Lofty expectations: The Before Shots (A PARA Paints Blog Crew project)

You could say that our loft makeover has been a work in progress for 12 years. When we moved into our house in 2001, it was an amazing but unfinished 500 sq ft empty space above the main floor. Electrical was roughed in, drywall was mudded & sanded, subfloor was installed… it was the one major undertaking that I wanted to start on right away. But stubborn hubby insisted that we wait till the mortgage was paid off. He’s very pragmatic and annoying that way ;-) I would have gone ahead and started working on it anyway, but there was one little obstacle in my way – no stairs.

See that rectangular opening in the ceiling? That opening taunted me for five years. I walked by it every day, and it laughed at me and mocked me and wouldn’t let me go through it. Mean hole!

I did go up into the loft a couple of times, after I perfected my levitation skills ;-) No, actually, it required putting a long extension ladder on a basement step and climbing up the ladder and through the hole. Not fun if you’re like me and don’t like heights.

This is what the naked loft looked like:

Totally sweet space – what a bummer that we couldn’t use it!

And then the magical day arrived in 2007: Stair day! Some guys showed up at our house with the staircase all made and ready to install. It was a surprisingly easy and fast job. Well, it looked easy to me, anyway – I’m sure carrying that sucker and then putting it into place wasn’t a whole lotta fun ;-) The stair guys must’ve thought I was loony, the way I was going on and on about how excited it all was!

Weeeeehooooo!!!! The staircase is in!!!!

Next came painting the loft (BM Stone House, but that was destined to change – more on that a little further down). Given the fact that the ceiling is vaulted and the big gaping hole was still there and that I’m a klutz, we hired a painter friend to paint it for us.

Hubby and I installed the floor over the Christmas holidays in 2007. It’s heritage grade walnut in 4” wide planks and random lengths. The hardest part was figuring out the layout of the planks. Because of the variety in grain and lengths, we had to be sure to spread them out equally. It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle – but with a great big power floor nailer! Here’s the unfinished floor:

After we installed the walnut, Luigi the flooring guy sanded the floor. The planks had micro-bevels that created small grooves. We wanted the grooves removed so the floor would be smooth. Poor Luigi had a LOT of sanding to do. He said he’ll never do anything like it again!

The walnut after being sanded and finished in a clear varathane to bring out the natural colour and grain:

Luigi also stained the oak staircase:

Looking down the stairs from the loft:

And now the reason why the wall colour needed to be changed… we bought a super-comfy sectional a year after the walls were painted. It’s the Charles by Silva. He came from the manufacturer’s warehouse in Toronto. I think whoever ordered him decided they didn’t like the fabric, so he became a reject. I just had to give him a new home :-)

Charles is a handsome guy, but with the tan walls and brown floor, the whole room was just too much of the same colour family. And as it turns out, Charles the Reject inspired the entire new colour scheme for the loft :-) I started with PARA Paints Designer Indulgence – a pretty teal, not too dark but not too light.

 Click here to read about the original plan.

And then after some colour suggestions from Kelly Berg at Story & Space and Dawna Jones at Dawna Jones Design, I moved towards darker blues.

Click here to read about the modified plan.

So what colour did I choose? Well, I’m going to leave you hanging! Come back tomorrow to find out… :-)

Linking up to…

Flamingo fun

A few weeks ago, Mikky at To Da Loos wrote a blog post about this super-cute Springkorn shower curtain from Ikea:

I was like, Oooooh, I want it! But where would I put it? The master bathroom is getting a glass shower door and the guest bathroom is purple and not flamingoy at all. But…. I do have this Jonathan Adler TP holder, which just happens to be pink & orange & white & purple…

And the walls are ICI Purple Granite…

And I could buy some towel in Orange Flame & Fiery Pink at Target in Charleston…

Yeah, that could work!

The before was nice:

But the after is way more fun :-)

Life’s too short not to have some flamingo fun :-)

Turquoisepalooza & a PARA Paints Blog Crew project

I didn’t get quite as much painting done on the weekend as I hoped to – but I did manage to get he front door painted (both inside and out) and the patio table painted. And everything is turquoise!

