1951 Bungalow Love

Making the most out of the last of summer.

2011-10-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't done nearly enough antique hunting as I would have liked this summer but it's understandable. However the times I did go treasure hunting were incredibly enjoyable and usually accompanied by people I adore. One example would be The Christie Antique show. Took a road trip over to Dundas Ontario with my wonderful pals Vanessa & Jess. Photos below are courtesy of them.

The overwhelming map of vendors..

Vanessa looking lovely

Stunning lamp Vanessa & Jess got. They found another with the same colours, but different style and size.

Bringing the goodies back to the car..

Got home to find Taylor working on the house...

Charlie dog

New mailbox!

Team work!

Polished off this and some delicious bbq

Watching funny videos

Love our pup

Restoration Hardware

2011-09-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

I've always been a fan of the store Restoration Hardware, but usually don't browse it too much due to it being out of my price range. However we received a gift card for $200 as a thoughtful wedding gift. What we really need is a light fixture over the dinner table and one in the front hall.

$539
I really dig this light for either over the dinner table or over the kitchen island.

$595 & $850
This pendant comes in a couple of sizes, I think the medium one would be nice over the table and the small one for the front hall.

$2,195
This is a bit over the top, but adorable none the less. Its size XS, but with an XL price tag.

Just a couple other things I'd be tempted to buy... ($149 & $229)

Girls Just Want To Have Sun

2011-08-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

I've fallen so far behind on updating this blog. So much has happened over the last couple months!
Before we get to the much anticipated photos, I'd like to do a mini catch up on Summer..

So much rhubarb!

Lap dog

First long weekend was spent at my parent's place due to our car breaking down on the way to the cottage.

Father's Day hang outs in Nonno's backyard..

Father's Day + Dad's birthday!

Flowers for Danielle's Birthday! This is my "just take a photo of the flowers not my face please."

Aberfoyle trips

Summer smoothies

Little posies I put together from flowers in my garden.

Mini pies for Poppy's 1st birthday!

Speaking of Poppy, I love how so many poppies grow in the garden

My dress, so much fabric on such a hot day

cuddlin at the cottage

Homemade rhubarb syrup!

I was sick of not having anywhere to craft in the house. So we made up this little bench area in the basement for the time being.

Old photo of my mum from a hair photo shoot.

Homemade rhubarb vodka!

There's just something so lovely about a house filled with fresh flowers..

And of course more smoothes.

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T05:40:00.001-07:00

Great way to start off my Friday morning. Up early, walk with the dog and picking berries off my tree!

These were the only ripe ones today. I haven't decided to use them in muffins or cereal. Yum!

Hope everyone has a nice relaxing long weekend!

Lighting

2011-05-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

I feel excited and ready to take on the task of making (or finding) a light fixture for over the dining table. Here's some photos that give me hope and much needed inspiration to help me on my quest.

in love...

2011-05-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

now where to put it...

Fence Party!

2011-05-15T08:16:00.001-07:00

Jacob driving the skidstear!

Our lovely lawn..

First BBQ of the year!

Wheelbarrow assembly

Catchin some rays

Snack time!

JD doesn't let the massive rip down the middle of his jeans get in the way of work! No sir.

Pops & RJ

Helper dudes!

Pros at digging holes

Privacy!

2011-05-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

Finally! We have doors up! Still have to put on the sweet antique door knobs though.
We recycled the doors that came with the house and added on some mdf to give the effect of a 5 panel door.

Inspiration

2011-05-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Day Dreaming

2011-04-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity of spending the day at the Island School with a fantastic kindergarten class.
I’ve been to Toronto Island numerous amounts of times but never really took into consideration that this is where 600 lucky people (or so) call home. That was until yesterday of course. The whole small town feel where the bus driver is also the caretaker of the school is incredibly endearing. The fact that the city core is right there, just a ferry ride away and yet feels so removed from the hustle and bustle is so appealing to me.
My hopes of someday maybe calling this little community my home was shattered upon further research.
When a property becomes available, it can't be put on the free market. Rather, it’s offered for a fixed price to the first hundred people on a five-hundred-person waiting list. The list is ranked, so if there are multiple interested buyers, the property goes to the person closest to the top of the list. If none of the first hundred people are interested, the property is offered to people further down on the list, but this is rare. Forty-seven properties have been sold since the system began in 1994.
FIRST you have to get your name on that list. Problem is the list is capped at five hundred, you have to wait for existing people to drop off. About three people get properties each year, and about fifteen to twenty leave for other reasons. After a critical mass of vacancies accumulates, a call for applications is announced, and vacancies are filled by a lottery run by the Trust’s auditors.

It costs $110 to apply to join the list, though you get $100 back if you don’t get a spot. Once on the list, you pay an annual fee of $35 to keep your place. The properties themselves range anywhere from $75,000 to $450,000.

