My sweet husband and I, in a moment of utter bravery, have decided to undertake an epic renovation on our “new to us but almost 100 year old” house in North Toronto.
We love our quiet street and the fabulous public school district it affords us. We have made fast friends with a number of lovely neighbors and their equally lovely children. We love our parks, our subway and our ability to walk to countless Yonge Street eateries, shopping sources and caffeine holes. Yay.
With our house, however, there has been a love-hate-complicated thing going on.
The house is entirely liveable – a big part of the reason we decided to buy it. We knew we could really experience the space and figure out the way we were going to use it before completely undoing it. And I highly recommend the effort it takes to forego the master ensuite (gasp!), proper closets (breaking my heart) and roomy, spread out and cook kitchen (my waist line thanks me for that one) to really sort out what you can live with and what you can’t.
So my instincts were spot on – I need a master ensuite and a large closet and a kick-ass cook’s kitchen. Yes.
But the larger basement I was sure was a must, isn’t. The living room is generous and bright – even has enough room for the baby grand piano we will have (need to mention this to my sweet husband). The dining room, although a bit snug, is intimate and accommodates everything it needs to. There really isn’t a wasted inch in this house. We find we are using it all but not necessarily needing a lot more. Hmmm.
Living in the house has also afforded me the leg room to sort out my dream house bucket list – I would love laundry on the second floor, his and her offices, a mainfloor powder room (what did people do back in the day?!?), more storage, a larger mudroom and more storage. Did I mention storage? Food storage, serving piece storage, a place to put the 72 wine glasses I have massed in the event a party breaks out. Storage. And we do love our outdoor living – right now, it is a humble covered porch but we want a fireplace, room for a sofa, comfy chairs and dining. Indeed.
And living here has helped us both develop a deep affection for the original architecture. Sigh. Was not expecting that. It is a classic English Arts and Crafts home – as are most that surround us. We were keen on something a little more modern but are now seriously considering going the way of the classic contemporary – folding classic, timeless architecture with more contemporary finishes. It is a departure – one that we would not have anticipated had we not taken the time to get to know our dear 34 Rochester.
I have decided to chronicle our adventures in renovation here – to share every step from finding the architect (we have met with the first of three – and I was utterly schooled in architecture – love it), widdling down our extensive bucket list (we aren’t the Rockefellers, afterall), planning, planning, planning and then building.
Come along.