CanadianBride.com Talkboards / CanadianBride.com Talkboard / Home Sweet Home

Dysons

jazzb18 — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:33:12 GMT

I'm seriously considering spending the money on a Dyson, but am not sure which model to go with/how much to spend.
For all you ladies out there who have one, which model do you have? I have a cat and a dog & a lot of stairs in my house so I'm looking for the best option? I also have both carpet, wood and porcelain floors...if that makes a difference in model types.
Thanks!:D

All Moved In!

Queen*Bee — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:26:27 GMT

Finally, after 5 days short of a year we moved into our new place on May 2nd. No pics yet since we don't have the internet at home until Friday ( :( ) but I have already taken them and they'll be posted on the weekend for sure!

We are pretty much all unpacked... but now we need a whole bunch more stuff. Our old house looked like it was filled up but this one's bare and we have everything in it from the old house.

Updated with pics at the bottom!

Doorbells...

butterpurp — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:35:20 GMT

This is just something I've noticed the last few months since we got our house.

The house didn't have a doorbell, so we went out and purchased a set of wireless doorbells - put one on the front door and one on the back, and then put one of the pluggy things in a plug that goes up the stairs, and one in the basement - this way, no matter where you are you in the house, you can hear the doorbell.

Yaye!

The only time ANYBODY has EVER rung the doorbell was Halloween - and only 2 kids rang it!!!

Everybody else knocks on the door (change that - POUNDS on the door).

Has anybody else noticed this??? Or are people just blind to the VERY WHITE doorbell screwed into the DARK BLUE frame?

It's a "novelty" type one too... so at Christmas I had it set to play jingle bells... and I never did get to hear anybody ring it :(

P.S. It does work btw... I check all the time just to see if maybe that's why it "seems" nobody bothers. It works better than perfect and is very very loud!

We found the one and it is ours!!!

Bron — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:37:26 GMT

So finally FH and I found a place and got a great deal on it because it needs some work( but FH is a drywaller so that is what he does!)

The inspection was yesterday and everything went well so it is ours!!!! We get the keys on May 20th which is so so so soon, but we don't have to move into it right away so we can just take our time painting and fixing it :)

Now I guess we need to get some furniture for it!!!! yay!

Here is a pic :)

My Hot Pink Bathroom!!!

butterpurp — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:04:40 GMT

So, I've had a rough few months and I've been really good at making sure DH loves all the colours that I've been painting our house (since he lives here too)... but when it came to the upstairs bathroom I decided on my own that I was going to do something crazy and he couldn't stop me. And him, being the sweetest guy in the world said "Okay!" because he knew this would cheer me up. And he was right...

Heh heh... this of course means that now he will be stuck with a HOT PINK bathroom :D
This is the small bathroom in our house, and is upstairs with the bedrooms, so really won't be seen by anyone unless they come upstairs - so I figured it was that one room I could play with a little! And since it was such a mess, anything we do is an improvement!

Now, I only have one coat of paint on so far - and the new vanity of course isn't in, and neither is the new flooring - but here is proof that my DH is the sweetest guy EVER!!!

So this is what the bathroom looked like when we moved in - dark, dingy, dirty, gross floral wallpaper and with a huge 80's style vanity that took up half the bathroom:

This is our new vanity - we bought it MONTHS ago, but taking down the wallpaper proved to be more tedious than I thought it would be... this vanity takes up 1/3 less space AT LEAST than the old one:

I've been ripping down wallpaper since we moved in (end of September), this was where I was at by January (someone put the wallpaper up over fresh wall compound... please prime it at least before you wallpaper!)!!!!:

And now what we've all been waiting for!!! Here is ONE coat of the hot pink paint!
Also note, the colour really isn't this "neon-ish" - I had to set the flash for backlighting because of how bright it is out today (YAYE SUNSHINE!):

Alright! And now I'm off to put on another coat of paint... I figure I likely have 2 more coats (and before I did the first coat of paint, I had done 2 coats of tinted more each time primer! yikes!). Once that is done, I can hopefully do the trim (Snow White! Awesome contrast!), install the new flooring I bought, get the vanity in and FINALLY enjoy the perks of having 2 bathrooms!

