Blogger party

So I have been thinking about having a little party a blogger / reader party at my current home , after all we will soon be leaving and moving on and so many wonderful people have come here to my blog supporting me and cheering me on and even become friends , I would love to welcome you to my home to meet and enjoy some time together , have some food and drinks and share some stories, Would you come ?? I know many of you are quite far but for those Reasonably near by , would you be interested in coming for some girl time , I'm thinking on an upcoming Sunday afternoon , leave me a message if you be able to swing a visit , Hope you can ! See you soon ?? Chris

Lighting love

 I stopped in at a lighting store on my way back from Lowe's yesterday , they have a great selection of Steven and Chris fixtures , I spied these brand new pendants , aren't they so gorgeous , they come in two sizes and three finished , they would be perfect for over our kitchen island , don't you agree ...I'm going to save my pennies , lighting is the jewelry of the house.

Speaking of jewelry , look at this lovely lantern , I love love love the shiny chrome finish , breakfast light ???? gonna need more pennies.

Sophie and I found a great desk for Todd's office at Urban Barn , it has a trap door on the top and a built in tray , super cute.

Its fun to dream.

Lighting score

 I found a great deal on a beautiful light fixture for the new house , I couldn't believe the quality and the price couldn't be beat $169.00, it will be for our new dining room , at $1129.00 LESS than the restoration hardware version , I knew it was going to be the perfect choice , the one and only purchase for the new house, I sort of promise.

 Here is the $1995.00 RH version

I had happened upon this beautiful orb fixture for $149.00 I really loved it but my husband wasn't so sure about it so I left it behind , when I went back the next day to see if it was still there of course it was long gone , as were the other smaller versions , I should have picked it up I could have returned it right, they had all the Restoration hardware fixtures at our local Homesense, but I missed them .

Our new house

I drive by our new house about 5 to 6 times a day some days as I always have that corner , so I get to see how things are coming along , over the last couple of days the oak stairs have gone in and the final door was installed yesterday in the family room, so exciting .
 I am so pleased to share with you that we have signed and this house is now our house ....our house is a very very fine house , it is literally so exciting , we had no plans on moving right now , it was over the horizon but now it is possibly only a just a few months off , don't know when we will be moving exactly ,but we will be offering the house for sale in a couple of weeks after I get everything just right...I just yesterday completed building and installing a custom closet in our master walk-in, one of those things I should have done a long time ago , it has so much more storage now.

 I can now really show you why we love this house, starting with the separate garage, this is the only house in our neighborhood with a separate garage , which is super great and will have plenty of room for my carpentry work shop...

 Here is the floor plan of the upper floor, I am so excited for the girls to have their own bathrooms , what a luxury , and I won't have to hear all the singing in the shower unless I want to of course, the girls will have to clean those rooms, well at least keep them tidy.I think its neat that the kids bedrooms have a little hallway leading to their rooms , and all those windows enough said , good thing I like bamboo blinds  right...! all the windows will have to match .
I am also thrilled to have a separate shower I have never had one , I think I will really like it , I am looking forward to tiling the shower base myself, that is one place to splurge with something special.I've been pricing out marble counters for Sophie's bath per her request , I think I need to convince her to go with something more durable like quartz that looks like marble.

 Here is the main floor layout , a classic center hall plan, walk- in closet in the foyer , high ceilings and doorways.

 Here are the drawings of the house from the builder , we were allowed to select three choices for the siding colours , we really love greys so we are hoping for the darkest shade which was our first choice, doesn't that sound terrible , hoping , but this is how this works , they don't put the same colours together which I totally get , I think we will get our choice, they describe our styles of homes here as Cape cod style.

 I love this side view , all the windows and all the shutters and great headers , the triple kitchen sink is so lovely , I'm going to have to build a nice window box for that window.I see a picket fence in my future, again , both previous houses we have built picket fences.

