The Friday Five: 5 Things on My Mind

Here are five things that have been on my mind this week.

1. Toronto

Of course Toronto has been on my mind. There’s no reason why we should ever associate people with “mowed down.” A tragedy. An awful tragedy that is too close to home. To learn more and to stay informed, I’ve been leaning toward reading articles from The Conversation, which is an academic source but written for a general audience. Articles like “Why he didn’t shoot?” and “The dark possible motive” are just two of the several that I read.

2. Babies

Congratulations to Daniela who gave birth to her second baby. Yay! A sweet girl has been welcomed into our family.

3. Music

This week I attended a house concert by Keenan Reimer-Watts who is a Kitchener-Waterloo musician. He created original music for the harpsichord and guitar, and it was quite the evening. I especially enjoyed how he explained his composition process. I was amazed by his talent. Also – this was the first time I had ever seen or heard the harpsichord. (FYI: It’s not a harp.)

Keenan also taught us about his organization Busking for Change. In this movement, buskers and audiences come together to support the environment.

4. Reading

The new edition of Toque has been released. This is a free magazine (yes, print) that features articles about local places and people. I enjoy reading it because I always learn something new about Waterloo region (and Guelph and Hamilton, too)!

5. Post-MBA Life

Well, it’s true. I’ve moved into post-MBA life, and it’s been pretty fabulous so far. I’ve seen lots of friends, read some books and magazines, and started to plan and book mini-vacations. I feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to complete another degree, and I enjoyed learning a ton over the last 4 years. But I’m now looking forward to having a bit of free time.

One Room Challenge: Laundry Room – Week 4

Welcome back to the One Room Challenge, everyone! Are you enjoying seeing all the progress participants and guests are making? I sure am! If you’ve just joined in on the White Cabana laundry/bathroom reno fun, check out my week 1, week 2, and week 3 posts. Week 4 means things are starting to get pretty!

Last week, I showed you a relatively cleaned-up space (a big change from the weeks before where I showed you a fully gutted space). In the past couple of weeks, the WarmUp heated floor was installed. The drywall was finished. Pipes were in place. And things only improved from there!

The major game-changer to the look of my space this week was the tile install. Like my other tradespeople, my tiler was top-notch. Honestly, everyone, I feel so lucky to have worked with my team of tradespeople. I was worried pre-reno because I didn’t have any  contacts in Waterloo, but one thing led to another (one phone call led to another), and I ended up with great people!

My tilers were so precise. And my room looks amazing because of their work. Have a look:

The picture above shows the space as you walk into it. The stacked laundry unit will be on the right side against the wall. It may not seem much to you, but all those pipes and holes in the wall mean major progress for this space! Of course the new pipe set-up increased my costs, but it was worth it. My plumber did a great job, and everything is much tidier than it was pre-reno. And the dryer vent was moved up high which makes much more sense. So tidy! I love it!

I went with ceramic hex tiles in a marble-esque pattern. So pretty. I had considered marble for the space, but because of all the water spillage that can happen in this workhorse of a room (and Waterloo’s awful hard/soft water issues), I just didn’t want to risk ruining marble.

On this side of the room, I’ll have my toilet. The sink will sit in between the toilet and the stacked laundry. My plumber cleaned up some of the pipes that you see in that wall hole. So good. And my drywaller has fashioned the best cover for that hole, too. I just don’t have photos of it yet, so stay tuned.

And on the left side of the room is this beautiful shower! Oh my goodness! What a treat to have a shower in this space. Small but mighty! That’s what I keep saying about this room, and that’s what I continue to believe. My team installed this basic 34″ x 34″ shower, and it’s going to be so convenient for me and my guests once the space is done. The flooring is a continuation of the 2″x2″ hex tile from the rest of the floor. It’s easier on the eyes. On the wall, I went with my fave – a subway tile. This tile is 4″ x 12″, and I’ve got pretty small grout lines. I’m really happy I opted for this larger version of the classic subway tile.

Did you notice how everything lines up so well? Sign of good tilers! They completed this job in just three days, and I was very pleased that this part of the project progressed so quickly.

I opted for grey grout everywhere, and things are looking sleek and clean…just how I like it! Isn’t it exciting to know that the full reveal will be in just two weeks? I can’t wait!

As per usual, I encourage you to check out what the One Room Challenge guest participants and featured designers have been up to during week 4.

If you’d like to see more of my ORC progress, see my week 1, week 2, and week 3 posts. Thanks to WarmUp for supplying my new floor heating system. All opinions are my own.

Fashion: White Rubber Birkenstock

Yay or nay to white rubber Birkenstock sandals for the summer?

Madrid Birkenstock, $29.95 USD

Arizona Birkenstock, $53.74 CAD

Here’s how some fashion bloggers are wearing white Birkenstocks (rubber or leather):

Chictopia

Clochet

Front Row

Fashion Vibe

And it seems like I’ve been drawn to white Birks for a while now (see this post from last summer). Now, I’m also drawn to the pink, orange, and yellow options (to my surprise!). Maybe I should just buy a pair!

Uptown: Project ByeByeBifold – After

Way back in December, I had a fight with one of my bifold doors. And that was the last push for me to replace it with a more convenient door set-up. I said #byebyebifold to those doors, and imagined a better door future for my home.

After meeting the Metrie team at Blogpodium last fall, I reached out to them with my disaster door dilemma, and they were generous to offer up some replacements. It’s now April, and I have had functioning double doors for a couple of months now. Oh, the changes that these doors have had to the look of my home and functionality of my space has been incredible!

The short piece of my advice I have is: If you’re contemplating a door upgrade, stop contemplating. Do it.

In my mind, I knew the Masonite Lincoln Park doors from Metrie were more modern than my plain slab doors, and I knew that upgraded hardware would add another level of modernity, but when everything came together, I really couldn’t believe the transformation. You don’t even want to know how many times I said “I love my doors!”

So, let’s take a walk down reno memory lane, shall we?

I had two of these basic bifold doors in my home:

I hated – yes, hated – them both!

The fight with my main floor bifold door resulted in this situation:

Upstairs, I had another bifold (the one on the left):

I lived with this bifold mess for a couple of months while I sorted out my replacement and installation plan.

And then…after installation day, a couple of days of painting, and new hardware, I ended up with this sleek transformation:

Because of a larger area of space, I was able to replace my upstairs bifold with a full-size door. This, too, has given me the impression that I have a bigger closet than before.

Look at those beauties! So modern! So efficient! The double door option works perfectly in my tight hallway. These doors open and close like a dream, and (to my surprise) my closet seems so much bigger because the doors fully open, and I can access every bit of the closet space. The doors and trim make my house feel brand new!

As anyone who has completed a renovation knows, one project will inevitably lead to another (or many others). While my main purpose with the interior door project was to replace two bifold doors, I ended up replacing all of the interior doors in my house. Why? Because I wanted everything to match, of course! And since the new bifold doors required new casing (frame around the door), I had to replace the casing on the other doors, too. And since the casing was more modern and substantial than my original baseboards (framing on the floor), I had to replace those, too! One after the other…after the other…after the other…

So I had original doors like this:

and this:

I ordered matching doors from Northfield Trim and Door here in Waterloo. I was thrilled when my doors arrived early one morning.

The doors arrived unpainted.

And after a weekend of painting, I had fresh, white doors everywhere in my home.

      

Aren’t they lovely? So darn modern!

I’m so grateful to Metrie and Northfield Trim and Door for collaborating on this project. I received incredible service along the way. Sending a special thanks especially to Justine, Jason, Bob, Mike, and Chris.

While part of this project was sponsored, all photos and opinions are my own.