Project Condo - The Big Reveal

It occurred to me that I never shared photos of le condo with you. Bad blogger. Without further adieu, let me take you on a tour.

1) Living Room

BEFORE

AFTER

Both the BEFORE and AFTER photos are taken from our bedroom on the 2nd floor (we have a 16 foot tall ceiling).

AFTER

As you may recall, the coffee table and rug are from West Elm. We found the Barcelona chair on Craigslist. The lamp is from Urban Barn.

AFTER

Here's my baby - my 40 inch Sony Bravia. And yes, size does matter.

2) Balcony

BEFORE

AFTER

No drastic changes to the balcony. We added in our own patio furniture plus bought a barbecue.

3) Kitchen/Dining Area

Unfortunately, I do not have any good photos of the kitchen before we moved in. We didn't change the area too much. We did buy a new dining set from Ikea, hang new drapes and who can forget the drama that accompanied those cabinet handles?

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

There you have it. Le Condo! (Well I didn't show you the upstairs b/c frankly it will never be tidy enough to photograph.) It's still a work in progress. Many people have told me that I'll never be done with Project Condo. Is it true? Does one ever really finish home improvement?

P.S. Don't forget to enter the Stamp Yourself Happy Giveaway sponsored by Barbara Kua Calligraphy.

In a Tall Man's World........

I'm short. I'm so short that I actually say I'm 5 foot 1 and a quarter. Yep, I count that quarter inch. Being vertically challenged, I rely on step stools to help me reach those high shelves in the kitchen (when the BF isn't around). When we moved I gave up my beloved neon green step stool (and the BF did a happy dance) since it took up too much room and we were constantly tripping over it. Lucky for me, the BF found the perfect replacement at Neat -space, edited., a storage-focused home furnishings store in Toronto. My fellow bloggers, I introduce you to the EZ Foldz step stools.

The best part? They collapse so you can tuck them away.

I know, I know, it doesn't take much to make me happy. :)

If you live in the Toronto area and are an organizational nut, be sure to visit Neat -space, edited.
Guaranteed you'll walk out of there with something 'neat.'

I Heart West Elm.

Having a holiday in the middle of the week is mighty strange. I definitely feel out of sorts today. Hope those of you north of the border had a good Canada Day. To my friends to the south, hope you're lucky enough to get an early start to Independence Day festivities!

I'm happy to say that Phase I of Project Condo is complete. We're moved in, we have most of our furniture purchased, most items have found a home, we even have some decorative items up. I'll post some "Before" and "After" pictures soon.

The BF and I completed Phase I by visiting West Elm. West Elm is fairly new to Canada and the only location is in Toronto (lucky me!). The BF is a fan of the West Elm as our west coast home has many items from the modern store. I know many think it's another 'corporate' or 'big box' store, but that's exactly why I love it. Pardon me PB, you say? You see, for the last month or so, the BF and I have been pounding the pavement, visiting numerous 'independent', 'local' and 'one of a kind' furniture stores in Toronto. We've fallen in love with items that we later find out are completely out of our price range. Items within our price range are back-ordered with no confirmed date of restocking (hello? isn't that just called sold out?). Items within our price range, not back-ordered take at least 2 weeks (if you're lucky) to be delivered (once you pay the exorbitant delivery fees). I never knew it was this difficult to purchase furniture.

This is why I love West Elm. If you see an item you like, all you have to do is tell the lovely salesperson. They then check the stockroom to see if it's available. If it is, you pay, and you get to take the item home. The very same day. Novel isn't it?

We bought a coffee table and a rug from West Elm. Voila.


The best part of the coffee table.........the top slides open revealing more storage space!


Cool non? The perfect place for my nap blankets and pillows. The BF says the sliding top is really so I can slide his food closer to me (I steal his food a lot). Hmm. He may have point. ;)

What's your favourite furniture store? And am I too impatient....is it worth the wait for quality furniture?

