Abbotsford, B.C.
V2S 2A3
Hello St. Catharines family (any any others that I might be forwarding this to).
I’ve decided to send pictures with explanation like this instead of via email or Facebook. Glad you have been able to open it and get a sense of what our new place looks like.
The first thing you need to know (I guess you don’t need to know, but I’m going to tell you anyway), is that when we first walked into unit #219 we saw mint green, very stained and old carpet throughout with very narrow brown baseboards. The lino in the kitchen and bathroom was a patterned light brown with a yellow diamond accent. The walls throughout were dusty rose (mom would have loved it).
The master bedroom shows this the best:
The first thing that happened was that we had them rip out all of the carpet, baseboards, heaters and flooring.
The society always paints ceilings and walls before then next owner moves in. That’s not our expense and we are able to choose the colours which was amazing. So they went through and painted. Then I had the base boards and crown moulding put in. We also had them extend the kitchen counter so that we could accommodate a new dishwasher. Interestingly enough, when they constructed these units back in the late 80‘s, they pre-wired for garburator and dishwasher so it was just a matter of hooking them up when it came time to install them. After our call last night, I went around with the camera and took night shots of the rooms:
I guess I was taking too long taking the picture so Lucy poked her head around the corner to see if I was done at exactly the moment that I pressed the button.
We replaced all the flooring with a vinyl plank floor. We did this throughout. It’s a floor that we had in the basement at Clay and Nadine’s and have always been very impressed with it and the colours in the floor were a good match for what we wanted to do in the place anyway. Before they put down the flooring they installed an acoustical rubber underlay. The underlay is glued to the concrete and then the flooring is glued to the underlay. Apparently is helps cut down on noise transfer.
The bathroom looks so much better without the surface mounted medicine cabinet and with lighter counter tops. The light fixture was also replace (I don’t care much for fluorescent light, it totally ruins my complexion).
The mirror frame was one of mom and dad’s from Pete Kaszoni; the painting long removed and sold. I cut and fit a mirror into the frame and, voila, there it is. The toilet was new just before we moved in. It still had all it’s stickers on it so at least that didn’t need replacing. We replaced the cupboard handles with these glass knobs. Lucy wanted to add a bit of ‘bling’ to the scene.
There is a small window above the tub which faces south and allows a lot of light into the room during the day:





All natural light. I said it faced south but in actual fact it faces south east. A bit of a challenge for me to wrap my head around which way we face but I think I will survive. So the two bedrooms and the bathroom face SE and the living and dining room windows face north west. An odd turn in the road creates this directionally challenging situation.


Just another view of the bathroom. Its fairly long so there will be room to post some artwork ( formal term for pictures that have been sitting in boxes for years). We installed one of those arched shower rods and it’s amazing how much of a difference that makes. It feels like there is a lot more room “behind the curtain”.
The shower curtain, rug and towels are a colour coordination by a Swedish friend of ours. (IKEA)

A view of the front entrance foyer. Entrance door on the left, kitchen entry next and the entry to the living room on the right.
The lighting in the bedrooms and this hallway were dark brown fans with some suggested lighting behind. They are gone and we added this small chandelier to this entry and also one over the laundry area. Again, a bit of bling to brighten the day.

The laundry room is between the front door and the bathroom door. Front door to the right and the bathroom door to the left (very convenient in case you can’t make it to the bathroom in time, just deposit clothes directly into washer).
The second small chandelier is seen here. We purchased the ‘in good condition’ dryer from the previous owner but purchased a new washer to replace a groaning previous one that we didn’t want the hassle of servicing.
Another view of the front entrance as seen from the front door looking towards the living room. The pantry (picture further down the pages) door is on the right. We have not yet finished the bi-fold doors since they came later than the other doors.
Night view of the living room as seen from the entrance hallway.
The dining room as viewed from the living room. Sliding door goes out onto a nice sized covered deck. (note the cactus that we planted as a small four inch piece that was lying on a shelf at a friends place. I asked for it and now it can’t be stopped.
View of the living room as seen from the dining room.
The master bedroom by day with the sunlight streaming through the window. We are enjoying the large room with plenty of space to manoeuvre around the bed.
This is a view of the 2nd bedroom which we are using as a den\TV room with the couch/bed from our Swedish friend. The patio doors open onto a deck and a stairway access to the back yard. The mirror frame we found in the recycling bin a number of years ago when we worked at Menno Place. It was a gold frame that Lucy painted pewter and for which I cut a mirror.

And finally the pantry. Situated between the living room and the master bedroom is this 4 x 10 foot shelved pantry. Lucy is most excited about this room. It was pink when we first saw it and we painted it white and installed a brighter light. So awesome!

A view of the living room in the daylight. We are enjoying how bright the whole place is. So much sunlight streaming in everywhere.
The dining room with the patio doors leading to a nice size covered deck as seen in the daylight.
Daylight shot of the kitchen.
I created this vase display to sit on the added counter space that we have in the kitchen.
Just thought I’d end this tour with this picture.
I hope that gives you some idea of where we are.
