Uptown: Progress Update – Kitchen

January 8, 2014 | 4 Commentaries

You’ve now seen the progress I made over the holiday break on my powder room and living room. Today I’m sharing photos of my kitchen. Here’s what it looked like before I moved in:

I have now finished painting the kitchen (Chantilly Lace like the rest of the house), additional cabinets were installed, and lighting was changed.

Above – you can see that I do in fact have some colour in my home. I painted these chairs with Miro designs when I was living in Kingston about 7 years ago. The table is from Ikea. Don’t pay attention to the floor – I’m still undecided about what to do with it. I also have to put up the blind. (Oh, and the stuff on the floor has now been moved.)

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you know that my kitchen got a dose of pretty too in the form of new carrara marble counter tops (remember my indecision?). They are so lovely! The counter top is from Natural Stone City in Kitchener and I could not be more happy with the service I received. From start to finish, the NSC team was professional and efficient.

kitchen-1 kitchen-4

The faucet has now been installed (thanks Dad!) and I will soon install the backsplash. I have been using the one-basin sink for almost a week now and I’m really enjoying it.

Currently coveting curves

November 20, 2013 | 1 Commentary

Big news, everyone: I am now a loft owner!

(P.S. This is Johanne here, not Jordana who is also a new fab home owner and welcome to crash at my loft anytime).

YES it really happened- I will be moving all of 30 steps to the next-door building at Toronto’s iZone lofts. I’m essentially going from renting a sprawling factory loft to owning one, which is a very very good thing.

With January’s move comes new furniture that will make the best use of the space. For the past five days I’ve been obsessing over half-moon sectionals – mostly because I found a beautiful designer fabric-printed 1970’s Selig sectional at Toronto’s Guff. I really, REALLY want it but am currently having some domestic debate over whether or not to buy it. Don’t you think that a semi-circle sofa is not only tres cool but also *made* for sparkling conversation? (Me too!)

Anyway, I’m barely holding off (for now!) but can’t help thinking that something like this lovely white leather number (below) would be a very fun piece. As I keep telling my partner, when else in your life will you have a half-moon sofa? Hm?

Beliani‘s modern white leather sofa is a party sparkler, non?

Couch potato

October 30, 2013 | Leave a Reply

I kind of really like this cushion- the stitched pieces remind me of potato chips.

Handcrafted cushion made in India, $46 at Urban Barn

Event: Brian Gluckstein & the Princess Margaret Show Home

October 1, 2013 | 9 Commentaries

As if my fondness for Brian Gluckstein could grow? Well, it did. Last week. Let me tell you about it.

I drove to Oakville one evening after work to attend a preview of the Oakville show home for the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Welcome Home Sweepstakes. The house – from top to bottom – is pretty darn gorgeous. While it wasn’t all white, there was a lot of white and I was happy to see it. The open concept kitchen, family room, office, and a few bathrooms (I lost count of them, to be honest) were quite white. The other spaces were full of muted blue, grey, violet, and yellow. Each room was quite beautiful. It wasn’t the “don’t touch this because it’s so precious” kind of beautiful but more like the “have a seat, stay a while, get comfy, can I get you a coupe of champagne” beautiful. Ok, that’s kind of fancy too; but it didn’t feel untouchable.

main floor living room

upstairs grand hall

kitchen

kitchen cabinet detail

The furniture and many of the accessories is all from the Brian Gluckstein collection and the art was sourced from around the world. I didn’t sit on any of the furniture out of fear that I’d mess up a pillow and Brian would have to come and expertly re-chop it (chopping pillows is still in style, in case anyone wanted to know). But if he wasn’t around, I probably would have tested out every seat in the house.

main floor – grand hall

GlucksteinHome details

upstairs bedroom mirror

substantial doors in a bedroom

possibly my favourite piece of art in the house; Key by Tritan Braho

pear art

dining room details; my mom has this same antique tea set

I really eyed the details in all the bathrooms to see what details I could translate into my own home. The tile work and use of mirrors was lovely. And the towels were so new and fluffy.

tile floor in the master bathroom

basement bathroom; photo snapped by April

Ever the academic, I had to check out the office. I loved that it had a great big cork board (old school Pinterest) and a wall-to-wall desk. I’d really put that thing to work.

main floor office

The mouldings, the fireplaces, the tiles, and the lighting were all very impressive.

lighting around the house

fireplace in the main floor living room

So is there anything I don’t like in the home? Yes – two things. One: The wine cellar was a nice addition but I probably would have cut out the exercise room and made the wine cellar a whole lot bigger. Two: What really annoyed me as I walked through the house were all the TVs. Oh my goodness. There were a gazillion TVs in the house. They drove me crazy! Brian, Brian, Brian – why? How many TVs does one beautiful house need?