Craigslist Virgin No More

The BF has been drooling over the Barcelona chair for a few weeks now. According to the trusted source Wikipedia, the 'original' Barcelona chair was exclusively designed by German designers Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich for the German Pavilion at the 1929 Expo in Barcelona. Today, Knoll owns the trademark to Mies van der Rohe's name as well as the trade dress right on the design of the chair. Unfortunately we couldn't afford the Barcelona chair (prices start at US$4300). Luckily for us (not so much for Knoll), there are plenty of Barcelona replicas. However, even the replicas are pretty expensive, ranging from $700-$1100. I know, crazy talk for a chair. So I decided to check out Craigslist. I've never bought anything from Craigslist and was a bit hesitant. For starters, and the BF will attest to this, I have an aversion to second-hand items. Can't explain it. Just do. As well, how was I going to get a chair into my tiny Civic coupe? Well, my friends, I found the chair at a steal of a price and couldn't resist seeing the chair in person. The BF and I went to see the chair and it was in excellent shape. We got the seller down to CDN $400 and went our merry way.

Introducing our Barcelona replica....


Oh, and our new lamp. The BF also picked that out at Urban Barn. Yes, he's more talented in the design department than I.

When I found out the chair was designed by his forefathers, the BF (he's first generation American) said, and I quote, "Germans build things to last (well, except for their empires)."

One more condo update. Below are our new kitchen cabinet handles. I only show you this because it took the BF and I literally 8 trips over the last 7 days to various home improvement stores to find the right screws. And finally today we were rewarded. Mazel Tov.

Colour Me Happy!

I would love to say that I have a series of 'recaps' lined up about purchasing a home for the first time, moving into said home and then decorating/arranging said home.....but I'm too frazzled for that!! That last few weeks have been like a roller coaster of emotions. Stressed, happy, tired, angry, frazzled, back to stressed. Lucky for me, the BF has been in town to freak out with me. :)

The funny thing is that the whole 'you're purchasing a condo' notion didn't quite hit me until I had to pick paint colours. Sounds ridiculous right? Well, in the past, I didn't choose to paint my rental places. I just accepted the neutral wall tones and adopted the notion that I wasn't going to spend too much money on improving someone else's place (yes, I'm frugal). So this was my first foray into paint samples and deciding how to colour my place happy! Exciting right? Totally. Except that it took me FOREVER to pick the colours. In my mind, whatever colours I chose were THE colours to live on my walls. PERMANENTLY (yes, I'm melodramatic). This is when I realized.......I was about to become a homeowner.....a homeowner picking out paint colours.

Can we discuss how there are 50,000 shades of white?!! How is one suppose to pick a shade of white when they're all so similar!!

Case in Point:

via Benajmin Moore

As soon as I noticed the infinite number of shades of white, I decided that it would be best to choose the other colours of my place first, that is, colours with hues.

The BF and I decided to paint the living room, which has a 16 ft ceiling, red. (Picture a two story loft with the bedroom on the second floor looking out onto the level below). I wanted a deep rich red while the BF was leaning to something more subtle, more burnt. We ended settling on 'Louisiana Hot Sauce' (second sample from the top).

via Benajmin Moore

Very inviting non? We painted the 16 ft wall and the adjacent walls to it red.

The next paint to choose was the colour for the bathrooms. We decided to give both bathrooms the same colour scheme - a warm, sage-like green for the walls with brown accents (towels, bath mats etc). In fact, we (well, I) was inspired by this shower curtain I saw at Target on my last trip to the OC. I actually made the BF go buy it a few weeks later.

Voilà Atmospheric.

Back to the white. So after presenting the BF with numerous options (and eventually they all blended into one another), we settled on 'Flurry' which is "creamy, warm, with a touch of green" (according to this Chatelaine article titled "The Right White"). Lucky for me, it complemented the 'Louisiana Hot Sauce' quite well. I am so proud of my 'white' decision that every once in awhile, I will turn to the BF and say, "Look how great my white turned out." (Yes, I'm a dork).


