"You're so vain" vanity mirror

I'm still having trouble on deciding on a salon table, floating shelf or glass console table for my make up vanity area. Here is my mirror. Any ideas on what would look good?

vanity lights

vanity mirror (currently on the floor)

Wallpaper Removal...

I'm surprised how cigarette smoke can cling to the walls and carpet even no one has been smoking in the vacant house for a whole year. We didn't realize that the house was owned by chain smoker until our neighbour told us. We thought that our house didn't smell too bad, except in the entryway. However, when we starting ripping drywall down, I could swear that someone was smoking right behind it. It is disgusting especially since we are both asthmatics.

(Smoker man from the X-Files)

Here is a picture of me last winter starting the de-wallpapering process to help speed up the anti-smoke smell. (Check out the 80's glam window coverings. Gorgeous..haha :).

During the de-wall papering process, Andrew left on my own. It was late at night and I was using this wallpaper gel. You wipe the blue goop on the wall and let it sit and then it comes off easily. Unfortunately to my horror, late at night, this started to come through the wallpaper. Can you see the "Hi Dear"? It scared the crap out of me. I took a picture of it to show Andrew so he would be believe me.

As of this week, we are almost done the bathroom 100%. Last night we added the toilet paper holder, towel holder and hooks (instead of a towel rack). The last part is my makeup/getting ready area. I just can't decide if I want a floating shelf, a glass/lucite console table with a ghost chair, or black salon shelf or a floating shelf. Is it weird to have a salon shelf in your washroom? I think it is fun and surprising....

Lost in reno madness...

Sometimes I am so thrilled with home renoing. Then there are other moments where I wish I was not renoing and had just sucked up the ugly house syndrome. If you need to know anything about me its that I love cleaning and organizing. However, when you are renovating it is impossible to maintain a sense of order and meticulous organization.

This week I've been vacuming around boxes (trying to justify the Dyson purchase) and doing many visualizations of the end product to preserve my sanity. So, in order to make myself feel better I've been sifting through pictures to remind myself of where we were and where we are today!

Upstairs Floors ----

(They are done!! I just have one small teeny tiny patch to poly-urethane out the door). A* ripped up all the carpet and sanded the floor down. Together we looked every where for the right stain colour. Luckily, Benjamin Moore was the only place that had such a dark stain. Most paint stores looked at us in horror when we asked for "dark dark stain" as if we were committing a crime to stain floors so dark.

(Kitchen floors after - On a side note, we hate the kitchen cabinets. Not a fan of the vintage aka dirty antique look. They will soon be painted white. Will post on this issue later).

(Black floors - Small dinning room area after the staining! Please ignore the hideous chandelier and ugly 80's curtains that we have since removed)

(My office floor during)

(Upstairs living room - during - this floor was covered with carpet before)

(Main entrance floors - before)

(Living room before the staining - Notice the yellow shine!)

The good news about re-doing floors:

• It is significantly cheaper to refinish your floors than to put in new hardwood
• A great way to modernize your home
• A dark stain hides the imperfections on the wood

The bad news about re-doing floors:

• Poly-urethaning sucks! If you suffer from any type of allergies be wary of doing it! We both have asthma and it was brutal! For months afterwards, guests can still smell it!
• If you are staining your floor a dark colour -- think twice, especially if you love things looking perfect at all times and if you have dogs!!

We will be laying down new hardwood in a couple of years, however this was our interim solution to old carpet.

What do you think? Would you do it?

Quick Bathroom Update

We have been too busy to post! We are enjoying the last moments of the weekend and procrastinating about getting on with our renovation. Last weekend we went away at a cottage and this weekend we have been dinning and shopping with friends. The good news is that we are slowly inching closer to being done and I have pictures!

Like most home renovation projects, things don't always seem to go as expected, but we are continuing to enjoy the process. :) On the upside, we only went to Rona and Home Depot once!

We had to return the medicine cabinet mirrors that we originally bought last weekend. We wanted them because we wanted to make use for extra storage. Unfortunately when we went to put them up we hated the look since they stuck out an inch from the wall. So, in the car and a race around town we came up with some great mirrors (and cheaper mirrors). What do you think? Do they go?

Then we decided that the deer head should not be used as a hook and just put it up on the wall. It would have been fun, but we are going to try and find some real hooks.

I found these wall decorations on the clearance section at Winners. I have spray painted them and will be putting them up on the wall beside my makeup station.

What do you think so far?

In the meantime we are cozying up on the couch watching Flipping Out.... Any other Jeff lovers out there?

Bathroom Reno Update!

