Kitchen Update Pt.2

This post is long overdue! Our kitchen got a bit of a facelift a couple of days before Noah was born. 

The ugly, never clean no matter how much I scrubbed it, green countertop had been something I'd been dying to change since we moved in 3 years ago. So much so that when our dishwasher kicked the can just after Christmas, the thought of having to spend money on a new dishwasher and not a countertop almost sent my pregnant and hormonal self over the edge. In the end, we were able to score some really great deals and got both. 

I did some shopping around online for the dishwasher and found the best deal at Sears. The dishwasher was on sale for $299 from its regular price of $399. There was one model that would've been cheaper by $50 but we opted for the slightly above basic model based on customer reviews and the features we wanted like start time delay. R went with a friend in his truck to pick up the dishwasher since we got rid of our larger vehicles. Bonus: his friend stayed and helped with the installation of both the dishwasher and counter.  

For the counter, Lowes was having a storewide No Tax event so we also saved big. Delivery of the counter was included in the cost and R did the installation which saved us nearly 40% (crazy, eh?!). Installation just involved removal of the old counter, screwing down the new one, sealing the joints with silicone, and making the cut for the sink. We also realized once the counters arrived that we needed risers to raise it up higher so the doors and cupboards didn't catch on the overhang. Luckily our old countertop had these so we were able to reuse them. 

After taxes for both updates, we came in $75 under budget at $1025.

So happy we were able to cross these big items off our kitchen makeover to-do list:

- Replace countertop with a new laminate countertop (Budget $800/Actual $675)

- Replace dishwasher (Budget $300/Actual $350)

- Replace kick plates at the base of the cupboards ($50) - Also caulk and re-paint trim

- Do spot repairs/replace broken and damaged tiles ($50)

- Update two light fixtures ($275)

- Use Grout Renew to freshen up backsplash tile ($25) 

Before

After new countertop and dishwasher installation

Progress: The Nursery

The nursery has been painted and put back together for a few weeks now. The paint smell is gone. It is just waiting on the final decorative touches. We used VOC-free paint from Benjamin Moore but the room still smelled freshly painted until recently.

A while back, the nursery looked like this:

Drab brown and cream walls with a teddy bear border that N had pulled off in many spots. Holes in the wall from the crib rubbing against it and more spots where wall decor had been hung by previous owners.

$200 later after paint and painting supplies and a major scrub down of the furniture with soapy water and a cloth, it looks like this:

We could've spent a little less on the paint but we went with Benjamin Moore because we've liked the quality of the paint and found it holds up better than the times we've used the Home Depot brands. After the mudding and sanding, the room needed two coats of primer, the trim was also a cream colour rather than white.  We went with a VOC-free primer from Home Depot just to save a wee bit of money. The paint colour we went with was Benjamin Moore's Escarpment which I absolutely love.  The trim we painted to match the rest of the trim in the newer painted areas of our house - Decorator's White - in more of a gloss finish. The blinds were there from before and are navy. I really like how the navy looks with the grey walls. I plan on having more navy accents around the room along with yellow (the colour of a crib blanket we received as a gift from my hubby's godmother before B was born and that we have used for both older boys).

I cleaned up the rocking chair, moved it into the room, and washed some baby clothes but have yet to really add any additional decor to the room. I'm so picky. I really don't want to spend more than $300 on the nursery since that is the max we spent including paint with the other boys rooms and everything I look at seems unnecessary. For example, neither of the boys had a crib bedding set - only a good quality soft fitted crib sheet and blankets. They also didn't have a mobile either. We got one as a gift when B was born but it didn't fit on the crib and we never replaced it thinking it was better to avoid possible confusion from encouraging the baby to be alert and focused on the mobile in bed rather than sleeping.

Part of me wants to leave the room without a lot of decor so that we can personalize it once he gets here and it can happen organically. One thing the big boys have each done is chosen a few of their stuffed animals to give to their new baby brother. I'll have to find a space for these in the room. I do also still want to hang a shelf on the wall to hold the picture frame containing his ultrasound photo and the cute retro TV picture frame I purchased awhile back, along with any keepsakes he might receive as gifts. My only issue with holding off on more decor is that the walls look so bare but I don't want to buy wall decor just to have something there. I want everything that goes into the nursery to have purpose and/or meaning and not just be a temporary treatment.