The outside of the front door got a fresh coat of the original colour…

And the inside got a couple of coats of a brand new colour – PARA Paints Tahitian Pearl from their new Colour Forecast Palette. Here’s a “before” close-up:

And an “after” close-up of Tahitian Pearl:

When I picked up the can of Tahitian Pearl a couple of months ago, I also got a can of Boysenberry, which I used to paint the cabinet next to the front door. I just knew the two colours would look great together! :-) And PARA’s Leek inside the cabinet finishes off my favourite colour trio – purple, turquoise, and green :-)

 

And then there’s the patio table – I started painting it PARA’s Lush Turquoise, but it turned out to be too light in the sunlight. Hubby suggested using the same colour as I used on the front door – either the inside or the outside colour. I decided to go with the outside colour because it’s an outdoor paint. The table was a PITA to paint, but I’m really happy with the final result :-) I can't show you the whole table yet because it’s not quite finished – I still need to get new tiles for the top. But here’s a peek…

I did get one coat of paint on the stool, but now I’m not sure what I want to do with it. I know if won’t be turquoise, though, because I don’t have any turquoise FAT Paint. Although I do have Indigo and Apple Green… hmmmm…. 

Getting my paint on

FINALLY, a warm & sunny weekend in Ottawa! And this weekend, I’m REALLY going to get some painting projects done that I’ve been thinking about for months.

1. Front door

The outside needs a freshening up with a coat of Sherwin Williams Oceanside. And the inside is getting a new colour – PARA Paints Tahitian Pearl. I love Oceanside on the outside, but it’s a bit bright on the inside.

  

2. Stool

This little stool has been sitting in the basement for years. I think my grandpa made it after I was born, so that makes it pretty old ;-)

I’m going to do a little something to it using FAT Paint. If you haven’t heard of FAT Paint, my friend and old blog partner Victoria started the company last year, She and her brother recently opened a shop in New Westminster selling paint and furniture – if you’re in the area, check it out :-)

3. Patio table

This project idea just came to me recently. The finish on our patio table is completely worn and faded, and it really needs some new life. It was already given a new lease on life once when wind blew the table over a few years ago and the glass top shattered. We replaced the top with tiles, which I’d already removed before I remembered I needed a “before” picture :-) Those are my furry supervisors circling the table ;-)

I’ve got this colour combo in mind…

Image via Fab.com

There are a couple of other pieces of furniture floating around the house that I might get my hands on as well – you know, when I get all these projects finished in a day and have nothing else to do ;-)

Has spring finally arrived in your corner of there world? Got any weekend projects planned?

Happy weekend!

Day one in Charleston

I took waaaaaaayyyyy too many pictures on our trip to South Carolina! It’s taking me forever to go through them and organize them and resize them. So far, I’ve managed to get through my April 15th folder. So, here’s what we did in South Carolina on April 15th!

My day started with a walk on the beach…

After breakfast, we drove into Charleston and picked up some info and maps at the visitor center. We parked down at the end of peninsula and spent the rest of the day walking around old Charleston and taking lots of pictures. We also got talked into going to a time-share presentation – at least we got some free tickets to out of it :-)

We started off walking along East Bay Street and admiring all the beautiful houses. I overheard a tour guide say that the houses along East Bay Street sell for around $9 to $10 million. There was one for sale at a “bargain” price of $6 million. EEK!

I love the combination of old red brick and lush greenery…

The houses in Charleston have the most beautiful gardens. Some of the gardens are hidden behind beautiful doors. I kind of have a thing for doors. And horses :-)

There are lots of beautiful & intricate ironwork gates too…

Some pretty porches…

Lovely architecture…

It took me a while to realize that the lanterns that I assumed have fake flames in them are actually REAL gas lanterns with REAL flames. Very cool, and a little bit eerie at night. They sort of transport you back to the 1800s. Many of the houses have window boxes and shutters. The crescent moon on the blue shutters below is a popular symbol in South Carolina – it’s on the state flag that was designed in 1775 by Colonel William Moultrie. He was asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety to design a flag for the South Carolina troops to use during the American Revolutionary war. Colonel Moultrie's design had the blue of the militia's uniforms and the crescent from the emblem on their caps. Click here to read more about the history behind the South Carolina state flag.

Fountains in Waterfront Park. The pineapple is a traditional symbol of welcome and hospitality throughout the south.

Our first day in Charleston was a bit grey, but the sun finally came out late in the afternoon and was joined by a beautiful blue sky…

And that was our first full day in South Carolina. I’ve just about finished going through my next set of pictures – they’ll be coming soon :-)

I have to say a huge thank you to my blog friend Kathryn at Take My Breath Away. Kathryn used to live near Charleston, and when I asked her for some suggestions for what to do there, she sent me a long list of places to go and things to do. We did almost everything she suggested, and it was all great! Thank you Kathryn for all your help!