In Canada, we are currently enjoying our long weekend! As our friends are drinking beer at the cottage, A* is at home trying to make progress on our ongoing bathroom reno. A* has made some fantastic progress on our bathroom last week and it looks like we will almost be done this weekend! (I'm unpacking my grad school work and trying to get my head back in the books).

We could not be more excited to stop showering with the company of power tools, caulk and screw drivers. So... to keep you informed of our progress before our formal unveil.....

Shower floor - It looks like little pebbles.

Here is our floor tile (after - all of A's handy work!). It actually looks like hardwood. It is different and we love it. (Note: the floor is very dusty in this pic).

One of our sinks. We did a Lowe's Hack if you wish. We ripped off the marble top and swapped it out for some black granite to accommodate vessel sinks. We each have our own vanity. I also have my own make up/hair drying corner in the bathroom that we thought was a good idea to have when we are both getting ready in the morning.

Sneak peak at our towel hook. We are not sure if its going to work. We are not going for the traditional towel holder (yet). I have been looking around for a long time for some funky towel hooks. We saw this at Pier 1 and knew it was perfect right away. We are going to see if it works to hold towels. We wanted to do something interesting and if anything a conversation starter. We will try it out to see how it goes. Clearly, we don't have kids yet...

Shower curtain (waiting until we can afford glass). I saw it at Winners and it reminded me of Tory Burch meets Greek. I loved it and it will help until we can put in glass.

Any thoughts so far?

This ain't your grandma's bathroom...

I am a firm believer that there are two things that keep a relationship healthy. The first is a dishwasher and the second item would be a double sink. To preserve our happiness we purchased both. This post is to document our current bathroom status.

Our first reno goal was to take out the grandma in our washroom. The woman that lived here is a lovely woman, but her tastes were of an older generation. That being said, she came by a couple of weeks ago to pick up some of her mail that we were still getting. I asked if she would like to come in for a tour. At first, I realized that there was the potential to cause a coronary. However, this is a home that she put many years of love into.

The good news is that she told us that she LOVED our taste (or was in shock haha) and was thrilled at the drastic changes that A and I have been doing to the home. This has included but not limited (and to be documented soon):

-Removing carpet and refinishing the floor BLACK!

-Updating an entire bathroom

-Doubling the size of the master bedroom

-Making a master closet

-Removing the dining room prison bars (aka spindles)

-Pot lights

-Removing the "stone" from the gas fireplace

-Removing all traces of sea foam green and cat paraphernalia

-Removing overgrown dangerous trees.

We are inching closer to completing the bathroom. Luckily, A and I have the exact decor tastes that make the decision process extremely easy. Our floor and shower tile was picked in 5 minutes. A did have to do some convincing with the floor tile.

We will be updating with pics of our bathroom soon!!! (Looking forward to not having to brush my teeth in bathroom #2 that is the size of an airplane washroom)

However, here are some lovely goodies that we discovered in our bathroom.

Exhibit A: Bathroom Archives - AKA Newspaper

Exhibit B: Painted wallpaper - This should be crime!!!

You are renovating when...

Signs that you are a home renovator:

1.) You go to Home Depot/Rona/Lowe's at least 10 times a week. You go so much in fact that you know the sales personnel and their shifts. You actually see them more than your friends and get pretty good treatment because you aren't the reno weekend warrior but are the daily reno warrior.
2.) You stop planning vacations, but start planning to-do lists that excite you just as much as an all inclusive vacation.
3.) You live in a house but are contained to your "basement apartment" (aka - the only dust and tool free zone).
4.) You can talk home reno shop like its nobody's business and exchange tips with other men in their 50's at work, except you are a twenty something female.
5.) When you pick up take-out at the Thai restaurant and he gives you a discount because he feels bad that you are still renoing.
6.) You are starting to have more clothes covered in paint, dust and wood chips than your normal clothes.
7.) You are completely obsessed with anything decor and read more blogs, magazines etc more than the daily paper.

Welcome to our blog! We have been wanting to do this for a long time, but haven't had the time to sit down and do it! We recently moved into our home in May and are continuing to renovate.

Over two years ago, we purchased a gorgeous new home. Then this past December we sold it and packed up and moved into an older home that needed some TLC. The house is in great condition, but needs some major adjustments. Fearless and after watching too many DIY shows and Mike Holmes, we threw in the hammer and started demoing and deconstructing our house.

I should also clarify that when we mean "we", I mean my amazing husband A. I help with the decor, yard work and clean up. However, we make a great team!!

Thanks for joining us and are really looking forward to documenting our journey to a gorgeous home with no dust, no power tools and fresh paint.