Exterior - The Finale!!

Baaaaaaa, I am having HUGE buyer and designer remorse.  I am so doubting my choices now that it's all done....errrrrr I hate that feeling.  Should I have got the door in black?  Should I have gone with a lighter shingle?  Should I have gone with a chocolate shutter?  Blah blah blah.  I know the answer to all my questions.  NO.  There was a method to all my madness and I have to remind myself that in reality, you don't always get what you want.  You have to be smart and practical when spending a ton of money on renovations.

Yea, I kinda still wish I painted my brick.  But after living in the neighbourhood for a bit, I realized that my house would stick out like a sore thumb with painted brick.  NO ONE paints their brick houses around here.  And it would have been so hard to pick out the perfect colour.  It could have easily gone wrong, really wrong.  I had a painter come out, and once he realized I wanted to paint my brick, he never even called me back with a quote!!  So, okay fine!  I have to work with what I got.  Pink brick.

The red door really does compliment the brick, and I don't regret getting it.  But, I am a little pissy about the roof I got.  It's too gray.  When you are picking from a 2" swatch, you kinda have to just cross your fingers.  Big mistake.  I should have taken my time and gone around the neighbourhood and studied the roofs more.  Lesson learned.

I really struggled with what colour to do the shutters, portico and garage.  Brown, Black, Gray.... I was not interested in having the new shutters custom painted.  It would have cost a fortune, so I had slim pickings as far as standard shutter colours.  I had this designer guy come to my house to talk about front doors, and he suggested just painting everything the same colour as the window casing and having it all blend in nice.  Then let my fabulous ( and ridiculously expensive) front door POP.  He was right....  don't go all 'designer-chic-bananas' and just keep it simple.  So I did.  Standard Taupe all around!!

You know what, I do like the outcome.  I worked with what I had and I think the house looks up to date and loved.  It's just, if you look at the other rooms I have done (like the office, and toy room), I clearly love WOW rooms.  I was hoping to have that on the exterior as well, but through this process I have learned that sometimes neutral is best.  Let the space speak for itself.

Anyway, I hope you like what I have done.  And if you don't, lie, and tell Ryan you do because he forked over a lot of dough for me.  He loves me.  Right, honey xoxo

And come spring, I've got a lot of landscaping to do... I'm tired just thinking about it.

Here's a list of what I did to update the exterior.
- New custom front door (Lakecity Home Imporvements, Burlington)
- New pot lights (ATI Electric)
- New light fixtures (Murray Feiss - Secolite, Burlington)
- New house numbers and moved them to the portico (Ebay)
- New exterior shutters (Dinesol, Tan, Raised Panel - Lakecity Home Improvements, Burlington)
- Removed dead tree from front garden (Thanks to Tom, Dave and Bryan from ATI Electric!  Awesome guys!)
- Painted Portico and Garage door (Custom Colour, Behr)
- New roof and facing on portico (Main Street Roofing, Burlington)
- Painted garage door hardware and mailbox(RustOleum, Black)

Best surprise ever!  Coming home to new shutters.

I was going to save the old shutters and do something crafty, but they were in rough shape.  Bye, Bye!

The guys putting in my new pot lights.  The kids loved watching them work on the roof!

Multi talented electricians.  Thanks guys!!!

Getting my new front door!  So exciting!

Good Deals!!

I recently scored this bench from my local Salvation Army for just $10 bucks.  I'm dying to re-purpose it, but I'm not sure where I'm going to use it just yet.  I'm thinking about putting it in my front foyer.  Once I decide, she'll get a make over.

My Mom found this console for me at a Garage Sale for just $20 bucks.  I'd like to paint it and turn it into a make up vanity for my bedroom.  ust have to find a mirror and chair to go with it!

I've also got these 2 kid stools that I'd like to re-do. One is from my old farm.  The previous owners left it behind.  I've already painted it black.  And I believe the other is from my mom-in-law (I take so much from her basement store, I can't remember!).

I'd like to do something fun with these guys.  One day when I am feeling creative!

Anyway, those are some upcoming projects.  Stay tuned to see how they turn out.
That's it!

Painted my garage & portico!

Errr, my exterior is almost done!  It's taking forever!  But, I can see the light!!!

I just finished painting the garage doors and the portico.  I had the colour custom matched to my new shutters - which are taking forever to come in. 

Even my Brother noticed I painted - so I must be something right!!!

 I had to get up on the portico roof to paint the very top.  The kids got such a kick out of it.

The colour also matches the casing around my new front door.

It's gonna look so good when it's finally all done.  Just patiently waiting for my new shutters.  I bought them as a Birthday gift for myself, so with my luck, they'll come in on the 21st!!

 This is how my house is looking today.  I'd also like to get some new garage door hardware.  Some nice chunky door pulls.

It doesn't look like it too dramatic of a change, but once you see the final before and after shots, you'll see.... such a huge difference.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Favoruite Finds Friday!

As promised here are my favourite finds from this week.

I started Christmas shopping!!!  I like to give myself a head start each year so that I can find a perfect, unique gift for everyone.  I love shopping online, so I always leave myself 6-8 weeks since some orders (especially custom ones) can take a long time to get to my door.  Plus, if I shop over seas, I can expect major delays no doubt!

I was browsing my favourite sites and came across some cool things this week.

From ThinkGeek. com, this awesome DIY Guitar Pick Punch is just $24.99.  You can punch a guitar pick out of anything.  So Cool!

The Obsessive Chef Cutting Board.  Found here for just $25 bucks.  I WANT this so bad!  hint hint... This is such an awesome idea. 

