Hgtv Dream House Helps...

HGTV Dream house helps in building your dream home

If you are thinking of your dream house to be the most beautiful home in comparison with your neighbors and friends, then the HGTV dream house provides you with the opportunity of building your dream house with ease.

Hgtv Dream House: Your Room

The shows at the HGTV dream houses exhibit the latest and the stylish trends for laying the solid foundation of your dream house. This is for sure that you want to make your neighbors and friends jealous with the ultimate home.

Hgtv Dream House: Decorate your table

While watching the show of the HGTV dream houses you will be able to know some of the important features that one should incorporate while building their dream home. The HGTV dream homes will provide you the basics such as improving your home with the makeover of the upper floor to the makeover of the basement.

Hgtv Dream House: Dream House

The expert people will suggest you whether you should go for replacing the windows, how to fix the leaking roof, or even adding another room in your house. These projects require some of the expert suggestions which are given by the specialists.

There are other projects which also include the remodeling of the master bedroom or updating the kitchen or improving the space of your living room to add in the beautification of the house. Apart from the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and the bedrooms the HGTV also helps you to improve your backyard and the beautiful gardens.

Hgtv Dream House: Kitchen

The main objective of the HGTV is to provide you with all the necessary information, the inspiration and the innovative ideas that will help you in redecorating your home and fulfill the dream of building your ultimate house.

A Dream Home for a Single Mom & Daughter

Living Room sans wall art and accessories

This past October I began working for a new client, a single mom and her young daughter, who had recently purchased an outdated and neglected 70's sidesplit in a suburban neighbourhood north of the city.  After taking possession of the house in February of last year she hired a contractor to go in and update the entire house with new flooring, new baseboard, new windows, new kitchen and bathrooms and everywhere a fresh coat of paint.  When I first met the client this past September the work had all been completed and she was in need of some help to get the entire house outfitted and furnished from top to bottom - she'd be starting from scratch and wouldn't be bringing anything with them to this house except their clothes.  She works full-time and was looking for someone she could hand the entire project over to so she wouldn't have to do anything except give approvals when necessary (and write cheques of course!).

This project would be a departure for me because normally I would be involved in the renovation process as well but in this case I was coming on board at the completion of the renovations - making any changes to what had been done to date was not an option so my mission was to work with what was there.  Not even so much as a new coat of paint, truly a first for me!!!  But I was up for the challenge.  An entire house from scratch, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, mud-room, foyer, living room, dining room, eat-in kitchen and family room all  be completely furnished and made ready for mom and daughter to just move-in and begin a new life in their dream home.   I would have about 2 months to do the planning and sourcing/ordering main pieces and then another 2 months to do all the remaining sourcing, purchasing and have everything delivered and installed.   With a very modest budget and a short time-line, I could do a few select custom pieces but the bulk of the purchasing would have to come from readily available or in-stock sources.  We originally had hoped for an early February move-in but due to several delays in deliveries (and practically nothing being 'in-stock' at any retailer!!!) we're now scheduled for completion and move-in at the end of this month.  Its been a purchasing marathon.

The past 2 weeks at the house have been a flurry of activity with multiple deliveries of things that were ordered months ago and deliveries of all the things I've been purchasing and acquiring since early December.  New lighting is going up, window coverings are being installed, furniture is being put in place and very quickly this house that has sat empty for the past year has suddenly starting looking like a home and the neighbours are becoming very curious. : )  With so many rooms to pull together there's a million little details to attend to and dozens and dozens of last minute purchases to make.  Over the next two weeks I've still got some small miscellaneous pieces to buy along with wall art a couple of runners, some bedding and some accessories (ok I've got a LOT to do yet).  When filling an entire home from scratch for real people to actually live in (not a show home) the list seems endless..............but I'm starting to see the sparkly light at the end of this long winding road.

Inevitably, the more effort you put into trying to wrap-up a project,,,the faster things unravel.  It seems like with each newly delivered item, there seems to be a newly delivered issue that comes with it that needs to be dealt with.........

