RENO DIARIES: #PROJECTRAD

So here we are. As if pregnancy wasn't challenging enough, my husband and I have decided to purchase this fixer-upper! We have been looking for a house closer to hubby's work for about 2 years now. First, we narrowed down the neighborhood we wanted, and then seriously started looking at houses about a year ago. If I saw this house on the first day, I would have ran out the door so fast..the idea of dealing with a total gut job is something I never wanted to take on. However, looking at house after a house...we realized that in our budget and our location, we don't have a choice but to get a fixer upper and make it our own. We wanted a big lot, garage, high enough basement, and a pretty house! That is hard to find in Toronto, esp very close to downtown. We had basically given up all hope..and then one day we decided to go for a walk and check out a few open houses.

 

It is a century old master piece with strong bones..and well that's pretty much it! We basically need to re-do everything from changing the electrical, heating system, full insulation, full kitchen, bathrooms! Basically.. it means all the dry wall and trims need to come off, and we will be down to the bare bones of the house.

We had seen over 20 houses in the area by now, some new renos, some gut jobs, and some were straight up crooked! So having had some sense of what to expect, as I walked in..I knew. I knew this was the house.  What really sold me was the open feel of the main floor as you walk in. Yes it needs a LOT of work, but hey at least I didn't have to walk up the stairs feeling drunk (as it felt in the crooked house!) ..we do of course plan to take down some more walls to make the main floor more open concept. There is so much character in the house, and I do want to keep as much of it as I can, and then mix it with modern elements. 

But seriously though..how gorgeous is this living room! I don't even want to touch it but sadly everything needs to come down so we can insulate the exterior walls. I do intend to replicate this room to it's original glory. I am not even a fan of blue..but this blue is actually growing on me.

LOL..now onto the hideous stuff! Basically this needs to go! Clearly some reno was done in the 50s complete with asbestos tiles..yay! So that's going of course, this will be the new dining room.

Did I mention the house came with a Piano too. I don't know how to play and not sure if this thing is actually worth anything.. so if you are looking for a free piano, please do let me know. Oh this is where the new kitchen is going to be. We are going to tear down the wall between this room and the previous hideous room.

This beauty is going to be the new lounge. All the cabinets are coming off, and the window will be changed to french doors leading to the backyard, with powder room to the right.

Plan is to open this wall up fully and have a full open concept floor. Sometimes we do wonder what have we done..but other days I am excited to finally designer and create a place customized to our needs. This is just the beginning..let's see how it goes. I do plan to blog through our and keep you guys posted through out the process...wish me luck!

There is so much more to do on the top floors..but I'll save that for another day..