My DIY Project Inspired by Donna

Blog reading and writing is a favorite passion and past time of mine. I love to see what inspires other people. Depending on my work schedule and home life sometimes I don't have enough time to surf daily and at times a week or more can go by without reading or posting. However, after being away from it for any amount of time I find myself spending hours surfing through dozens of blogging sites. It almost becomes an obsession.

A couple of weeks ago I was catching up on my blog reading. Among the many blogs I read regularly is Donna's over at www.dh-designs.blogspot.com This creative gal is always making something over to suit her taste. The blog I was reading that night was on one of her upcoming projects Painted Furniture.

Inspired by Donna I decided to whip out some paint and try my own DIY project. This post has been sitting in my edit box for a couple of weeks now (since November 26) ... yes... Donna I procastinate too :) At any given moment I have around a dozen unfinished posts sitting in my edit box.

Today I was reading her blog and she nominated me and 6 other very creative bloggers for the "Kreativ Blogger" Award. Thank you so much and yes PEI is a beautiful place to live and work. To receive your nomination in full one must reveal 7 things about themselves you didn't know about them but as an early Christmas gift she is letting us all off the hook.

This is an exerpt from her post:

I know that the rules are that I should pass this award on to 7 creative bloggers who will then tell all about their 7 things, but given the busy time of year we are in, I’m going to pass on this. Instead, I’m just going to list 7 bloggers who inspire me with their creativity – no strings attached. My gift to you!

Susan on Design from my favourite Canadian province
Just Blue and Green who inspires me with two of my favourite colours
Bright, Bold and Beautiful for amazing watercolours
Decorno for the truth and the cool name
At Home in Ottawa for some hometown props
Absolutely Beautiful Things for..well..absolutely beautiful things
missbinnyc for beautiful pictures of my favourite city

So Donna, here is what you inspired me to do...

I started with two white frames that come already matted that we sell at the shop. After my renovation I wanted to hang them in my house and felt a dark frames would have more impact.




I found some black paint and a brush in the warehouse at the shop, Moving Designz Home & Cottage. Usually I get people to do these things for me but I thought I can do this...

It took 1 coat of primer , 2 coats of black paint and 2 nights. I let the paint dry really good.
Note I used 4 old plates to set my frames on... thank you unbreakable Corelle :) and the funny thing all the paint washed right off.

I slipped a favorite photo of my boys into this frame. I took this picture of my sons playing in the PEI surf a couple of years ago.

Project complete. Both frames are now hanging on my livingroom wall and I love how they look. Although I think I might like to add one more.



Thank you Donna and all the creative bloggers who continue to inspire and amuse me with their pictures, ideas, writing and projects. I may even do the 7 things task over the weekend.

Have a great week! Thanks for reading.
Susan

Kate and Gordie's House

For todays post I thought I would share one of our current projects at Moving Designz. This is a beautiful large new build project.

We've been involved with the homeowners, mostly I work with Kate, since early summer planning for the project. Kate has fantastic taste and we are so on the same design wavelength. We're about a month away from completion. We were hoping they would be in before Christmas but sadly that is not going to happen. However Kate and her husband should be in early in the new year.


The house is situated on a beautiful waterfront property overlooking Charlottetown harbour. It has the most stunning water views from the huge windows along the entire backside of the home.

The house was designed by a local draftsman and shortly after we became involved... tweaking the functional layout, designing the lighting plan, choosing surface materials and working on kitchen layout. After all those stages which I call the "uglies" we moved on to choosing furnishings to complement the homeowners taste. The style we are going for is warm modern contemporary mixed with classic elements.





In this picture all the main framing is done and the windows are installed. On this particular day, in late October, we were working on the electrical layout and checking out the interior surface finishes on site.






This past Friday the great room looked like this. Now that all the drywall and seamfilling is complete it's looking alot more like a house. The fireplace is also now installed and most of the trim is complete except the baseboards which will go on once the flooring is installed. Although the firebox looks like a big square it is actually long and linear ... more on this below. To the left of the fireplace in the nook will be built-ins.

This angle illustrates the amazing waterfront view as you enter the home. And as you can see it is open concept and has very little wall space. Who needs art when you have this view 365 days a year?

This is the colour palette for the main floor furnishings and to some degree the surface finishes. From right to left, creamy off white for the sofa and chairs. A lovely print and two very soft blue and cream fabrics for the toss cushions. A brown textural fabric with tiny cream dots for the chair toss cushions. And for the cubes, chocolate with blue circles.

The hardwood flooring will be a deep espresso bamboo. It is due to be installed later this week.

The main seating arrangement is a large sectional very similar to this one which will be upholstered in soft cream fabric just like this image. BTW this room is by Kelly Hoppen one of my favorite designers. I love her aestetic!

The chairs will be upholstered in the same off white fabric as the sofa and will have 2 small back pillows in the brown fabric with the little cream dots.

Two of these cubes will complete the seating arrangement. The fabric on these is the dark brown will the little blue circles.

This is the cocktail table. Very low and sleek, a combination of deep espresso and brown laquer. The coolest thing about this table other than its good looks, is how its pieces swivel and opens up which allows the piece to grow. See below.

Isn't it the coolest?

The fireplace wall tile is somewhat similar to this image being flat to the wall. However the stone is pale creams and pale browns.

The fireplace unit is long and sleek like this one with crystals as opposed to logs or stones.

A huge part of the great room will be the gourmet kitchen. This is how it looked in October.

On Friday this is how the kitchen area was looking. Still pretty empty as the white cabinets are being custom built off site. This very large kitchen will feature stainless steel appliances with a counter depth princess door style fridge and built in wall ovens. In fact, most of the cabinetry in this kitchen is ceiling to floor with glass doors and/or shaker style door panels.

The countertops are this Caesarstone in a white colour which resembles marble.

Pale blue glass subway tiles for the backsplash. Though not exactly this colour they are a little more greyish blue.

The kitchen will feature not one but two islands. The central island is the prep and work area while the outer island is for entertaining. This is the style of pendant lighting that will hang over both of them. Two larger ones for the center island and 4 smaller pendants for the outer island.

These are the bar stools for the outer eating and entertaining island. This island will be wood stained in a deep espresso finish.

We're still searching for the perfect table and chairs for the eating nook. I think I found them today. We're looking at a large charcoal stained bamboo table with seating for 8 to be paired up with sleek white and chrome chairs. I'll post more images as we progress further. Thank you Kate for allowing me to blog on your new home :)

In the next few posts I will cover another large renovation and decorating project currently underway in Charlottetown. This large historic house is being converted from three chopped up and dated apartments to a 5 suite boutique style Bed & Breakfast. We're still in the construction phases but big changes are now underway.

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