New Blog, New Ideas

Since I was young, I could think of few things better than a perfectly decorated home. But as a young home owner myself, I understand how hard this can be to achieve within a budget. I hate blog entries that start with “this is why I am writing”, but alas, here we are.

I am starting this blog as a way to celebrate all things frugal, and to encourage others to renovate and decorate. Adding time and a little thought to your home can not only increase the equity in your house, but can be so much fun to! There is nothing I like to do more on a Saturday morning than to comb over the tile samples at Home Depot or bargain hunt at the great antique mall just down the street.

Richard and I on our wedding day last year

My husband, Richard, and I bought our first house just over 2 years ago, and we’ve been slowly renovating it since day 1. With the Victoria real estate market as warped as it is, we could only afford an ugly, dated, 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house for our $355 000. So, I have had to get creative and really prioritize to get the look I want.

The first way to save lots of money on a renovation, is to marry the right person. My wonderful (and patient) husband Richard is a very talented journeyman, who usually trusts my design instincts. He teaches me new techniques, and is great for figuring out things with (can you say ‘first time laying tiles’? Thanks Hun!). As we do more and more renovation projects with each other, we are figuring out how we work as a team. For tiles: he cuts, I lay and grout. For painting: he rolls, I cut edges. For drywall: we play rock-paper-scissors.

Another great way to save on renovations is have talented friends that will work for cheap beer and homemade cookies. My famous gingersnap cookies have officially been renamed ‘super cookies’ by our friend Mickey.

Peter, ripping out our closet walls. Too late to turn back now!

Doing renovations with friends can be a blast! There are tons of laughs to be had when renovating with friends – especially on demo day! Our friend, Peter, was over one night two years ago, and as Richard made us dinner, Peter and I decided it would be a good idea to remove the entranceway closet and put in a half bathroom. Before Richard knew what was happening, Peter and I had already imbedded a sledge hammer in the wall. Thank goodness we got Richard on board before he had a meltdown. Funny enough, we never see Peter after demo day... he just sort of disappears until the project is done. Curious.