Family Room with custom armoire,,,and still no final selection on area carpet.  Carpet option no.2 will be delivered tomorrow for approval.  Fingers crossed.

The Mudroom....I just found these little treasures today, a Williamsburg style hall bench with coat hooks and storage under the seat, the basket is authentically really old and weathered, I love it.  I'll pull the rest of the room together around these.

The Dining Room,,,the chandelier was partially installed today.  The table was scheduled to arrive between 12:30 and 3:30 this afternoon,,,,,,,,its 9pm and it still hasn't shown up and no-one even bothered to call.  This was the second attempt at a delivery, the table originally arrived mid-January but was damaged and a replacement was ordered, which was supposed to have been delivered today.  So tomorrow when I'm not as %$#% mad,,,,I'll make some calls and try and find out what the problem is this time.

The Guest Bedroom...still needs the rest of the bedding and a night table.  Even though we had the smallest amount of the budget allocated to this room, its become my absolute favorite.  Given carte blanch to do whatever I wanted in here,,,,once I found the antique iron beds, everything else seemed to come together with such ease.

Remember this sketch I posted here.......

Well here it is almost all completed.  This is the little girl's room - the custom headboard and skirt were delivered last Friday, the headboard still needs to be mounted up on the wall.  Her Mom ordered a regular height box spring which you can see when used with a pillow top mattress makes this bed a little too high for kids so the box spring is being exchanged for a low profile model.

So stay tuned for lots more updates and all the before and after shots coming soon!

All Photos:  Carol Reed

Brian's Condo - Sneak Peak

Dining Area

Well HELLOOO,,,,It seems like only a few days have passed since my last post but my most loyal and faithful follower sent me a message yesterday to 'remind me' it had been 11 DAYS since my last update!!!  Honestly, I've been so entrenched with multiple projects and overlapping move-in dates that I've been working 24-7, and having to decide whether to sleep or blog.  Sleeping seems to have won out every time,,,but not by choice.

So back to Brian's condo........aside from a few finishing touches like getting some artwork framed and waiting for an unfortunate 'delayed' delivery of a club chair for the living room,,,Brian's condo is about 95% done!  I'm still searching for just the right night tables for his bedroom as I'm determined to find something interesting and unique - they're such a focal point in his layout but the budget is small and my time is limited.  Its pieces like these, ones that need to 'find you' and are often discovered when you're not looking that can take the most amount of time to find but its the difference between your space looking cold and catalogue or looking personal and original.  I'm all about your space evolving over time, mixing old with new and don't believe in an everything new and off the shelf solution, so completely furnishing this condo from scratch in 2 months has truly been a challenge.  Its hard to find unique and vintage on a deadline.  So I'll keep searching for some interesting night tables as long as Brian is willing to be patient,,,, I know he's anxious to cross everything off the list and be done so we may have to make a compromise soon. ; )

I've been taking photos of the condo along the way but most of the time i've spent there has been during the evening or during times when there was no lighting installed so having proper lighting for half decent photos has been a challenge too.  Until I have time to post in more detail about the design concept for the Living Room and Master Bedroom I thought I'd post a bit of a teaser of the nearly finished spaces as they've looked over the past couple weeks.

The dining area (photo above) has been in the same unfinished state for some time now,,,,you'll notice the table is actually assembled now - personally I was ready to throw it off the balcony but Brian geniously, single handedly managed to solve this geometric puzzle and get it standing on all three criss-crossed legs, despite the instructions.  The large photo canvas has been hung since this photo was taken but we're still waiting on the globe pendant fixture which has been on back-order forEVER.

A new light fixture updates the guest bathroom.

Brian's customized travel photos, vintage bookcase and lamp in the Den/Guest Bedroom.

Some cool finds and a framed personal photo accessorize one of the floating shelves in the front entry.

Living Room with custom subway sign art.  Accessories still to come....