Edited: Look down down for a newer picture of what I've done :D

We got the house!

pook2355 — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:45:18 GMT

So as some of you know, FH and I have been looking for a house for a little while now and on Thursday we made an offer on one. The sellers gave us a scare by not coming home that night so we had to wait until 10 pm last night for them to meet with their agent. This morning we got a call and we went in and signed the papers! Apparently there had been several second showings and someone had tried to make an offer last night but they were holding to hear back from us. We take possession July 17, wahoo!

The garage will NOT be staying that colour for long hahah

We took the plunge...

fascha — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:45:02 GMT

No pics, SORRY... lol but it's a really amazingly layed out 1800sf 2 story in the area we love, on a lot we love, with a 2 car garage... it was about 30K over our budget, but so was everything else that didn't need mega-work!

We had bailed on (help me here Beans...) 4 homes before settling on our 1 bedroom condo... we've since sold and the day the condo sold we found out that Great Gulf was doing a soft-opening for the location we REALLY wanted to buy in so we were the 1st home they sold and had choice of the BEST lots! (ours is 77 like our anniversary! LOL)

We are really excited to be moving into a home and luckily we will only have to spend 6 months with my parents since it closes in January :)

I'll post pics as soon as they put them up on the website once they officially "open" the Bradford location this weekend!

They slapped them up fast.... here's a link to the house!

http://www.greatgulfhomes.com/neighbourhood-model.php?hm_model=BR03&id=17

2 weeks!

BplusE — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:59:24 GMT

There's only 2 weeks left before we get our house! We've only done 4 boxes and the apartment is a mess. I have no desire to clean since I know everything is going in boxes. With the beautiful weather, we can't wait to relax outside in our backyard!

Tonight we go to the lawyer's to sign some papers. Not sure what we have to sign. We haven't given the downpayment yet and we still don't have any insurance for the house. Does anyone know when those are due?

14 days!!! till we get the house, but 21 until we move!

Sleeping together

punkyb — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:09:28 GMT

I'm just curious about something. For those who have always slept alone and are new to sleeping next to their FH or hubby. How did you adjust to sleeping with another person?

FH and I have been together 4 1/2 years and we have sleep overs from time to time where sleep in the same bed together and I rarely sleep. Most of the time I sleep off and on all night. I'm so use to my twin bed and stuff. I thought at first it might be that I didn't have my pillow I was use to. I always bring my pillow now and it doesn't help. Now his bed is not the most comfortable either and it creeks with any slight movement which wakes me up if either one of us rolls over in our sleep. But I know it's not so much that either because we've been on vacation a few times where we stayed in a hotel and the bed was comfortable (more than my own) and still I barely slept. I just find having someone so close to me I feel crowded and I get too warm from his body heat lol. I love having him close to me to cuddle up to and wake up but I also need my sleep. We're moving in together in a month and I'm worried I'm going to be suffering from lack of sleep lol. I work in day care with toddlers and need my rest to be on my toes with them! lol

Slowcooker ideas

pprusak — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:48:23 GMT

Anyone have amazing reciepes for a slowcooker. DH and I are trying out ours tonight and I was wondering what other people cook in theirs. We are making white chicken chilli... I can't wait to taste it hehehehehe.

Basement apartment...what do you think?

punkyb — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:42:57 GMT

FH and I can't afford a house right now but being that we're going on 27 we would like to move out of our parents' houses before we get married in May 2009. So we were planning on moving into an apartment come August of this year.

Well on the weekend I was on the web getting an idea of prices on apartments. I found this 2 bedroom basement apartment that is only $925 a month! And it includes water and hydro. On top of that it's closer to both FH's work and my work, so it won't take me as long to get to and from work and it will save on gas for FH. Also, we'd share the washer and dryer with the people upstairs so we wouldn't have to pay to use washing machines and dryers (which are so expensive in buildings).

The other good thing is it's in a house so I'd finally be rid of living in an apartment building (been in the same building my whole life).