Overall, the house is really beautiful and the work that went into building it (in only 5 months) is incredibly impressive. Brian, the architect, the tradespeople, and all the other people who had a hand in this really did a phenomenal job.

Did all bloggers listen to Brian Gluckstein and tweet at the same time? (I spy Jennifer, Leigh-Ann, Brittany, & Tim)

Mr. Brian Gluckstein remained friendly, warm, and funny as he talked about the house and his design career with all the guests. Oh – and I couldn’t leave the home without taking a photo with him. I also took the opportunity to ask him if the bathroom in his own home is still as beautiful as it was when it was photographed for House & Home. The answer? Yes. The books are all real and they’re still there.

Me and Brian; photo snapped by Leigh-Ann

So? Did I convince you to buy your ticket? Good luck!

Many thanks to Brian, Cheryl, and the Princess Margaret Oakville show home team for welcoming us so warmly!

Related posts:
1. Remember when I toured the product design office of GlucksteinHome? That was fun!
2. Did you see that Brian Gluckstein was featured on The Coveteur?

Photos by Jordana.

Uptown: Scenes from My Weekend

September 3, 2013 | 1 Commentary

Well – the long weekend brought with it a visit from my dad and a whole lot of progress on my home renos. There was a wall that needed to come down, furniture to be moved, plants to be planted, electrical work to be tackled, and a lot of heavy duty cleaning to be done.

In preparation for the weekend o’ work (and beyond), I made two lists: one for dad and one for me. His list includes a lot of my electrical wishes (and some of his too) and my list includes a lot of “buy major piece of furniture/lighting/vanities/things” and “make a decision about paint/furniture/lighting/vanities/things”. Needless to say, his list now has more crossed off of it than mine.

I learned how to remove a wall this weekend. My dad did most of the work but in between scrubbing everything in my kitchen, I watched what he did. What a big job that was. But now it’s done! I have full access to my dining room from living room and kitchen and the flow in the house is so much better. Awesome.

breaking the wall

My dad and I took down the two large mirrors that were in the upstairs bath. (Gosh those things were heavy.) Doing this meant that I could take down the last of the wallpaper (hiding behind the mirrors) in this bathroom. I felt like I needed to pop open some champagne to mark the occasion. What a task that was. And, yes, I still hate wallpaper. I will never put wallpaper up. Ever.

upstairs bath – progress; mirror removed, wallpaper almost removed

upstairs bath – all patched up; light to be removed soon; vanity to be replaced soon

I cleaned the heck out of my kitchen. As in – it took me 2 hours (or more?) to clean my fridge. Another 2 hours to clean my stove. And no, I don’t think I’m exaggerating. While the kitchen cleaning tasks were time consuming, they were also extremely satisfying. My fridge is especially beautiful.

deep cleaning of the fridge

While I’m talking about the fridge – I would like to share my satisfaction with my fridge. It’s a Samsung. That’s all I know about the make of it. The fridge is on top and the freezer drawers pull out. So convenient and such a step above anything I’ve had in my previous rentals.

using power tools

I grabbed my dad’s electric screwdriver (with a little light at the end of it!) to put a cabinet back together. His screwdriver was awesome. I want one but it’s not in my budget. Glad to have been able to borrow his. He loves it and is definitely not ready to donate it to me.

You may remember that I took down the wallpaper (and the enormous amount of leftover wallpaper paste) in the powder room. I patched up a lot of the wall damage but there’s still a bit more to deal with. But never mind that. This weekend dad removed the vanity wall light and created a new light box outlet thing in the middle of the ceiling. I haven’t settled on the light fixture yet (remember all the decisions I still have to make?) but at the moment I’m thinking either a plain globe light or a small crystal chandy. There is still a lot to be done in this small room. I will replace the vanity, prime and paint the room, install a new light, and hang a new mirror (maybe this one).

What a satisfying weekend of home repairs and organization. I’m thrilled with how things are shaping up around the house.

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Interested in reading more about my reno? Keep your eye out for posts titled “Uptown”.

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