Mapletree Close House Stage

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Our Master En-suite Is Complete!

FINALLY!! I feel like I need to do a slow clap for myself!
Can't believe we've finally checked our master en-suite off our honey do list! But alas, it is done!

Here is what we started with (very blurry photos taken when we were viewing the house for the first time):

This is the only photo I have of the shower. In hindsight, I wish I took a better shot after we moved in but all I remember was being so disgusted, it was one of the first things we needed to rip out as soon as possible!

This is what our shower looks like now:

... don't judge my bargain bin hair products! =P

Renos are never cheap... I gotta save costs somewhere right?

The photo above contains the most important part of our bathroom renovation- the extractor!
Yep, that's right, before we moved in, there was no ventilation in this bathroom with the exception of opening the window. We added an extractor fan that also had a light, which made our en-suite that much brighter.

Another way we made it a lot brighter was removing all the dark elements the previous home owner seemed to love.

Other than the obvious dark shelves and vanity, we also painted over the black trim around the window.

Now when we walk into our master bedroom en-suite we think "fresh", "bright", "spacious", "zen". A far cry from the "dark", "dirty", and "squishy" en-suite it originally was. Master Bedroom En-suite-CHECK!

Out With The Old, In With The Bold!

Hello Friends! Happy New Year! 

Sorry we have been a little MIA over the last few months. We decided to take a little sabbatical from renos over the Christmas season to enjoy family, friends, and how far we've come in our house.

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and New Years!
Here's a peek at our home during the holidays:

With that said, just because we decided to take a little break from renos ourselves, doesn't mean the work on our home came to a halt. We did contract out the painting of the house's exterior to professionals. This was something Derek and I were debating for some time; trying to decide whether it was worth it to hire a professional for the job or to diy it.

After painting most of the interior walls ourselves, spending over $400 in paint supplies, and an entire weekend of torturing our bodies, we decided that paying a pro to paint the outside of the home would be well worth our hard earned money.

And it totally was! Here is the end result:

It might not look like much to you guys, what with the very neutral colour palette we decided to go with and all, but as someone who absolutely despised every inch of red paint on this house, I was delighted to see a completely colourless exterior!

And just look at those front doors! Look how they pop yet still blend in with the rest of the house!

When we first moved in, the doors on the house were solid, black doors. They did the trick..kind of...
They creaked and had a massive crack in them but they did open and close, I'll give them that.
I fell in love with a set from Home Depot but after a very very bad experience with their customer service online and in store, I decided to take my business else where. Thankfully, Rona came to the rescue!

They were installed fall 2013...yes, last year... you could say this post is a little delayed =P
This is what they looked like right after they were installed. Note the red trim and stairs (what was with all the red?!?!?)

And 1 year later, here is the before and after shot- new door installed and fresh paint job!
And don't worry- we will be posting a more detailed blog post about the cost and some tips and tricks with our paint job and new door installation. 

With a fresh, shiny, new facelift, the house was begging us to get off our lazy butts and start at it again. The holidays are over and it is time to get back to the grind.

So we're back at it again! Looking forward to sharing all the exciting transformations that have been going on in the house since the New Year. Stay tuned!

PSTTT- did you hear?!

Have you guys heard??? 

Restoration Hardware OUTLET is coming to The Shops at Morgan Crossing! 

Opening date is October 22nd! 

(images from www.restorationhardware.com)

A lot of people have asked me if certain pieces from my home are from Restoration Hardware. In all honesty, although I absolutely love that store, no, nothing in my home is from Restoration Hardware. 

Only because I just can't justify spending $900 on a coffee table =P  

$900 should buy an all inclusive trip to Mexico, after I have spent an entire week earning that $900, only to get it reduced to nothing by my taxes, and seriously need to see some sun and a cocktail... not a coffee table that I use to rest my feet and house my remotes.

Which is exactly why I am so excited for the opening of their outlet store at Morgan Crossing! Beautiful furniture and for only a fraction of my Mexico fund- SOLD! 

If you've visited their outlet store in Seattle, you'll know that they often have awesome deals on what usually will cost an arm and a leg. So if you're looking for anything rustic or over-sized furniture for a big family, Restoration Hardware is a must see!

