And suddenly...

...we're drowning in renovation/decoration projects, looking at magazines, websites, blogs and tumblrs, having home improvement on the mind at all times, spending time each week to scout and shop... We're back in the game, baby! This is the exciting part... And we'll take full advantage of it, before funds run out and weariness sets in. Of course, we're aware that we won't be able to complete everything all at once, but here are the main things we need to do in the new house, listed in order of priority. We've both taken one week off (which actually equals 11 days since it coincides with the Easter long weekend) post-move, to take care of the first three plus the bulk of unpacking. Then, if we could do everything else within say, two (three?) years, that would be awesome.

• Redo the flooring in the three upstairs bedrooms. It's now parquet, but we want to change that to hardwood to match the rest of the house. Well, complement more than match -the thin oak planks we have simply don't exist anymore. We've chosen sustainable, sturdy and durable bamboo, tinted in a similar color. We weren't sure that we wanted to tackle this at the beginning, but quickly realized that we should. A year from now, it will be much more complicated and painful to empty the rooms and do this as a multi-weekend project.
• Replace the vanity (for a smaller, more current one) in the ground floor powder room/laundry room. As of now, it is unnessary large, which only allows space to put the washer and dryer on top of one another. By reclaiming the space, we'll be able to put them side by side, and M will install a countertop/folding station, as well as a couple of cabinets above for supplies.
• Paint. We wanted to keep painting to a minimum, but when we went back last week, we realized that we had our work cut out for us. In some places, the colors could really use some refreshing, while in some places they are bad (one corridor wall is hospital green, the glass room next to the kitchen is bright orange, F's room is dark wood panels with midnight blue -which really has a way of screaming "a little girl sleeps here!"). We'll probably hire someone to help with this, otherwise I don't think we're going to make it.
• Replace the stairs railing, from dated 80s wood to stainless steel. M will buy the materials and do it himself, but it will be quite major work (and not cheap, so we're using some of our equity to fund it). But. Since there's a lot of railing, it will have some crazy impact once done. We're betting that it will change the look and feel of the house entirely, bring it to this century, and even possibly add to its value. Here is an example taken from the supplier's site, which both shows you what is currently there, and what we want it to be (except not black, just steel).

• Update the fireplace, which is currently covered in 80s greenish paint splatter wallpaper. We're still unsure of what to do.
• Change the flooring in the kitchen/adjacent glass room. The kitchen is newly renovated, and honestly it is amazing. With one exception: unexplicably, they put vinyl flooring. Eventually, we'll replace it with great-looking tile, and maybe, add radiant heating.
• Redo the master bathroom. Take down the hideous 80s granny tile backsplash, replace the double-sink vanity (we really don't need two), using the reclaimed space to install a new, larger and better shower.
• Install crown molding, replace doorknobs, change LP's bedroom door (it's now glass), update the light switches and install dimmers, etc.

It may look like a lot, but honestly it's not that much for such a big house. And since M is very handy, well-equipped, and had plenty of practice opportunities with our current house, nothing is very scary either. Despite all of these details, I can assure you that the house as a whole is great. Its flow, its "bones", its space, its vibe, are all good, and that's not even taking the great neighbourhood/beautiful view/dream kitchen into account.

In the meantime, we've bought:

• a sofa (ours is a really bad $300 IKEA one from 7 years ago, which we've been holding on to "until we move"). It's not on their website but anyway it's from there.

(Yes, it came with both a pensive man and a crawly baby girl with bear ears. I thought they were both cute and decided to keep them).

-to which we'll likely add a Barcelona chair and ottoman, as well as a cool floor lamp (M is making us a coffee table from an old farm scale we have in the garage). And eventually, a rug? But we've tried having them before and with the kids they always ended up badly used/stained fairly quickly.

• our dining room table

-to which we'll likely add a couple more Herman Miller Eames Eiffel chairs.


And we've decided on the following:


LP's bedroom does not have to be fully painted, and the walls are gray with red curtains. He's the only one with a cathedral ceiling (and large triangle-shaped window) in his room. We agreed on an Italian, sort of retro car theme, so we will paint one wall in three large color block stripes: green, white and red!

The theme of F's bedroom will be "citrus colors". The wood panelling will be painted white, and the walls will probably be bright yellow. We bought her a tiny 50s-looking shiny vinyl orange armchair, as well as a shocking pink silly cukoo clock. I want the accents in green, yellow, orange and hot pink; not so much different from what she has now, the mobile I made her being a good example...