Christmas in photos

We got blasted with three days of freezing rain as much of Canada did last week. We lost power for only about 6 hours on the 22nd so many lost power for so much longer days and days in fact. I felt terrible about all those dealing with the -22 temps. I suppose being in a newer area with few large trees spared us from long outages. The damage to trees in our city and surrounding cities was and is devastating to see. 

The ice did create some incredible sights.

 Waking up to our neighbours tree bending over was heart breaking, it is a pyramidal oak about 22 ft tall and it has really taken a beating.

 My little birch was bent over like a wheeping willow thankfully it is looking much better now and sustained only a little damage.

 So much thick ice for all the poor trees. It was no fun cleaning off 2" of ice off our sidewalks but it had to be done. I saw people skating down sidewalks with ice skates.

Thankfully we have a gas stove so we were able to make some coffee and a little breakfast. We headed out to survey the damage and try to find good coffee and salt, good coffee we found but salt was sold out everywhere, of course. 

 Thankfully everything went on and power was on in time for Christmas eve and we enjoyed a nice visit from family.

 Once that power came on we got the gas fireplace up and running , some people were able to run their gas fireplaces during the power outage but we for some reason couldn't.

 When the sun finally came out a couple of days later it made for a beautiful sight, the trees looked like they were made of glass.
Then the snow came , not great for our travels but it was short lived and we travelled and got to see more family out of town , it was amazing to see how some areas were covered in ice and others did't get any.

Can you see the ice layer and then the fresh snow layer on the branches...crazy. The ice all melted away a couple of days ago and now our trees are recovering and mostly standing upright again. 

Sadly and suddenly we lost my grandfather my Opa on the 27th of December at 101.5 years of age. He had had a bad fall at home in his apartment a week or so before and was in the hospital and was doing all right but his heart was functioning at only 10%( for a long while now) and there was fluid around his lungs and it was just too much and sadly he passed away. He was more than ready to go and we have all been ready in theory but I don't think any of us thought it was going to happen any time soon , the news truly was shocking, I suppose it always is.

Sorry to end on sad news but this was my Christmas this year. All in all we had a nice Christmas got to spend time with family and friends and we are all safe warm and happy and looking forward to New Years eve and a fresh start for 2014....I hope you had a wonderful Christmas...

The final and finished family room reveal

 We have finally moved back into the family room and we are loving it. I took a vote and everyone agrees the ceiling is the best part of the room followed by the floors.
I found a nice sisal 8x10 rug at Home Depot for $150 which was amazing, its synthetic because I have a family and pets and real sisal would not stand up to them.

 I moved the grey ektorp arm chair into the family room and we decided to leave the settee out of the room to keep it more open, we did lose seating for one but hopefully we will get that new longer sofa and we will gain back that lost seating. The room this way feels so much better now and all dressed for Christmas its lovely. You may notice I also changed out the lamps, I decided to try the dining room lamps and I love them with the burlap shades.

 Here is a good look at the floors I am so happy to have wood throughout this space now.

 I am so looking forward to my new coffee table, my hubby ordered it for me after returning that chair I mentioned earlier. Turns out another husband wanted it for his wife in time for Christmas and if we hadn't wanted it then he wouldn't have had it for her in time, so I think it was meant to be really.

So there it is as it is now, I will do a new post after Christmas with my new coffee table.
Merry Christmas...

here's a couple of before's for fun

Merry Christmas

We finally have our Christmas tree up decorated and even the gifts turned up....we may have no furniture in the family room but we do have a tree....Isn't it pretty I love my gold tree fro Urban Barn...
Speaking of Urban barn, I started a Pinterest board last year called Wish List now it is renamed All i want for Christmas where I pin things I would like or dream of buying...that being said I did not think my husband would ever go ahead and buy a piece of furniture so I really didn't check out the things I pinned in person, BIG mistake BIG!!!!
My husband went out and rented a van to bring home my lovely Christmas gift one I had "selected" ! It was this so cute chair. I secretly second guessed my pins and really I only wanted the coffee table below I love the coffee table.

Back to the chair , I mean the chair is gorgeous right? yes it is so I was happy yet apprehensive to accept it as my early Christmas gift something new for our newly finished family room. We brought it in and it looked so cute in the room really it looked perfect but then.....I sat down, expecting to sink in to a cozy chair and a half, but it felt like I sat down on a stack of phone books , you know what I mean if you are of a similar age.... it left me feeling sad and disappointed for sure...what an odd thing. So we brought in the kids and they too thought it was SO uncomfortable so it is going back....

This coffee table is what I think the room really needs, I have never bought a real coffee table a real grown up coffee table. I have had hand me downs , second hands and DIY coffee tables but never a new chosen by me coffee table and this one is perfection, it is mango wood and a beautiful finish and it has storage I really wanted storage to keep the mess contained. It can house magazines and laptops and remotes and a throw or two it's perfect.

I feel terrible that my husband went to so much trouble but no house needs an uncomfortable chair.

I got a rug for the family room and I am hopeful that we can get the furniture back in place so we can enjoy the new family room this evening. The dogs loved the carpet immediately rolling all over it, they are so cute with rugs.

Hope you are having a lovely holiday season running around trying to get everything done... today is the last day of school for the year here comes Christmas break...have a good one.

unwrapping an early Christmas gift...

