How to Whiten Sheets

It wasn’t until we were just about ready to list my sister’s house that how to whiten sheets even came onto our radar. Up until then, we stored our yellowed cotton sheets and duvet cover away, thinking they’d never see the ‘white’ of day again. But an impending open house and zero staging budget have a way of getting us to spring into action! Continue reading

Gas Fireplace Won’t Light? Easy Fix

What do you do when your gas fireplace won’t light? This very thing happened to us just when winter was setting in. But you know what else was setting in? Omicron! If you’re us, you nix calling in an expert because it’s early days of a new variant and you don’t want to take chances. After some initial anxiety on my part about ‘messing with fire’, Hubs got it working for a while. But he only had short-lived success.

There are only two season in Canada: winter and construction. So now is as good a time as any to fix our gas fireplace!

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Pull Out Cabinet – Turn a Filler Panel into Storage

A pull out cabinet is a great solution to utilize wasted space in the kitchen. Although our kitchen is a beautiful space, it isn’t overly functional; I knew we could do more to maximize the limited storage. The light bulb went off one day when I was surfing the net and found a base filler cabinet roll out. Continue reading

Upcycling Ideas and More – Best of the Nest

We’re popping into your inbox today to bring you these upcycling ideas and more. These are some of our favourite picks of the nest from this year. Continue reading

Loose Lay Vinyl Plank Flooring Installation

Today we’ve got the ultimate guide on our loose lay vinyl plank flooring installation. Because it’s waterproof, durable and can be easily removed and reinstalled if you ever have a flood, loose lay luxury vinyl plank is a no-brainer for a basement. And, let’s face it, most basements will experience water damage at some point (you can read about how we recovered from our first leak here).  Continue reading

Stone Patio Installation – a DIY Achievement

A stone patio installation is likely the most backbreaking work you will ever attempt. But it’s also the most rewarding DIY! That’s because the money you save on labour can be put right back into high end finishes and accessories. In our case, that high end finish is real Travertine. We fully intended to splurge on this stone but as luck would have it, the company was moving locations and it was on clearance! Better to sell cheap than to shlep it to the new location!

Installing real stone is as easy as pavers and looks so elegant when it’s done! So it’s nothing to be intimidated by! Continue reading

Luxury Vinyl Flooring Innovation – True North LVMax

Our luxury vinyl flooring install was a long time coming. You might even say long overdue. Our basement flooded and we lost our beautiful engineered hardwood floor. Collateral damage of course was my craft studio, Hubs’ man cave and our laundry room. Despite doing all the right things, and even recovering from a previous flood, we knew we were taking a risk by installing real wood. After the incident, our dimpled membrane did not save us a second time. But that’s now water under the bridge (or I guess under the floor!).

Now with the flooring out, we’re down to bare concrete again. Continue reading

How to Install Baseboards in 12 Steps

Adding baseboard to a renovated space is like putting lipstick on a face; it’s the finishing touch that brings it all together. Today we’re showing you how to install baseboards to get professional looking results if want to DIY your baseboards. Whether you’re building out a space from scratch (like us) or replacing baseboard trim with more modern baseboards, these tips and tricks will help you get a great-looking finish. Follow along how to install base boards with our 12-step guide. Continue reading

Trouble Shooting Baseboard Gaps: How to Scribe

Are you afraid to tackle DIY baseboard because your floors aren’t perfectly level? Well, don’t be! Our basement installation was going pretty smooth when all of a sudden, we were confronted by huge gaping spaces between the floor and the baseboard! If this isn’t the look you’re going for either, read on 😉. Today we’re showing you how to scribe to troubleshoot this common problem. Continue reading

Engineered Hardwood Floor: Basement Installation

If you are considering installing real hardwood in a basement, an engineered hardwood floor should be your only consideration – in conjunction with a dimpled membrane! The membrane will help protect the floor from vapour migration coming up from the concrete slab. It will also protect from minor leaks – as we found out when one of our pipes burst a year after this install! Continue reading

Customize Ikea Cabinets – Laundry Room Makeover

More and more people are realizing that you can customize IKEA cabinets. Even the most experienced carpenters we know buy IKEA boxes and then build their own doors. You just can’t beat the price or convenience. So that’s exactly what we started with when we renovated the laundry room in our basement! Our laundry room makeover will show you how to customize and install Ikea cabinets.  Continue reading