Basement Bathroom is Complete!

The bathroom is complete. Yup, complete. I’m doing the happy dance over here. I feel like our basement renovation has been going on for so long and even though the necessities of the bathroom have been finished for awhile, it needed to become a space, our space. Here is what we started with…

To this…

 I didn't know we lived on a beach...holy sand!

To this…

To this...

Let’s start with the floor. We went for an industrial look.

This wasn’t going to be our main bathroom and it’s in the basement, so why not do something fun. I knew I wanted a mixture of brown, grey and black and this was the starting off point.

When you’re thinking about a bathroom floor I encourage you to add in-floor heating. I had never had it before and I’m sold. I wrote all about the in-floor heating a couple of months ago. Warm toes = happy feet.

Paint. The colour that we chose is the same colour throughout the basement. We went with Tulle White by CIL. While the bathroom has a window, it’s frosted, so I didn’t want to make the space feel dark. If you have a powder room upstairs, regardless of window or not…I say go bold. Go black, navy…oh luxe. However, in a basement you’re trying to create the feeling of not being underground.

Storage. Does your bathroom need it? You’ll likely need somewhere to at least put your towels. All the hardware in the basement came from Wakefield, ON when my friend Lisa and I went on our girlstrip.

The cage on the clock lends to the industrial feel but next to the soft towels it just feels right.

You know how much I’m in love with the light but can I also tell you about the faucet? I wanted something that wasn’t traditional but still functional, given that this bathroom is going to be used a lot. I chose this faucet by Delta … a long time ago when I first shared my bathroom inspiration board.

I loved that the chrome matched the chrome in the shower and on the light.

The waterfall effect gave it that edge factor and Delta’s quality is amazing.

Remember when I shared with you the new Touch 20 that we installed in our kitchen? That’s been a lifesaver. The kids love the faucet. Anytime someone wants to see how the basement is coming along, the kids take them right down to see how the water comes out of the faucet J A few added touches here and there and voila! A bathroom that we love.

Do you see the toilet paper holder there? I made it in five minutes at the hardware store. Stay tuned, I’ll share the deets with you soon.

Keep it Beautiful.

Bathroom Lighting

I’ve always been a sucker for beautiful lighting. It’s probably my favourite design element in a room. Having the right lighting is important for many reasons. No one wants “hag’ lighting. Nope, it’s just not going to make you feel good. “Hag” lighting reminds me of when the bar lights turn on at the end of the night and everyone looks a heck of a lot different than they did moments before. Say no to “hag” lighting.

I know that the coiled lightbulbs are energy efficient but some of them cast off fluorescent, blue-ish light. Not good my friends. If you want to go energy efficient (which we all should be…although don’t tell Mr. Fix-It, I swap ours out now and then…think he notices?) go for soft light. Soft light can still give enough lighting power in your space, you don't need to light the airport runway.

We only needed one external light in the basement reno. The rest of the basement is powered by pot lights. We chose the LED pots that are more expensive on the initial output but the bulbs last for ten years or something crazy and they don’t get hot. They also need only a few inches for installation between the beams and the drywall. This is an excellent option when you’re trying to get as much ceiling height as possible.

After looking at all my favourite lighting stores I kept coming back to one of my favourite online stores that I wanted to share with you. It’s called Rejuvenation. I know you all know about Pottery Barn, William Sonoma, West Elm etc. They are all linked together and Rejuvenation is part of that family. It’s AMAZING! It’s lighting, hardware, bath, furniture…beautiful. I knew that the bathroom lighting had to be one of their beauties. I love the industrial meets modern feel.

We planned for the light to be directly over the mirror so these were on my list…

1. Redland Warehouse Gooseneck

2. Mist Triple Sconce

3. Grandview Triple Sconce

4. Carson Gooseneck

Gorg right? We ended up choosing this one…

Mist Triple Sconce

Rejuvenation - Mist Triple Sconce

I love everything about it. The porcelain is all hand painted to order and arrived packaged nicely in a bubble-wrap blanket. It takes a few weeks from when you order because everything is custom made just.for.you. The quality of the light is fab.

Speaking of fabulous lightbulbs, I picked up the industrial looking "Einstein" bulbs at a local lighting store here in Ottawa. They’re cool, trendy and fit perfectly in the light.

I also had a hard time deciding whether to go with a black or silver finish. Both are traditional, but the silver/chrome feel gives it a fancier look while the black gives great impact on the wall. Decisions. Decisions. I obviously went for the black but I do love the nautical, industrial feel the chrome finish gives.

