I love house tours and before & afters. I happen to have a friend finishing a reno, another in the middle of a reno, and yet another embarking on a reno – and I hope to have lots of tours and befores & afters of these fun things to post about in the new year. In the meantime, I thought I’d do a tour of my little house chronicling how it’s coming together.
Let’s start with the living room. It’s the first room you see when you walk in the door, it was the first room I worked on, and it is the only room that is “done” - perhaps because it required the least “help” as I had almost everything that went in this room when I moved in.
My good friend handy-man Matt took the door off the hinges so they could get the piano in, and it still only made it by a whisker! (I really should have at least moved the lint brush before I took these photos - oh well!)
I love books, but I’ve been trying to use the library more and only keep things that I will read again or loan out. This is the piano I learned to play when I was a child and my parents got it before they got me. I keep saying I'm going to re-learn how to play - cause I used to be good.
The only things that I did in this room (and by “I”, I mean Matt) was switch out the wall sconces – because the ones that were here were literally falling out of the wall - and replace the shelf over the radiator because it was completely warped.
Now the wall colour is not exactly something I would have chosen but I think it goes really well with my fabulous mid-century couch, chair & table which I scored last year off craigslist. I got a serious bargain because the seller couldn't get it in her front door and had it sitting on her porch, and it was starting to snow!
Also this wallpaper has a very heavy texture and is painstaking to paint as you have to use a brush to get into all the little nooks and crannies (as I discovered when I painted the kitchen).
The curtains I bought new and are from Umbra, and though they could be a bit longer I’m not going to mess with them - for obvious reasons. And because you can't really see the bottom edge. I got the zebra pillows at The Bay – surprisingly.
The special painting of Marcel & me is by my sister Ceciley. The shelf & brackets are from IKEA; the vases are from Pier 1 - on mega sale; and the clocks (I love clocks) are from Pottery Barn.
“Marcel’s chair” is from Urban Outfitters, but cosied up with a blanket from IKEA. I’ve had it for years and just keep changing what I cover it with – other than the kitchen table, the chair is Marcel's favourite spot.
These book shelves, believe it or not, are cheap chip-board from Home Depot. They were bought as a temporary solution when I moved to Toronto, but I experimented by staining them years ago and they've done a good job.
Behind the door I put up two coat racks for hats, scarves, bags, and coats since there really isn’t any storage in the house (yes that stuff is all mine).
And this little table which came from my mom holds the keys and other random stuff I seem to drop on the way in the door as well as the remotes for the tv & dvd.
I am quite obsessed with all things Art Nouveau and I got both of the large posters in this room at Alternative Arts.
The kitchen is down the hall. It was red when I moved in …
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