Week 11 (15 to go!) The Boys' Rooms

I have been thinking about how to paint L & G’s rooms. I know that I will probably start with Liam’s room as I would like to get it done before we move in if possible. I know that G won’t mind especially since we are thinking of putting him what is going to be eventually be the guest room until he can sleep through the night.

L’s Room

L will be 2 in August. He has typical little boy interests – trucks, cars, trucks, trains, trucks, tractors…did I mention trucks? If there is one to be seen, he will let us know and not generically either – by name!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been taking pictures of the contruction trucks in that are working on our house. I want to print them off and put them in picture frames for his room. I know he will get a kick out of that!

That said, I came across this picture the other night:

While teddy bears might be a little young for his taste, it got my wheels turning. What if I do something similar but with a giant truck like a dump truck or an excavator. But how on earth am I going to get it on the wall? Glad you asked! I have 2 ideas:

1) I am going to find a line art picture of the chosen truck. Print it off on a plastic transparency and then find a projector to project it on the wall. I will then get a pencil or chalk (I think chalk might work better because it will come off easier) and trace it out and then paint it.

2) I am going to find a line art picture of the chose truck and see if I can find someone to cut it out of vinyl for me. This would make it like a giant sticker.

Both options have their pros and cons. Option 1 is cheap. I can get a quart of paint for $25. The con? It’s a lot of work and I am not sure I can make the lines straight and even enough for my perfectionist self. Option 2 is probably more expensive but it would quicker and easier. I will do a bit of research on this one as I am not sure it the vinyl can be removed easily without damaging the walls. I am thinking of sign vinyl, but maybe there is a lower tack version that will stand up to a toddler.

As for colours, I am not entirely sure just yet – preliminary instinct is to go subtle with a grey as a base colour and then a really bright colour like red or yellow for the truck. Or maybe a dull blue colour as the wall colour with a bright blue or bright green for the truck. I guess the final decision will be made with whatever bedding I decide on.

G’s Room

G will only be 3 months when we move into our new place. And as I mentioned, I think he will be sleeping in the future guest room which will give me some time to get his room set up. And I fully intend on using the time I have to do this:

Yep! Argyle. I LOVE argyle. Immediately I think of a grey room with red and charcoal or blue and orange. I probably won’t make the final decision until I see how much light comes into the room.

Again, I am picturing 2 options

1) I will do one accent wall and then a solid colour on the rest of the walls.

2) I will pick a corner and make an accent corner with a chair for when we read our bedtime stories.

I am not really sold on option 2 because I can only sort of picture it. I will have to sort this one out a little further in my head.

Given the amount of time I have to think about this, I will probably change my mind another 3 times between now and when we move!! I am interested in seeing how these ideas evolve.

What else is new?

We stopped by the house tonight and the brick is all done. We went early in the afternoon and there were still a lot of trucks around so we didn’t get to do much investigating. L is always asking about the new house so maybe we will stop in on Friday after we pick him up from daycare.

We also got a call from the builder and they are thinking the frame walk will be sometime before the 1^st of August – which is next week! We are thrilled!!

Its birthday central around here this week – my dad, Hubs and my nephew are all born within 2 days of each other. I was looking back on the DIY on the road post where we did R’s nursery. I can’t believe that was just last year! Happy Birthday everyone!!

We got Hubs a flip for his b-day so I imagine, I will be able to start to post some videos instead of just pictures. Yay! I promise they won’t be long and boring ones…

Week 10 (16 weeks and counting!!)

Lots is new today!!

1) We went by the house and there was a pile of bricks out front! It was a pretty small pile, but looking at the elevation, it seems to be about right. We didn't get out to take a peek in the windows because of the rain, but it doesn't look like there was much done on the outside anyway. That said, in my head, i am imagining that the plumbing is done and the electrical too.

Here is a picture from this past Friday (week 10 & 3 days):

2) We got the final numbers on the pricing for the house! Good news! It worked out to be less than my calculations!! YAY! We actually came in under budget for once. One small victory...

3) I talked to the sales office and our frame walk is hopefully going to be booked the first week of August. The construction manager is on holidays until Monday so that's when we will find out for sure. BUT they said they would try to work with us on the date so it doesn't get booked during my hospital stay. I can rest easy...at least until Monday!

4) I had my last ultrasound today and the Dr said Baby G is looking perfect and i am doing well (aside from the usual pregnancy fun stuff). So I don't have to go back to see him for 3 weeks. It kind of hit me when he said that because i go back in 3 weeks and then a week after that, G will be welcomed to the world!

