2nd Project

After selling my first house and searching for months and months for my next one, I finally found it! This house was in rough shape and was definitely not a lipstick job. It was the first time that I would actually be knocking out walls and re designing the floorplan on the main floor. I was a bit hesitant, but excited all at the same time. Out of all the projects I have done, this tops the list as one of my favourites. It was a big semi detached home featuring 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (unusual for old houses in Toronto), finished basement, a deck off the master bedroom and 3 car parking, perfect for a family.
I know you're all anxious to see it, so here it is, let me know what you think!

Before...exterior

After...exterior

Curb appeal is everything and this house was majorly lacking it, I didn't have much to work with as the outside is aluminum siding, so I cleaned it up, landscaped it with new grass and bushes and painted the concrete by the front door, to give it a stone look...what a difference!

Before...main floor

On the main floor the living room and dining room were split up into 2 bedrooms, so I knocked out all the walls to make it open concept
Living Room

I also kept part of the wall separating the front door from the living room, so that when you walked inside the house, you wouldn't be standing right in your living room
Dining Room

Love the exposed brick...what a great discovery!
After...living room

New laminate floor, new paint, new window coverings and of course some staging!
After...dining room

To bring out the exposed brick, I painted an accent wall in a rust colour to tie it back to the brick

Before...kitchen and sunroom

After...kitchen

The original kitchen cabinets were great, but needed a face lift, so once again I painted the cabinets in a light beige colour and added handles. To save on cost, I hired the people from Countertop Makeovers to reface my existing back splash, kitchen counter and island. They had a huge selection of colours to choose from, were in and out in a few hours, no mess to clean up and saved me tons of money in the process. Paired with new stainless steel appliances, pot lights, new laminate floor and paint.....the kitchen looks amazing!!!
After...sunroom

This room was just off the kitchen and is also the entrance to the backyard and lane parking...it is a big space and I didn't want it to go to waste so I thought it would make a perfect office (the house already has a mud room at the front entrance). New laminate floor, paint and custom window coverings went a long way here.

Before...main floor powder room

The main floor has a washroom which is a huge bonus, but it also had a shower, which I thought was a bit odd, the bathtub was also eating up space in the kitchen. So I decided to turn it into a powder room by removing the tub, this also created extra space in the kitchen.
After...main floor powder room

I kept the original toilet and sink and with some new paint, mirror and light fixture, the bathroom turned out great.

Before...upstairs

After...upstairs

Again, new paint and laminate floor, goes a long way in the upstairs hallway

Before...master bedroom

After...master bedroom

The master bedroom was a kitchen, so I ripped it out, had the drywall fixed up and it was ready for new laminate floor and paint...this bedroom is great because of the size and the deck...it was hard to part with it

Before...2nd bedroom
 
After...2nd bedroom

New laminate floor, paint, window coverings and staging....voila!

Before...3rd bedroom

After...3rd bedroom

Since one of the walls shared a wall with the main washroom upstairs, I decided to make a semi ensuite for this bedroom. It also got new laminate floor, paint, window coverings and staging...this bedroom could double as a master bedroom

Before...main washroom

After...main washroom

New porcelain tile floor, new toilet, new mirror/medicine cabinet, new light fixture, new subway tiles in the shower, new paint and can't forget the new rain shower head...looks so much better!

Backyard Oasis

Unfortunately, I don't have a before picture, but it was a sight for sore eyes, the entire backyard had interlocking with no greenery whatsoever, so I ripped up the majority of the interlocking and kept enough as a walkway from the parking as well as for the patio set and added new grass and flowers as well as a new fence.....backyards are suppose to be an extension of the house, an oasis, and I think this one was a success!

After living in this house for a while and truly enjoying it, it was time to sell it and move on.....I'm sure the new buyers are loving it just as much as I did.

Happy Halloween!