Tag: reno

  • Basement Floors & Kitchen

    Basement Floors & Kitchen

    Now that we had the walls in place and clad it was time to add some of the prettier finishes to the basement. Overall I was going for a look that was light bright and neutral, allowing who ever was living down there to add their own personality to the space while have a well designed jumping off point.

    I choose a mid tone brown laminate flooring with a slight grey tone to be the base of the design. Laminate was not my first choice of flooring, I was actually adamant that I wasn’t going to put a “paper” product down on cement floor. But as often happens with first plans in DIY projects, it failed epically and I had to go with the option B. I planned to lay down a foam thermal break with plywood and LVP (luxury vinyl plank) on top of that, but it turns out my basement is slightly damp in the middle. The foam just exacerbated the moisture and started to smell … bad! Thankfully we only did one room so ripping it up and starting again wasn’t too much of a set back. Plan B was to use a plastic dimple membrane under a floating floor allowing the concrete slab to breath and dry. I know option B won’t last as long but it fit our needs at the time and we will cross the replacement bridge when we get there.

    Basement feature walls and ceiling

    As I said before, because we are dealing with a subterranean space light and bright was the plan so the walls got painted a bright but slightly warm white. But an all white space can feel institutional very quickly so we added some pops of contrast throughout. The kitchen was a play on black and white, the wall in the main area got a coat of warm rich grey, and the ceilings in the bedrooms were painted a light dove grey. Our “feature walls” gave the space life and dimension, making it seem more inviting and thoughtfully built.

    Mood Board | Basement Kitchen || Tracey Cameron Creative

    We created an open galley-ish style kitchen in a small recessed area the former owners used as a gym. The space was 7 feet wide, too narrow to do a traditional galley kitchen with lowers on both sides so we got creative.  We used 24” lower cabinets on one side and 15” upper cabinets on the other allowing the space in between to breath while not sacrificing too much storage. We decided to do open display shelving on the shallower side and nothing but sconces and the hood vent on the other. It helped the kitchen feel more spacious and integrated into the living space while giving an almost sculptural quality to the hood vent. With no upper cabinets we need a little bit more storage though and created a suto built in pantry around the fridge with a short upper and a narrow Ikea bathroom cabinet at the end of the space.

    Basement Kitchen Before || Tracey Cameron Creative
    Basement Kitchen After || Tracey Cameron Creative

    I choose classic white shaker style cabinets which we topped with a dark charcoal countertop with a waterfall edge and black hardwear. For the backsplash I wanted to make cheap tile look good! and used a very inexpensive white wall tile (left over from the bathroom) combined with a stacked stone mosaic (that I got on sale) and laid them vertically in repeating lines. The vertical tiles helped elongate the ceiling height and contrasted the strong horizontal lines of the countertop. I grouted it all with a bright white grout unifying the tiles and making the backsplash read as repeating lines of shiny and texture. Brass sconces from Ikea topped the whole thing off and brought a little warmth and bling into the space.

    Basement Kitchen Sink and Stove || Tracey Cameron Creative
    Basement Living and Dinning Room || Tracey Cameron Creative
    Basement Kitchen Cabinets and Fridge || Tracey Cameron Creative
    Basement Kitchen Dinning Room || Tracey Cameron Creative

    We hung a pendant light in the “dining area” and installed an electric fireplace with a geometric surround in the main room. The fireplace not only helps to keep the suite extra cozy but I think it’s a step most landlords wouldn’t include but it’s those extra steps of feature walls and blingy fireplaces that make a rental suite a home. I didn’t want to create a space I wouldn’t be proud to live in myself and I would be quite happy down there. In the next post I’ll show you the downstairs bathroom and extra steps we took with the closets.

  • Renovation Check In

    Renovation Check In

    It’s been three months since my last blog post and we moved into our new house. I’ve been wanting to write a post for two months but have honestly not known where to start. The project is so large it’s hard to sum up in a few paragraphs, but I’ll try and be succinct.

    I mentioned in the Our First House post that we had specific requirements for our first house. Our idea was to purchase a house where the basement could be converted into Income Suite. My parents introduced me to the idea with their handful of income properties when I was a teenager. Scott McGillivray further sold me on the idea with his dreamy hair and “cheques to the bank” battle cry.

    But what fully convinced me to go down the investment property route, was the book Wealth Magnet, by Dr Dolf De Roos. In it he explains his buy and hold philosophy and turning your biggest debt into a positive that brings in monthly income as it appreciates. As great as being a creative entrepreneur is, I think it’s smart to diversify my streams of income and have something stable to count on when my art isn’t selling.

    So far we have demoed the basement; replaced and resized a window; added a walk in shower to the bathroom upstairs; and started about half the reframing in the basement. Still left to complete is EVERYTHING! Jobs have been started but nothing is fully fully complete yet and it’s starting to get a little overwhelming to say the least.

    Basement Demo | Tracey Cameron Creative

    We need to; demolish the basement bathroom; dig and trench the basement floor for the new bathroom location; finish framing the basement bathroom; insulate the ceiling with safe & sound; hang, mud, and tape drywall; insulate the cement floor; install vinyl plank flooring; install cabinets; … oh my this list is getting long and it’s not even complete.

    Our timeline is to have the basement finished and rented for June 1. Three more months? Can it be done? I have to keep reminding myself that little steps add up overtime so I don’t let the to do list feel insurmountable.

    Renovation Progress Upstairs Bath Sneak Peak | Tracey Cameron Creative

    One positive is the upstairs bath is almost complete. Just some waiting on faucets to arrive and to choose a paint colour. I will feel much better when the bathroom is done! It was a big difficult project to start with so it will feel like a major accomplishment to have it completed. Look out for my next post (it won’t be in three months I promise!) and I’ll sum up the upstairs bath project.