Kitchen renovation: Here are some pictures of the kitchen during our home inspection back in April '11. 

Larry's Mom was part of the inspection crew

Here is the kitchen gutted just after Thanksgiving this past October.

The slate floor tiles were being installed.















Larry painting the kitchen ceiling, walls and moulding ... we started with white and yellow and he is putting on BM Dior Grey. Given that we have  10.5 ft ceilings the dark ceiling provides a dramatic look and feels wonderful. The ceiling and moulding are now the same colour as the new island.

And the finished kitchen

Of course every project has a bump and ours is the granite. We are awaiting a visit from the company representative from Pro Stone to find out what can be done as the finish is not properly done. 

The kitchen renovation team was made up of two wonderful men; Kevin Foster of KTF Kitchens and Kevin Racine of Icandurenos and what a wonderful team to work with; they were on time, professional, clean and treated our kitchen reno like it was their own. To save on the cost Larry did all the demolition and the painting and then we left the cabinet making and installation to these two PROs.  We are so impressed and pleased with their work we have secured them to renovate two bathrooms in the New Year! Many thanks to both Kevin's for helping us achieve our dream kitchen in the Sonning House!

Painting and re-painting the Living and Dining rooms

Yes the title is accurate; Larry painted the WHOLE living room and dining room and then ... we were unsure of the choice.   Larry and I think our mistake was trying to replicate the house we loved on Jedburgh; the same colours don't really work here and we have had to step back and re-evaluate our strategy for this home. 


We settled on a Benjamin Moore colour called Bone China - CC 426 - after a thoughtful consultation with Richard from Glam in Port Hope; we are getting more clarity on how to make the Sonning House our own. Who said this would be an easy process or project?? NOW we are reupholstering our main piece of furniture in the LR - the couch (Yes Richard suggested we tone down the piece as it was done 10 years ago and was a bold choice). Stay tuned for the update as it will be ready in 8 - 10 weeks ... maybe by Christmas ...in the meantime we are happy to report our other pieces will work - plum/purple with a taupe theme.  

This is the original colour we chose ... it was Benjamin Moore - Linen Sand 2151-60 a slightly lighter shade than in our Jedburgh home - BM Straw Hat.  


Thanks for peeking, now onto the hallway, family room and kitchen paint colour choices...Richard come back!! 

Floors refinished and walls being restored ...the list goes on!!

Larry has painted all the ceilings on the main floor to the upper hall with BM Cloud White; the ceilings are a flat finish and the mouldings are in semi-gloss to add a visual punch ... the walls are the most work and as you can see from the many photos he will be taking more time to have them ready for painting.  Between job searches and a few interviews Larry is very focused on getting the walls ready to paint before Thanksgiving weekend. This holiday Monday he is sanding walls and filling cracks ... this part seems to be an endless task!! 

The hardwood floors on the main level are almost done; the final satin finish coat will be going on next Friday; the colour is a medium brown and the grain of the oak shows through the colour beautifully.  We were both expecting it to be darker (perhaps similar to the house on Jedburgh) yet we chose a colour closer to the stain on the railing to guide the floor choice. We are very pleased with the outcome.  Doug from Northumberland Flooring has been a meticulous tradesman and Larry has been very impressed with his work and attention to detail. The old floors are simply beautiful.  This week the stairs are being worked on and we have decided to leave the hardwood on the second floor in the honey blond colour, at least for now. 

Our goal is to have the main floor finished by Christmas. If Larry finds the job of his dreams then that timeline may alter. Do stay tuned for more updates as the kitchen has been designed and ordered... over the next weeks we share our choices on the colour scheme, flooring, granite and back splash. We will be  posting before photos and by the end of October hopefully the final product.  

Hardwood floors revealed and taking some time off this week!

Our progress continues... we (okay that would be the royal we)  ... Larry has completed removal of all the carpet from the front hall, the stairs and the tile from both front and back door entrances.  We have found hardwood flooring underneath all and it flows perfectly with all the main level rooms.   We have hired our second contractor (first was the crew who replaced all the knob and tube wiring) to refinish the floors on the main level.  This work will begin around the end of August so stay tuned for the after pictures.  The other big job that Larry undertook was stripping all the old paint from the wooden staircase (17 in total) ... the work was so tedious that after he completed the job he declared he was ready to go back to corporate life. And so he has brushed off the resume and has met with several head hunters to find his ideal next role. The renovations are taking a pause for a few days;  we are going to enjoy a week off and tour about our new county - Northumberland County and discover more of our corner of Ontario.  

Carpet off reveals hardwood flooring

Stripping the old paint

Before pic - green carpet in main level hall and upstairs to 2nd level

The wallpaper comes down

Upper Hall 

Paper almost off upper landing

Voila - no more paper now the walls need to be repaired

Larry worked for the first two weeks removing all the wallpaper on the main level and the upper hall of our home. Here are a few before and after pics...

And we begin

We moved in May 31st, 2011 and this charming old house was a home filled with love and good energy.  We felt it the minute we walked in and have had friends comment on the "good" vibes they feel when in the house.  We inherited the name Sonning House and Larry has it on his list of "things to do" to dig into the town records to learn more about her beginnings.  We do know that she was an original Ontario cottage built in 1840 and the second floor was added in the early 1900's.  The previous owners gently restored her over several years by doing keys restorations such as exposing the original plaster mouldings. We have A LOT of work to do both inside and out and we hope you enjoy our journey as we start to make this house our home.