 This is the side that faces our yard , we don't have a back yard but a substantial side yard , and a good deal of space behind the garage , I said that's for our boat !!! wait we don't have a boat??

 And the front , I don't know why it says side , its a corner lot so its a bit complicated , oh did I mention that this was a parking lot , yes a parking lot , for the model homes , which are all family homes now , and we get the parking lot , I think gardening might be a little challenging, I see finding large crushed gravel in my future.

 So I have been trying to plan our kitchen , I want open and closed storage , and drawers , I want drawers.

I think I will swap the location of the bank of drawers and the one door there for good garbage space, and under the sink will be recycling. I'm trying to really pre plan the kitchen as well as I can .

So there we have it , I am waiting for the call to go in and make all of our selections , some are easier than others , some upgrades we will do ourselves because the builder pricing can be steep for things like hardwood, it is just better to do that ourselves and some of the tiling depending on what their selections are , they have Debbie Travis options at our design center, whoo hoo , I am looking for white subway tile in the bathrooms, I almost feel bad for the design person that gets me, wouldn't you ?

Sink study

Yes I said sink study , I know I'm not alone having a dream sink in mind for my kitchen , currently I have the above sink , it is a triple cast iron enameled Kohler sink , which we are going to have re-glazed before we put the house on the market in a couple of weeks , I so wish we had gone ahead and re-glazed it for our own benefit , but someone will be getting a fabulous sink with a fresh finish , ours is an original model , which was featured in the Uncle Buck movie ... funny tid bit , and has now recently been be re- introduced at the price of $1500 approx Canadian dollars , I will miss my little middle sink , it is so handy.

Last night my husband informed me I had spent 2 hours looking at sinks ... he found this excessive , but really is it ? I know plenty of you who stop buy see why each selection takes a great commitment of time .

I have been longing for an apron front sink for many years now , I know what it is to have a white sink , and I am fine with giving it a good scrub and a bleach to get it all spiffed up , but boy are these very popular sinks ever pricey , on average I have found them to be around the $2000.00 mark , but what you get for shopping around can be a great deal , like locally I found this one bowl apron front cast iron sink for $695.00 , you know that's a bargain, of course Ikea has an apron front sink for $350.00.

Since I will have a main floor laundry and the tub you get is a cheap and sad $20-$40 option , again , eww!! but I did come across this wall hung beauty , we just love it .

And this cute little utility sink is super charming but in need of a skirt., these two are of course Kohler , how can I get Kohler to sponsor my build??? gonna have to work on that , come on Home Depot , we can work together right....let's make a deal.

Ok now catch your breath , adorable right , this is the perfect sink for a busy kids bath room , I know a family with 5 kids that I bet could use this ...

I have finally found out where this classic laundry sink comes from Home depot of course...

How long would you invest in fixtures , some are no brainers , but making choices that will last possible decades if not longer takes its share of time.

So I think I have narrowed down the kitchen sink and maybe the laundry sink , now to move on to trim , do I do it all myself or let the builder finish it for me? that is a really tough decision , then flooring , wood floor ?, species? I think I am happy with oak , colour is a tougher decision , and tile I sure hope the tile options are pleasing , I am quite sure I have selected the kitchen cabinets , lovely sprayed soft off white...

Everyone has a special request , a couple of mine , main laundry , 9 ft ceilings, separate glass shower , apron front sink , wood floors ...check

My husband needs a ice making fridge , that is bigger than you can know , and a real office , one of a kind designed house, and room to spread out and a tall tub dishwasher for sure ...check

Mason wants lots of closet space , her own bath and an arm chair ...sounds doable

And Sophie well she wants that marble vanity top and lots of very soft purple, and a dress mannequin , sounds like a plan

Planning helps busy the mind

I am feeling kind stressed with the work involved with buying our new house all the legal stuff and financing , so it is probably best to keep my mind occupied with design for now to help sooth my stressing mind.