Other things I actually need to buy for the room are a fitted crib sheet, mattress pad, and change pad cover (nearly all of our changes with both boys were done in the nursery on the change pad). I threw out the old ones since they were stained and well worn from almost 6 years of consecutive use. Luckily this only involves a trip to the store so the baby could really come at any time now though we're hoping he still holds off at least another couple of weeks to make it to full term.

The Kitchen.

Earlier this week I posted on house envy and stated that one of my goals for awhile has been to make our house a home. Most of my envy is actually directed toward people with nice kitchens. Not even fancy kitchens... just ones that aren't completely gross. You'll soon see why. When we toured, prior to making an offer on our house, the kitchen served as a good bargaining chip for negotiating a better price. Realistically, it was probably one of the biggest reasons why the house was on the market 30 days before we saw it. On the surface, the kitchen appeared functional but after moving in, it has been one frustration after the next. This kitchen has seriously been kicking our butts. Every single one of the little upgrades we've done to this room have somehow come undone or gone awry. More than once over the past year I've said to DH that I would be willing to take out a loan to have it completely redone - and that's saying a lot!

Behold the room I loathe most:

Big frustrations:

- The counter. Aside from the hideous hunter green colour.. the joints are heaving. I got giddy when I saw a product at Home Depot that sealed the counter and gave it a new colour for a fraction of the price of a new one.. until I realized we couldn't really use it anyway since a previous owner cut a chunk out of the back of the countertop (wtf?).

- The floor. The original laminate had water bubbles in front of the dishwasher and sink - we replaced it with ceramic tile (approx. $600 spent) but obviously didn't do it right because the grout is cracking, some of the tiles are loose, and B dropped a heavy can on it which taking out a big chunk in one of the tiles. Not to mention our freezer occasionally leaks when it isn't shut properly which has made the grout all yucky (even though we sealed it?). This is our second botched attempt at tiling. We spent $1500 tiling the kitchen, foyer, and hallway of our old house only to have to rip them all up and replace with laminate flooring a couple of years later. At this point, I'm at a loss for the floor. Hiring someone to tile isn't cheap.. but do we attempt it again?

- The stove. Cannot pull this out easily to clean. It is wedged too closely in between the countertops. DH did manage to get it out when we did the floors. Nothing like scrubbing someone else's curry and spice sludge off the sides with a toothbrush. There are also some grease stains on the back by the clock which just won't come out.

- The range hood. The old range hood was so gross inside. We quickly replaced it with a white microwave range hood (a couple hundred dollars). Except we have the same issues but with grease staining the microwave which just looks even worse.

- The dishwasher. A little over a year ago the dishwasher that came with the place broke. We did manage to pick a better used one up off Kijiji for $80 and used that without too many issues until last weekend when the bottom of it cracked and it leaked water into the basement. Thankfully it hadn't been a slow leak so the water damage is minimal.

- The plumbing. Upon taking out aforementioned second dishwasher and deciding we'd wait to replace it, we realized that there was no shut off valve from the water supply to the dishwasher so we couldn't turn the water to the house back on without completely redoing the plumbing under the sink or hooking up another dishwasher. When DH got into redoing the plumbing we found that the plumber had soldered the copper pipes directly into the faucet which meant we had to replace the faucet too. This tuned out to be a blessing because the old faucet had knobs which collected dirt in the grooves and it was annoying to use after handling eggs or raw meat.  So another $80 in plumbing materials and a basic faucet and we are dishwasher-less at the moment but at least we don't have shoddy plumbing and we won't get salmonella poisoning.

- The sliding patio doors. These are drafty, the glass is scratched from a big dog of a previous owner, and one side is full of dirt/gunk that I just can't scrub out. The screen was also broken which we replaced ourselves for about $10 but our kids quickly broke that one too. We've also replaced the vertical blinds twice since moving in since the kids keep playing in them or ripping them down for fun. I toyed with putting in curtains except I like the wipability of blinds. Less things to collect dust and dirt are better for us since we are a household of allergy sufferers not to mention the food splatter that comes from the boys.

