DIY, Fixer Upper, Old House, Cottage Life, Thrifting, Vintage collections, how to
Get a jump on spring gardening with simple seed starting tips. Learn how to choose the right seeds, create the perfect environment, and care for your seedlings for a bountiful harvest.
Continue reading “Spring Head Start – Seed Starting”
Our mysterious island barn is a legacy of Ontario’s historic Ice Harvest industry.
Continue reading “Ontario’s Ice Harvest History”
A vintage thrifted baker’s rack painted – becomes a pantry. Continue reading Kitchen Pantry Update
We replaced the existing wooden countertop of our kitchen island with quartz. This was a quick refresh to our existing kitchen in our 130 year old home. Continue reading Kitchen Island Counter Replacement
A before during and after story about our 1890s floor refinishing project Continue reading Old House Floor Upstairs Landing
Our island sheds were filled to the brim with old stuff – and a few treasures that I painted blue. Continue reading Junque from the Sheds
We rescued a marooned red squirrel with a live wildlife trap. Continue reading The Mad Trappers
We love our island cottage. A story about the pros and cons of island life. Continue reading Island Cottage Life
How to clean old oil paintings at home – a DIY project Continue reading How to Clean Oil Paintings
An old house dining room before and after – and how to remove wallpaper Continue reading Dining Room Before and After – Removing Wallpaper
Part 2 of our Century Home Bedroom Before and After Continue reading Renovating the Master Bedroom (Part 2)
Renovating the Master Bedroom in our century home ourselves. Part 1 of a Before and After story. Continue reading Renovating our Master Bedroom
A before and after story about our century home family room makeover. Continue reading Family Room Reno – Before and After
Sorting and soaking my vintage tablecloths and linens was easy and worthwhile. Continue reading How to Care for and Wash Vintage Linens
A before and after story about our old house living room renovation Continue reading Old House Living Room Before and After
I experimented with different silver polishes and silver polishing “hacks” with some success! Continue reading Polishing Silver – How to, Hacks & Tarnish
Having our home staged isn’t fun, but we can definitely learn from it. We have had our homes staged a few times over the years. Continue reading Home Staging 101
I painted my 1990s green slate fireplace surround to give it an inexpensive makeover Continue reading Midnight Fireplace Surround Makeover
We renovated three bathrooms in our 1890s home and this is a quick summary Continue reading 3 Bathrooms Before and After
We completed few small projects in our almost complete bathroom reno ourselves – spraypainting a light fixture and installing a vintage doorknob. Continue reading The New Old Bathroom
We are turning our laundry room back into a bathroom in our century home with a little help
Continue reading Laundry to Bathroom Progress
We were happy to make our ledgestone wall disappear with a thin layer of paint
Continue reading Painting Ledgestone
We wanted to move our washer and dryer in our 1890s home but things didn’t go as originally planned. Continue reading Airing My Dirty Laundry
Sometimes, one thing leads to another and nothing gets done around the house. Continue reading Around the House
How to remove carpet underpadding that has been stuck to hardwood flooring.
Continue reading “How to Remove Carpet Underpad”
Our DIY penny round tile floor project is finished without too much drama ( why and how to install and cut penny tile and how to avoid bad penny tile installation) Continue reading Penny Tile Floor – How To
Painting radiators in our 130 year old house wasn’t difficult, just time consuming and a little messy. What paint to use and how to apply.
Continue reading “Painting old Radiators”
We didn’t like our shiny green gas 1990s fireplace, so we gave it an inexpensive DIY makeover Continue reading 1990s Gas Fireplace Makeover
Filling holes while waiting out the pandemic Continue reading The Cat Door Needed to Go
Having to fix or replace a roof is no fun at all. Continue reading Fiddling with the roof
A thrifty crackled white mirror Continue reading Thrifty Crackle Mirror Project
We cut down a thrifted round table until it was just right. Continue reading Centre Pedestal Table Makeover
Is it ever OK to grab a neighbour’s discarded kitchen table and refinish it? Of course it is! Continue reading Kitchen Thrifting
We are moving forward with finishing up our downstairs powder room and side entranceway. We had started our penny round tiling project months ago, and then the other day I replaced the toilet and started the tiling in the powder … Continue reading Powder Room Reno Gets Rolling…..
Can or should a housewife install a toilet? Continue reading Finally Getting to the Bathroom Reno
Tearing off wallpaper and painting are suitable projects to do while staying safe at home in a crowded house. Continue reading Old House Reno – Crowded House
Solid wood butcher block countertops – how to darken light wood counters with food safe stain.
Continue reading “Kitchen Reno – Dark Stained Butcher Block”
Frozen pipes lead to an unplanned bathroom renovation in our 130 year old house. Continue reading Old House Reno
We are almost finished renovating the kitchen in our 130 year old house. Continue reading Old House Kitchen Reno – Part 3
Part 2 of 3 of the kitchen renovation in our 130 year old home – cupboards, counter, electrical Continue reading Old House Kitchen Renovation – Part 2
Part one of our Kitchen Renovation in our 1890s home.
Continue reading Old House Kitchen Renovation – Part 1 – Before
The second bedroom renovation in our old house renovation project. Continue reading Bedroom Renovation #2
Chalk painting furniture and copper faux finish of hardware for our second bedroom renovation in our 1890s home. Continue reading Renovation Painting Projects
There is nothing to do on a snow day but stay inside and ponder things like what is a Bomb Cyclone Continue reading Snow Day Musings:
Organizing the pantry. Continue reading Pantry Project
A bedroom renovation in our 1890s home. Continue reading Bedroom Renovation Project #1
My husband and I retired, became (sort-of) empty nesters, and downsized our home last year. |I can’t say that we downsized too too much, but we certainly took the opportunity to purge prior to our move. That’s not to say … Continue reading Retirement Renovation
As we get older, our sleep patterns change, and sometimes we have trouble sleeping. We may have trouble getting to sleep at night, or sleeping all the way through. Certain foods are known to help us get to sleep naturally. … Continue reading Trouble Sleeping?