JUST A FEW NEW THINGS

as i type this a lot has happened in the past few weeks ... so many changes everywhere in the jplusn house

first off we worked our butts off for months and finally made progress in the finishing of major parts of the house ... still didn't get all of it finished but that's what our happy helpers are for (thanks again guys we really couldn't have done this if it wasn't for you)

as you can see all of our doors now have handles and it is so lovely to hear a click as the door smoothly closes

my attempt to grow a herb garden this year fell short and i ran out of time and patience trying to get those seeds to sprout ... so it will have to wait for next spring until i am back in the country ... they are tucked away safely in the garage and my photobooks that i made of j and my trip to new york now occupy the shelf

we finally found a light at the home depot to fill the entrance way ... we got to enjoy it for about a day and then we were gone ... something to enjoy when we get back

our master ensuite has all it bits and pieces in place ... i didn't get a chance to snap a pic of the drywall progress but oh well

you get the idea of what it's going to look like when it's done

of course one of the biggest changes was the exterior of the house ... j's uncle strapped the house and got it ready for it's extreme makeover

then we filled the spaces with blue styrofoam boards to help up the insulation factor on the house ... it already feels warm and cozy

next some amazing james hardie board siding to amp up the drama on the house ... we hadn't heard of it until about 3 weeks ago and i must say it is gorgeous ... the perfect color, the most amazing grain to it and the beauty of this is it looks like wood but it's cement board so no maintenance ... yeah!

the start of something beautiful ... the dormers are going to be the same siding as the bottom of the house and then the triangle parts are going to get a lighter tan color and some vertical pieces to give it a nice contrast ... i'm sure it will look great when it's finished ... this is where j and n exhaustedly left canada, boarded a plane ...

and as i type this ... this is what is now outside my hotel room window ... we are in london for some time while n gets to start her master's in education and international development at the institute of education

it's noisy, it's busy and it's going to be a welcome break to take an extended working vacation ... can't wait to start my classes, find a flat, tour london and of course travel around in europe

cheers ~n

MAJOR BLOG SECRET

so we had to decide what to do with out puzzling front entrance and come up with a solution that would work for our little house ... we wanted something covered to protect the entrance way from the elements and something to add a little space to ... on a friday night j and his trusted happy helpers came up with this grand plan to build a covered veranda and they worked exceedingly fast and this massive project was completed in 2 weekends

here's our little hut before all the dormer additions

house completed with the bedroom dormers

our new and lovely two tiered deck

it's wonderful to have all this space

what the house looks like now ...

i can't wait to get some chairs and a table out front ...

and some pots and flowers ...

and the house numbers ...

and the mailbox ...

cheers ~n

IN 2 DAYS

as you can see the rain has finally stopped and given us a little break and the outdoor fun can begin again

what does the ladder against the house mean?

it's time to build another dormer :)

now those building fellows were super speedy (the very first dormer took 5 days to build, the second one 3 and 1/2 days and this third one only took 2 days ... i think these boys should go into business) ... and n was preoccupied with organizing projects and she didn't get any action pics so here's the final product

when i walk up the stairs this is what my eyes now see

... oh what a cozy library study area this will be

here's the before

(shortly after we first moved in 4 years ago and began to open up the loft space)

and now ... love the transformation

... so much room to walk around

and the street view

cheers ~n

1-800-GOT-JUNK? WE DO! WE DO!

earlier i posted about how much junk is currently occupying the back patch of our yard and the latest projects have added even more ... we are so close to finishing the last big renos and want to wait until then to call for a bin ... you may think its crazy to not ditch the junk asap but it gets pretty pricey pretty quick to keep calling for a bin service and you can only have a certain number of bins in a year and then they cut you off ... so we will hold out until the last hole is cut in the roof and hope that no one calls to complain about the messy neighbors ... in the mean time feel free to judge the collection and j and n will go hang their heads in shame

cheers ~n

I'M OFFICIALLY A PRINCESS ... MY BEDROOM IS A CASTLE

the front of our cute lil' house got a major upgrade this past weekend ... the happy helpers came up and gave j a hand in building the bedroom dormer ... after 3 days it was finished and when i walk upstairs we now have a beautiful spot to lay our heads and the greatest part is that it is vaulted to over 9' and it truly feels like i'm in a tower or turret ... i can't wait to decorate ...

our little house is ready for it's makeover

the walls are prepped and ready for the roof to be cut open

the front wall waiting for the window

i see sunlight ... j and his happy helper hard at work ... they have a long way to go ... thank goodness for saws alls

why hello j

and now here the roof lies in pieces

now it's time to build that dormer

and the beauty of photography ... the dormer is finished ... how beautiful and spacious

what a lovely view from my new bedroom window

ooh and aah at the new dormer ... can't wait to move up there

cheers ~n

WINDOW TREATMENTS AND BASEBOARDS = A VERY SPOILED HOUSE

this past weekend at project 109 our lil house got a wee bit fancier ... after 4 years of being bare the main floor received a much needed upgrade in style with the addition of window casings and baseboards ... the basement was feeling a bit left out and we wouldn't want it to feel that way so it also got some pampering ... window frames were finished, casing added around, the furnace room doors trimmed and the laying of tile began ... out little house is rounding the renovations corner and beautiful things are now happening ... here's peek at some of the makeover that occurred ... enjoy ... i know i am

the new window frames and casings

the furnace room doors

laundry/freezer room

basement bathroom

(yes more black and white)

kitchen with baseboards

(and the big empty space on the wall

is where the london pictures

are supposed to go

but n still hasn't got the frames yet)

the dining room area

cheers ~n

IS THIS TOO MUCH?!?!

when your pile of junk pulled out of the house is higher than the fence ... is that a sign that there are too many renos going on?

this is probably about the sixth or seventh time in the last 4 years that this has happened to us ... time to call the junk removal truck yet again before the pile pushes the fence over

cheers ~n

AS PROMISED ... ALL ABOUT THIS ...

on the weekend n did this ...

while j and his happy helpers did this

to the roof ...

on friday afternoon n came home to this ...

the view now looks like this ...

and this ...

from the inside the future bathroom

looks like this ...

love that this is part of the inside now ...

and this is the view from the master floor ...

when j and n walk outside it now

looks like this ...

cheers ~n