Friday, August 28, 2015

In-Floor Heating!

Hey guys,
Happy Fabulous Friday!
Mr. Fix-It and I took a couple of vacation days to hang out. It's a nice way to end off the summer. We're heading up to the cottage today and having a big "pig roast" party. So fun! My dad and two other cottages are hosting it with about 80 cottagers coming. Another great way to say farewell to summer. 

Although the basement is behind schedule there has been tons of progress and I'm happy to say that it's almost finished. Woot! We've picked a paint colour. I’m a big believer in splurging on testers before making your final decision. It’s a lot cheaper to buy tester pots then repaint an entire space if you’re not happy with the colour. It’s funny, I can go into a client’s space and pick colours with total confidence. In my own home, I get all in-decisive. Ha! After 10 tester pots on the wall...
the winner is…
Tulle White by CIL
It’s pretty. Very soft grey. I have never used this colour in my home or clients’ homes, so it’s a newbie to me. I love it!!
Speaking of bathroom, I promised you that we would talk in-floor heating.
 
Do you have heated floors in your home? Living in an old home, we're accustomed to drafty spaces and cold floors, so I’ve always wanted to feel the consistent warmth on my toes.  One of the first things I said to Mr. Fix-It when we started to plan the basement, is that heated flooring in the bathroom was on the list! For sure.
Who doesn’t want warm feet going in and out of the shower? It’s a no-brainer. So, before the tile was laid, the in-floor heating went down. After doing a lot of research, the flooring that we put down is by Nuheat. We really loved their customizable option. They make standard in-flooring heating mats, however with all the curves and corners a bathroom has, you may miss some areas to heat. We went with the custom mats and it couldn’t have been easier. Our contractor drew us up a simple design of the bathroom with all the measurements.
We sent it to Nuheat, they sent us back a computer generated drawing and boom! off to the warehouse it went to be made. It couldn’t have been easier. Often times people think that custom means that it's going to take forever to receive the product but the whole process of drawing to mat can be done in days. Yes!
The flooring comes with install instructions, and they’re available on the website. Something we thought was super cool, is the floor comes with it’s own testing device to make sure the mat is working when you receive it and throughout the installation process.
To secure the mat to the floor, you have to mix up the thinset and spread it out onto the subfloor. Then you need to squeeze any air out between the thinset and the mat.
Secure the floor sensor probe to the top of the mat.

You’re now ready to tile
 

So, can we talk about why we chose this thermostat? It’s capital AMAZING. It’s programmable and the best part…it’s WiFi. You can control it by your phone, or iPad or any device that has WiFi. So cool.
Do you know what this means? While up in my bedroom on the third floor of the house, I can turn up the heated floor to be all toasty warm for my shower. Yes please. Mr. Fix-It and I have an ensuite but it was probably renovated in the 80s and the size of a closet. I’ll totally be taking my bathroom stuff and getting ready downstairs! Except for one minor problem, we're still waiting for shower doors. Soon. Baby steps.
It’s also great being able to program the heat to turn down when we’re not there, or when the weather changes. It also monitors your energy use so you can modify if necessary. Win.
We have drafts in our house, some of them pretty freezing in the winter. I'm so excited that at least one room in our house will have warm floors. When it is time to do our ensuite, I’ll be adding in-floor warmth love in there for sure.

Small toes love toasty floors also.

Something to think about when doing a reno is that this product can also go in the floor of a shower and on countertop. Heaven.
 

The bathroom is almost done. Like the tile? You got a sneak peak. We’re waiting for the lighting fixture to arrive, the glass shower doors and I haven’t bought anything yet to make it our own space. Hmmm, I think a little bathroom shopping is on the radar. I have a few more fun bathroom gems to show you before the big reveal.
I would love to hear if you love your in-floor heating or if you’re thinking of adding it to a bathroom reno.
Keep it Beautiful.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Embracing Renovation Realities

Hi guys,
 
Hope you're having an awesome summer. Hard to believe there's only a couple of weeks left! We had a great vacation at the cottage, with no routine and no alarm. Just swimming, sun, togetherness and laziness. The best.
 
I want to talk to you today about the realities of renovations. We all love pretty things. A beautifully styled room makes my heart flutter and flipping through a home design magazine is one of my favourite things to do when I have some downtime. However, we also know that life doesn't allow us to live in perfectly styled rooms all the time. It's not possible and it shouldn't be possible.
 
On a typical Saturday morning our living room turns into a tent city when every blanket and pillow in the house is brought downstairs and turned into a fort. Does it drive me crazy sometimes? Yup. But, we need to live in the present. This has been my mantra this year. Live in the present, release the control.
 
It's easier to say than do but it's something we've had to embrace during the basement renovation. Any renovation takes control of your household. Even though we never used the basement (except for laundry) before, the renovating process has a ripple effect in the rest of the house. We had to remove everything from the basement and it needed a temporary home while it was being renovated. So, the guest room and shed became a home for all the stuff. Like many renos, ours is behind...really behind. We started emptying, organizing, pitching and demo-ing the basement in the spring, the reno officially started the beginning of June and it was supposed to take 4 weeks. We're now almost at the end of August. There are various reasons why it's delayed but it is what it is.
 
So, while work continues downstairs, our guest room has gone from this...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
to this....
 
and this...
 
and this...
 
 
Drywall dust. We have a cleaner that comes every two weeks and I feel like the dust is a never ending battle for her. Thanks God for Hermie (she's the cutest) and her mad cleaning skills. In between Hermie cleanings, I've given up on the floors and just let the reno life take over. Mr. Fix-It still tries to battle the dust but it is what it is. We're definitely ready to organize what went upstairs, give it a new home and get the rest of our house back together. Oh and the playroom....will not be a playroom for long.
 
All this is going downstairs some way or another and I have plans for this new room :)
 
So that's that. It can't be all beauty, all the time. Remember that in your own home. Give yourself some grace. If you have little kids, I understand what rice night looks like after dinner. I get what your floor looks like. It's life. Although I don't have teenagers, I was one once. Empty glasses and dishes everywhere.
 
Even though I have pretty photos on this blog, my home doesn't look like that all the time. I promise. We have three kids, its not possible. If you have rooms that look like a tornado went through them? Just close the door and tackle them another day.
 
Don't forget to continue to find inspiration for rooms. Whether you create an inspiration board or go pin-happy on Pinterest. You will get to your spaces one at a time and don't forget that your living room may look like a bomb hit it one day and beauty the next. Just roll with it.
 
I'm always pinning over on Pinterest, come pin with me.
Keep it Beautiful.
 

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

So happy you're here. Please take a peak inside...
 
 
FRONT HALL
 
 
 
 LIVING ROOM
 



 
DINING ROOM - CLEARLY I NEED A FEW MORE PHOTOS IN HERE :)

 
 KITCHEN
 
 

 


 
BREAKFAST ROOM - OFF THE KITCHEN


 
PLAYROOM - ALTHOUGH NOT FOR LONG...BASEMENT RENO ALMOST COMPLETE, WHICH MEANS TOYS DOWNSTAIRS!
 
BOYS' ROOM
 





 
 BABY GIRL'S NURSERY

 
BOYS' NURSERY BEFORE IT WENT PINK ;)

 
KIDS' BATHROOM (AGAIN, A FEW MORE PICS COMING)
 
OLD GUEST ROOM (NEW GUEST ROOM PHOTOS COMING SOON)
 
TV ROOM:
 
MASTER BEDROOM


 Keep It Beautiful.


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