Wide slat 'cherry like' blinds and grey flannel pin-stripe grommet header drapery panels were a great find at Home Depot, in-stock and inexpensive but they've transformed the space.  Paired together they're really tailored and handsome looking.

Speaking of tailored and handsome,,,,,,the bedding in the master bedroom was one of my favorite finds and was really key in pulling the entire room together.  You wouldn't believe the steal of a deal I found on this, and I'll admit I have no shame and will shop anywhere for a deal. And this time I have to say I hit the jackpot!  In a warehouse, behind a car rental shop, behind a used car lot, under a highway overpass, in an industrial unit with no signage, I discovered duvet covers for $19.99, the same duvet covers I had just seen in a store at a mall a few blocks away for $200!!  I'm not embarassed to say I bought multiples, and then went back for more. : )

Black & White Toronto Photo prints from an 1898 publication, $45 ea.

Antique Canadian landscape prints, vintage 1807, $15 ea.

As I mentioned in my previous post about the Guest Bedroom/Office,,one of the challenges for first time or new home owners is finding the budget for artwork for your walls.  With so many bare walls, it certainly doesn't' take much to add up fast yet your home will never seem complete or lived in with bare walls.  It would have been so easy to go into a store and buy ready-framed decorator art but it would have no significance to Brian whatsoever and just look staged.  So two weekends ago I managed to convince Brian into attending an antique show at Sherway Gardens with me.  This was no small feat,,,,trying to talk the bachelor into spending a Sunday afternoon antiquing........in a MALL,,,let's just say it was a first for him (and likely a last).  But he was a trooper, he managed to hang in there for almost an hour and it was just long enough for us to find a few potential treasures.  I had scoped out the show a couple days earlier and saw some things I thought he might like but I wanted him to be involved in making the selections as I just don't believe in picking out artwork for clients. I think the trip, brief as it was, was really successful - we ended up finding some pieces that he was really drawn to and now he'll also have the memory of the experience of finding these (or block the experience out of his memory completely?).  

While these pieces are getting framed and we await the delivery of a few items still on back-order for the condo,,,,,I'm on the final leg of a designer marathon getting a 70's sidesplit completely furnished and outfitted for a single mom and her young daughter to move-in before this month's end.  I'll have loads of photos to come yet on this project as well as design sketches for an amazing kitchen re-design I'm working on for a chef's home.

You can check out previous posts for floor plans and before pictures of Brian's Condo Project thru the links on the sidebar.

All Photos:  Carol Reed

HGTV Kitchen Lighting Designs

HGTV kitchen lighting designs

Lighting a kitchen properly, is not a daunting task. All you need is, keep certain things in mind and your kitchen can look full of life as never before. Among the most common mistakes committed while choosing kitchen lighting is getting one fixture in ceiling center.

Hgtv Dream House: Ambient Lighting

Effective lighting of kitchen involves layering. Four layers should be blended together – ambient, task, decorative lighting and accent. By using layered lighting, you can create an inviting environment for your kitchen.

Hgtv Dream House: Kitchen of HGTV

Task lighting is the first type that comes to anyone’s mind at the time of designing as it is important at the time of preparing food. But if this light is misplaced then it can lead to creating a hindrance in the ability to work properly, throwing shadows to the work place. The ideal place for getting this light fixed overhead cabinets. Anywhere you will be slicing, reading recipes and chopping.

Hgtv Dream House: Design your Kitchen

Ambient lighting is another important lighting layer for a kitchen that is usually overlooked by people. These lights create warm and inviting effect in kitchen. Ambient lighting fixtures may include pendant hangings; flush mounted lighting fixtures and adjustable track lights. One of the least common layers of lighting is accent lighting.

Hgtv Dream House: Lighting in your Kitchen

It is popular among people who spend a lot of time in casual entertainment in kitchens. By hanging pieces of artwork on wall behind breakfast tables or tile splash back over sink can be a decorative focal point in your kitchen. Up lighters, track lighting, wall sconces and directional eyeball lighting are a part of accent fixtures.