So we went to see the place yesterday and we really liked it. It's
very cozy. The kitchen is huge, which I like. The living room area
is a bit small for my liking (but then again I'm so use to my apartment I've lived in my whole life) but it's cozy and would work for the two of us. The master bedroom is a bit small too...once the bed is in there it
doens't leave a ton of walking space but again I know it would work
with what we have. The second room would be perfect as a space for my crafting supplies and my doll collection stuff as well as our computer and books. We also have a storage space in the apartment as well. It all seems really good. We might have to store some of my stuff I'm saving for when we have kids at my dad's house but he has no problem with that since he has a ton of space not being used. He lives alone in a big house!

FH likes it and thinks we should take it. He's dying to move out since in a month his mom's husband comes to Canada from Cuba. FH and his sister have never met the guy so it's like a stranger moving into their home and they aren't impressed. (long story)

We worked out our budget again tonight and we will have about $600 left to save every month.

My mom thinks we should wait and move out closer to the wedding so we can save up money for the wedding faster plus she keeps saying we still need to buy a lot of stuff for our place and we need to buy furniture.. Yes we'd save more staying at home but we figure we don't want the stress of moving into a new place and trying to set all that up and running around for last minute wedding details so close together. Plus really the only furniture we will need to buy is a new bed and mattress, a dresser, some lamps, a wall unit for the TV and video games, etc. Everything else is small stuff. Bedding, household items for cleaning and stuff.

We will have about $10,000 saved up by the time we move out in June (the place is available June 1st) so I'm sure even after buying what we do need and paying for rent, etc. we will still have money left over in savings, collecting interest. Plus what we put in there every month thereafter. His dad is helping to pay for part of the reception at our wedding, my mom is helping to pay for a few things (not sure what though yet) and I'm sure my dad will help out a bit.

I'm just not sure if I love the living room and I'm just nervous in general of moving out since this is the only home I've ever known. I also feel bad leaving my mom all alone. She is a single parent and I'm her only child and she is unemployed. Also for both of us we have been spoiled with our moms doing laundry and cooking for us so we've never had to do it. I only recently started to learn how to do these things.

Just not sure what would be the right route to go.

Anyone have a hot tub?

WesteeMama — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:40:20 GMT

My DH and I are considering putting in a hot tub in our backyard. It's a pricey venture and I am just wondering for those who may have one...does it get used enough to justify the expense? Do you use it year-round?

If we get one, it will be a salt-water system to avoid the chemicals and we would build an enclosure of some type so it could be used year-round. Any comments or suggestions would be welcome!

Property Taxes

adegroot — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:22:48 GMT

So we are moving into our new place at the end of the week and went to sign our mortgage papers etc with the lawyer last week. Through out our entire home search we never once thought about property taxes and our realtor never mentioned them. We found out when we went to the lawyers that we are going to be paying $2700 a year in property taxes!!!! I nearly died when I read it! How is that even possible. We moved from a bigger city to a small town. I would have thought that property taxes would go down. We don't even have garbage pick up or mail delivery in our subdivision because it's outside of town. Is there anyway that there could have been a mistake with the assessment since it's a new home?!?

Really Frustrated!!

saraht76 — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:39:51 GMT

My house has been for sale since February. Since then about 5 other houses on my street have also gone up for sale. When I drive around I notice for sale signs all over the place, but not too many sold signs. I am starting to worry that my house is going to take a lot longer to sell than I originally thought. We can't really afford to keep 2 houses running for much longer. It's a very big stress point right now!

Big Sale!

Bron — Sun, 04 May 2008 08:13:18 GMT

Just thought I would let you all know that there is a huge grand re-opening sale at Bad Boys this weekend. If you can make it there today I would suggest you go cause FH and I got great deals yesterday!

Moving day on friday!!

madmouse8 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:04:10 GMT

Wow I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! We bought our place in February and before the listing even hit the market we had an accepted offer!!

We did our final inspection last Monday and still loved it just as much as the first time we saw it. Can't believe it's only 2 more sleeps stil we move!!

It is a 2+2 semi with a front balcony, 2 level back deck with pergola, 2.5 baths, walk-in closet in the master bedroom, gas fireplace & laminate all through the basement and a built-in garage. The room are big, and we will have more room than we know what to do with!!

