A Glebe home tour - part 2

I have TONS of photos left to share of Kathrin and her family's home in the Glebe. This time it's the dining room, kitchen and backyard. (The tour is the afternoon of September 15th and if you're in the Ottawa area you've got to check it out! Details are here, and you'll get a chance to tour this home for yourself, and several others! Oh - and Kathrin's carpenter is Phil Robilliard in case anyone wants to use him to build all sorts of goodies like Kathrin has).

{ that's Sasha trying to hide from my wide angle lens :-) }

{ this desk was a trash find }

{ the kitchen was very dark and narrow so the wall was opened up to make it more open and bright - SUCCESS!!! }

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A Glebe home tour - part 1

As I mentioned on Friday, it's almost time for the Glebe House Tour (for those of you living in or near Ottawa). I was asked again this year to embark on some personal tours of the homes...but this time I only managed to score one due to homeowner's hectic schedules. I have to say that am I ever glad this house was the one! It is the eclectic, bohemian chic home of Kathrin, her husband Sebastian, daughter Bella (6),  son Sasha (13), daughter Sophie (now living in Vancouver), their son Nicky who passed away in 2009 (he would be 17) and totally adorable dogs Mishka and Ziggy. The 3-story home of this family is a dream, located in one of the most desirable neighbourhoods in Ottawa with tons of space and a beautiful property. What makes this home so incredible is that it's filled with thrift finds, pieces destined for the dump, and lots of handmade bits and bobs. It's all done on a budget, and the creativity and warmth that exude from this home is really beyond words. I did not want to leave. (And when I did leave I made my husband suffer through all the photos with me - LOL). I took a ton of photos and had a hard time deleting any of them because there was so much to photograph, so this post will be a LONG one, and there will be a part 2. Here I'll focus on the front of the home, the entryway, lounge/living room, the basement turned craft area and a couple corners of the upstairs (might not be part of the tour). 

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Heaven

Heaven is dark and moody. No bright, white light. No pearly gates and fluffy clouds. No, it is an apartment in a Collingwood, Melbourne warehouse by Wolveridge Architects. Exposed brick, old timbers, leather, a slightly fussy wallpaper. Bliss. No, I mean heaven!

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Beach House beauty

The quintessential Aussie dream brought to life by interior designer Karen Akers. A place for family and friends to come together and celebrate summer. Once an old bowling club house that had been moved by previous owners to the dunes of Gerroa beach on the New South Wales coastline, the decision was made to renovate not demolish. No beachside McMansion this. No, Karen has created a casually elegant family home with a sense of place and style. And the view! It has been shortlisted for the 2013 Sydney Design Awards. Head here and cast your vote before September 8.

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Reader's home - Nelly's rental cottage

Nelly is an interior stylist in Australia whose work we have blogged a few times (1, 2, 3, 4), and she's about to embark on a new adventure - home ownership! She sent over some info and photos of the rental home she had been living in and sprucing up - I love her vintage, funky style and what a cute home! It's an early 20th century workers cottage in the very pretty, partially heritage-listed suburb of Guildford in Western Australia. It has old jarrah floorboards, super high ceilings, a front verandah, established trees (including a heavily bearing black fig tree and about five loquat trees - yum!), an incredibly pretty-looking old meter stove, and enough quirks to melt my heart (I can't list them all, but think along the lines of skirting boards that no longer reach the floor, house on stilts and wide gaps between each floor board which means any little thingy you drop on the floor may end up under the house, totally unreachable until someone blows the house, etc). When we moved there, it also had yellowing paint on walls and ceilings, a disgustingly sticky 20 year old vinyl in the kitchen and a matching, suspiciously looking carpet in the adjoining dining area, and an unpractical and depressing bathroom. With the landlord’s approval and his financial input towards the cost of material, we painted walls and ceilings and replaced the flooring in the kitchen and dining. Recently, we also entirely renovated the bathroom (new paint, new floor, new layout, new bathtub, etc) so it became much more pleasant and practical, especially for bathing our boisterous 16 month old baby! I prepared a moodboard and cost estimate which I submitted to the landlord, and he recognized the need to do the bathroom up and he approved my plans and financed them. And then, the opportunity to buy our first home arose and we jumped on it. It’s now with a little sadness that we are leaving our beloved rented cottage. Had we stayed any longer, I would have probably tried to convince the landlord to redo the kitchen – those cabinets made of reddish-brown timber-looking laminate and the super narrow benchtop could have really done with an upgrade! But it won’t happen. Instead, I’m now focusing on how to transform, on a tight budget, a generic, character-less suburbian house into a zesty and inviting home with lots of personality. For more details and photos you can check out this post on House Nerd. (Photos: Heather Robbins of Red Images Fine Photography)

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