Hardwood, Counters & More!

I have been thinking lately about what we'll do when we're ready to do hardwood, counters, window coverings and many more projects...here's some of my inspirations :)

Hardwood Floors

I am in love with a Vintage 5" Fumed Old Oak and various styles of maple. I normally don't like Oak, but this one is different. It has plenty of variations and not as much visible grain. And next to our solid colour black stairs this would really pop.

Vintage 5" Fumed Old Oak

Vintage 5" Fumed Old Oak

Aged Maple Gingerbread

Engineered Hardwood Wide Plank

Counters

For our counters I really love a granite style called Bianco Antico...a common black and white style. It would go perfectly in our monochromatic kitchen.

We would prefer a quartz for the low maintenance, but want the look of granite. Definitely need to do some more research and find more styles I like.

As for the edge style I think the first choice would be the Flat Ease edge, it is simple, contemporary, and easy to clean.

And of course we will need to replace our current kitchen sink with an undermount version. I am in love with the 16-Gauge Stainless Steel Single Bowl Square Kitchen Sink from Ticor. Not sure on the sharp or rounded corners yet...I would prefer the sharp, but they can be more difficult to clean. For the tap I want to do something industrial/commercial looking, but still have practical functionality. Pics below...

Have not put too much thought into bathroom counters and fixtures yet...

To Shutter or Not to Shutter...

Lastly, for window coverings...I LOVE shutters, but the substantial cost is pushing me to blinds. I also love the idea of doing dark coverings on the ground floor and white on the second, but considering that we already have a lot of dark furniture and black stairs we will prob go all white...I have included some samples of both that I love below...

I do know that whichever style of blinds/shutters we decide on that we will go with an inside fit. Meaning that the blind or shutter will be inside the window frame as opposed to sitting outside the frame, I just think it looks more finished. I will be looking for understated cornice trims with straight lines if doing blinds, as opposed to the traditional curves...see below...

Traditional Contemporary

Lots to think about!

Seaton-esque...

Foodie Post!

Kips Flamin Burgers

We are still on our mission to try out as many new places in our new area as we can :) Last night we tried out Kips, a burger joint in the same plaza as the No Frills at the South-East corner of Brock & Kingston. We went in to order and the place really did have a Johnny's feel to it, Johnny's is a traditional style burger joint at Victoria Park & Sheppard in Toronto for those of you who don't know it. Kips had a grill right in the front, so you can watch your burgers being cooked and a pick your toppings setup similar to Licks/Harvey's. We grabbed burgers, fries and milkshakes and all were delicious! For sure will return!
http://bit.ly/weyLM5

I Love Roti
About two weeks ago I also tried out I Love Roti, which is in the same plaza as Kip's. A friend mentioned that they were decent, so I gave it a try. It was very good :) Another place that I will be returning to! Surprisingly there seem to be quite a few Roti places in the Pickering area, and this place is actually rated #5 on Restaurantica - Pickering. Paul Wong's was rated #2 by the way...
http://bit.ly/xVYlBk
http://www.paulwongs.com/

Great Wall Buffet
Also a few weeks ago, we tried the Great Wall buffet on Kingston just west of Liverpool. Was semi-happy with the food and would have been more happy if the prices were in line with the product. It is not as well done as Mandarin, but yet they charge similar prices. So if we are looking for the Chinese buffet experience again, we will be skipping this one and heading to the Mandarin. It helps that it is only just down the street from us. But for now we will be exploring more unique and one off types of places ;)
http://bit.ly/wAM4Tg

Makimono
I have also previously tried Makimono (before moving in), a Japanese place on Liverpool just south of the 401 on ramp. It was good, but I would only go there with someone who has been before. It is better to have a veteran with you, because the menu is large and if you order too much and can't finish it...you have to pay extra for everything that is left over. It is definitely an experience, and I would recommend it :)
http://www.makimono.ca/

Waterfront Bistro
Another place we love, and a bit classier is the Waterfront Bistro. It is at the bottom of Liverpool by the lake. We held one of our neighborhood get togethers there and were surprised at how much we liked the place. We will definitely be going back for a special occasion, and hopefully in the summer when the area is bustling with activity and people.
http://www.waterfrontbistro.com

Massey's
Lastly, a place that we have been visiting while coming to check out the site on the weekends before the move - Massey's. It is located on Liverpool about 5 minutes south of the 401. We love Massey's, it just feels like a neighborhood family type of place. They have a huge menu with tons of comfort type foods. We have been numerous times and enjoyed every visit. We have also brought various friends and family members there and most everyone has loved it too. This will for sure be on our list of places to go for years to come.
http://masseysrestaurant.ca/

Thank-You Mattamy!

Just want to say that we are very happy with our house and the entire process from signing to now, we have had no issues since moving in and our 30 day warranty list has very minor items on it. We also know that had we had any issues that Mattamy would be right there to help us get anything and everything resolved. They really seem to be on point with this development, and we are reaping the benefits!

Now, just need to wait for the rest of the neighborhood to move in...

Shower Organization...

In an effort to keep the shower organized and keep the bottles off the marble ledge we have searched for a few weeks for the perfect shower organizer.

We found everything we were looking for when we stumbled upon this Simple Human one at Home Outfitters. It had everything we wanted and still managed to look good. We needed a spot for a bar of soap, toothbrush, razor, multiple shelves for shower things and this was perfect for all of the above.

It was very easy to install as it simply (lol) uses a tension rod, and each of the shelves are height adjustable. Also see previous post for a pic of it in our shower.

Very pleased with this purchase :)

Moved In Pics!

Here's some pics of everything in it's place :)

Entryway

Ebony Stained Maple Staircase

Powder Room & Cold Cellar

Dining Room

Great Room aka TV room :)

Looking from Dining Room into Kitchen

Kitchen

Our three season deck

Stairs from second floor

Main Bathroom

Laundry Room and Second Floor Hallway

Heavenly Linen Closet

Front Bedroom (Office)

Back Bedroom (Spare)

Master Bedroom

Master Walk-In Closet 

Master Ensuite

Today is 30 Days!

So we have been in for 30 days now!

Everything is great!  We are very glad to have our stuff back and out of storage, and also very happy to have our own space again (though we are immensely grateful to our family for letting us live with them for the past six months!).

We are just working on our 30 day Tarion list and trying not to miss anything! There are not too many others that have closed and moved in yet, but we expect there will be a bunch more by springtime.

We are having fun exploring the Pickering area, and trying out new places :)  Just last night we checked out Paul Wong's - a Chinese restaurant in the west end of Pickering.  http://www.paulwongs.com/  It was very good!

We have also been scouting out gyms in the area, and trying to decide where we want to sign up. So far we have gone to the Pickering Recreation Complex, and we will be heading to Good Life (Next to Loblaws on Liverpool) in the next few days.

We have not experienced any major issues with the construction of the house, and overall we are very impressed. Now to clean-up the house so I can take some pics for my next post! We are also still happy with all of our material picks, which is a good thing because they would be hard to change now!

Pics coming soon!