House Walk Through

     We met up with our real estate agent, Mary Johnson on Tuesday at the flip house.  We were hoping for an hour or so to walk through the house and get some planning done.  Also, the HVAC guy needed to come through again to give us a more accurate quote on replacing the crazy octopus furnace.  Unfortunately, we only got half an hour.
   We spent most of the time we had there planning out the kitchen.  For me, it's really hard to plan a space when you can't stand in it, look around and absorb it.  I was having a few issues with the kitchen as it was sketched out by our architect.
     First I should tell you, I have issues with symmetry.  I don't like things to be askew.  I need order.  I need symmetry.  And the island we had planned was sort of stuck out on one side of the kitchen.

The yellow rectangle is this great kitchen piece we found at the Aberfoyle Antique Market .  It's currently in pretty bad shape but we're planning on doing a little fixing up to make it look 'country chic'.  That's me and Betty with the piece at the market.

   So back to the space planning issue.  I got to thinking about how we were using the space.  We need access to the rear garden door through the kitchen.  To me, it was feeling like all the cabinetry was crammed into one end of the kitchen.  I thought, if we raise the large window a couple of inches, we could run the counter top across the entire side wall and centre the island a bit better.  Something like this:

This allows us to centre the island, add a command central computer nook and  a ton of counter-space in the area you want it for entertaining or food prep.  We can also expand the opening to the dining room to a wide double doorway.   I think it's looking pretty good. And I'm really pleased with the way the team is working together to come up with solutions.

Kitchen Dreaming

So the vibe we're going for in the kitchen is a creamy, pared-down urban farmhouse:

You feelin' it?

No???  Us either...  Here are a few inspirational photos from our files to give you an idea of what the finished product will look like.  

I love the use of the creamy cabinetry with the wooden table.

The creamy subway tile with the darker grout gives a vintage feel and I love the nickel pendant fixtures over the island.  

Open shelving is a must.  I like the pretty display of china and glassware. Of course, the butcher block counter-top and light marble counters are perfect.  

     Right now, I'm researching projects to use in the kitchen.  We are looking for a high end look on a budget.  Unfortunately, I always seem to be drawn to the more expensive items.  Here is a mood board I've created for the kitchen.  I used a photo from A Country Farmhouse in the board.  The open shelves are from their kitchen and are just the look I'm going for.

Hope you like it!  I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions you might have.

Main Floor Layout

    The layout plans are in!  We had the architectural design firm we usually use on our projects come in and make a set of plans showing the existing house.  This way, the four partners on the project could each take a copy and play around with different layouts.  Soon, we will be meeting and combining all the best ideas.  The firm we are using on this project is Dutot Design Services.
     First, I'll show you the existing layout of the house.  There are a bunch of small rooms and an awkward hallway towards the back of the house that causes some traffic flow problems.  The main floor has a den, office and dining room. Each of these rooms is small and inefficiently laid out. However, the worst of the problem is with the kitchen.  The kitchen is simply too small for the house.  Not enough cabinetry, counter-space, etc.  Also, we need a good flow from the attached garage at the rear of the house.  In this neighborhood, the homes are older.  It is rare to even have a garage, much less an attached garage.

So from the layout picture above, you can see  that there are too many doorways in the centre of the house and that the rooms are too choppy for good flow.  Have a look at a proposed new layout:

   You can see that opening up the wall between the kitchen and existing dining room really makes the space work more efficiently.  We have also added a garden door at the far end of the kitchen allowing for flow out to the garden for entertaining.  And finally, the powder room has been re-configured.

    The next thing I'm working on is the layout of the kitchen.  This drawing is really just a mock-up the architect did, and is probably not the way the kitchen will look down the line.  One thing I'd like to keep is the island but I am wondering about adding a window seat or additional cabinetry under the window to create a U-shaped area around the island.  The space is a little bit tricky because it is so long and narrow.  Any ideas?

Tecumseh House: Raising the Chief

So... I'd like you to meet our new house.  It's a three-bedroom, 1 and 3/4 storey home in Wortley Village in London, Ontario.  We're just in the very early stages of this project - we haven't even gotten possession of the house yet - but  we sure do have big plans.  
The house itself has been neglected.  the previous owners had it for forty years and not much has been updated.  Highlights of the property include:

The Kitchen

There really isn't much of a kitchen currently.  Our plan is to open up the space, removing several awkward doorways and hallways.  This will allow us to build a kitchen that is the centre of the home - a real family space with tons of natural light.

Behind the Scenes
I don't know about you, but when I have to throw a lot of money at a project, I like to be able to see the results.  This house needs a lot of 'behind the scenes' stuff:  heating and cooling, electrical and plumbing upgrades, etc.  Just take a look at this gravity-fed beast:

Layout

The rooms on the main floor are awkwardly laid out.  I mentioned that there are too many doorways and hallways and not enough kitchen.  The home is actually spacious with many desirable elements for an old home - but you just wouldn't know it by the floor plan.  Some structural changes will give us a main floor with a large Living Room, Dining Room, Den, Powder Room and Kitchen.  

 The Plan
  Here's where we are right now.  The house has been purchased and plans of the current layout have been drawn up.  We are designing the overall layout, and kitchen right now as we are on a tight timeline and these things have to be ordered in advance.  We actually get possession of the house on July 15th.


I hope you enjoyed meeting the house, I'll bet you're curious about who we are...