My New(ish) Home!

SO!!!

My computer is finally fixed and I am able to share new pictures of my humble abode….

It's been forever since I've written a blog entry but life has just been craziness. Moving. Getting everything set up ever so slowly. Trying to decide what I wanted and how it was going to come together. Quite frankly, it's been fun but it's also been consuming!!

But nothing beats those days when I get to come home and relax while watching TV and then I look around and think that this isn't my 'house' so much as it's my home. It's a wonderful feeling I have to say.

But enough waxing poetic, it's time for pics!!! I'll try to highlight things that I've talked about in past blogs so that you see how everything came together. Be on the look out, and feel free to ask any questions! I also tried to link some of the things I mentionned here to the blog entries where I went into more detail in case you want to find out more information.

I took most of these pictures already but it's been a crazy weekend so wherever I don't have a picture, check back and I'll put one in later.

EVERYONE READY!?!?!? Cause I warn you now...this is a LONG ride!! =D

Let us begin!

This is the new outside!

It actually looks like a house because Mattamy has put down the sod and paved the driveway. For a while, it was the mud pit but as you can see it's coming together quite well. It just looks sooooo purrty. =D

My garage is basically the same. I managed to keep it fairly clear of boxes because I really wanted to park my car inside. After 2 years of driveway parking, I wasn't about to cheat SilvaDiva (Yes I named my car; Don't judge! Lol…) out of her home. The garage is actually pretty deep. Deeper than the regular towns because I can fit my car and still have more than enough room for the (meat!) freezer and tools so I'm a happy camper.

You think I'm kidding,(as did my unsuspecting friends)... but I'm really not…I have chicken, beef and shrimp in that freezer along with freezies and ice cream…I'm a pig and I'm not ashamed…lol!!

ANYWHO! Back to the house tour….

So this is the new foyer. I say new because for a while it was just the empty space but then I (ok ok..my friend cause I can't do mirrors, but I helped!! I held the screws!!) put up my mirror and then placed my lil pier one bench underneath. Now it's a nice little spot to put shoes on and give yourself the final once over before walking out the door…It's nice and simple and I like the fact that the foyer is spacious enough that I can do this and still have plenty of room to maneuver. Then we move on to….

The laundry room

This is the laundry room. It's not completely done because the pedestals are what's on the side but I haven't been able to get my peeps in to put that part together BUT so far I love my laundry pair and I have big plans for the room. ALSO, I had to take this picture because I think this is the first time that the laundry room has ever been COMPETELY devoid of actual laundry and dangnabbit! That's cause for celebration! =D

This is a shot of the landing up the first flight of stairs. I thought putting two tall items on either side of the powder room door would be a nice way to even out the visuals. The scroll is the 'Deepest Fear' motivation speech which I love and I wanted to put it somewhere that I could see it every day. If I can find a nice representation of the 'Desiderata' poem, I'd be happy too. The sticks was just a really simple decorative touch. The vase was from Costco, sticks are from Ikea- stuck the sticks in the vase, fanned them out, bada-boom-bada-bing, you're decorating!!! LOL! (Ya ok, I'm cheesy...I'll admit it...)

This is the powder room. Thankfully, you're seeing it after Mattamy came to fix the proof of my ineptitude when putting things up on walls. I finally gave in and my friend put these up for me as well. BUT all the fixtures went well together and pretty much matches my mental picture. I haven't gotten around to calling my electrician but I'll be doing that soon enough….

Next is the Kitchen...

These are a few shots of my kitchen and I have to say one of my favorite places in the house. The dark wood is a really pretty contrast against the stainless steel appliances. This actually lived up to my expectations. And the storage space in here is INSANE! I still haven't been able to fill up all the cabinets and I've been here 3 months!!! The pantry is fantastic and really handy.One of my favorite features is that the bottom cabinet by the fridge is big enough to hold ALL my small appliances. That really frees up space on the counters and lends to a really clean look AND speaking of a clean look, I was able to find this sliding lid storage rack from Costo that I put it ALL BY MYSELF and works like a charm. (Oh yeah…that's right…I'm a handydiva badass… HA HA!) I love all the appliances that I chose and have no complaints on them. Little things I'd change mind you like the configuration of some things, but no complaints! The fridge fits in the space perfectly and I like how the freezer is a slide out because it makes it easier to maneuver and to see what's in there. The stove- ABSOLUTELY NO COMPLAINTS!! Works like a dream and looks wonderful. The convection oven is great when making lasagna or things like that. The dishwasher rocks my world. Washes everything I put in there really well and fits a ton of stuff. And it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO quiet, it's insane! I literally forget it's on sometimes until I hear it draining. I'm quite impressed actually.

