Quick House update

Just a picture of what the house looks like now.  Cedar shakes will start to go on soon.  We decided to shake the whole front of the house, with a bit of rock.  Rock is really expensive and lends itself to an estate-type home.  Putting shakes on the whole front of the house doesn't help the budget, but we eliminated a bunch of rock, so it all evens out in the end.  Im very excited about the exterior and how it has come together.  It actually hasn't come easy - but I am finally confident that the outcome is going to be perfect for us!



Insulation is done, and drywall has begun.  Im not sure how interesting these pictures will be, but so many have requested pictures - so here you go:

Grapevine Furniture & Design headquarters:

Eli's RoomI think that if something drives you crazy in your current home, you could go overboard when building a new home.  ie my new laundry!  Its a bit big:

On our way

The last few weeks have been quiet on the house front.  Not quiet on the life front with year end school activities and trying to finish up Grapevine Projects.  I will have some fun pictures to show you of those projects soon!

I have been mostly working on lighting - Im a bit obssesed.  Through it all Ive found some very interesting things.  Some of which I have already shared.  Ive secured a new account with Robert Abbey lighting who offers amazing lighting from the famed designer Jonathan Adler.  Ive also been purchasing from Roost, a company who offers amazing accessories and lighting; most of which use filament bulbs - a trend we continue to see more of.They also have the most adorable animal head made of felt.  My husband can hardly bear me hanging an animal on the wall that he hasn't shot!  He'll have to deal with it - 'cause I love them, and there was no blood involved!

Now for flooring.  I'm thinking of going light.  I can't believe it either.  Its not like the honey oak or light maple of days gone by.  This is what I am thinking:  Although you can't see it well, the small piece left of centre is the one I am favoring.  It is white oak with a natural finish and a slight bit of white rubbed into the grain.  It is lightly wire brushed which removes the softest grains and creates a less "flat" finish which tends to hide more imperfections.  The hickory in the centre is beautiful, but I think it may be too busy and could come off as rustic.  Hickory is a very hard wood if you are looking for something to stand the test of time.  Baseball bats are made from hickory.

This is a picutre of the flooring that I am favoring in a room:  Let me know your thoughts!

More to see

Again, sorry I haven't done this in awhile.  Truthfully, things aren't changing as fast.  We are moving along quickly though.  Insulation next week, and by the end of the week - drywall.  Yay - walls!I love my front door!  you are only seeing the side lights, but the door is exquisite!  I love my black windows, and hopefully I'll love the colours Ive picked for the house!  For some reason I felt so unsure of myself about the exterior.  I feel good about my decisions now though.  My husband has let me shingle the whole front of the house.  I say he "let" me because he is not a fan in cedar shakes, but he trusts me ;)  Just can't wait to see those posts get nice and fat and in my yummy white trim.  Ive picked Benjamin Moor "Silver Fox" for the exterior, and a warm welcoming yellow for my front door.  If Ive known anything all along, its been that I've wanted a yellow door.This is the back of the house.  We plan to shingle the dormers and put hardy board everywhere else.  You can see where the covered deck is.  There is a gas fireplace going there, and hopefully heaters.  Our pool will be just off the deck - they family is very excited about that!

SOME OF THE LIGHTING IVE FOUND:



Are you seeing a trend here?  GOLD

I bought 3 of these for my entrance. This one was at Liberty in Vancouver. It was $1100. I bought all 3 of mine including shipping and taxes for under $800!



 

I don't settle.  I just don't.  I don't for my clients, and Im not for myself.  The tilers usually expect to go to one tile supplier and pick up everything.  Not when Lisa is on the job.  On one of the jobs I am working on now, the tiles came from 3 suppliers.  It impossible for one supplier to have the absolute best option for every situation!  Gotta have the best.  Then there is the issue of price.   Some times you've gotta bite the bullet and just do it.  Many times there is a way around it.  Same for my lighting.  Ive poured hours into it.  But hopefully in the end I'll have a couple of high end designer pieces, but mostly just high end looking pieces!  The budget can only go so far.

This is the kitchen, family room area - facing into the back yard.



This is Svea's room.  She has beautiful vaulted ceilings and a window seat overlooking the front yard.  Now just gotta find a low cost lighting option to fill the big vaulted ceilings.If you follow Grapevine Furniture and Designs on Facebook, you can follow some of my great finds.  Thanks for reading.  Hope to post again soon.

Next time I should be able to reveal the Grapevine projects I have been working on!

Lisa

New and Improved.

Welcome to my new and improved blog!  This is the begining of a whole new look.  Soon I will be introducing my new website and facebook page.  We are busy finishing up two big projects.  I look forward to sharing them with you soon.

On to the house.....

Here is what it looks like from the front:



And the back:

The small dormer is the  master bedroom, and the large one is the boys bedrooms.   Below is the covered porch which will have a fireplace!



 This is the side:

The family room wall isn't built yet.  The basement below walks out to the side yard.



 

The upstairs:

This is the new Grapevine Designs headquarters!  There is a small portion that will be used as our walk in closet.  This area provides some interesting challenges with the slanted walls.  But in the end I think it will add to the uniqueness of the space!