1. Cedar & Moss

2. Austin

3. Columbia Large Sconce

4. Tolson

Once the light was up...

 

we added our mirror and a few things to style away...

 and boom! we have a brand new basement vanity!

I would love to see what lighting you are loving right now. Traditional? Modern? Black? Chrome? Ooooh, what about Brass? Super trending! Our front porch is in need for a fabulous lantern out there. So many options!

Happy Friday my friends. xo

Keep it Beautiful.

Halloween Decorating

Hey everyone!

I'm back from my trip, Thanksgiving is over and holy cow...how is it almost Halloween!? Mr. Fix-It and I had an incredible time in California. I'm hoping to do a post on some of our favourite spots we would recommend to anyone who is heading to San Francisco and Napa Valley. We had an incredible time. Just the two of us. 

From our basement reno to being away in San Fan and then celebrating Thanksgiving at the cottage with our family, I feel like my fall home décor has skipped over "fall" and this weekend we got out all the Halloween bins and everything went ghost, pumpkins and spooky. As an aside, I definitely do want to share with you tips on fall décor because once Halloween is over, it's over. You don't want to be looking at ghosts and pumpkins until December. It's a little early to get out your Christmas tree so don't put your fall wreaths away just yet (just back in the cupboard for the next couple weeks). I was on Daytime Ottawa last week talking about this very thing.

This is the first year that all the kids agreed, they wanted scary decorations. So, this weekend we hit Giant Tiger for all things spooky. Scary glowing ghosts (I think they look like the "Death Eaters" in Harry Potter), skeletons, & hanging pumpkins later our spooky Halloween mantle came to life.

Scary eh? The creepy ghost in netting on the left, flashes and yells really loudly at a push of a button and the right ghost's face, flashes all different colours. Halloween is a really fun time to go all out with your décor. Our mantle has gone through a few different Halloweens here, & here . I have to say I was a little creeped out walking up the stairs to bed with these dudes hanging on the mantle.

Of course, I can't go into GT Boutique for just one thing. We also left with stretchy gloves for the kids, gummies, a princess costume & cheese. Thank you one-stop shop.

This is what the ghosts look like when they are on and angry. It's hard to tell what the guy on the left is doing in the photo.

We bought a couple of extra ghosts for the outside to hang from the trees and the front porch.  Kids love helping decorate for holidays. We spent Sunday afternoon outside getting everything up. Yup, there are ghosts hanging crooked off the mailbox and a bunch of things hanging off one random hook but the kids love it and proud of their work. Halloween is perfect for all things scary and random.

This year we have a robot, the Incredible Hulk & a purple princess who will be out there knocking on doors looking for all things sweet.

It's good to be back my friends. Today is Election Day in Canada. I hope my Canadian friends all vote. Please, please...vote. This is your Canada.

This week I'm planning on sharing our basement bathroom with you and talking all things lighting in the bathroom.

Keep It Beautiful.

Family Movie Night & Popcorn Bar with Netflix

Hey everyone. Hope you had a great weekend! There was an awesome eclipse last night, did some of you see it? We bought our big guy a telescope for his birthday in the summer and it was one of the best presents we've ever bought. It's been super cool to check out the night sky with the kids and our big guy has taught us so much about space. A nice way to end off a great weekend.

I’ve recently joined the Netflix Stream Team and I’m very excited! We are Netflix addicts. Yup, addicts. Who watches cable anymore? Our kids are whizzes at figuring out what Netflix show they want to watch on the iPad and Mr. Fix-It and I are total binge watchers. We can’t help it. The shows are just awesome.  Being part of the Netflix Stream Team means that every month I’ll share with you the new tv shows, movies and series on Netflix. 

With the cooler air coming in, getting cozy on the couch with popcorn just feels right. For about 6 months we’ve been doing Family Movie Night in our house. It’s either Friday or Saturday depending on which night we’re home. We pull out the sofa bed in the tv room, load it up with pillows & blankets and the 5 of us watch a movie. They love it, we love it. Once the kids go to bed, Mr. Fix-It and I park ourselves back on the sofa bed, usually order in, open a bottle of wine and watch another Netflix movie. Wicked.

So…last weekend these were the top choices for the kids…

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey...Umm I remember watching this with my brother and my mom getting all teary. Yup, now I’m that mom. The kids loved the movie, about these three pets that escape from a California ranch to find their owners in San Francisco. It’s adorable, its cute and has it’s teary moments.  A good one to watch with the kids.

