On my bus route, there is a 'grand' old house with a large yard that is for sale. I was curious and looked it up online - it's going for $300,000. Gotta love Gatineau - in Ottawa it'd be at LEAST $600,000...
Anyway, on my way through the hundreds of listings to find this house, I saw many very nice houses - and started to feel depressed. ;) That's why I don't 'window shop' for anything. If I can't have it, I get sad. Anyway, I started to think of things that I liked about those houses, and wondered if there were ways that I could achieve the same feel in our own home. I came up with a surprising list of things we can do to really make it look snazzy. Each room needs some small thing, such as: Downstairs:- Dog room: needs a railing (right now the stairs into it from the basement are 'open';- Rec Room: needs shelving, a coffee table, a proper tv stand and perhaps cream coloured tightly woven carpet, along with a fresh coat of 'cream' and a dark navy/green colour on the walls, plus a new light (the one we have is horrible - it's MADE to look filthy);- Bathroom: Well, it needs a new tub, but we're not getting into that, so a nice new shower head, light fixture and maybe have the shelving put up on the wall (instead of resting on the back of the toilet);- Office: Paint the walls the deep tan and burgundy we picked out and hang the burgundy shelving we have for our books - new blinds would be nice too;- Spare bedroom: Add a futon, put the smaller tv stand in the corner with the tv and dvd player, put weights, yoga stuff and exercise videos in there with some pretty plants and voila!;
Upstairs:- Front entryway: tile the floor, remove carpet from stairs and refinish the wood, new solid wood front door (wide one) with french type windows;- Living room: hang up pictures that are currently leaning on the wall and perhaps paint a cool picture to go above the couch on the long wall. Buy some wooden venetians for the bay window (for the winter time especially!);- Dining Room/Kitchen: Ceramic tile on the floor, new counter tops, knock out wall between dining/kitchen and replace with an island, recessed pot lights over the sink (new faucet), those cute lights on the long stems over the island, cupboards with glass fronts on upper cabinets, French-style 'terrace' door leading onto deck;- Bedroom: (simple!) Shutter style closet doors (white);- Floor throughout: refinish the hardwood a medium warm tone;
Not all of it is expensive, you can find a lot on usedottawa and kijiji nowadays (I've already contacted a few people who are selling odds and ends after renos). So we'll see. I know it'll be a long process (I'm thinking hopefully over the next five years we'll tackle most of it), but I'm hoping that with time, patience, and a little imagination we can create a charming, inviting space to live and entertain in. :)