Sneak peek - design highlights

I'm not really a person for whom interior design could be called a hobby.  I don't browse House & Home magazine for fun. I almost never 'pop in' to a show-home on a rainy day "just to get ideas".  Six months ago I had never even heard of Sarah Richardson (gasp!)  

So when we started this project, I literally had no idea what the finishing might look like. I just knew I wanted it to be moderately fashionable and aesthetically pleasing. I also knew I would need some help to get it that way!!

Thanks to the Remodelers' design team, I'm pretty confident that it's going to work out - despite my own utter lack of expertise. 

Since we're now entering the finishing phase, it seems like a good time to give you a sneak peek of some design highlights, which are primarily the work of Shirley Stroud and Diana Morales... 

May milestones...

Evening light on my
crocus flowers, April 28.

May is upon us and it is a significant date for several reasons. First, I have seen the first crocus blooms peek out of the mud in my garden, which means Spring is official.

May 1st also is a milestone in our renovation project. Construction started two months ago and we have only two more to go. That sounds like the halfway mark to me!

So, here's what "halfway" looks like...

1 month in 10 song titles

Many loyal blog fans have asked me lately when I'm going to write my next post. After all, it's been more than a month and lots is happening in renovation-world. Well, "less is more" when it comes to blogging, that's what I always say. It's never good to overwhelm your readers with too much information. However, it's been so long since my last post that "less" has become more like "The Sounds of Silence".

So, I'd better get back to "Taking Care of Business". I am now back on the job and I face the problem that so much has happened in the last 5 weeks I have to find a fast way to catch up!

First I thought I could summarize it all in Haiku. But that seemed a little too brief. So, instead, here are the highlights of the last month told in well-known song titles (bonus points for readers who can identify the singer(s) or band for each one)...

Let's get it started

Dustin arrived right on schedule to begin framing.... and the transformation begins!

This "vlog" post features Dustin on the job and Ethan (age 5) giving a high speed tour of work in progress. Note his delight when he discovers the pipe for the future toilet -- bathroom humour starts early...

Lights, camera, action

"Home makeover shows are popular reality TV programs where some aspect of the home is drastically changed to the bewilderment, joy or horror of the home owners." 

That's an official definition from jobmonkey.com, in a section of the site dedicated to people who want to work on or appear upon a reality TV show.

I bring this up because we had our first visit from the Remodel It TV crew this week. I admit, the term "crew" may be a bit of an exaggeration. There was no hair stylist, no makeup artist, and no stage designer to prepare the set (aka our home...)  There was just a couple of guys with a handheld camera and a few extra lights.

In any case, this milestone has generated much discussion among family and friends who appear to be secretly hoping to see one or more of the following occur on the Opseth edition of the show...

Urban pack rats clean up on reality show

I'm starting to think we're on the wrong reality show. Forget the renovation show. We would be better suited to something like "Urban Pack Rats". Or "Compulsive Hoarders". 

Yup, this is a sign that we've spent the last two weeks trying to clean out our basement, ready to begin construction on our reno project in early March.

You would not believe the things we found down there...

Latest highlights in reno-land

No major news this week. Just a few tidbits to share...

Blog reaches 500 page views. I wasn't sure anyone would actually read this blog, but it turns out quite a few people are following it. Most readers are from Canada and the U.S. But if the google stats are to be believed, there are a few readers from as far away as the UK, Germany, and Russia. Thanks for reading! I enjoy your comments too, especially the puns.

Oak trim is toast.  Decision made. Contract signed. Enough said about that. 

Must stop procrastinating. The first TV shoot is now scheduled...