Friday's Field Trip

For this weeks post I thought I would post a photo field trip at our project on Friday. This really is the fun part of our jobs, when we get to go in and finish off spaces.

Our clients have been undergoing a series of cosmetic renovations and updates to their lovely home over the past year. They wanted to family room to be comfortable, welcoming and work with their new kitchen. On Friday Ashley and myself were on the job to install drapery, hang artwork and accessorize their family room. The family room and kitchen are combined in one very long and narrow space.




This is the before picture from my visit a couple of months ago. At this time it was decided that we were going to go with smaller scale furniture to make the space feel larger, new wall colours, artwork and window treatments. Up until this point they used a table (as seen) and 4 chairs for eating just beyond the island. This arrangement while practical ate up alot of floor space.



This is Friday morning just after Ashley and I arrived. A blank slate though pretty messy for the moment. She is the one seen struggling with the drapery hardware packaging. As you can see we had our hands full to whip this space into calm area for the weekend.




Fast forward 4 hours later and the room was looking pretty good.




Once again from another angle the view prior to painting the cabinet and replacing the window treatments and furniture.



The same view with the new furnishings, window treatments and artwork in place. We'll be adding the other end table, lamp and an extra chair shortly. We needed to make sure the table and lamp worked in the space, which they do beautifully :)

Next up the kitchen, this is at the other end of the room. At this point the kitchen has received a fresh new coat of paint. The kitchen is very pretty to begin with, just needing some updates.

Imagine how it's going to look with new quartz countertops, a new marble backsplash, a new lightbox with 4 crystal pendants, a new sink, a new faucet, new door hardware, a new roman blind and extending the island to 10'.

We had just enough time to begin accessorizing the hutch cabinets before we called it a day. I can't wait to share the after pictures with you. This is going to be a fantastic kitchen. The installation of the countertops and backsplash are scheduled for installation Dec 22... fingers crossed.

Another little project we did Friday was to decorate the mantle for Christmas. This is such a beautiful room...you may recognize this room from a post earlier this summer. I am still sourcing an area rug for this room and thinking of a thick white sheepskin style. What do you think? Myself and my clients found that the other rugs we tried seemed to make the space feel smaller.

This entire house has been redecorated by Moving Designz over the past year and once the kitchen is completed we have just one room left... the master bathroom. I will be posting the after images in the new year with clients permission.

Have a great week! Thanks for reading.
Susan

On any given day...

For today's post I thought we could have a look at a few of the projects and places I've been working on over the past several weeks. Working on PEI has me on the road driving constantly. Right now we are working on 2 major projects, one is here in Summerside (last weeks post) and the other is located in Charlottetown. Along with these projects we are also working on several smaller yet great projects.

My typical day starts with arriving at the shop checking emails, phone messages, delivery schedules, and then planning my day accordingly.

Thanks to Anita and Ashley the store is looking fantastic. It's all very summery and coastal feeling.




This months issue of Style at Home featured a house in Rustico, PEI designed by local architect David Lopes of N46 Architecture. He does fantastic work. Congratulations David!




The girls were inspired to do a similar look in our bedroom display at Moving Designz Home & Cottage.

The house is Summerside is coming along nicely. The granite counters were installed this week and look absolutely fabulous. We're waiting for a few more pieces of furniture to complete the diningroom and main livingroom. This week we were working on outfitting all the bedrooms. We have 4 to complete including bedding, artwork and accessories.

I took this picture at the first of the week in the master bedroom. Since then the bedding has come in and we had our electricians install a new lighting fixture. I chose a capiz shell chandelier as it suits the fell of the room perfectly. They are starting to hate me now as we had to move and center yet another light box over the end of the bed. The original light which was actually a fan/light combo was off center in the room. Still waiting for the new upholstered headboard which should have been in by now. Playing the waiting game gets old sometimes...

I took this picture on the way to a home at Stanley Bridge where we were installing roman blinds. How cute a tiny little fox pup... sitting in the ditch. Seeing foxes on PEI is a daily occurance, still I never tire of seeing them. I try to always carry my camera with me on job sites.

If you have been following my blog this is the river home I worked on last year on Stanley River. Due to our hectic schedule and our clients busy summer days I still haven't been able to get back and do the final after pictures. But since we were here installing the blinds in the lower level, and since I had my camera in hand I took this picture looking into the great room seating area.

The following images are from my project in Charlottetown, actually it is in Stratford across the bridge from the city. For this project we were hired to give this home a cosmetic facelift including a new paint scheme, new granite countertops and backsplash for the kitchen, new tile flooring for the entry and laundry room, all new lighting, new window treatments, a new fireplace with built-ins and some new furniture pieces. The home owners love the cottagey/country feel and we are upping it to modern country/cottage.