Jonesing for a DIY...

OMG. Since we have moved out of our house, I have had to put any projects on the back burner. Not that I can’t do any, its more just that I’d much prefer waiting until we move in to figure what exactly it is that we need….ok that and my Dr told me to chill out a little and not be doing so much. What does he know anyway?!?!?

I got an email today from a sewing company out in BC that has all kinds of really cool sewing supplies – www.agreatnotion.com . In her blog, she has a weekly feature about a tip, trick or gadget that helps to make a sewer’s life easier. Well today’s was about a bobbin holder and organizer. Yes, something so simple has got my insides in a twist, eagerly awaiting one of my next DIY projects. See, this bobbin holder started me thinking about how to organize my bobbins, which then turned into how to organize my thread, then my fabric stash (or as my hubby calls it my fabric hoard) then where to put my machines, and then finally how to set up my cutting table….ok maybe not finally because then I got thinking flooring, walls and lighting. Ohhh I am so excited!!

Don’t get me wrong, I had a great little room in the semi, but this one is going to be 10 times better!! The old one was in the low headroom space under the stairs and with equipment like I have it was a little cramped. I am expanding a bit lot in the new place and I will have 8 foot ceilings which I am sure will make a big difference.

I emailed the builder about our frame walk and they have to confirm, but it looks like it will be the first week in August. Rest assured I will be bringing my tape measure to measure the space and find out exactly where my dedicated plugs are so I can draw up a floor plan.

Only 115 days to go…

Construction Process - Week 4 to 7.5 - amazing what can get done in such a short time!

It as been a busy time since my last post! We are all moved into my parents house and slowly figuring out how our daily lives in the west end are going to work...
We have been visiting the house on a weekly basis and there has been so much progress its crazy!! So here is a recap of the last few weeks:

Week 4 (22 more to go!)
Last week was pretty uneventful. There were only a few beams on the foundation (pics to follow) Forgive me construction workers if this is a significant amount of work - to me, it doesn't look like much. It drives me nuts when someone thinks a sewing project doesn't look like much and expects me to get a 4 hour project done in 1!


Week 5 (21 more to go!)
We had a deja-vue moment - we are driving down our street and as we get to the bridge, Hubby says: "Is that our house?" My reply: "No, that's the neigh....holy sh!* that is our house!!!" We realize this conversation is going to starting the same each week from now until there is no visible change on the outside of the house - LOL.

Like the title says, what a difference a week makes! The first and second floors are up!


Week 6 (20 more to go)
This week, the roof is up and it is actually starting to look like a house! We are really excited and have already started to plan out our backyard. A nice big deck, play structure for the kiddies and i am still holding out hope for a swimming pool.

Week 7 (19 more to go)
We are officially moved out to Kanata! We closed on the old house Friday and went to visit the new place that afternoon. Pleasantly surprised to see the roof is now shingled!! It looks awesome! Now that i don't have the move to worry about, i am starting to worry that they might book our pre-drywall walk through on August 10th at 9am (the same day and time as Baby G will be born -). It will be just my luck. I worried about the same thing the first time around with the semi - and sure enough L came late enough that our PDI was on the day after he was born so Hubs went with my dad and brought back pictures for me to see. Wonderful....

Week 7 and 3 days (18 and a half weeks to go!)
Yep, living in Kanata has reduced us to house stalkers. I am not sure why we even went, as one would think nothing would happen over the weekend and what can they do in one day?? Well, lots apparently - all the windows except the master bedroom room window was in AND we had doors - all except the garage doors.

POD day!!

Wow its finally here - the day our POD is delivered!! It seemed like a long way away when we first booked it. So far the process has been relatively painless - we called and booked, they confirmed with hubby yesterday that it would arrive today between 8:45 and 11:45 - we didn't even need to be here for the delivery. Yet here I sit, as by true Jen nature, I was up most of the night worried. Yep that's right! Worried that it wouldn't fit in the driveway, worried they would hit the house when they dropped it off, worried that they would hit the neighbour's car etc etc...luckily, my boss is pretty accommodating and i was able to email in that I had to take the morning off to be here. (If you are reading this, thank you.)

So here I sit anxiously waiting - they had better ring the doorbell!!

****

Ok, so my worrying was needless. Its a pretty cool system that i needed to see for myself to be comfortable with the process.
I think I may have freaked the delivery driver out as I almost started to cry - we are really leaving. This is the begining of everything that is going to change for us over the next few months....AND I am so not ready!! Hormonal much??!?!

