Well, it's been quite a long time since I updated my blog. We have made no progress on the exterior of our cottage, so there isn't much to say. The only thing we've done is install modern technology. Our plan all along had been to go "screen free" at the cottage and have no land-line. Unfortunately, we could obtain no cell reception whatsoever unless we drove a few miles down the road. And Lorenzo could not keep up with work without having internet. So we caved: we now have a land-line and internet. 

It felt a bit sad to me, but the upside is that we can now go more often as Lorenzo can do work at the cottage. He's not sitting there wondering what's going on and having to drive down the road in the pouring rain just to make contact with the office. The last time we were there, he had his feet up by the fire with his laptop and he was happy as a clam knowing he was completely on top of things.

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Just when I thought my renovation days were over....

My father sold the family house this summer and decided to move into an apartment at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver. He has many friends living there and is looking forward to a relaxing lifestyle of bocci ball, morning cappuccino at the cafe, and socializing with other elderly Italians. The location (east Vancouver) is great, and there are a wide variety of things to do, ie - Ferrari shows, language and cooking classes, community gardening, wine tasting, etc. There's a great restaurant, a small cafe, a library, grape vines everywhere... This is not assisted living - my Dad has his own self-contained apartment.

There is a rather long waiting list to get in, so when the phone call came in, my brother and I went down to see the new digs. We weren't too impressed and decided immediately that it needed to be fixed up. We rolled our sleeves up and went to work and spent the majority of our summer getting the place ready. Meanwhile, our Dad hopped on a plane to Italy - we told him he couldn't come home until his new place was move-in ready. Here's the result. 

A typical boxy boring apartment with tacky vertical blinds, horrible paint colours, and not a single redeeming feature transformed. Here is the living room...


Before:

After:

Fresh paint ("Sea-Spray" - Benjamin Moore; my go-to colour) new window treatments, some new furniture, and bobs-your-uncle. I found the area rug at the Sears clearance centre for $65. 

Always check the Sears outlet on-line. With a click of a button, you can get some amazing deals.

The previous paint colour was a hue that I don't believe exists in nature; a ghastly cross between brick brown and dusty rose. Juxtaposed against the popcorn ceilings, it made a terrible first impression. Colour and lighting. The two most important things to transform a space...

The TV console is from Ikea; my brother hung a new flat-screen on the wall. The glass coffee table was in my basement not being used;  in a small space, glass is the way to go. We found a lovely new sofa at LaZboy that was under 80" wide, which can be difficult to find. It was on sale. It's called "Metro"and is incredibly comfortable. LaZboy couches are made in America, offer a lifetime warranty on frame/springs, and are so-well constructed they are worth reupholstering down the road. Avoid buying crap made in China (ie - The Brick) if you don't have to. Two things you never cheap-out on: sofas and mattresses. And sheets.

Above the couch my brother hung a big mirror which reflects the light and views from the sliding glass door. Very smart. The bookcase is from Ikea which offered some much-needed storage for my Dad's books and Italian ceramics. Several of his books are about the pope.

The Hemnes bookcase is only $150 and it's sold pine as opposed to particle board. Most of Ikea's products are not solid wood - make sure you read the fine print...

At around 19-inches wide, it can be tucked in just about anywhere. Hint: Don't just load up a bookcase by cramming a bunch of stuff into every spare inch. Imagine a zig-zag pattern - intersperse books with pictures and other things to make it look more interesting. Place some books horizontally; keep the tallest books on the ends.

Outside, the deck featured a lovely view of the grass and gardens. 

I removed the window screen, cleaned everything, and my brother found a cute bistro set that fits perfectly...

This indoor/outdoor rug from Sears was $120 and measures 2 x 7 feet. I have one here at home, and they are virtually indestructible. Highly recommended. If I had known the cushions were going to be bright green I wouldn't have bought a navy blue one, but it still looks pretty good....

Moving on...

This was the view from the front doorway looking down the hall. There was an ugly sconce above the kitchen table which was positioned too high on the wall to be of any practical use. I found a great sconce on the Home Depot website for $88. It was a bit of a splurge but it really looks nice and throws enough down-light to use for reading...

Pay attention to light fixtures - they are so important...

In the hallway, I hung a few family photos and my Dad's old mail-sorter that my Mum bought back in the 1970's. It's made of metal and has an owl's face on it. It's cute.


The bathroom was incredibly dirty and the flooring in both the bathroom and kitchen was awful...

My brother ripped up all the old vinyl and had a new floor put down...

The vanity was hideous with crooked cupboards, an ugly gray Formica top, and a badly-placed medicine cabinet on the wall. We bought a Hemnes vanity for $299. which proved to be a bit of a nightmare for my brother to install...