And of course, one of the best things is that the kitchen overlooks the living and dining rooms. This is one of my favourite spaces in the house so I'll give you a few shots from different angles.

Now I must say that I am using this space exactly like I thought I would. When I'm cooking, I'm usually on the island by the sink and watching something on TV. This is my besta set that I finally decided on and it makes me quite happy because it fits all my storage needs in a really nice and even decorative way. The entertainment system works well with the whole set up and I really enjoy the lines of the whole thing. I even put touches of white in the mix to break up the dark so that's why you see the vases at the bottom and if you look closely you can see the tea light trays at the top of the shelves. Really nice lighting effect when they're lit. The couch is super comfy and M.Y Home was an awesome place to deal with. One of the coolest things is that the couch arm came with these two sleeves that you can wash to nothing gets on your couch! Thought that was a genious idea. Perfect place to lay out and watch movies though.

The ottoman has been a godsend because it's worked exactly as I hoped it would- table, ottoman and storage. Fantastic buy!

The curtains I had made- supplies were from Fabricland. They were a good investment because at least I knew exactly what I was getting. I bought the curtain rod from Bouclair I believe, to play off of my fabulous lamp find at (where else?) HomeSense. It was definitely another 'YOINK!' moment in the house shopping. Though it's under constant guard from a friend who has threatened on more than one occasion that I will come home and it won't be there...

ONTO my chair deals that would make Sarah Richardson would be proud! I happened to find these chairs on kijiji that my sister and I went to go take a look at, but when we got there, we saw 3 of these chairs and fell in love with these instead. They had so much character and charm and went perfectly with the mental feel I had going. So we bartered with the lady and ended up walking out of there with each chair costing us….

(Ready??)

$27 EACH!!!!!!!!!!!

Now to put this in perspective, I have seen chairs SIMILAR to this but not as nice, retailing for over 300-400 dollars. The wood is sturdy, it's in great condition and I can customize it to my tastes…TWENTY SEVEN DOLLARS PEOPLE!!! (Geesh I get goosebumps just THINKIN' bout it! Lol!!! )

Ok….I'm back….onto the rest of the tour…

Dining room table and chairs are an older set from my brother. The round glass actually works well because it allows a lot of light to pass through the space. Might changes up the colour and such though but it's working well for now. The bar in the corner was my shelf from pier 1. It's a really handy little area and display. The boxes in the corner are my hoodfan and light fixture for the dining room…I'll get to that in the later stages.

Off the dining room I have the deck, where I sometimes leave the doors open so I can get this view…

I also have a hammock out there which is very relaxing on the warm days and the place where I had one of my top 10 naps ever. (Others include this quaint B&B in New Orleans and #1 was on a leather lounger on a quiet resort beach in on a trip to Ghana with the waves crashing on the shore- people have tapes of the ocean to sleep…imagine sleeping there live!!) Regardless, the deck was GOOD times!

Now upstairs is still work in progress in a lot of places but I'll give you the overview...

My computer nook that I have to sort out the books and then get shelves for. I'm workin' on the ideas portion for this so it's currently box central, and so not ready for public viewing, but I swear it looks A LOT worse than it actually is...=D. It's almost like the secret closet that Monica had on 'Friends' that was a mess and she didn't want anyone to see it....so I figure putting it on a blog..not exactly hiding so not doing it.. =D

This is the guest bathroom. Had a few people over and it's been really handy because they have their own space to get ready and do things AND I don't have to share! WHOO!

The guest room is a disaster so I'm not going to show it yet!! lol.. I have the temp blinds up there because I'm still trying to find the best deal since the blinds are narrow but long. Still confused but I did know I needed to do something so my business wasn't all out in the street. The boxes are run over from other places that I am gong through slowly. No real rush anymore so taking my time, BUT I'm not putting my business out there for the masses to see so you'll have to take my word for it.

And LAST but not LEAST,

This is MY room.

I am actually making some changes this weekend and switching up my dresser for some new ones but it hasn't been done yet at the time of this post. I really like how simple my room is. I didn't want too much fuss and muss in there. And the cabinet in the corner works out really well with the….

If you compare the vanity and the cabinet, it almost looks like it was bought like that on purpose because they're so similar but I just happened to like the colour. It's really handy and holds a lot of the 'necessary' products for being a girl. =D The fixtures in the bathroom were again put up by my friend (Don't worry- I paid him in food!) and the towel rack is one of my favs because since it can move around, it's quite versatile and useful.

And I do belive that that is everything in my home for now to share. The entries may not be as frequent because I'm still figuring out everything that I want so things don't change as often but stay tuned for when they do!! And for all the people out there who also bought Berryhursts, feel free to shoot me any questions and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanks for reading and not listening when others may have said 'Don't encourage her….'. LOL!!!!!!!