Construction Process - Week 3 (hopefully only 23 more to go...)

This week, we signed off on our colour choices – I will have to post some pics later as I had everything pulled and put back so efficiently that I forgot to take pictures. We went with black, whites and greys. I think it’s going to look really clean. This is good incentive to keep the house clean too!

I am super excited as I have already begun to think about how to decorate. We inherited a great pair of vases from one of Hubby's Aunts. I am loving the colours in them so i figure i will use it as inspiration for the colour scheme of the main level.

My inspiration vase:

Some fabrics I LOVE:

I have also started a list of projects I’d like to complete for the new place (as if having a baby wasn’t enough!) My Grandma gave me an awesome antique chair that I am going to paint and recover. The plan is to paint the wood white and then find some kind of dark grey print or lush charcoal velvet to cover it with. I picture silver nail heads in there somewhere. I hear the city offers some great upholstery classes so it will be my project!

Here’s a before of the chair:

This is what i hope the chair will become:

This is my dream bed(room):

I have thought of making one like it, but I am not sure that is project I want to tackle. And I have priced out the foam and some fabric and I think in the long run, it might just be less expensive to buy the bed as it is. Hubs likes it too so I think we may just treat ourselves and get it as our anniversary present! I love the look of the room in the picture too, although I don’t think the mirrored side tables are going to work with little ones running around - finger print magnet!! I think we will definitely put some wall paper up on the wall behind our bed as an accent. I am going to wait until we move in to get a “feel” for what I like.

I am still on the hunt for the “perfect” coffee table that I can turn into an ottoman. I am finding out this is no easy task. I am looking for something square, that isn’t going to break the bank (like I am thinking under $40) and it has to have nice looking legs. We are thinking of getting a sectional for the family room so I want something to sit in front that can accommodate feet, and a tray for drinks and snacks (hopefully not at the same time!).

My last thought is on what to do in the eating area. I am thinking of building a banquet to go either along the wall (which I guess would be more like a bench with lots of pillows) or an L shaped one that would go along the breakfast bar (we would kind of block off the breakfast bar) and down the wall. I already have the table (I am going to get my mom and dad’s kitchen table) so its just a matter of figuring out how to build it – whether its from scratch or if I buy some cabinetry from Ikea or something like that. Again, I think that project will have to wait until we are in the house to figure out.

So much to think about…I should really be thinking about packing since the POD arrives in a couple of weeks…oh yes, but this is so much more fun!!

Here are some recent pictures of the house (taken May 28^th):

Oh yes, and i forgot to mention this project. I am going to try to take pictures of the trucks that are frequent visitors to our contruction site and blow them up to frame for the boys' rooms. Here's the first one:

I am going to need some new shoes...

I am cluster blogging today. Sorry….I have lots to share but I am just not sure where the time goes….

Our builder has this thing on their website called a customer portal. You enter in your lot number and subdivision and up pops a status on your house. Since the day we got the email from the builder to say our permit has been picked up, I have been madly checking it on a daily basis (ok maybe a little more frequently then that…) to see that little green check mark next to the building permit pick up. It’s funny, because I already knew that the permit had been picked up, but I just wanted the affirmation that little green checkmark brings…

Well, last Friday it finally happened. The green checkmark was there!! And not only next to the building permit pick up, but there was a second one next to foundation started as well. WHAT?!?! HOLD THE PHONE. Building permit and foundation?!?! At the same time??? Nooooo that can’t be right – its too soon!! According to the purchase agreement, they don’t need to start until closer to the end of May. Nope. It’s a mistake. I showed Hubby and he confirms it, the green check mark is wrong….

Unfortunately this little tidbit of news caught us with our pants down, and we already had a fully booked weekend that did not include a drive out to see the lot. So I waited patiently until Wednesday evening when we could drive out there and confirm that it was indeed a mistake.

As we drove down our new street, and pull up over the bridge (about 75m from our place), we see a large pile of dirt, still doubtful (and probably trying to prepare me for the worst) Hubs turns to me and says: “See its not ours, it our neighbours, they did make a mistake” As we keep driving slowly, we pass lot 22, 21, and then we see it. The footings are in at lot 20!!!!! OMG!!! It’s true…they REALLY have started!

In all my glory, I jump out of the car to start taking pictures which I hope you enjoy because I had to sacrifice a good pair of shoes to get them.

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