- The lighting. Beautiful globe lights. You can see we're missing one over the eating area. It fell off and shattered. I think the naked bulb goes well with the rest of the kitchen.

Surprisingly, the 80's looking tile backsplash and cabinets don't even bother me that much.

Since taking out a loan isn't an option with our debt repayment plan and me soon to be not working, a complete overhaul is not in the cards.  But we are planning on spending some of our tax return this Spring on making a few upgrades to make the space more tolerable.

Some of our immediate plans are:

- Replace countertop with a new laminate counter top ($800)
- Replace dishwasher ($300)
- Replace kick plates at the base of the cupboards ($50)
- Do spot repairs/replace tiles - ($50) we still have a box of tiles and most of the supplies. It will just take time but this should tide us over for a year or two until we can replace the entire floor - again.
- Update two light fixtures ($275)
- Use Grout Renew to freshen up the backsplash tile ($25)

Do you have a room in your house you absolutely loathe?

Nesting: House Envy

The nesting phase has officially hit.

We've been in our current house nearly 3 years. Our first house was a HUGE project. It didn't feel gratifying spending money on things like windows, insulation, drywall, furnace, and electrical work, while I saw friends buying furniture, decks, appliances, and decor. When we were house shopping (coincidentally in my 3rd trimester last time around), we saw a lot of newer turnkey places with nice kitchens and bathrooms and wood and tile flooring in our price range. They were in brand new neighbourhoods with brand new schools. But the lots were tiny and there wasn't much privacy, yet at the same time, there didn't seem like much of a sense of neighbourliness or community either. We were also looking for a walkout to the backyard from the kitchen and most of the newer places had walk out basements. Having little ones, a walk out from the main floor was particularly appealing so we could see them if they were playing in the back yard without always having to go out ourselves or be in the basement.

The kitchen walkout was a good call! The boys spend a lot of time in the backyard.

When our realtor showed us our house, we fell in love with the large backyard and the abundance of green space compared to what we had seen in newer neighbourhoods. There were also kids everywhere and adults actually chatting in driveways. Our house was 10 years old so we still had awhile before major repairs and although the kitchen and bathrooms were standard builders grade and left much to be desired and the paint colour and decor was hideous, the house was functional and we were excited to not have to spend time and money on the mundane projects and be able to do fun updates. So we kicked back, relaxed, and settled in.. we hired a painter to paint the main floor and upstairs hallway, we did a small bathroom update project on the main floor, tiled the kitchen floor, built a deck, tackled the boys bedrooms, and are almost done the nursery.

But I still feel a twinge of jealousy when I see friends posting photos of stellar nurseries (not that ours won't be nice) and entertaining with their new furniture and upgraded kitchens. It feels silly though because having the same is totally within reach, we just haven't made upgrades to our house a priority. Instead, we've chosen to do other things like go on vacations, get a vacation spot up north, and try to pay off debt a little more quickly and I don't think we're willing to make concessions on any of those things to undertake expensive renovations right now - especially when I'm soon going to be off work. We'll just have to keep plugging away at small projects as we can afford them.  One of my carry over goals for this year that I didn't make much progress on last year was to make our house a home.  I'm hoping that this year while I'm off with the baby I can tackle some of the smaller inexpensive projects around the house that will make a big difference.

Start of a nursery

I scrubbed away at most of the wallpaper border last weekend in the nursery. My wonderful husband also went in and did some mudding in the spots that needed it. The hope is that this weekend he'll be able to do a quick sanding and then prime the room. We're thinking of grey walls, something along the lines of Benjamin Moore's Harbor which is pictured above with dark navy accents throughout. The blinds are already navy and I managed to find a photo of the crib we have, although the one in the picture looks much nicer than ours since B used the side of ours as a teether. When I was out this weekend getting a picture frame for our family photo from Disney - since if I don't buy a frame for the photo it will just go by default to our box of photos in the closet that we'll "get around to" displaying someday - I came across this cute retro TV picture frame at Winners for $6.99 and immediately snatched it up. I really love the shelf we put up in N's big boy room for the stuff that you don't quite want in little hands but you want to display. I think we'll do the same for the nursery.