Then on Sunday, they got to watch another movie. The weather was so gorgeous in Ottawa that we spent most of Sunday outside. Around 3 o'clock they needed some much needed downtime (so did Mummy and Daddy). So they watched Nanny McFee Returns. Also super cute.  I love how they cuddle up together around the iPad.

 

I made them up a little Popcorn Bar

This is super easy and can also work for sleepovers. A bag of popcorn, cute popcorn boxes and candy. The kids each got their own popcorn box and added the candy in they wanted.  Honestly, if you have random candy hanging around the house (we definitely do) then just use those. No need to make it difficult.

I would love to know what your favourite family Netflix shows and movies are. I’ll be sharing our binge-watching favs soon, but we’re always looking for more to watch.

Basement Renovation Is Complete...well, Almost!

I can't believe I'm actually writing this but it's official...our basement is complete. Sortof. When I say complete, I mean we have a finished empty space with a laundry room, bathroom, workroom, furnace room, a space to watch tv and play. Phew! (Oh by the way, this is a long post, just warning you).

When I started this blog, Mr. Fix-It was talking about renovating the basement. With an entire house to renovate it was always on my "that's nice honey, but not happening anytime soon". Three children later, it was time. It was time to expand our space and create another floor to live on. You'll remember, this is what we started with.

 

 

To this...

 

To this...

 

 

 

 

To this...

The "whipped" walls are gone. The stairs will be carpeted, but it will be the last thing to be done once everything is down there. I'm thinking a dark, durable, grey carpet. This is a side door.

 This is the first space when you come down the stairs. That wall is partially painted because we'll be adding barn board to that wall and creating a gallery wall.

 These are the laundry room doors. They fold open and in behind lies the laundry and a pantry. The pantry is yet to be built but it's coming.

 You'll notice the little cut out for our kitty's litter ;)

 Our contractor added these built-ins where he had to build around a major supporting post. Just in front of that beam (in the centre of the room) was where the main stack was to our house. It's been re-routed, along with all the ducting.

 That back wall is where the built-ins will go. We're currently working with a carpenter to work his magic. The pocket door on the right leads into Mr. Fix-It's workroom. You might notice the green painters tape on the floor. Once we found the couch we wanted, we taped the measurements on the floor to make sure it would fit. It's like it was built for the space, it fits perfectly. Although, it almost didn't make it down to the basement. Keep reading, I'll tell you more. That's our giant cat Cooper.

 An additional electrical panel has been added and the whole thing will have a white panel to cover it.

 This little door leads to a storage space under the stairs. Although the kids have been playing in there, building Lego so we're going to try our best to squeeze in our storage in other places and keep it as a fun hideout under the stairs for them for now. I have a few ideas to decorate that little space.

So...the couch. Oh man. I love these old houses, but they can be so difficult! The door frames are smaller, the hallway sizing is wonky, nothing is standard. Last Friday it was being delivered. It's a sectional with a Queen sofa bed in it. The delivery guys tried the first piece and it was just too wide to get down the stairs. Ugh. They were sure if we took off the inside trim from the door, it would give the extra few millimeters to slide that baby down. So they left the couches in the backyard.  How were we going to get these back to the store if they don't fit?!

Mr. Fix-It took off the trim after work before the kids got home. Together, Mr. Fix-It and I moved the first piece through the door, onto the landing. It started to go down the stairs as I was at the top, and Mr. Fix-It at the bottom. Then...it got stuck. Not just a little stuck. The couch was literally in mid air wedged between the new basement walls. Awesome. It wouldn't move up. It wouldn't move down. To top it off, the only way Mr. Fix-It could get out was to climb his way out of one of the basement windows. Both of us were SO done with the couch in this moment. So.DONE!

Literally this baby was stuck!

So now we had a wedged couch, damaged walls (Mr. Fix-It literally put a body print hole in one of the walls) and I crushed my thumb during the process. With the rescue of our friends Graeme and Carlos, that couch went down and will never come back up in one piece ;) Good thing we love it. I'll share it with you soon.

A process that was planned for four weeks, turned into 17 weeks. Although we still need to get those built-ins done. Renovations are awesome and crazy at the same time. However, we're thrilled with the results and we're so ready to get the rest of our house back and move our storage back downstairs, decorate and use the space. It will definitely be on a tight budget so thinking about creative ways to do it. 

I haven't shown you the bathroom yet. I will. Baby steps.

 

Have you done a big renovation lately? I would love to hear your stories and share what you've done.

Keep it Beautiful.