Did we paint ourselves, you ask? Hell no! A lot of people ask why I didn't (maybe because I'm frugal) decided to take on the DIY task. My friends, I know where my limited abilities lie, and they definitely do not lie in home improvement. I can't even imagine painting a 16 ft ceiling three times over. We hired a contractor who did a splendid job. Sure, it cost a lot more than doing it ourselves but I'd gladly pay for my sanity, the BF's sanity and the hours we'd never get back!!

Have any 'Colour Me Happy' stories to share?

p.s. I found the Benjamin Moore site quite helpful. The BF and I were able to look at colours while he was in LA and I was in Toronto. Note that some monitors are not calibrated properly so the colours you see on the screen may not be how they look in real life. Unless you know your monitor is calibrated properly (the BF says Photoshop has a calibration tool), do pick up real samples to confirm your choices. Or don't take it too personally when you send an online swatch to someone and they express their disgust. ;)

It's official!

I'm a homeowner!!! The BF and I are going to visit our new abode later tonight!

Today is....

CLOSING DAY on my new condo!!!! I'm expecting a call from my lawyer sometime this afternoon letting me know that the transaction closed, and to come and pick up my keys to my first (owned) home! So exciting......can't wait. Did anyone else feel this excited on their closing day?!?

For those of you who need a new frock (especially for all those engagement parties/showers/weddings coming up), check out Banana Republic's dress sale. Nothing over US $98. I quite like the yellow one with the cross draping detail (originally $225).

via Banana Republic

The Purge.

Thank you for all your well-wishes on the new place. An even bigger THNAK YOU for all your helpful advice on purging the closet and moving in general. So I did the big 'purge' this past weekend.

Here is just a peek into my pre-purge disastrous closet. As you can see, my clothes don't have a lot of breathing room, and I'm in desperate need of a linen closet. (I plan to install a closet organizer in the new place.)

I started the 'purge' by taking each item of clothing and asking myself, "Does it still fit? When was the last time I wore it?" (as per Mo's advice). If I still wasn't convinced to 'purge' the item, I then ask myself, "Could I wear this to work? Could I wear this out?" (as per cheapnchic). If I couldn't answer those questions (quickly), out it went! Well, it went in the 'Goodwill' pile. As Suzanne said, donating now, when people need it the most, is the best part of 'purging.'

The pile starting to grow in the hall.

Shoes that I haven't worn in years.

My Goodwill pile.

Thought I'd share these funny trends with you. Remember the poncho craze? (Excuse my faded velor track pants...they're so comfy). Check out the weird toe on these shoes! BTW, I wore these shoes non-stop for a year.

I have to admit there were some items of clothing that I had a really difficult time letting go of. I started working out regularly about two years ago and because of that my body has gotten more muscular and I don't fit into my 'skinny' clothing. I kept saying, I would work out harder, lose some weight, and fit into those clothes again (yes, I was delusional). Anyways, this weekend I let that lovely pipe dream go and realized, hey, I may have a slightly 'bigger' body but at least it's strong!

Alas, the fruits of my labour. One bag for Goodwill and one bag for the ladies in my family. I even managed to put away my winter clothing into storage. I sent a photo to the BF and he was VERY proud.



P.S. To cheapnchic - feel free to share your fiance's present value analysis on the worth of old books! You won't believe how many old textbooks I still have. As if I still need that highschool Caculus textbook!!

I'm (almost) a Homeowner!!

Well, actually more like I'm a mortgagor, and the bank is the homeowner. Regardless, in just over 6 weeks, I'll be moving into my first home! YAY. So long rental housing, hello condo ownership! I just signed the mortgage papers last week which made it feel a bit more real (b/c I'm pretty sure I signed away my firstborn). It won't feel completely real until I'm settled in the new place. So much to do before then! Basically, I have six weeks to deal with more paperwork, talk to my lawyer, line up contractors, pack, unpack, notify the phone, cable companies, etc. of the address change........what did I get myself into??? Sigh. Deep breath. One step at a time, right?

