Monday, September 10, 2012

Hallway office


I have to say that early fall is my most favourite time of year. Yesterday, the sun poured in our windows and our front porch which we reclaimed after moving out some stored items that were sitting in it for the hot part of the summer. It was such a treat to sit out there and enjoy our coffee and tea yesterday morning.



and Emma found a nice spot under the antique farm table between our chairs.


There were a million things that I could have done outside with the beautiful weather but getting our custom bookcases Todd made, primed was a priority for me.



So after I got started Todd says he is going to clean up the upstairs which had accumulated a lot of stuff over the past while. So then I hear the sound  of things being ripped apart instead of vacuumed up, so I go upstairs and this is what I find. Todd has taken off the extra deep window sill and is proceeding to remove the wall built out that went under it. We had talked about opening this up to give us an extra foot of space for a great hallway office niche which will then make our house a three bedroom plus bonus office. 


The space is just over 3' wide by 8' long on the wall side and the window wall is 12' long. 


and removing the wall makes it 54" wide! So much great potential and I haven't even begun to think of what could be done with it, 
becuuuuuuzzz I didn't know he was going to start yet another project.
We have NO funds for anything major so I'm happy that this will just be a drywall and two x fours type of project.





I put the furniture back for the night and today I'm getting a coat of paint on the built-ins, laundry etc.
It sure is starting to feel like a nice cozy space and just in time for fall.
I hope you are enjoying this superb weather.



Friday, September 7, 2012

Restore blinds rock!


As you may  know custom window blinds can cost a couple of hundred dollars each when you order from companies like Hunter Douglas.  Our old windows some as old as 130 years old are all odd sizes and so finding something to fit off the shelf was impossible but we came across these beautiful bamboo Cabot Trail blinds at the Restore a while ago and last weekend Todd got out his saw and got to work trimming them and redoing the notch in the hanging rail to attach the bracket.


They let some light filter in so when they are closed on hot days you don't feel like you are in a cave.


It was so nice to see the other stained glass window in the dining room once we hung the new blind below it. I still have to find some nice cleats to tie the cords off too asI don't like the cheap ones they give you with the blinds. I still want to add a nice curtain rod and curtain panels to finish this and the living room windows off.


 I like how the  tones in the blinds balance out the floor, granite counters and backsplash nicely in the kitchen and give it a more casual feel.







I do have an idea for the table though to change up the colour so there is not too much of this brown in the kitchen. 
We paid $20.00 each for all the blinds except one larger one which was $35.00 and they work like a dream.!




Remember to check out your local Restore regularly. You never know what you may find and if you are ever renovating your kitchen you can donate your old one to Restore so it doesn't end up in the land fill. Just give them a call and they will let you know if they will come and remove it for you!

Have a great day!