 I completed three coats of water base Varathane last night and thought it was about time to remove the plastic door and when I did and stood back in the kitchen to take it all in I must admit I was in awe of how beautiful it looked. If I may say so. After all it now looks like all those gorgeous Pinterest images I have been longing for for so long. Having the same deep rich flooring really expands and blends the space so much better. I just need to finish the quarter round and then wait a couple more days for the top coat to fully cure, luckily it is a three day cure water based Varathane then we will move some furniture back in. 

My opinion on decorating is that a room should always look beautiful empty, if you start with beautiful bones and character the less fluff you have to add and the easier decorating the room is. As well this is what adds value to your home, decor is nice and cute but it isn't there to stay like millwork. 

This project took me 16 days to complete which is a little bit shorter than the 21 day timeline that I wasn't sure I could even make. Now it did take me much of each day from 4-6 hours some days on average, I know 4 hours doesn't sound long , but working over head and on your knees for 4 hours is rough. I took two whole days off through the process I was on a mission. 

I am so happy to have that carpet gone, it was less than two years old and showing so much matting and crushing , under the sofa looked great but the rest was so shabby looking. 

Having a continuous flooring also means I can extend my table even into the family room a bit for large gatherings which will be a great option.

I have been looking for a nice rug for the family room, I mean I hate to cover the wood but the room needs an 8x10 area carpet.

If we didn't put in a rug the furniture legs would ruin the pine floors and the furniture would slide around which would be an incredible pain, plus it's just nice visually and functionally.

 I think I am going with a synthetic sisal carpet for now because of the price and wear and tear. I love real sisal but one dog barf incident and its ruined. I would love a more decorative option but we also need a new sofa so the sofa will come first as we can always upgrade our rug. As well I haven't found anything I love yet.

We are thinking the Ikea Hovas sofa would be the perfect choice for our big reveal... 

 I am happy to share I found some almost perfect wool 8x10 rugs for around $500 price at Home Depot which I think it pretty great but I still need to check out Homesense on a regular basis I suppose.

Life is about to get back to normal and Christmas is about to officially begin at our house. Happy holiday's!

If you would like to see how I DIY my coffered ceiling check it out here http://chriskauffman.blogspot.ca/2013/12/my-diy-coffered-ceiling.html

A quick update on pine floor installation

 I was finally able to complete my pine flooring installation. I could have gone with a standard installation but why not do something a little more interesting? I have just complete my second coat of really dark stain, that is not a fun job for the knees. I am grateful that part is over. Now to wait 24 hr then I can top coat with my water based sealer.
 I can't get enough of my new ceiling.

that's it... it's going well ....

Pine flooring again

I was going to keep the family room flooring a secret but I can't because I love how it's turning out. It is going very slowly, I'm not sure why I thought it would go faster. It is what it is...
Two rows took me 6 hours of work. My house is a shameful mess because of all the work going on and there is not one bit of holiday decor up yet in this house which is what is pressing me on to get this flooring complete.
I am hopeful I can get the rest laid today, then I will sand it and then stain it twice and top coat it three times....no big deal.
Hoping that Monday I will be able to move furniture back in and then Tuesday the tree will go up, crossing fingers here.

In other news I think we have decided on a new sofa we love the Hovas from Ikea , it has most of what we need its good looking it's long and deep and comfy and it's in a nice grey removable washable slipcover which we love, it's so important to be able to throw the cover in the wash when you have two dogs.
After all the sofa we are wanting to replace is an 11 year old ektorp so going with another Ikea sofa is a no brainer.
I better get back at the floor so I can keep on track. Bye!

My DIY coffered ceiling

I thought I should give a little run down in one place as to how I completed my coffered ceiling project just in case you want to try this project.

 Here is how it looked on day one, just fine a smooth ceiling but we wanted a beautiful ceiling.

 We then decided on our placement and found the ceiling joists and screwed the 2x4's to the studs, then added blocking to the studs , 2 blocks 5 at each connection and randomly along the lengths to attach the MDF boards. I had Home Depot rip down 3 sheets of 5/8" MDF into 5.5" strips.
I then used a 2x4 to set my table saw to cut the strips of MDF for the bottom pieces approx 3.5" wide.

 You can see how I attached the MDF to the studs, I used my nail gun for this part.

 We installed a plastic zippered door to keep the mess better contained.

 There was such a mess caused by all the priming and sanding and priming and more sanding.

 Then I added crown moulding and caulked all the seams and filled all the nail holes and then did between 2-3 coats of satin latex paint in Behr's Vermont Cream.

I used this new gadget from Lowe's to help me with the crown moulding, it just keep the crown moulding at the proper angle when you cut it upside down. 

I also used this scaffolding and it was the most important piece of equipment to completing this project. It will also be a great item to have for other projects like crown moulding and painting, I didn't even know it existed until just before we started the project , I am so grateful my Mom's husband pointed it out to me.
 http://www.homedepot.ca/product/metaltech-steel-folding-scaffold-work-platform-500-lbs/938855

So if you have ever longed for a coffered ceiling like I have for years then maybe it is something you can do also. It is not a difficult project but it does take time and patience and have a helper for the initial stud placement is necessary but the rest I was able to manage on my own, I may have had to hold my nail gun in between my knees while I positioned the 8ft pieces of MDF but a girl's gotta do what a girls gotta do.

If you try this project please let me know I would love to see.