Williams Sonoma, bar far, has the most beautiful wreaths.  I'll take 2 of these for the fall, and 2 of those for the spring.

I'm inlove with this Julien MacDonald wallpaper available from Graham & Brown.  I want to do my whole dining room in it, but at $85 a roll, I may have to settle for just my powder room.

This bathroom vanity is available in a number of colours and I just love the rustic look.  It starts at over $1200 bucks, but I think it's unique and worth the money!  See all the available styles at fixtureuniverse.com

Embracing Change Blog

Embracing Change

Hi Friends...jump over to Embracing Change to check out one of my favourite blogs.  My Brass to Black Fire Place Make over was featured today on her Creative Inspirations Link Party.

It's a great place to see what the other blogger friends have been up to all week.

Fireplace Make Over

DIY Wall Mount Guitar Holder

Ryan has always wanted his guitars mounted on the wall for easy access and to make his space feel like more of a "man space".  Unfortunately, we've never lived any where long enough for him to have his own space...until.... NOW!!

Last week, I sacraficed a work space of my own, for Ryan to have his own, full out, man room.  So, I gave him his guitars on the wall, just like he always wanted... love you xoxo

DIY Wall Mount Guitar Holder

First Step: Go to Home Depot and gather your supplies.
- Heavy duty screws & anchors
- Heavy duty utility wall hooks -found in the garage organzier section.
- Some sort of wood!  Ryan bought these bull nose caps, used to cap edges of stair treads.  They were quality wood, cheap, and the perfect size.  Just over $2 bucks a piece.
- Paint - what ever you have laying around.  I used some black spray paint - it was for plastic.  No one needs to know

These things are just $2 bucks at Home Depot

I chopped the wood pieces in half using my chop saw.  They weren't all a perfect length, and some had round edges, some have straight edges.  It really doesn't matter since the guitar will be hiding the wood piece.  I am soooo not a perfectionist!!!

Then I painted them black..

Then I drilled holes for the screws.  I measure about an inch and a half from the end.

Then I drilled massive holes to fit the utility hook.  Wish I had a drill press for this, but my hand held drill did it's job eventually.  You can see where the wood split a bit on the edge of the holes.  I just sanded it out nice and gave the pieces another coat of paint.

I love using painters tape to measure out hanging stuff on the wall.  I spaced the hooks about 18" apart.

First I screwed the utility hook into the piece of wood.  Then, to get them on the wall, I hammered my anchor into the wall, and screwed the piece in place.  Make sure to use a level to ensure it's straight.

Yup, looks good.  Three more to go...

So, here they are all up on the wall.

Rock Star...

James: "MOMMY! The guitars are hanging up!"  He was seriously astonished.  Confidence booster for me.  Who cares if it comes from a 4 year old!

They look awesome from the hallway!

That's it!  I never said it was rocket science!!  Way cheaper than the store bought wall hangers and they look just as good!

Each wall mount cost less than $4 bucks to make.  The retail at the store any where from $20-45.  I'm so thrifty.

Favourite Finds Friday!

Hi All, I am starting a new weekly post called "Favourite Finds Friday".

One of my favourite past times is shopping online.  I love finding unique pieces, and if I can find it for a good price - even better.  So, every Friday, I am going to post a few crazy things I have fallen inlove with with online.  I think it's a great way to share some of my favourite online shops as well.

Divine Beaded Basket Chandelier.  From Shades Of Light.  I know it $2700 bucks, but I would seriously pay that.  I think it's a work of art!  Gorgeous.

Ikat Links Rug from West Elm.  It's a great deal at just over $300 (on sale) for a 5x8.  I would have bought this for the office, but they don't offer Canadian Shipping, and if I send Ry to go pick one up in Toronto, I have no idea what he'd actually bring home!

Landsmeer fabric in Citrine by Dwell Studio from TonicLiving.com.  $27.99/yard.  I'm in love with Watercolour fabrics right now.  And this one is at the top of my list.  I would do anything to recover my living room slipper chairs in it.  But I cringe at the thought of little, peanut butter covered fingers all over them.  And my stupid not-declawed cat...crrriiinnngggeee

New Front Door

The biggest problem I had with this house when we first moved in was the exterior look.  This is not my favourite style of home, so I had a hard time figuring out how to update it. 

First things first, a new front door.  Just look at this thing...yuck.

I took off the storm doors right away, and purchased a new light fixture from Sescolite Lighting in Burlington.  I knew exactly the style door I wanted, and I wanted it in Black.  The Ryan tells me he wants a red door.  I'm thinking 'Red??...that'll look stupid'.

So I bust out some old red paint from my front door on the farm, and paint it just to see who's right.

Crapper, I hate it when he's right.  It looks great red.

So, I ordered my new door.... in red.  I ordered it through Lake City Door and Windows in Burlington.  I worked with John who was wonderful.  I told him exactly what I wanted and we custom designed it together.  Then I changed it, and changed it and changed it again and he never got pissy with me.  Great guy!  the installers had it done in about 3 hours.  Very clean and professional.

 It took about 6 weeks to get, and cost me a small fortune, but I couldn't be happier.  It's exactly what I wanted (although I am still mad at myself I didn't get black).

 Marley and the kids love it because they can finally see through the glass!

Here is a view from the inside.  Totally brightens up my dark entry way.  My house is SO dark inside, but no any more!!!  (I know you love my high end foyer light fixture!)


Oh, and the door knobs are from Rona.  Got a wicked deal on them.  Rona brand is made by Weiser, so I didn't feel cheap going with the house brand!!

New shutters will be here in hopefully the next 2 weeks.  And I am painting the garage doors and portico the same colour as the window and door casings.  I think it'll look great when I am all done!