Decisions decisions

Sometimes making the smaller decisions is harder than making the big decisions.
Now that we have sold our house we finally feel free to plan and choosing appliances is at the top of our list. We will have a bar fridge , microwave and a toaster oven on move in day for sure but we will need some harder working and larger appliances to truly function.

 How come we could choose the house in about an hour and choosing a stove can takes days and days. Normally I am a fan of the smooth top stove because of the ease of cleaning , but of course I love the look of a commercial gas range. I do have a little fear of gas but I am going to try and get over it because there is nothing like it or so I hear . But we could never afford a Viking or a Wolf , unless there was a ridiculous instant rebate , then wouldn't it be crazy to not get this top of the line stove? This is still such a tough decision, we needed to sleep on it. We measured and looked and looked and measured so so many models , from Ge to an Italian beauty and then Viking.
Did you know that the interior space of a 30"commercial range can be significantly smaller than a regular 30" stove, and that is can take 45 minutes or more to heat up a 36" stove because of the extra width now if you have kids you know that is a lot of extra time at dinner. Still Viking are you freakin serious !!! Ok it is only marginally more than a very nice GE Cafe model I had some what decided on, and I think we would be regretting not getting the one we really love. We are giving up a warming drawer but I think we can live without that . Adding a beautiful color is an extra $1000 so that is a NO. Sounds like we've made the decision, doesn't it?
We will be sure to save on all the other appliances , I don't need a fancy washer and dryer and as long as I get a tall tub stainless dishwasher I'm good it doesn't need to be high end.
 Splurge and save right , well this is really both splurge and save.

I saved here , I found this light which is normally $149.00 for $50.00 at a used building store , it is new in box and everything, I got two actually. 20 more lights to go...I have always wanted one of these lights. I think they will end up in the entry hall.

 Making over the standard cabinets is a huge save , I will be painting the cabinets and adding a frieze as well as crown moulding. I will also be customizing this fridge wall,  I love this area, I think it will look great when completed. I toyed with the painted cream cabinets that were very nice but that upgrade was more than my new stove , so that was an easy decision and as well I can go with a custom color of my choosing and I will always be able to do touch ups.

I will be adding a farm house sink just before we have stone counters installed, I found a farmhouse sink for $600.00. Instead of eliminating our standard laminate counters we had our friends choose something that they would like , there was no benefit to eliminate it, and now they can take our new counters and cut them down to their kitchen and can even have the kitchen sink. Everybody wins and we move into a house that is ready to use. I'm still working on the kitchen sink wall, I think this layout keeping the uppers to the right and open shelving to the left maybe what we need. I added lots of drawers to the kitchen , going from 4 to 10 , how exciting.

I have noticed lots of people in the blog world who have recently completed a kitchen reno have gone ahead with carrara., I was so thrilled to find out that it is well priced . I will be sure to keep up on the sealing to prevent damage because there is nothing like it , this is a definite splurge but a huge savings sourcing it ourselves. This will be my dream kitchen , I plan on living in this home for many many years so I think its a good decision to do it right once.
Saving will come with me doing everything else , like the hardwood , maybe tiling the floor spaces that need tile, definitely the back splash , all the lighting , so much painting , lots of moulding, landscaping... its gonna take years I tell ya, but that sounds fine to me, I'm a girl who needs a project.
In sad news I just found out that my dream island lights are $1250.00 each....each! Well it makes my other choice look like a bargain now , because I need two for over my island. I would not spend $2500 on two lights , not ever.

I am on the hunt for great deals , Happy Holiday's everyone.

Sold

 Do you see that sign ? that's right , our house is officially sold. Exactly two weeks after we listed with a local agent , who we are just thrilled with, we got three offers in one night. How amazing is that ? super amazing. We are very happy for the new owners , we know they love this place as much as we do.

I wish them so much happiness and many happy years of cherished memories.

I was getting emotional the other day thinking back to all the years we have spent here.

When we moved here Mason was 4 and Sophie was 18 months old, just babies.
So many birthday parties with jumpy castles , so many Christmas mornings with waffle breakfasts and Thanksgiving dinners. Lots of fights and tears , laughter and fun. So many firsts like potty training, learning to ride a bike out front , learning to read and write, learning manners , getting new puppies. Everything seems to have happened right here. I have never lived in one house so long in my entire life, I will always feel attached to this house, although I am excited for the new house it will be very hard to say that final good bye.

Now we have peace , everything is going as planned , the new house kitchen is coming in early December . We will now focus on Christmas and then the mammoth task of packing and decluttering , donating and selling things will begin , but that is a task for January. For now we relax.
We will be moving on February 29th , we wanted that date because its a leap year and that's just cool , and that is the closing the new owners wanted as well, it seems meant to be .

So happy relieved and now relaxed, we are a very lucky family.

Missing in Limbo

 I know it has been a long while since I have posted on my blog but I have a good excuse. Life gets busy . Selling a house is very disruptive and life changing in fact it can be life halting. Because we have been essentially living in one room. The great room is where you will find us all at any given time, this is to save my sanity , because keeping a whole house show ready with two dogs and two kids is a difficult challenge to say the least. The house has never been so clean and tidy for so long . I mean we live pretty tidy but "showing clean" is a different thing.
We are feeling very happy with our decision to list with a local agent , she has been doing a great job for us , we hope to share some great news really soon . I think the end is near.