But it sure looks nice....

We removed the medicine cabinet and I bought new towel and toilet paper holders which Lorenzo installed. I found a nice soap dispenser at the Superstore...

...bought the Hemnes medicine cabinet to hang above the toilet where previously there was an unnecessary grab-rail.

The other job was grinding out the old grout and re-grouting the tub surround. That was fun. The grab-bars were so dirty I had to use de-greaser and a toothbrush to get them clean.

I bought a new shower curtain rod & shower curtain at Sears, my brother installed a new shower head, found a nice bath mat at Ikea, and now it looks very nice. 
I found a double-curtain rod which is great if you're limited for wall space. There was really nowhere to put a long towel bar, so this works...

A new shower curtain in crisp white waffle-cotton with new rings really freshens things up. When in doubt, go white. It always looks good....

If there had been any colour in this bathroom, it would have only served to accentuate how small it is. Lacking a window, it's best to use whites, mirrors, and reflective materials such as chrome and stainless steel. The shower caddy that just hangs over the shower head is very handy and didn't require any drilling...

Before:  (looks like a hospital bathroom)

After:

 The bedroom was a very difficult room to decorate.... 

It measures roughly 10 x 10, but because of a jut-out wall, it narrows in one area to 8 x 10. We wanted my Dad to have a double bed, but there would be no room at all for night stands. Add to this cheap vinyl blinds, a cold white colour, a goofy layout, and a badly-placed hot water heater.


The closet door was builder-brown and the closet had only one horizontal rail going across...

All the doors in the apartment were painted white and a double rod/shelf was installed. The new black handle is an added touch and easier for my Dad to grip than a tiny little knob. Lorenzo installed the floating shelf because there was no room for anything else. It works.

The other side of the room was the only place to put some extra storage, but there wasn't enough depth for a standard dresser. The flimsy venetian blinds did nothing to reduce the blinding sunlight coming through.

So we bought a narrow-depth Pax wardrobe and installed black-out blinds on the windows; my Dad likes a dark room in the mornings....

I organized my Dad's things and I quite like the angled shoe racks....

Lorenzo installed a coat rack on the door and I hung a picture my Mum bought in Mexico many years ago. The challenge with decorating someone else's home is remembering that it isn't your space; it's theirs. You might not like the things you're forced to work with, but usually you can make them work...

We bought a giant print of Amsterdam at Ikea but we're going to tell my Dad it's Italy....

This was the worst room in the apartment but it turned out okay. My brother installed a floating shelf below one of the windows which helped to even out the walls and provide a resting place for books or pictures. I gave my Dad a lamp I wasn't using that can accommodate a 100-watt bulb. Lamps like these are getting harder to find; usually you're limited to a 40 or 60 watt bulb. This apartment has no overhead lighting in the bedroom (which is odd) so the little lamp has to light the entire space...

 Everything is off the floor which makes the room feel larger. The duvet cover belonged to my Mum and had been in storage for a long time. I think my Dad will be happy to see this again.

Before:

After:

Looking into the kitchen...
If you're sitting with your back against the sofa, this is the view into the kitchen/dining area. Again, brick-pink walls, brown doors, ugly floor, etc. The wall where the table & chairs are is only 39-inches wide, so my Dad couldn't use his old table - we had to get a new one... You're seeing the apartment with the previous owner's furniture.

It's amazing what paint can do. Painting out the walls & doors, changing the kitchen flooring, and adding some decent furniture & lighting made all the difference...

Here was the original kitchen. My Dad suggested that we just give the cupboards a clean, but they were uncleanable. The hinges were rusted, the drawers did not open properly, and it was just too ugly. Dad deserved better.

My brother found a kitchen guy in Maple Ridge who could do the kitchen in a speedier time-frame than Ikea so that's what we did. New cabinets, new counters & hardware, and my brother installed crisp white subway tile...

I found the rug at Canadian Tire - it's shaggy and soft on the feet. Lorenzo installed the shelves and I arranged my Dad's Italian ceramics so they'd be a focal point and a pop of colour.... A kitchen without some open shelving is terribly boring to me. 

If you can't afford solid-surface counter-tops and plan to go with laminate, avoid patterns that try to look like something else, ie - granite. It never fools anyone. Best to keep it plain. I chose a mottled black with a satin finish.

Also, if you have laminate counter-tops consider getting a stainless steel rack of some sort for hot pots. This one from Ikea is only $12.99

Another view...

This was the THIRD mirror I hung in this kitchen. The first one was a huge rectangle that was too large for the space. The second was too small. This one was just right, in my opinion, and it reflects the light from the living room...