This is the laundry/powder room as of Friday. The homeowner needed additional storage and desired a more updated uncluttered look. I decided to totally redesign this room with hidden storage for a new stackable laundry center, a new closet and relocation of the plumbing along with new fittings, a new vanity and beadboard wainscotting.

This image is the original location of the laundry sink and toilet.

Here is that same corner with the plumbing moved and a new vanity, toilet and faucet. Since the space is only 7' X 9' every inch had to count and function. Moving the main plumbing across from the laundry center has really opened up the space. The vanity provides much needed storage especially with the drawer in the bottom and has a classic upgraded cottage feel with the Carrera marble top and new widespread faucet. I had just enough space for a 30" vanity and toilet on this wall... I got lucky.

If all goes according to plan within the next week the doors and shelving will be added to the laundry center, the mirrored medicine cabinet and additional storage cabinet will be installed and the room should be completed with a fresh new paint light colour.

And upstairs the main bathroom is also under construction and on it's way to a new fresh look.

The wainscotting up here is now installed, as is the shower tile, new tub, toilet and new vanity. I chose to use the same vanity style and marble top up here for continuity. The marble top is a little late arriving but should be installed by the middle of next week. Our carpenters will also be installing built in drawers and shelving under the eave nook.

Here is a look at the freshly installed new shower tiles. We went with basic white subway tiles and added some glass tile borders for interest and colour.

The vanity wall will be getting a mirrored medicine cabinet and a new light bar.

The family room is getting it's share of work too! The before image.

Still a work in progress ... but lighted up substantially. Still to come a new fireplace with built-ins, a new leather sectional, and furniture layout.

On to another project we finished up last week. This seaside vacation home is getting a room by room makeover over time. Last year we did the master suite. I highlighted it in a July blog post last year. This year we helped the homeowner with a second bedroom. We had hoped to paint out the flooring and just add an area rug but the floor was in such poor condition that a new carpet was the quickest and least expensive fix for the floor. I chose an off-white synthetic sisal to keep the space light and airy.

The room received a fresh new green paint colour to complement the new pink, cream and green bedding, new white bedside tables, and the old antique headboard was freshed up from a dark wood tone to fresh white.

The after picture. Very quaint, very cottagey.

Since it's such a nice day outside I'm now heading outside to work on my yard and gardens. And if I get done quickly maybe hit the beach.

Have a great week! Thanks for reading.

Susan

Signed, Sealed and Delivered

For this weeks blog I thought I would give an update on the work I've been doing this week. I have 3 major renovations going on, one here in Summerside, one in Charlottetown and one in Stratford. As well, we're working at various stages in other homes and a couple more projects involving a series of window treatments and furniture installations.

Whew... it's busy and thankfully I have both Anita and Ashley busy working along side me. Note to all you designers, having a good team is key. And having a great team is even better. Thank you girls for all your hard work and help! I honestly could not function without them.

We finished up a vacation property that has been in the works for the last few months. My client is arriving tonight to a completely furnished and finished space. On my last post I showed a couple images of this cheery space. This week we finished the shelving in the kitchette, installing the coatrack, the bathrooms, artwork and of course the accessorizing. Here's the completed shelving. My carpenter does an ace job with everything he touches. I imagine ... he builds.

One of my new projects is updating and outfitting an entire house from top to bottom. This is a lovely lovely home that my clients have recently purchased. With the deal being signed, sealed and delivered it was time for the Moving Designz team to move. And first on our agenda is painting.

Buckets and buckets of paint for all the trim, walls and ceilings. No surface is being spared a fresh coat of new colour. Ahh... I love the magic of paint.

The kitchen prior had dated oak cabinets. In lieu of a completely new budget busting kitchen we are opting to paint them out, add new granite countertops and new hardware.

And here is today's kitchen in fresh white paint.

The kitchen before from another angle.

And todays angle. It's looking pretty good. Notice we had the fussy trim in the cubbie removed. This will be a great spot for either a wine rack or cookbooks.

A sample of the granite for the countertops. Next up... electrical. All of the light fixtures and fans throughout the home will be replaced.

The family room before the purchase.

This shot is just after the home owners have moved out. I can't imagine the work that went into this move.

And here today we're looking at Brian working away on painting the trim and rads. I guess the rest of the crew abandoned him today!

The formal livingroom.

The empty livingroom.

The livingroom today. This house is going to be a very beautiful space when it's completed over the next 6-8 weeks. Stay tuned for updates. I didn't even give you a peek at the upstairs...

It's a long weekend here in Canada so I'm hoping the weather will be nice. Time to relax and enjoy a few days off for yours truly.

A special thank you to Robert Petril for his comments on my last blog. I really like this line from his profile. And I quote "I believe that if you can dream it you can do it". I firmly believe in this statement. Yet his latest entry on Twitter is disturbing... OMG! I think China has blocked Blogger!!! about 7 hours ago

Read more about Robert here http://robertpetril.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!

Susan