Have a little peek at my sink sink for the basement bathroom:  Isn't it beautiful?  It is even more gorgeous in person.  I just about fell over when it came out of the box.  Its soooo pretty!  Yes I do get this excited about sinks - that is why I am a designer.



The best news about this beautiful sink is what I paid for it.  We were just on a little trip to Seattle and popped in to the Restoration Hardware Outlet.  You know, if there is something particular you are looking for, you can sign up to get a call if it comes in.  This is what I had planned to do.  But to my surprise - there it was!  Ready for me to take to a loving home.  So I signed up for a vanity for Svea's bathroom.  Anyway, back to my beautiful sink:  I walked out of there with this good looking plumbing fixture for $443.09 US - which these days is less in Canadian dollars!  As soon as we crossed over the boarder again (which we did without a stitch of duty or taxes), I called Restoration Hardware in Vancouver.  When all is said and done in Vancouver I would have paid, $1114.40 US!  No I did not put an extra 1 there.   My husband is even impressed with my purchase!  Every little bit helps where the budget is concerned.

Contemporary Colour

My very stylish friend asked me to help her bring her ideas for her contemporary home to life.  Here is a sample of some of the fabric we found for her banquette and family room.  Also notice the Haro sectional from Stylus with a custom fabric .

Can hardly stand it!

Im so excited I can hardly stand it!  I finalized my appliance package!  And our walls are going up!

First, appliances:

 

This picture shows the line from Jennair that I went with.  I got quotes from Sears, Trail and Coast.  Coast came in at the best.  Then Sears said that they would match Coast's price, plus we could put it on our Sears card and get Sears points -- @$1200 worth!  In the end that is what we bought our dishwasher with.  Plus Jennair had a promotion where if you buy a certain amount of Jennair appliances, they throw in a dishwasher for free.  We've decided to have 2 dishwashers, so that paid for the second one.  Two dishwashers for free!  We were asking how much extra it would be to have 2 dish drawers instead of a dishwasher.  She said Jennair hasn't specified which dishwasher you get for free.  So we ended up with $2500 dishdrawers for free.   Pictured above is our fridge.  Except our fridge has water/ice in the door.  That wasn't my first choice, but it was $2000 less that way.  Isn't that wierd?  You can see our wall oven and dishwasher there as well.  Plus we got a 4 burner industrial -looking  range with a griddle.

Now the house....  it is being built fast and furiously!  This is our rec room.  At the back is the electrical room and our crawl space... which is full height - so thankful for that!  The other two room will be a media room and exercise room.  We plan to finish the basement, but not outfit it.  The media and exercise equipment will have to come later!

  On to our kitchen....  Its hard to see without drywall.  The boards on the floor are outlining the island!  The room in the back is the desk area for family computer etc, and the panty.  The opening is double doors onto the deck.



In the last pictures you can see our mud room and laundry.  Im so excited about these.  But it has hit me that I am going to need to put lots of cabinetry in these areas.  A little nervous about the budget!





This picture is an inspiration picture of my living room or family room.  It isn't exact, but its my inspiration.  Next week we start on cabinetry.  Stay tuned for a sneak peak at some lighting options.

Grapevine goings-on

The house is coming along very quickly.....  more on that later - stay tuned! (the picture below is NOT my house).  I need to wait for some warmer and dryer weather to brave the jobsite, and the mud to take some new pictures for you to see.  Also to come:  My appliance package!  So excited to tell you about that.  Also some inspiration pictures.

We have two big projects we are working on right now - among other things.  But I thought I would give you a sneak peak of the before pictures:

This brave couple loves their home and their North Vancouver neighborhood.  They love it enough to add a third floor to their home!  What a process it had been...  They have 2 small children at home, lots of banging, inconveniences, not to mention lots of water in their main living area!  But I think they are through the worst of it, and on to the fun stuff.  Pretty chandeliers... faucets....maybe wallpaper and furniture too!



The next project is a complete main floor reno.   Here is a peak at the old kitchen....  on to bigger and better things!  I can't wait to show you the outcome!



One of my favorite suppliers who offer quality upholstered furniture at great prices (if you get it through me:), have added some very interesting pieces to their collection.  I am very excited about it!  Have a look:

This same bed is available in many stores downtown for 3x what I can offer it for.



Although this isn't my favorite design (below), this is Carrie Bradshaw's bedroom on Sex and the City.  It is very similar to the Bento bed above.  The great thing about the Bento from Stylus is that you can customize it with a nail head detail and whatever fabric you choose.  The price for the Bento starts at $847.50 for a queen!

A couple more new pieces offered through Stylus:

Its too bad they had such large pillows covering up these great sofas.

We had a little scare last week...  My client Lil fell through the main floor of her house and into the basement!  Many of you may have heard the story on facebook.  She has angels all around her protecting her.  One of those angels was a contractor that just happened to be exiting the washroom and caught her as she fell off the pin ball machine head first!  Although you'd never know it to see her :), she is in her 60's, yet she survived the incident with nothing more than a few bruises.  Although shaken up, we continued with our wallpaper and tile meeting before she went off to the hospital to be checked out! 

One of my clients found a lovely mirror for her living room for $1500 at Jordan's Interiors.  I found the exact - i mean exact same mirror in a different finish for $40!  Isn't that crazy?