It’s my favourite day of the year today! C’est ma fête!
For the first time in, gosh, I think all of my life, I’m actually working on my birthday! I think I’m still in shock about this fact. It’s exciting though. And I have a great dinner with family and friends tonight Uptown to look forward to. I’m eager to discover all the new-to-me restaurants in my new ‘hood.
So…there’s some wallpaper to take down in my new home. The first layer of the printed paper comes off easily and then there’s a second layer – the adhesive layer? – that needs a bit of elbow grease. It hasn’t been that bad actually because I’ve used a wallpaper remover concoction made up a spray bottle full of warm water mixed liquid fabric softener (thanks for the tip Anita!). Once the adhesive layer is nice and damp, I take a spatula to it!
Stanley wall scraper, $7.49US, Staples
I recently learned that the official name of this handy gadget is “wall scraper”. Should’ve known.
When moving into a new place, I think it’s a really wise move to change the locks. You just never know how many keys to your home are actually floating around. In the last two apartments I lived in, the superintendents took care of this so I had nothing to worry about. But moving into a home of my own meant that I had to learn a little something about door knobs and locks. (We all know that I love learning so noone really had to twist my elbow on this one.)
I did a quick Google search for door knobs and landed on Direct Door Hardware. The site is pretty easy to navigate but the company has such an extensive selection of door knobs and locks that it is easy to get confused.
Direct Door Hardware carries many brands including: Baldwin, Weiser, Emtek, Kwikset, Schlage, Sure-Loc and Weslock (featured above)
Instead of getting overwhelmed, I narrowed down my knob search by function (residential), style (basic) and finishes (nickel, chrome) and then I did what any new homeowner might do – I asked my parents. They recommended the Schlage brand so that’s how I narrowed down my choices even further. From there I read the descriptions for each product and I took the measurements as per Direct Door Hardware’s instructions and placed my order.
I settled on the affordable Schlage Orbit keyed doorknob and matching Schlage deadbolt for the four doors that I have in my place.
The knobs & locks arrived last week and I couldn’t be happier with the choice I made. They look great and I am going to love the consistency that they are going to bring to the doors at my home (I’m currently dealing with a few different finishes).
Stay tuned for a report on the installation process. My dad said it’s “easy”. Uh huh.
Images courtesy of Direct Door Hardware. Many thanks to Jake E. for his assistance with my order.
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The Uptown series documents my experiences as a new homeowner. Fun times ahead!
So…the last few months have been quite the adventure. In addition to wrapping up my PhD life in London (defence date set for August 20th!), I got a job, bought a townhouse, packed up and moved to a new city (Waterloo, Ontario). Things have been hectic to say the least but I’m definitely excited for this next chapter on my life.
While my new day job means that I’ll be trying to put my 12 years of post-secondary education to good use (12 years! Wild.), my new evening and weekend programs will consist of making some changes to my townhouse. And since I am a design blogger I think it’s only fitting that I document my renovation projects here. Yes?
So, let me introduce you all to the new series on White Cabana called Uptown. Where did the name come from? Let me explain.
As an outsider, I find the area of Waterloo quite confusing. People in this part of Ontario actually refer to this area as Kitchener-Waterloo (KW for short) because the two cities are basically attached at the hip. There are other communities around KW such as Cambridge and St. Jacob’s which are sometimes roped into the KW area as well. To add to the KW confusion, there’s a King Street for every cardinal direction and getting off the 401 and into KW can be a challenge even for the most skilled GPS system.
As if things weren’t confusing enough, the “downtown” district of Waterloo is actually called “uptown” and “downtown” Kitchener is called “downtown”. Uptown Waterloo, downtown Kitchener. Both city centres are on King Street. Confused? Yeah, me too. But with each day I’m here, Uptown Waterloo seems to roll of the tongue a little bit more naturally.
So, as I live near Uptown Waterloo, I thought that Uptown would be a great name for this series (actually, it was my Dad who came up with it and I agreed). So, anytime you see Uptown in the title, you’ll know that you’re in for a townhouse update!
