Thursday, January 23, 2014

Working On The Storefront


We've now moved down into the store front, and have begun working on renovating it.

Up first is painting.

One of the great features of the store is that all of the windows are brand new. The whole space is very bright and open. However, the dark trim and dark ceilings have really dulled it down. So, we've started painting all of the trim and sills and doors and ceilings white.

It makes such a difference.


You can see the newly renovated entrance. It's waiting a fresh coat of white paint.


Looking towards the back of the store. Can you see how much of a difference a crisp, white ceiling will make?


Even Molly came along to help Aunt Jeanette paint windows.


Ryan in the stairwell going up to the apartment patching... everything.

Interesting fact about the store:
There is a lot of damage on the ceilings and on the walls in the store because there was actually a zombie movie filmed here called Dead Before Dawn. Christopher Lloyd was part of the cast!

Local paper, Welland Tribune described it as a "fast paced adventure comedy that follows a bunch of college kids as they accidentally unleash an evil curse that causes people to kill themselves and turn into Zombie Demons, aka Zemons." 

I'll take their word for it.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The Apartment - Coming Along



Just checking in with a progress report.

Above is a part of the adventure you haven't seen yet.

This is the cottage.

It's perfect... In a very run down and dilapidated way. It has so much potential though, doesn't it? It's off  to the back of the property and was previously used for nothing more than storage.

My parents have grand plans to eventually fix it up, and rent it out as a cottage.

I will soon take you on a tour through the inside.


Another feature I hadn't shown before is their balcony.

Sounds fancy doesn't it?

I was a little scared venturing out on it... in my knitted slippers... on a frozen steel roof. But with a little attention, it will be a lovey little spot off the kitchen to sit with your morning coffee and watch the boats go through the locks.

That's right. The canal is just in the distance. Right beyond this beautiful historic building.



And now for a few updates.

You can see above, that they've added a few more touches to the living space. Painting, curtains etc... It feels more like them.


They've also done a major update in one of the bedrooms; the really rough one that was being used as the work room. Due to a lot of ceiling damage, they replaced it with bead board. It instantly updates the room.

Now they will move onto patching and repairing the walls before painting.


They also ripped out the old carpet.



One of the biggest transformations I've seen was the bathroom. Remember the dated royal blue tile? Gone!

In it's place is a clean, beautiful bathroom.



I am so in love with the character of this building. It makes all the difference in the world!

Isn't the brick behind the laundry area just beautiful? My mom is nearly finished painting an old cabinet they bought back in the summer to house towels and things.


It's all coming along.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

The Apartment - In Transition



I wanted to share a few photos to show you the progress that's being made in the apartment.

Things are coming together very quickly.

The living room and kitchen are nearly finished. Earlier this week dishes were being put away in cupboards and pantry items were being organized. Yesterday we went to set up things like the cable and computer. My parents worked on emptying the store and cleaning it.

There is a huge room off the back of the store that is housing all of their belongings. They are slowly just moving boxes up and putting things away. But until everything is done, it's at least out of sight.

There are still details that they are working on like hanging artwork and curtains and things. But I will show you that all in time.

For now just be amazed at the difference!

It's so nice when something so quickly starts to feel like home.


The kitchen cabinets were all deep cleaned and got a fresh coat of paint.


Taking a much needed break to enjoy a bowl of delicious soup that Aunt Jeanette brought.


How much do you love this doorway? It's probably one of my favorite parts of the whole place.

Even though the linoleum flooring had to stay, it took on a totally different look when the walls were painted. The colours of the hall and the living room match it perfectly! 


Like I said, the rooms still need their own personal touches, but that will all come in time. For now at least they all have proper beds to sleep in.



I love the colour of the hallway, especially with all the doors and trim freshly painted white.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

A Painting Party


So how does one get an entire apartment painted and nearly ready to be moved into in one day?

You have a lot of help. A whole family of help!


Cabinets were cleaned and painted.
















The transition was amazing!



A fresh coat of paint goes a long way.


Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The Store - Before



Fast forward a two days, one of which was spent anxiously awaiting keys, and we arrive here.

The Store

I'm going to try and take you on a walk-through (in photos of course) of the layout of the store, and the apartment above.

Enjoy!


Here is Bonnie, shoveling the inches of snow that had fallen over the previous couple of days.

This is the back of the store.


Here is the front.

91 Main St. West in Port Colborne, Ontario.

As you can see, the storefront is actually two stores. They have been combined to make one large store. The entrance to the shop is on the left, and the entrance to the stairway to the apartment is on the right. This entrance however isn't currently being used.

I will go into the history of the store soon, for now, I simply want to show you around.




As you come around the right side, you find the entrance that is being used for family. Above it is the small porch off the kitchen from which one can sit and watch the boats come through the canal.




As you enter through the side door, you arrive in what is the furnace room.


The door on the left takes you into the shop. If you go to the right, there is a door to the back part of the store (the big green addition on the back).


As you walk out of the utility room, you walk into the right side of the store (if you are viewing it from the street). Through the french door is the stairwell to the apartment. The left hand area is divided into two sections. While the apartment was being painted, they temporarily set up house downstairs.

The two sections of this side of the store can be divided with this beautiful folding door.


Here is a better view of the front of this side.


As you head back out into the open area, you can see where the two stores were opened into one. You can see into the main storefront from here. The door to the right takes you back out into the utility room.


As you walk into the main store area (the left side from the road), you can look back into where we just came from.


This is now the view when one walks in the front door of the store (I'm just standing halfway up the store).


And here is what is behind me. The front entrance of the store.


The character in the store is unbelievable!

Aren't these wide plank floor amazing? 


And how about all of the exposed brick?


So now we will head up to the apartment. Here are those front doors that aren't being used.




When you arrive at the top of the stairs, you land in an extra wide hallway. To the left are the bedrooms and bathroom, and to the right, through a gorgeous doorway with transom windows is the kitchen, dining and living room areas.

First we will head to the left towards the bedrooms.


This room is the first room, which will belong to Erica (the youngest daughter, who will use it when she is home from Pastry School in British Columbia). It is currently in quite rough condition, so for now, it's being used as the "work room'. It's housing painting supplies, tools and anything else needed to make the rest of the house beautiful.

The rooms are all quite long, but very narrow. This is the only one with a closet in the room.


This is the second bedroom on the left side of the hall. It will be the spare room, mainly for the grand kiddies when they come to stay with Nona and Opa.


When you look back out of the room, you can see the master bedroom (left) and the bathroom across the hall.


Here is the master bedroom. It's the master, but it's not much larger than the rest. It does however have a decent walk in closet at the end of the main hallway.


Here is looking out of the master bedroom.


Here is the bathroom. The owner originally had their washer and drier up here. In the future, a tub will fill in this area. I don't think my mom could live without a tub to soak in... or bath her grand kids in.



And now we head from the bedrooms, into the main living area. 

Isn't that entrance beautiful?


When you walk into the living area, this is the view to the right. These windows are at the front of the store. This is the living room.


And here is the view from the living room into the kitchen. The door to the hall is there on the left.


The kitchen is a decent size with beautiful exposed brick.

Soon I will post the progress they've made on painting everything.