Once you do the math you’re looking at about a 45 year wait.

BUMMER.

family heirloom

2011-04-22T18:21:00.001-07:00

Today my Nonna gave me a beautiful hand crochet bed cover made by her mother.
Said she was saving it to give to me and that someday I could pass it on.
I adore it.
Grazie Bisnonna.

making his side of the bed pretty...

2011-04-13T16:39:00.001-07:00

New Prints!

2011-04-13T16:35:00.001-07:00

I love getting mail. Especially when it's in the form of sweet new prints!

Neat finds..

2011-04-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

I went to a little antique and craft show the other weekend not far from our house. Found a few things that I loved..

Adorable salt & pepper shakers

A lovely wash board with glass..

Sweet little picnic basket...

Perfect for summer picnics with the bike.

An assortment of vintage hard cover books...

This adorable embroidered bird photo I got from Waste Wise for $1. So cute!

Sean gave us this print a couple years ago. Finally got a frame for it..

Triumph of Life

2011-02-07T05:10:00.000-08:00

After years of having this print hanging as is, I finally got a frame for it. Still one of my absolute favourites.

A couple days before my birthday a bunch of good friends came over to hit up some toboggan hills. JD was anxious to test out the new GT and gave its first run down the hill at the side of the house. After weeks in pain and all of us calling him a wuss turns out he did in fact crack TWO ribs!!! Needless to say I felt terrible and made him a batch of homemade vegan strawberry applesauce! Yum!

Tonight's project

2011-01-31T16:45:00.000-08:00

Weekend Projects..

2011-01-31T16:36:00.000-08:00

Good ol' Saturday mornin' soap stone carving..

oh so pretty

2011-01-31T16:27:00.001-08:00

Some more shots of my birthday gift..

All the old sewing needles and threads were still in the little drawer.

Miss nosy

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-01-24T19:46:00.000-08:00

Although he knew it was what i wanted, i was still ever surprised and pleased to find this when I walked in from work this evening...

In other exciting news we put up a bathroom door!
Peeing has never been so private!
We still have to work on the hardware but it's almost there..

Lastly, sometimes making a little change goes a long way.
Taylor's parents kindly donated 3 kitchen table chairs that were much needed.
I wasn't all too fond of the vinyl coverings. So with some new fabric and a staple gun, I had my new and improved chairs.

Inspiration

2010-12-16T07:51:00.001-08:00

antique accents

2010-11-28T08:41:00.000-08:00

One of my biggest passions is antique hunting and restoring.
Here are just a couple of sweet finds...

Towards the end of summer I found some pretty sweet hooks...

However, for the most part their covered by my Grandfather's old hats..

One of the biggest finds was this sweet old work bench.
Perfect for a kitchen island.

My Grandfather's old deck of Italian cards. The very same deck he taught me with when I was little.

Kitchen

2010-11-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

While we don't exactly have the kitchen 100% done, I think it's about time we post some before and afters. It's been the biggest change in the house seeing as we moved the kitchen into a different room. Where there was once a third bedroom now stands our lovely kitchen.

It was really difficult to get an actual photo of the original kitchen. It was so small you could pretty much extend your arms and touch each end of the kitchen.

This was the third bedroom that was right beside the kitchen.

Here I am standing in the kitchen looking into the third bedroom...

and from the third bedroom looking into the kitchen..

Wall dividing the bedroom and kitchen removed.

Here I'm standing in the hallway (we also removed) leading into the kitchen.

I can't seem to find the photos of the day we cut a hole in house removing this door and window.

The Garden doors we replaced the old door and window with.

Copper hood Taylor made from scratch.

Many days in the shop working on the kitchen...

My pops helping out..

The backslash still needs to go up along with the glass on the upper cabinets, crown molding and baseboards.

busy busy summer

2010-08-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hello there lovely new bed frame!
This was ever so generously donated to us by our rad plumber. Thanks Spence!

After looking through hundreds, and I mean HUNDREDS of fabrics, this is the one I'm partial to. There are definitely others, but this one would work best to upholster my antique chair. However for $49 a yard, my fabric searching continues for something more affordable.

The kitchen is really coming along and we're so close to the finish line. I cannot wait to show you the before and afters. For now here's a sneak peek...

...yes that is a copper hood (Which Taylor MADE HIMSELF!)

2010-08-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

We do apologize for the lack of posts. The kitchen is on it's way!

Basement Stairs

2010-05-23T05:54:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

This is right beside the stove.

MIDWAY

Taylor and Kirk put support beams up.

AFTER

Not 100% done, but you get the idea.

Front Foyer

2010-05-22T15:46:00.001-07:00

BEFORE

Unfortunately we don't have any good before shots. Originally the front foyer was really tight and divided by a wall.

