I have vanquished my arch enemy!

Heating costs at our house were always astronomical. (and despite the 500$ + heating bills in the winter, our house was always freezing!). Friends who came over nicknamed our place "the fridge" and brought over their own slippers if they were going to be there for more than an hour.

In my eyes, enemy number one was our old furnace. When I say old, I mean OLD! Original to the house - the thing was 90 years old! Originally it was a coal stove, then it was converted into a natural gas furnace. As of the last two years or so, it became a pressure cooker that was on the verge of exploding. Water seeped out the cracks in its seams and the pressure gauge read beyond max. Needless to say it was either the furnace, or me, that was going to go... guess who won the war.

The Ugly Stage

I think we've hit the "ugly stage" of our renovation. You know, the no-turning-back, did-I-make the-right-decision stage.

After months of going back and fourth, David and I decided to rip out our old hardwood floor in the open living area and replace it with a brand-new hardwood floor. Although it squeaked and had some cracks in places, the old floor we had was alright and could likely have been re-finished. What really made us choose to replace it was the fact that the floor would have had to be patched in many areas where walls had come down and where no wood floor previously existed. Instead of having a piecemeal floor that was all patchy, we opted for a new floor that would be uniform throughout the whole open living space (hallways, dining/kitchen area & living-room)

I have to admit, when I visited our place after the old floors had been ripped out, I was a bit shocked! The place looked terrible! Broken floorboards and big cracks everywhere! I guess you'd call this the ugly stage. I'm sure once the new floor is laid down, it will all look great. But I have to admit I'm wondering if we made the right decision.

What was for sleeping will be for living...

Part of our renovation plan is to make our current bedroom into a living room (that will be just off the kitchen/dining room.) Our new bedroom will now be at the front of the house. Here are some before/after shots of our living-room-to-be...

Demolition: Before & after

The Zero Hour has come & gone...glad we took before photos because it certainly looks a lot different now!

Moving Day...

Ok – after months of planning, contemplating, and fretting over the budget we’ve finally taken the plunge and decided to renovate our 90-year-old apartment.

While the place certainly has that caché of turn-of-the-century charm,...90-year old wiring, windows and plumbing aren’t so appealing. The renovations are badly needed (insurance company isn’t a fan of our knob and tube wiring & a couple contractors/plumbers we had visit the place informed us that our cast-iron furnace was on the verge of exploding!) – plus we thought it would be nice, for a change, not to freeze this winter. (It seems insulation was invented AFTER our place was built)

For the past month we’ve been gradually packing up the entire house and preparing to move-out while the renovation takes place. Thank-god for family - without them we’d be really lost. David’s parents have graciously agreed to host us, in their newly finished basement, for the next couple of months. And my Nan will play foster-mother to our cats Chairman Meow and Shshi.

Here are some “moving-day” pics...

The Beginning (of the end?)

This past January, I became a first-time homebuyer after purchasing the second floor of a triplex that had been in my family since the 1940s. I'd been renting the place for the past 5 years and love the neighbourhood! It is close to the subway, around the corner from cafes and quaint restaurants, shops and grocery stores.

I also love the apartment. It is spacious (1400 sq. ft.) and has lots of 1920s charm...but the place is in need of some major repairs! So I (and my partner-in-crime - David) are about to embark on a renovation adventure! It will no doubt lead us through the depths of hell & back (or the depths of bankruptcy & back!)...but in the end, we hope we'll emerge with the place our dreams and a great base to start our lives & family together.

Anyway, we are taking the plunge - hope you'll stick around to find out how things turn out!