Renovating the City...one conversation at a time

I know I started this blog as a way of documenting my and HandyMan's foray into the land of home renovation, but I've come to realize that sometimes you need to renovate your life, just like you renovate your home.

HandyMan and I had a stellar weekend. We hosted a huge event...for 500 strangers. We hosted "Pecha Kucha Toronto vol.1", an event which celebrated the launch of our new book Design City Toronto and the launch of the Toronto Doors Open 2007 weekend. "Pecha Kucha" is a Japanese term which translates into 'the sound of conversation'. And that's what we intended to do -- start a conversation. We wanted Torontonians from all walks of life to explore their city, to be curious about it, to explore its Open Doors, to form an opinion about the buildings they work and play in. I think we accomplished that.

I've always found that architecture is an elitest subject... many in the industry feel you are only qualified to discuss architecture if you have studied it or are a practicing architect or designer. I think this is bunk :) You don't need to be a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Architecture to "know a good building when you see one". So like a mason tearing down a brick wall, we tried in some small way to tear down the barriers and democratize the subject of architecture. Call it a renovation of thinking.

Will our little event have long-lasting impacts? Only time will tell. I do know though that many people left our Pecha Kucha prouder of Toronto than when they walked in. And for my mom, who probably has never discussed architecture or design in her life, to say "I really enjoyed the presentations. I wasn't bored at all" - heck, maybe we really can make a difference. We just have to start, one brick at a time.

Less Is More

With the closing of our new house about six weeks away, HandyMan and I have to get our butts in gear and get my condo sold. There is nothing like a looming deadline to get us moving on things on our To Do List. We've spent the majority of the glorious long weekend cooped up inside purging, packing, and preening my condo into show-worthy condition.

Its amazing how much "stuff" I've managed to accumulate in the three short years that I've lived in this condo. And its not like I'm a pack rat or anything. I purge on a regular basis. Those capris I thought were a good deal at $20 but haven't worn for the last two summers? Tossed 'em. The duplicate strainers, can openers and wooden spoons? Banished them from my tiny kitchen. I feel like I have little affinity for material things...but my packed-to-the-rafters condo tells a different story!

It seems that no matter what size of a place I've lived in, from my bedroom in my parents house, to the two bedroom rental apartment, and now this condo, my stuff seems to inexplicably expand relative to the size of the space. How is it that I when I consciously try to reduce and reuse and minimize my footprint on the environment, all I seem to have is more more more?

I hope this new house will tell a different story. HandyMan and I are consciously trying to incorporate enviro-friendly elements in our renos. There are so many green options these days that making the right choice shouldn't be wrong for our pocketbooks. Now if I could only find enough storage space for all my shoes...

Condo no more

It’s finally sinking in. In two months, HandyMan and I will have our first home together. We’ve both had our own condos separately, but this will be our first place together, as soon-to-be-husband-and-wife. We were sooooo tired of the condo grind. Do you know what its like to renovate a condo when you can only work between the hours of 9am-7pm weekdays and 12pm-4pm on Saturdays? No wonder it took us over a year to finish the renos!

And in a condo, everything is everywhere. There’s no back shed to store your tools so the general feeling of living in a condo while you’re doing renos is one of “chaos”. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to get used to using 8 stacked packs of laminate as a coffee table :)

It was a great learning experience though. We got to try out a few things on a small scale. Like the workspace - we built it out of a former storage closet by knocking out a wall and installing some Ikea kitchen cabinets. We also had a custom desktop installed by one of HandyMan’s friends in the trade. It turned out pretty sweet.

Its interesting too how a house changes you. Because of this condo, I will forever more always have a wood-burning fireplace in my home. Have to have one. Got to. It’s a must. Won’t be home without it.

And so too, I can say that I will never live in a condo again. It was me once, and now, I want something ‘more’. I’m sure our new home will live up to that expectation.