AFTER

Spare Room

2010-05-22T15:19:00.001-07:00

BEFORE

MIDWAY

Got rid of useless hallway...

AFTER

Bathroom

2010-05-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

MIDWAY

It took five of us to get this tub out of the house and to the dumpster.

Death pipe exhibit A (to the left of the photo)

Death pipe exhibit B (damage)

Death pipe exhibit C

AFTER

Ta-Da! Not totally finished, some storage still needs to go up.

Vanity handmade by TBG.

This beauty (made in 1910) we picked up off Craigs List for $100 before we even bought our house.
We refinished the tub ourselves.

2010-01-12T08:09:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, we've been pretty busy...

...and of course Charlie going for gold.

2009-12-16T18:13:00.000-08:00

The house is now structurally sound with the combine efforts for my old man and I. Although my big dreams of heavy exposed beams did not come true, I am very exited about casing the construction grade lumber to better suit the future kitchen and styling of the home.

With the old back door and window on their way out to make room for the new garden doors. The guts of the walls open and general kitchen layout for Maria's father to run new wires. The sub floor is being tuned to eliminate all squeaks and weak points and allow for sturdy underlay and fancy.....hardwood? Or close to it.

New studs for new walls have gone up in the second bedroom and with the help of my good friend Peter a double sized closet is also taking shape.

Plumbing is also beginning to change but not without a near death experience. Removing the sixty year old cast iron stink pipe has proven to be more dangerous than I had ever thought possible. A long breath was needed last night after removing a very large knuckle from the basement under the toilet and neighboring exhaust stink pipe. 5 feet of 4 inch round cast iron from the pitch of the roof came plummeting strait down 12 feet. Only to be stopped by a widening flute in the length of pipe to wide for the existing hole above my passing head. Now I know.

scary

TBG out

October Sunshine

2009-11-24T16:59:00.000-08:00

I've taken so many photos of the house and have hardly posted any. SO, here are some photos of the outside that were taken during the home inspection mid October.

This is the telephone in the garage that connects to the phone (that looks exactly the same) in the kitchen.

We were really hoping they'd leave a bunch of the stuff in the garage. A lot of neat antiques. They did leave a few. Photos to come!

2009-11-21T07:26:00.000-08:00

I have found myself faced with structural challenges. nothing more than supporting ceiling joist where walls have been in the past. they are currently supported with no issues or concerns but hope to call the supports only temporary. One idea that my old man and i had and what i would personally would love to see carried through are thick exposed beams. Most likely reclaimed from a barn. With our biggest lintel at 12' dreams of over sized dovetails joining them to posts are prominent in my mind.
TBGabel

Much more minimalist than this barn burner

Hammer time

2009-11-09T06:29:00.000-08:00

No better way to start off a Saturday morning than with waffles and busting down walls.

Charlie supervising the construction...

...and being all cute.

Our wonderful families and friends came out to give us a hand this weekend which was HUGE and we cannot thank you all enough! The house was full of people taring down walls, cutting down studs, taking out doors, smashing off tiles, ripping up flooring, ripping down wallpaper, and the list goes on.

All the home reno tv shows SBD and JD watch paid off big time with helping us take the bathtub out and excavating the fireplace!

Here's a before and after shot of the upstairs bathroom. It's not a full before shot though. I took this after I removed all the bathroom tile. The second shot is after JD and Taylor were done with it.

Here's what SBD and I worked on for the most part of Sunday. Wallpaper! It wasn't as hard to get off as we thought, but it still took a while.

Needless to say, we're all pretty pooped after this weekend.

ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night

2009-11-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

Out of all holidays, my favourite is Halloween.
It's also the date Taylor and I decided to mark our anniversary.
And just so happened to be the date of the big move.
By nightfall we were way too pooped to try and make it out to Toronto for some Halloween shenanigans.
Last year we were at Dez and Jason's wedding in New York (which was a blast.) So this year Taylor's parents came over with candy and pumpkins. Taylor carved a sweet lookin pumpkin and we gave out candy to the neighborhood kids.

Taylor tells the little ninjas "Do some karate moves on me!" and the kid hoofed him in the balls while the other hit him in the face.

Home Ownership

2009-11-03T06:29:00.000-08:00

Taylor Brian Gabel and Maria-Assunta D'Orazio are the new proud/excited owners of a house.
Can't say I haven't felt this grown up since I put on my first pair of heals.
It all came together really quickly and I find myself really having to take a step back to soak it all in.
The transition from down town major city to the country side seems a bit crazy, but I'm starting to get use to it. As with any place, both have their pros and cons.
I definitely do not miss the douche bags that use to live down stairs from us, or all the frat houses on the street. However, I do miss the variety of things down town Toronto has to offer, right at our fingertips.
When it comes down to it, I'm living with the two loves of my life in a house to call our own. I really could not ask for anything more.