Update Coming Soon!!

Hello All!!

Well it's been a shamefully long time since I've made a blog entry! and now that I'm pretty much ready, my computer screen has decided to go on strike and I have to get that fixed. BUT I hopefully will have some pictures and updates to show you soon!!

STAY TUNED!!!!!

My first week....

WELL!!!!

It's the end of my first official week in my new house...I'M POOPED!!!! lol...

The whole week has basically gone by in one big blur. I was home on the Tuesday which I was going to use to clean some things around the house and pack up some more items and do some laundry....but then I got a call from my lawyer soon after waking up that they needed the Tarion information so that they could close. Funnily enough, closing trumps packing (go figure! lol...) so I high-tailed it over to my lawyer downtown, It's like Mission Impossible or Charlie's Angels where they wait for the call telling them what their next secret mission is....but in my case, I'm more of a 'Get Smart' call-getter.(Yup! I just made up a word!) lol...

SO after hours of puttering around and throwing things in my car, I finally DID get the call and then when I stopped cheering and doing my little dance (this isn't even an exaggeration- I really did dance.), I again hightailed it over to my lawyer to pick up my paper AS WELL AS A CHEQUE! WHOO HOOOOOO!!!!!! Then I did my best imitation of the driving scene in the second matrix movie to the site office to pick up my keys. I swear that if a human being could glow from excitement, I would have been that human being. I was BESIDE myself!! And knowing that, my very funny CCR played a little trick on my where she gave me the wrong keys- the weird shaped ones to the bathroom instead of my actual keys and tried to pass them off as these new 'space aged' locks that Mattamy's using. LOL! It was funny...after the fact!! lol!! In the moment, I was so confused but in such a haze of excitement, I wasn't processing the fact that they couldn't possibly the wrong keys, I was just happy to have keys! Though I must admit when she told me and it finally clicked, I laughed whole-heartedly and congratulated her on her sneakiness. =D

Then, after all of that, I was FINALLY able to get to the house and take a look around. I realised afterwards that my cheeks were hurting because I was smiling SO much.So after I dropped off my stuff, I again got in my car and drove over to pick up my mother and bring her over. She took a look around too and the house passed her test. =D Then my sister came over with the mini hurricanes that I'm sure I've mentioned before, and the kids just had a blast running too and fro across the obstacle-free floor. Afterwards, a few friends came over and we popped champagne on the balcony and ate pizza and argued over putting together a fan because it was as hot as....well..I could use a few colourful images here but I figure since this may be read in the presence of children, I'll just say it was QUITE hot and leave it at that! lol...

I slept in the house on the first night (like I could sleep anywhere else at this point!!) and it was DE-LIC-IOUS!! I looked around the room and thought 'I've been in this space a million times but I've never been in my ROOM before.' It's amazing how this is feeling like home from the very first time.

I ended up going back and forth during the week from the old place to the new place while things were being delivered and set up. My beds came the next day (My friend and I promptly reverted back to age 6 and jumped on it for a few minutes!), and then the official move was Saturday. Sunday, I managed to beat back the savage unpacking beast and actually set up my TV and stereo system...and by 'set up', I mean be a supportive cheering section while my friend did it for me because I needed to catch up on my 'stories' (aka Young and the Restless!!). Monday- I couldn't really work on it because I was running around doing errands, but I must say, that as I currently sit in my dining room overlooking the houses outside, listening to the construction, and surveying my life in boxes in the living room...the beast is pretty much coming back with a vengeance and kicking my a$$ this morning. LOL! But I will get back to it!! It may have won the battle this morning but I will win the war!!!!!!! =D

It is amazing to think that, after all this time with the picture diaries and progress reports and checking out the various stages of progress, the house is finally DONE!!!!!! AND MINE!!!!!!!!!!! LOL...

To borrow from the landing on the moon phrase, this is definitely one small step for me......one GIANT LEAP for my debt!!!!!! LMAO!!

Till next time!!

P.S: I will try to have pictures soon enough AND great news- My couch will be arriving TWO WEEKS EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TODAY IS!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

In honour of it being CLOSING DAY (even typing the words makes me tingle inside! tee hee hee!!), I have composed a little ditty to truly showcase how completely, utterly and TOTALLY excited I am that after 19 months, I am FINALLY getting my house!!!
(To the tune of 'Camptown races' a.k.a the song Foghorn Leghorn always sang in the cartoons...just dated myself but ah well!!!)

FI-NA-LLY It's CLOSING DAAAAAY! Doo-Daaaaaaah!! Doo-Daaaaaaaah!!