My new handbag

When I was a teenager, I'd get together with my girlfriends and we'd gossip about the latest TeenBeat magazine we read or the newest frosted pink lipstick we bought. As we moved through our 20's , the talk turned to the funky hip club we went to on the weekend or the cool restaurant we just ate at. Now that I'm in my 30's, I find that most of our conversations revolve around housing... what houses do we want, what houses have we bought, what renos are we going to do with our houses, what neighbourhoods do we want to live in. I love talking about my house just as much as the next person, but when did my little group of friends' fascination with all things 'house' take on the popularity of say, shopping?

I just met a great new couple this weekend. Junebug and Frisco seem to be young, vibrant people. They are soon to be married and just like HandyMan and I, they have bought a new house and are adding that to the wedding chaos. You would think that since we met a tasting at our shared wedding venue, we'd be comparing notes on guestlists, bridesmaid dresses, showers, and favours. Okay, we were but... most of the time we were talking tile, trim, and tearing down walls (which I love to do, by the way)! I guess, in some way, its to be expected... your wedding is just one day, but your house can have much more permanence.

Its kinda comforting too to know that others are in the same boat. I don't know much about 'keeping house'. I don't know how to tend a garden. I don't know how to check the furnace. And just like I can count on my friends to suggest which handbag goes with my outfit, I know who to turn to when I'm indecisive about paint colours.

Wow, that was easy!!!

We bought a house. There, wasn't that easy? After a few months of spending our weekends house hunting, the search is over. I can't believe it. It hasn't sunk in. WE. BOUGHT. A. HOUSE.

And it sure is a beauty. In recent weeks, HandyMan and I have managed to get a better handle on what type of abode we wanted to call 'home'. It had to be a fixer-upper. It had to have good bones and good street presence. Ideally, it would have a fireplace and a long set of stairs that I could make into my 'dream stairs'... white risers, glossy black treads and hand rail, creamy sisal runner up the middle. Well guess what - we got all that and more!

The house is in Leaside. We'll be two blocks from Winners, Home Depot, and Canadian Tire. Cute shops and restaurants are a 15 minute walk away. I can already picture our early Sunday mornings... stopping by Rahier for fresh pastries, dropping by Home Depot (where the staff will quickly know us by name!). I'm feeling disbelief and excitement at all the possibilities. Which reminds me, gotta add more tools to the wedding registry ;)

A Reveal Does Not An Architect Make

HandyMan and I know this person Tomcat who fancies himself quite the architect. In his own home, he's done a total reno top to bottom. This involved ripping out walls, floors, and ceilings. Now normally I would applaud anyone who voluntarily takes on such an undertaking... living in a constant state of dust and construction is tough on the pocketbook and relationships with your co-habitants. But when the end result is just "wrong, wrong, wrong", all I can think is "what a colossal waste of money."

I've found that you can spot a 'good' architect's house by its presence on a street, by the way it stands out from all the others. Unfortunately, you can just as easily spot a 'bad' architect's house. Architect's tend to bring their work home with them, and try and incorporate all the fancy-schmancy things they learn at work into their own homes. Sometimes it works, other times - not so much. Tomcat's house is an example of poor space planning, unnecessary details, and just overall bad design. I think its a result of Tomcat's inexperience. He's probably worked on a few retail or residential spaces in his day job. But while things like a corner reveal or dropped ceiling work well in the latest hip nightclub, in your own home, they just seem out of place.

The space, too, shows the difference between an 'architect' and a 'designer'. An architect (especially an inexperienced one), would spend the money to install cool pocket doors. A designer would realize that behind those pocket doors is a crappy old bathroom with dated looking tiles and old hardware. An architect would use 'in' materials like brazilian cherrywood, grey-tone slate and clean white subway tiles... a designer would realize that its probably not wise to use them all in the same room. Funny, even with HandyMan, he is fantastic at drawing plans, making efficient use of space, but ask him to pick tiles that go together on a fireplace and he's at a loss.

In the end, when you go too far on either spectrum, too architect-y or too designery-y, you're left with an end product that very few 'normal' people can appreciate. HandyMan's and my house will be somewhere in the middle... simple bones with great finishing details. That's really all you need.