is Farrow & Ball's "Railings". I've been pining over wood (heh - pun) floors and baseboards painted in a dark charcoal colour.
4) Storage is a must in pretty much every room in the house. Instead of just a plain bookcase, I think a wood hutch would be a great option because of the concealed bottom storage. This one is from Town Art Export. If I were actually putting this room together I'd look for an antique version.
5) This quirky lamp is by Rejuvenation. At 125 bones it's one of their more "affordable" options. Please note that that is sarcasm. Regardless, I think that lamp is pretty wicked.
6) I think it's impossible for me to plan to decorate any room without including some reference to Sarah Richardson. This is "Seagrass SR34" from her line of paint colours, and I'd coat all four walls with it (although not without trying out a sample pot first since I can't really trust how it's showing up on my monitor UPDATE - Now that I'm seeing it on a different monitor, I think I'd go for something lighter).
7) Instead of a traditional desk, I'd opt for a farmhouse style table. This one is from Williams-Sonoma, but I'm pretty sure I would try my hand at building my own. I do have 2 sets of table legs kicking around...
8) There's that print again! I think I'd get it in the biggest size possible.
9) This theoretical window treatment is a combination of Ikea's ENJE roller blind in dark grey and their BENZY curtains. I think the curtains might be a little too brown, but they're good for inspirations sake.

I realize a room like this wouldn't be everybody's favourite piece of cake, but that's just fine.

And I now have a new appreciation for those who can make mood boards. My haphazard example took me hours, and I'm not even exaggerating like I tend to do every single day of my life.

So who out there has an office all to their lonesome? Or do you share with a partner? Or do you not have one at all?

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Here`s to New Beginnings...

2013-01-01T11:38:00.002-05:00

...and not losing my mind.

2013 is gearing up to be one of the craziest years ever. Mike and I are getting married in February, my friend that I've known since I was six is getting married in May, and my cousin is getting married in July...and all three events are in BC. To top it off, I'm a bridesmaid in both my friend's and my cousin's wedding. Yowza.

I've never been one for resolutions, especially since I'm pretty terrible at following through on anything. But, I am hoping for some personal changes that make me a better person. I'll be vague and leave it at that.

There's another big change in the works in Mike and I's life, but...I'm not ready to spill the beans yet. Go ahead, let your minds run wild, ha!

Happy New Year, everyone! May 2013 be everything you want it to be.

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Merry Christmas!

2012-12-21T11:47:00.000-05:00

See you in 2013!

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Bring on Christmas! I'm done decorating.

2012-12-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

Just a few days after proclaiming that I'm officially in the Christmas spirit, I'm now officially finished with my Christmas decorating. I didn't do much, because really...I'm not into cleaning up a whole bunch of stuff come January, especially with the whole wedding thing happening in February.

This weekend I decorated our front door, although not the one that we actually use. I decorated what I call the "old front door".

I used 4 fake pine garland strands that I picked up at Walmart last year at something like $4 each (you can see where I used them from last Christmas here). To fill in the top, I used cuttings from our tree, and some fake floral things that are also from last year. Mike and I picked up the sled at a garage sale in the summer for $10.

This poor old door is in rough shape. I would say it needs to be pulled completely apart, stripped, patched, and put back together again...along with some new glass. It's also in desperate need of proper weatherstripping. To get us through the winter I've shoved some cheap vinyl bulb in all of the gaps.

I put my wreath making skills in action again to make this faker. Everything involved with it is stuff I had from last year, with the exception of the ribbon, the berry sprigs (which was a mini wreath ornament and I hacked it apart), and the deer.

In case anyone is interested...here's a source list for everything.

Garland, wreath, fake florals - Walmart
Ribbon - Bradford Greenhouses
Pinecones - Michael's
Deer and berry wreath - Canadian Tire

The deer is probably my favourite thing - he's textured like birch bark!

Anyone else out there done decorating? Were you done ages ago like seemingly the entire blogging world?

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