The previous kitchen was over-run with upper cabinetry...

Now it looks clean and contemporary. I dislike the microwave above the fridge but it's too wide to place to the left of the stove... Lorenzo wants to drill a hole through the pantry cupboard wall and put the microwave behind the louvered doors. I agree, but my Dad probably won't care... The existing sink was in good shape so we kept it; my brother installed a new tap set.

I cannot count how many trips I made to this tiny apartment over the summer. Lorenzo was a huge help - and my boys spent a day hauling things in and out. So many boxes to lug in, so much sorting to do....my Dad had kept every birthday card and receipt going back to 1972. It was mind boggling. He had dozens of keys, key chains, lighters that don't work anymore, maps of Italy - enough to open a map store. And three - THREE - books all the same. All about one of the popes. I got rid of two of them, kept one on his shelf...

At one point, the entire deck was covered in boxes...

I sorted through all the paper work, Christmas decorations, photographs, etc. and organized them into clear boxes so that my Dad will be able to find things. This is his storage room. He has boxes of long-play records that he bought in the 1950's. I don't know what to do with them, but I wasn't about to throw them away. Lorenzo installed some handy hooks for grocery bags....

My brother installed some wire shelving in the kitchen pantry cupboard which is perfect for all the odds & ends. I found two recycling containers that fit perfectly on the bottom...

My Dad turned 77 in July and he's in great shape for his age - light on his feet, energetic, and still pretty sharp. But I'm assuming his eye sight isn't quite what it used to be judging from the condition of things. Every pot, pan, lid, fork, spoon, etc. had to be scrubbed with an SOS pad. Everything seemed sticky to me, so I washed every single thing, even his CD's. All of that was far more work than anything else we did and very time consuming. My son said to me one day, "Aren't you sick of spending so much time at Nonno's apartment?" I asked him if he'd do this for me one day. He said he would. I sure hope so.... 

My Dad will fly into Vancouver on October 1st. I hope he'll be pleased...


Looking down the hall before:

After:

I really enjoyed my time in the apartment this summer. It was a nice break, actually. I'd pop in some Irish tunes, make tea, and just work on things one at a time. When it was all done, I decided that I could live here. It's nice enough, it's clean and cozy, and it's all a single person needs.

Over View...


Small Space Design Advice: 

1- Elevate as many things as you can: get things off the floor. Think vertically.

2 - Use a patterned area rug to anchor the elements in a room if it flows into another. It creates separation which actually makes the overall area appear larger.

3- Wall mount your TV if you can; install floating shelves instead of using end tables. The more floor area you see, the bigger the room will appear.

3- Use mirrors to give the illusion of space. They are crucial - every room should have a mirror. If you lack a window in a bathroom or a kitchen, use a mirror - it's the next best thing. If you have something beautiful to look at  - ie - a pretty view outside or a fabulous stained glass lamp, put a mirror in front of it. Now you've got two gorgeous things to look at.

4- Keep colours neutral and use the same colour throughout every room to give continuity. Breaks in colour close in a space and "feature" walls are outdated. Painting a single wall an "accent colour" is usually pointless and distracts the eye from things that are much prettier to look at, such as artwork or interesting decorative pieces. And unless your walls are perfectly straight, you'll only draw attention to any defects.

5- Use glass instead of solid materials so that things "disappear" instead of taking up visual space. If I'd used a typical wood coffee table in the living room, it would have looked crowded.

6 - Use the same material for all hardware - ie, curtain rods, cabinet handles, light fixtures, knobs, etc. If you have chrome, brass, oiled bronze, brushed nickel all in one space, it is jarring. Keep it all the same if you can.

7 - Black and white in a kitchen is classic, it never goes out of style, it always looks clean, and you can add pops of colour at any time, ie - a red rug, or a big yellow cookie jar. Use colour in accessories, not fixed pieces.

8 - Hand lotion and hair spray are not attractive. Neither are tooth brushes and blow dryers. Hide them. Your bathroom should only have a few things on display, ie - soap dispenser, towel. It will feel bigger and airier.

9 - EDIT. Be ruthless. You can't keep everything if your home is small. Learn to purge! Clutter, knick-knacks, too many family photos, etc. only make your home feel smaller. However, too much empty space can make a home feel dead. Try to find a warm balance. Try to have something lovely to look at from every angle. 

And be considerate of your children: one day they'll have to go through all of your STUFF. Make it easy on them. Don't bury them under a mountain of crap - it's not fair. 

Our budget was small which severely limited what we could do. But all in all, I'm pretty happy with it.

Ciao for now!