However, if their outlet prices are still a little over your budget, have no fear, there are plenty of other stores out there that will allow you to achieve that high end, shabby chic look. It just takes a little exploration. These are some pieces of mine that have been mistaken for Restoration Hardware buys:

Happy Hunting!
(please note that the sale prices are based on the price I purchased them at and the outlet prices are based on the prices I found them for at the Restoration Hardware Outlet in Seattle.

Fad Forecasts

Trying something new today- my predictions of upcoming fads for the home!

1) White, gold, AND blue!
We all know about that perfect marriage of white and gold. Introducing "the other color"- blue! Add a little blue- light or dark to your white and gold color scheme and see how much depth it really does add to your space!
(image from Design Darling Blog)


2) White kitchen cabinets AND dark butcher block countertops/islands!
Do not get me wrong! I believe marble is a countertop that is going to stay top of the charts for a while. However, try a butcher block island with your marble countertops.

The contrast of the rich, dark island with the surrounding light countertops will not only give you an elegant balance of color and texture but it'll save you a lot of money!

The average cost of a butcher block countertop is $45/linear foot.
The average cost of a marble countertop is $300/linear foot.
(image from unknown source)

 
3) Modern countertops AND rustic wood backsplashes!
As someone who chose marble countertops, I know that choosing a complimentary backsplash that would match the countertops without going on a marble overload, is not an easy task.

Most home owners choose subway tile. This is a simple and cheap alternative that always turns out great! For our kitchen, we wanted a more "country" or rustic vibe so we decided to go with white beadboard. Although that isn't a traditional material for a kitchen backsplash, there are a lot of paints and caulkings that will keep your wooden backsplash waterproof.

Don't be afraid to get creative with your kitchen! Try an easy to use product like click-lock flooring!
(image from Sarah Richardson Designs)


4) Comfy bed- couches for light and airy living rooms!
Okay, so maybe this is just one for my own to-do-list but if we ever move to a home that has both a living and a family room this is definitely going in my living room!

We are seeing fewer and fewer new construction homes with both a living and family room. I will admit that I never saw the benefit in having two small sitting areas instead of one big open floorplan with one great room. This bed-couch changes all of that!

Keep your guests in awe of your perfectly-clean-home-with-plumped-up-throw-pillows-that-were-not-at-all-fluffed-just-before-they-came-over family room spotless WHILE maintaining your over-sized-throw-pillows-and-cozy-blankets-strewn-all-over-a-comfy-bed-couch living room habitate unstaged!

Tea and book in hand; Saturday morning, don't mind if I do!
(couch from ikea)

Our Kitchen is Complete!

Our Kitchen is finally complete!

We have been here 1 year and have finally made our kitchen feel like home! It was the first room we started and it's the room that has come the longest way.

After a couple coats of grey paint, to enhance the white cabinets, we are done.

Looking back on our kitchen reno journey, there were so many times we wanted to pull all our hair out. Often, we felt that all the compromises we had to make were going to result in a kitchen that was better than the kitchen that we started with but by no means our dream kitchen.

We looked at countless DIY blogs for ideas on how to cut costs but always found other bloggers' ideas of a "tight budget" was about 4 times the amount of our $7000 budget. At one time, we were told by our contractor that our entire budget was half the price of his other clients' floor budget =P Sorry Dave, only $1000 for our floor please and thank you!

If you want to know how we cut costs and puled off this kitchen reno on our tight budget, check out our Tell All Thursday: Kitchen Renovation blog post.

We tried to paint the trim around the sliding doors but they had been previously painted or stained with something that caused our paint to peel/crack. Also, we toyed with the idea of putting the same bead board ceiling in the kitchen but the idea of standing on a ladder, holding bead board to the vaulted ceiling, 15 feet high, seemed like a recipe for disaster. However, we really needed to cover this discolored patch that was left from removing the florescent light.

So since we are hiring a professional painter for the exterior of our house, we're going to get him to paint the trim and our kitchen ceiling as well. 

But for now, all reno on our part is at a halt becauseeee we have done all that we can do. On our part, our kitchen is complete! A little bittersweet but it's finally off of our Home Sweet Honey Do List.