Starting to get excited to see it all come together.

28 Weeks

I will do something in the nursery this weekend, however small. The job is just so daunting - removing wallpaper (which N half did on his own already when he occupied the room), patching in a few spots, and painting all needs to be done. Thankfully as a seasoned mama I know babies don't actually need or even appreciate much the fancy spaces we like to adorn them with. If its not done when this little man makes his arrival, it's not done. But it would be nice to have the experience of putting a lot of careful thought and love into creating a space just for him to bring him home to. It seems an opportunity we never had with the other boys with temporary accommodations when B arrived and a move on the horizon with N. This time around we'll be welcoming our newest addition into a home we plan on staying in for a long while and I guess we'll finally get to experience what it feels like to have that textbook bringing baby home event - if I can ever get around to finishing the room!

Another big boy bedroom!

My littlest - soon to be big brother - is officially out of the nursery, out of diapers (except for a pull up at night), and after much ado is sporting a big boy haircut!

The new big boy room was originally our nursery when we moved in and Nicholas was just 2 months old. We quickly learned it wasn't an ideal nursery since it is above the garage and in the summer is quite warm and the winter quite cold. We also had to avoid going in and out of the garage while the baby was sleeping. Our first winter, we moved the nursery to the cozy room which sits directly above the furnace and moved our office furniture and spare bed into the room over the garage. In the summer and winter we'd just close the door to that room. It also became a dumping ground for random things that didn't have a home in other areas of the house or that we planned on taking down to the basement when we got around to it (which was never since we just closed the door and didn't see it!). The kids also liked to venture in and get into stuff they shouldn't like office supplies. Here is what it looked like at the beginning of November.

Note: the bunk bed was a relatively new addition from when we redid B's bedroom. Previously we had the double mattress and box spring on the ground in here as our guest bed.

In order to make the transition from office to big boy bedroom, there were a few things that needed to be done and first thing was first, we needed to address the temperature issue. DH caulked the inside of the windows throughout the entire house. He also insulated the garage door with foam insulation panels which were very cheap. We did notice a marginal improvement in the temperature in there after making these improvements but decided to also buy a ceramic heater with a thermostat and automatic setting for back up just in case. We'll also use this at our trailer at the beginning and end of the season so it will serve a dual purpose! Of course we've also doubled up comforters on all the beds in our house for the winter so we don't have to keep the heat so high.

We got it at Home Depot and thought it to be a good deal with all the features and the 3-year warranty.

For safety reasons we took the stairs off the ladder of the bunk bed since N is still little. We also got rid of the bookshelf out of the room (worry wart over here) and swapped it with the lightweight utility shelf we had in our laundry room. We used the shelf in the closet along with some cheap bins I bought so N had easy access to his clothes for dressing himself. We thought about a fancy closet system but since we're on a budget it didn't seem worth it and I was actually really happy with how the utility shelf worked out in there. His sweaters, jeans, and good clothing is hung up in the other side of the closet. He rarely wears these unless we're going somewhere special. Now he has easy access to his socks, underwear, pyjamas, long sleeved t's and track pants.

As for the decor... we painted this room originally when we moved in for the nursery and were still happy with the colour so that saved us time, money, and work. Similar to B's room, when we were cleaning out my mom's basement, we came across a print my dad, a motorcycle enthusiast, had bought from an artist in Quebec on his travels. This art seemed incredibly suiting for N who loves vehicles of all kinds. We had it framed for the nursery originally so the colours work well in the room.

We had the navy comforters and white sheets (a set for each bunk though we don't have the top ones on currently) from B's old bedroom anyway but I came across these absolutely adorable plane sheets in Marshall's back in the summer and since N is obsessed with planes and the colour scheme worked well with the room, I bought them. There was only one set but that's fine since the other sheet set is just plain white with a small navy trim at the tops.