My first chore is to "de-clutter and purge", as per the BF. You see, I'm a bona fide pack rat. I'm sure I could pull out the macaroni-art jewelery box that I made for my Mom in grade one (my mom wouldn't still have it cuz she throws everything away, and I probably rescued it from the trash). So you can probably understand why the BF wants me to start going through my things and 'purge.' He claims he's only seen me wear about half of the clothes in my closet. (whatev BF!).

See? Even Nicole Ritche has a bit of a messy closet!
Image via NicoleRichieFashion

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that my first 'purge' task is my closet. Where do I begin? Lucky for me, I found this very helpful article on ChickAdvisor.com:


My new mantra will be this line from the article "[i]f the clothes don’t fit, have holes, are out of style or just don’t represent your personality anymore, get rid of them! Don’t reminisce about days and sales of yore – no matter what the price tag or the memory (third-base), discard of it." So much easier said than done!

Do you have any suggestions/tips/advice for me on 'de-cluttering' or on the first-time home buying process? Thanks in advance!

The Power of Staging

As I mentioned before, the BF and I have been condo shopping. I almost bought the second place we saw. Look how pretty is......

I walked out of this place in love and told the BF so. He laughed and began to list all of its deficiencies. Huh? Did we just see the same place? I began to rhyme off all of the good things to him. After I was done, he looked into my eyes and said the words that every fashionista dreads - "There was NO closet space." What was he talking about?!? There was closet space, in fact, it was a walk-in closet! The BF laughed. He said, "Sure.... a walk-in closet/washer & dryer closet/connecting space between the bedroom and bathroom." Hmmm. Okay, maybe he was right. So there was only one small rod to hang my clothes. So it was unlikely I could get a closet organizer in there. I mean I could work with it right? Look at the place, isn't it worth the minuscule closet space!! No, my friends, the BF was right. There was absolutely NO closet space.!!!! How could I have been so blind? I hate to admit it but I had the 'staging' wool pulled over my eyes. The place? COMPLETELY STAGED. The owner had already moved out. The BF gave me a lecture (which I deserved) on looking past the staging (e.g. the dark wood dining table with matching leather chairs and the candle centrepiece atop of it all) and examining the actual space. Is is big enough for my current furniture? Is the layout a good use of space? Are the finishings of good quality? Sigh. I hate when the BF is right. (FYI - In addition to the small closet, the BF also pointed out that the kitchen was a tad too small and the floors were a bit too shiny for concrete.).

In my defence, I'm posting two 'before & after' photos of staged living spaces. See what I'm up against?

via Staged Perfectly

via Staged Perfectly

What lessons did you learn from home-hunting?

For My Dream Home.......

Happy Monday! Well, the BF left yesterday. Very sad, but I'll be seeing him next week, so not that sad! (Seriously, we're so not long distance. ) We'll be off to San Diego for my cousin's wedding. Maybe Mo from Pink Argyle can suggest some must-see's and must-dos? Hint, hint!? If you haven't checked out Pink Argyle yet, hop on over....you will drool over her wedding venue.

While the BF was here, we decided to go condo-shopping. I've been renting for awhile and thinking of taking the plunge to ownership, especially since it's a buyer's market. Anyways, the condo-shopping prompted the BF and I to discuss the must-have's in our dream home. I want a chef's kitchen. He wants a steam room. We both agreed that we HAD to have a wine cellar since we're both winos. We're a long way from our dream home but I already know what my dream wine cellar will look like. Voila!

Spiral Cellars via CasaSugar

Spiral Cellars will come into your home, dig a hole wherever you want, install a wine cellar which you access via a spiral staircase through a "hidden" trap door. Sigh. Why am I not independently wealthy?

What are your must-have's in your dream home?