 Saturday my friend Lisa and I went on the Station Gallery Holiday House Tour , remember last year my house was on the tour as well. We headed out early and left poor Todd with the two girls and two dogs to keep out of the house for the whole day for an inspection and then an open house. Poor poor Todd , I know the kids really tested his inner strength. It's no fun to spend most of the day in a vehicle with two dogs and two kids ( there aren't too many places you can take both kids and dogs)

 After the Holiday tour I decided that it was time to put up the tree. I love my white Christmas tree , I purchased it a few years back at Walmart for $49.00 what a bargain. With the topper it stands at around 7 feet tall , it has an incredible glow.

 I am so far getting my Christmas wish for a green Christmas. It's Christmas time if it white or not , its just easier if it's green . I should really add some lights to the bunkie and a nice urn I think.

Last night Sophie gave me a revised Wish list , this is so helpful. Canada gave black Friday a try this year and we got some really good deals , whoo hoo !
During the House tour Saturday I visited Costco with Lisa to look for a great rain shower head and I finally caved and joined. After all they are building a Costco right here in our city , and I know they have great deals . I mean for the savings on summer flower hanging baskets alone it's worth it . I got an incredible deal on some Christmas gifts , that place is crazy though , really nuts. I have a problem with stock piling large quantities of things so I don't see an truck loads of mustard or toilet paper in my future.

Things on the new house front are going really well, looks like we will be in the house in February. We have met the drywall taper , he is so nice and has been semi living in our new house , he really seems to like it too , he is doing a great job. I have such respect for all the trades and people involved in creating our new home.
We have not been able to find the wood flooring we want . Well actually the finished on site pricing came in a $15,000 , and that is about double what we want to spend so that's a clear no!
I have been really stressing about the flooring , and not being able to find a deal.
We have decided to put in the standard carpet for the move in so as not to have any problems closing and to make the move in easier.This was a great suggestion from my Mother in Law. I will be getting that wood flooring in ASAP.

Thanks for stopping by
Chris

house tour with dry wall aka sheet rock

I wanted to show how things are coming along , there is a whole lot of work to do but things are really looking great.

 So I was allowed access into the house yesterday to meet with a flooring installer , and we totally were in the way and stopped progress for about 10 minutes. I wanted to get out of the workers way asap , but I wanted to get a jump start on a flooring quote. Guess who is not getting finished on site floors , that would be me. At $10-11.00 a foot its not going to happen, that would be about $20,000.00. I will keep looking for a great deal. I did find very nice unfinished oak at Lumber Liquidators that we may just have to install ourselves and have them finished , because at $2.49 a ft it has got to come in way way under the $10-11.00. Perhaps we will just have to go with pre finished, its not bad its just not what I was hoping for. Looks like we are going to learn a whole lot about laying floors, my hubby is going to be helping out with this mammoth project.

 We will be installing our tv above the fireplace and I will be building tall bookcases on either side of the fireplace to house the tv components and add display , some storage for the video game equipment and movies. I will be doing lots of built-ins in this house , now that I know how to do them.

 The upper hall here has a very large linen closet. I can see just how much this area will need paneling . I look forward to seeing how our upgraded railings and posts will turn out , we went with square flat cap posts instead of the standard and paint grade pickets and we will stain the hand rail.

 I can picture it all now, are you with me.

So we just need everything taped , sanded , trimmed ,painted and a little flooring and some basic light fixtures and cabinets and toilets and sinks and then we are all ready to go.

The new house update

 I am happy to update that the exterior is complete , well we don't have eaves troughs but that's about it , oh wait I forgot we are getting a porch railing , the grade is a little steep there so we will need one for code but we are getting there.

 They took down the pretty plastic orange fence , don't miss that .

 The shutters were all installed , they are dark blue and although they wouldn't be my first choice in color I am fine with them for now , selecting  wood flooring within budget is higher on the priority list. What color do you think they should be ? we are open to suggestions please.

 We wanted to go take a peek and measure Sophie's room for furniture , but we were locked out .

 Today they made great progress on the insulation .

 The tubs went in just yesterday .I am so happy to be able to document the steps and progress to look back on .

While floor shopping/ browsing I found this beautiful marble tile maybe for the powder room , we'll see.
Oh and why is wood flooring so expensive , anyone have a great source for me ? I am looking for 3 1/4" oak with dark stain , I was hoping for finished on site but it looks like I will have to find a well priced pre finished option, but we will see after I get a quote , you never know right .
How come so many options are $5.99 and up , doesn't that seem steep for basic oak ? I think I will be laying our floors by the look of it . Can you hear me crying ?
That's all for now .

We are officially listed

 We tried to offer the house for sale privately and although we had a lot of interest and and viewers to our open houses and tried for about a month , I think we just need to open up our exposure to as many people as possible. I feel like a weight has been lifted off me .
This is a new experience for us , we have never sold a house with an agent before . We've only sold one house before but by ourselves and it went very well and easily but maybe it was just a fluke.
We have picked just the right agent , we have a very good feeling about this . Let's hope we are correct putting it on the MLS, because as lots of you know selling a house is not always the easiest process. We are very grateful to be where we are and in a stable housing market and glad we live in a great sought after neighbourhood , we wouldn't live any where else.

 http://www.realtor.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?&PropertyId=11296438&PidKey=-1523066087

This is how it looked yesterday and now we will keep the house pristine and ready to show .

Wish us a quick smooth sale.