Get my keys, then on my waaaaaay! OHHH-DA-DOO-DAH-DAY!

Keeeeeeeys to my plaaaaaaaaace,

Smiiiiiile on my faaaaaaace, (=oD)

Been 19 months, it's CLOSING DAY! OHHH-DA-DOO-DAH-DAY!
 
.............................

Did I mention today is closing day? =oD

PDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII LOVE IT!

SO!!

My PDI was this morning and I think it went SWIMMINGLY!!

I went with 3 friends, whose insight was invaluable because it provided 3 more sets of eyes that caught ALL these things that I would have missed. The coffee that I bought them because I made them get up in the morning on a holiday (SORRY!!!) was well deserved!  Word of advice to anyone who does a PDI for a new house, BRING A TALL PERSON!! lol...

There were mostly cosmetic issues on the PDI except for a leak by the hot water tank that concerned me and a creaky floor in the second bedroom but I am told that both would be fixed and I expect that they will be.

However, the house in general looks fantastic and I am SUPER excited to move on in!!

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure....

This is my master bedroom...

Walk-In Closet.....

This is my ensuite....

And then there`s the great room on the main floor. Can I just say how IN LOVE I am with hardwood??!! Not that I love the hardwood...I am IN LOVE with the hardwood!!! lol...

Here`s one shot

AAAAAAAAND another from the kitchen:

AAAAAAAAAAAND another with the Dining Room focus:

And this is yet another shot FROM the Dining Room:

Yup! I`m in love!!

and tomorrow, I get the KEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just want to say in advance that I cannot be responsible for the messages that may be posted to this blog in light of my absolute euphoria that will be a direct result of FINALLY closing.. You`ve been warned...lol!

PDI TODAY!!!

So I'm currently sitting here writing this at 1:30 a.m. because I am far too excited to go to sleep. Why???!?!

CAUSE TODAY IS MY PDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I'm going to the PDI with 3 friends, one of whom is a contractor so he should have some insight into the building. I am so excited I could BURST!! But that could also be because I just came home from my third BBQ in as many days and I do think my tummy is about to go on strike. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH summer..LOL!!

YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY PEEEEEEEEEE-DEEEEEEEEEEEEE-IIIIIIIIII!!!!

As always, I will post plenty of pics when I'm done. There's no way I could resist!!!!! :D!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Can you tell I'm just a LITTLE excited?! lol!!)

AAAAAAAAAAAAnd down the home stretch.......

SO...

with less than a week before closing, I couldn't wait until the PDI to see the house in all it's spectacular glory so I went by today.

There were so many new things, it made my heart sing.

First, I walked up to my wonderfully painted door. I won't sing 'Three's Company' again but you get the idea.

Then lo and behold, there were the new doors on my front hall closet, which were really nice to see as well. Not that I don't like the mirrored sliders, but I just didn't want anything taking away from my fantastic find of a mirror that I plan to put up in the foyer.

Closed Doors:

Opened Doors:

JUUUST enough space to fit all my coats and shoes so it'll do for sure! :D

Then I took a peek into my garage and noticed that the rails for the garage door had been delivered! My car, the SilvaDiva, will soon have a home as well!!

Then I turned towards the stairs and saw my carpets!!!!!!!

I must admit that they looked more brown than I anticipated, but I'm kind of warming up to them because they really pull in the warm look of the walls and the railings as well. Really happy I chose them. I was even happier when I took the first step onto them. OH SO SOFT!! You sink into it JUST a little bit and it's a great cushion on your feet. SO happy I did the upgraded underpadding!

So off I did mosey up the stairs to the main floor and saw HARDWOOD!!!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been waiting for this day for so long and the colour and look did not disappoint!! Granted there were quite a few Mattamy boxes that shielded the floor just a bit BUT I'm glad that they're being protected, and not all scratched up. Look beyond the box, I said...lol...

Here are a few choice shots of the Great Room and Dining Room...

From the Kitchen:

From the Stairs:

From the corner near the Kitchen:

I went upstairs and checked out those rooms. Nothing seems to have really changed besides the lights and the carpets so I just enjoyed walking from room to room soaking it all in and wiggling my toes in the carpet to enjoy the feel. lol..

I'll be sure to post my pictures after the PDI is completed AND once I start actually putting my own spin on the house decorating. Should be good times...I hope! =S

Right now, I'm focused on packing, setting up all my accounts, arranging deliveries and installations and just generally putting everything together that needs doing. It's a little hectic but I know it'll all be worth it.  

So my journey is almost over. Tuesday afternoon, I will be receiving the keys to my very first home....what a RIDE it's been!!

And to think, it only took 19 months and 21 days to get here...but who's counting!?!? lol...

 

5 MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!