There were a couple of pictures and sentimental items I wanted to display but keep out of reach of little hands. This shelf from Home Depot was perfect. The footprint frame was a baby gift, the name puzzle I bought from a Farmers Market in Edmonton, and the photo of our Yorkie was something I've had since we got him but has just been sitting in a box and since N is the dog's biggest fan it seemed like a perfect fit. There are a couple more things I need to fix/find that I'd like to also display - a wooden car and a metal fire truck piggy bank. In time!

Finally, the little reading nook. The chair was mine from my university days! The cozy animal print fleece blanket used as a throw was a baby gift originally for B but well loved by N. The lamp was a hand me down from a family friend that we used in our first house. The black wicker basket which holds all of his books came with a wedding gift and the Animals of the World poster was a gift from my brother to N. You'll notice B has a similar Solar System one in his bedroom.

The Cost

Lasko Heater = $64.99
White Shelf = $8.49
White Brackets (2 @1.38) = $2.76
Clear plastic storage bins (3 @ $0.87 each) = $2.61
Airplane Sheet Set = $19.99

Total: $98.84

Not a bad transformation for $100 bucks!

A Big Kid Bedroom

When we moved B out of nursery when he was 2.5 years old to make way for N, we had to leave his bedroom very basic. No toys because he'd play with them when it was bedtime and we preferred he play downstairs in the living room where we could keep a close watch on him while also getting other household stuff done. One time he wandered off upstairs with a crayon and coloured on his bedroom wall. Maybe he wanted to personalize it. We also found that books couldn't stay within reach in his bedroom either or they'd get wrecked. When he got angry and had a tantrum he'd knock stuff over or throw toys so the walls were never safe either. He'd also use furniture in his bedroom to climb - up to the window or up in his closet. So until about now (age 5), B has had very little in his bedroom aside from a bed. I'm so happy that my school aged kid is finally past this phase though we're just entering the same phase with N. His room is an absolute disaster but more on that next month when we move him out of the nursery.

For B's room we didn't have a big budget to work with (since we have 3 rooms to do!) so we just wanted to personalize it a bit and add some furniture.

Where his bed was before in the corner by the door, we added a solid wood desk and chair. When we were searching for a desk, this one stood out. A few years ago we bought a solid wood desk from Craigslist for our office which we love so much. The desk we found for B's room (Kijiji find) is essentially a mini version of our beloved office desk. It is a good size for him and he can use it all the way through school. It also offered a place to display some photos and his baseball trophy that were in his closet. Above the desk is his Blue Jays poster which he wanted to keep on his wall despite the fact that it has been taken down many a times and played with so isn't in the best condition. The Children's Solar System poster on the other wall was a gift from my brother. Since B has been particularly hard on his stuff it had once been up in his bedroom but had been tucked away in the closet for awhile until he could take better care of his stuff. Now that he has his desk, he spends a lot of time there colouring and cutting and pasting. Aside from colouring materials, the drawers also hold his library books so we keep them separate from his other books and all of his Nintendo DS stuff.

The painting in the frame on the left was something my dad bought from an art gallery on the East Coast. It is a painting of a boy on a unicorn overlooking the ocean. He bought the painting because the boy reminded him of my brother. This painting hung in my parents house until my mom redecorated just before B was born. When B was born, she offered the painting to us for his bedroom so it has special significance. We chose the colour of the walls for his bedroom to match when we moved into this house. The solid wood double bed frame was also a Kijiji find. We already had a double mattress and box spring in our office which was sitting on the ground and used on occasion as a guest bed. Of the two boys, B was the better fit for the double bed. N will have his old bunk bed in his new bedroom. We had to pick bedding to go with the colour of paint we had on the walls already so the sports themed bedding was perfect. It is actually reversible. The other side is just plain stripes and the sheets are navy. The set also came with a hockey bear which B absolutely loves.  We hung his medals from soccer and baseball at the foot of the bed.