The stairs will be oak , that was predetermined for us , but I do think painted and stained like in the photo , and we will still have a chance to choose the style of pickets and handrails...

I am really excited to have an actual laundry/ mudroom with a door to the backyard , this is so exciting.

In our breakfast area I am planning something very similar to this a little more clean lined though .

I will incorporate open shelving and closed uppers and of course painted cabinets.

I look forward to looking and finding the right tile for the backsplash, I played it safe here because I knew we would re sell at some point , but when you buy your forever house you can do what you love . I am hoping to get my apron front sink for my kitchen .

I love the pendants over this island.

The girls bathrooms will be so fun to decorate , of course my 10 year old has requested marble counters ... only my little girl right!

This is such an inspiring kitchen.

I am toying with the kitchen flooring , would you have wood or tile , I will be really picky with the tiles , but perhaps I will just go for the brick veneer floors , aren't they gorgeous? I will defiantely install them myself in the entry front hall.

So I will continue to dream and plan while the financing process moves forward , now I remember why I have post poned making a move...

House for sale , well not quite yet...

I have some rather exciting news to share , a sort of sudden development , it is in the works and not final but we are hoping it will just be a matter of days before it will be so , WE ARE BUYING A NEW HOUSE!!!! and selling this house. We were planning to make a move over the next year and half or two years before we have extra drivers in the house but this house literally fell into our plans, snooze you lose... right!

My husband has been wanting to make a move for many years now , I have not been ready , I have been working constantly for the last 7 years improving our home , adding oodles of character , making it magazine and TV ready , both of those dreams have come true for me, I even finished the guest house I have always dreamt of , the backyard feels like a true oasis , so why would we sell??? you ask or wonder , well sometimes an opportunity just pops up and its worth the move.

Right in our neighbourhood where we have been for 9 years they are still building new , model homes are becoming family homes and as strange as this sounds the parking lot for the models has recently blossomed a house , a house with a separate garage and two side yards which peaked our interest . I inquired about the house which I assumed was a custom build since it is so different than any other house in our subdivision , boy was I shocked to hear it was for sale , I was told to "go take a look" which I did , it had all things on my wish list , 4 bedrooms , walk-in entry closet , main floor mudroom laundry , double car garage , dream sized kitchen , the triple window over the sink is when the deal maker for me , the windows are beautiful and every where , each bedroom has a bath {sophie thought I was pulling her leg when I told her she was going to have her own bathroom} , a separate shower in the master bath , an extra bedroom which will be my husbands office , center hall plan , 9 foot ceilings and best of all it is a blank slate , I will be able to choose all the finishes , which is a dream , my head is spinning with ideas right now .

This is the house how it stands right now , it is perfect to get a sense of space.

This is the view from the front door , to the right is the walk in closet followed by the powder room, then through the last door way is the breakfast area window , we love all the extra large door ways , I will build in a window bench ...I love that the house behind has a great amount of mature trees and plantings which makes for an instant view , its the best of both world's getting new construction in an established area.

The garage will finally allow me to make a proper work shop.

Here is my big kitchen , this wall is the stove wall , I am wanting some open shelving ...to the left is the breakfast area, plenty of room for an island of course.

These are the drawings of how the house will look when finished. This is the front really , its a corner lot so its a unique set up , we love how the yard is between the house and garage.

This is the side view that faces a street and pond and lots of trees.

I will miss this house desperately, it will be like leaving a child behind in some ways but it is time for something new a new adventure , but I hope we can find a buyer that wants everything done and loves all of the unique touches we have added, a home to just move in the furniture and enjoy.

Our new home {pending approval} will be ready in May , so we will put the house on the market in February or March.... for now my head will be spinning with options and lists of things to polish up in this house to get ready for sale...very exciting news huh!!!!

I will be finishing up the custom closet built ins in the master closet that I have recently started, I hope you will follow along over the next 8 months as things progress.

Oh yeah , how do you like my new header ??