Finally, the coffee table in the corner was in his bedroom before (an extra piece of furniture my sister had) but we cleaned off the top of it a bit. The table holds his books in the white basket and his Lego in the containers along with the mats. We do let him keep the Lego in his bedroom as the pieces are small and you kind of need to see to play with it. Sometimes he'll spend an hour or so playing with it while N naps or while dinner is getting ready.

Total Cost: $195.00

Bedding - $100 (from Winners)
Desk/Chair - $45 (Kijiji)
Double Bed Frame - $50 (Kijiji)

There are still a few more little thing's I'd like to do like put up a cork board for his artwork behind the door and find suitable window coverings. We've managed to go through two sets of blinds in his room with him bending them to look out and cutting them with scissors as an experiment. I'm thinking we might have to go with the faux wood blinds which are a bit more expensive but more durable than the plastic or aluminum and more energy efficient.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

A tree was gotten, decorations were brought out (many of which were bought at dramatically reduced sale prices during Boxing Week last year), the Christmas music channel was playing, and a few glass ornamental bulbs were broken.

It's officially holiday time in our household. Just waiting on the snow.

Hello December!

Yesterday was the first snowfall in these parts. I assured a rather anxious B he would be able to go tobogganing soon. The hot chocolate has already been flowing here and a pot of soup (ends of veggies thrown together in attempts to clean out the fridge before grocery day) is simmering away on the stove for dinner tonight. The snow serves as a reminder that I need to get moving on finishing my Christmas shopping.

I've been enjoying our newly painted house. Having the walls look fresh makes the other not so fresh things stick out - I totally need to find some new throw pillows. We used Benjamin Moore's Collingwood for most of our house and totally love it. Our living room (pictured) is done in Grey Mist the BM match for Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage.

Newest development? N's first tooth came through and this kid loves "real" food way more than baby mush.

My Negotiation Deal

Since moving to our new abode - we've not been in the mood for renovations besides painting the boys bedrooms. Reno burn out I guess from tackling such a big project at our old house. The upcoming holiday season has been the perfect excuse to make a few changes which will freshen it up, as well as make it more of a home. Our home.

DH insisted that he did not want to do anymore large painting projects. i.e. the hallway and main floor  which also have some height in areas. This meant we were in the market for a painter. I scooped up some business cards while getting paint for N's room last month at the local paint store. I had 3 quotes and ended up negotiating $400 off an original quote and $700 less than the highest quote I received. How's that for a deal? I've never been good at negotiating - DH is worse. I always feel like by negotiating on price I am devaluing someone's hard work. Reading this post just prior to going through this ordeal gave me an extra boost of confidence to negotiate a deal that would also prioritize my own needs - thanks Kelsey!

It starts:

In light of my recent post on frugality and trade offs, we did compromise since we were paying to hire a painter and opted for low-VOC paint for half the price of the $80/gallon VOC-free even after tinting natural paint we used for the bedrooms.

But DH didn't get away scot-free! I managed to talk him into doing a budget bathroom reno. The birds ($10) are a favourite as is the "laugh"($6) as sometimes in the midst of all the chaos of two children, laughter is indeed what saves us.

And finally, we always battle over who gets to drink their coffee from this ceramic travel mug on weekend mornings. Thankfully today I have no competition! 

Ahhh Spring..

This weekend we did lots of Spring cleaning and work around the house. My "office space" is just about complete now minus the window and door trim and the refinishing of the door.. See below!

We managed to get outside with Brendan a lot on the rollerblades. Ryan takes Brendan in the running stroller and the dog on a leash and I have hands free to just enjoy the blade. Here is a picture of the last time Brendan will ever be in the Jolly Jumper. He is just too big now. He can reach up and grab the plastic bar above him. haha.

I also got some seeds planted this weekend. Green Zebra tomato, Mariana tomato, chamomile, yellow pepper and parsley. I re-potted my garlic which seems to be thriving and my greens mix which was getting a little crowded. I can't wait until they start sprouting!

I managed to get the china cabinet that we inherited cleaned and filled with our stuff.

Here are some of the tea cups in my collection. I have a tea cup fetish. :).