I just had to share my excitement with you ladies :P

Here are some pics:

The front
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/Madmouse8/Our%20House/front.jpg[/IMG]

Front balcony
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/Madmouse8/Our%20House/balcony.jpg[/IMG]

Kitchen
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/Madmouse8/Our%20House/kitchen1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/Madmouse8/Our%20House/kitchen3.jpg[/IMG]

First Home Buyer Virgin

tiggerboo — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:52:19 GMT

So I've been watching many home buyer shows over the last couple of months and I have to admit that I am so confused. Where do I begin ? Is there any websites that can help me ??

Thanks !

ordering furniture from U.S.A

nenid — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:17:42 GMT

Has anyone ordered stuff from the U.S? Which store did you purchase from? How was the experience?

I'm looking for a dark wood bedroom set and found this one on the furniturexo website. I'm in love with the bed, not too sure yet on the rest of the pieces. I am thinking about buying the bed and then trying to find matching pieces here (i'm in Toronto area). What would you do? Thanks :)

P.S. I've tried to locate a retailer in Canada without any luck

http://www.furniturexo.com/Uptown-Traditional-Black-High-Poster-Bedroom-Set-Vaughan-Bassett-Furniture-420-669-559set-p-25098.html

Whirlpool Gold vs. Kitchen Aid

EastWest — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:42:01 GMT

The plan was to take our appliances from our current place (which are all Whirlpool Gold in the kitchen and the Whirlpool Duet Washer & Dryer/FrontLoad) to our new home, however, we sold them with the house...now we are on the hunt for new appliances. I'm stuck between Whirlpool or Kitchen Aid....do any of you ladies have Kitchen Aid appliances, if so, how do you like them...we are thinking of doing our kitchen all Kitchen Aid (dishwasher, gas stove, and side by side fridge) and getting our Front Load W/D from Whirlpool again, this time the one that steam cleans...(we are really passionate about our laundry)

pots and pans

lizzie19 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:18:24 GMT

What type of pots and pans did you register for or purchase?

Which brands are better than others.

Right now we are looking at a lagostina stainless steel set.

THANKS!

Leaving downtown for markham/stouffville

dansfiance — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:55:12 GMT

Well.. I never thought this day would happen or at least not this fast!! I'm moving from my downtown toronto house to a farm with 8.6 acres of land in markham near stouffville. WOW!! The closing date WAS Sept 28... I just found out that it's now Sept 4!! holy cow...

I'm going back to school in Sept part time and I start around the 4th... this is crazy... that gives me a month to get my sh!t together.. and DH's... plus we have to deal with the whole MIL issue of the fact that we are still going to be living with her... omg... shoot me now...

But we are hoping to at least be able to build on the property... we have to look into it all to make sure that we can and what we can get approved for!! So... phew... I'm get anxious again... and a little irritated.. I hate being the last one to know about things. It's so... annoying. lol...

Ok.. I'm done... lol.. had to get it out.

Manulife One??

jmhein — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:38:06 GMT

Well my dh and I are looking at upgrading our current house and are starting to look into all the mortgage options. His boss has switched all his banking over to this Manulife One product and absolutely LOVES it and swears by it. He says it will have him debt-free in 5 years. I checked it out on the website and just cant wrap my head around it, I keep wondering "What's the catch?" How does this thing REALLY work? Any ideas?

Here's the website:

http://www2.manulifeone.ca/en/home/

How long did it take

pook2355 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:16:19 GMT

FH and I have been looking for a house for the past month. We've been out with our agent three times and have seen 15-20 houses but have yet to find the one that just "fits" when we walk in. I was wondering how long it took other people to find the house that they knew was right for them? I realize that one month and 15-20 houses isn't really a long time/huge number but I really didn't think it would be so hard! I love going to look at them all and do not see it as a task but wonder where the one for us is!

Bathroom Reno's

pprusak — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:45:20 GMT

Has anyone done one? What where the costs like? How lond did it take? Just wondering because DH and I are considering redoing ours. Let me know. Also any inspiration pics would be nice too hehehehe.

So we made an offer.....

pook2355 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:14:41 GMT

Last night FH and I walked into a house and knew it was the one! We went back to our realtor's office and wrote up our offer. On the way over she had called the listing agent and apparently the family owns a restaurant in some town about forty five minutes away so they wouldn't be home until eleven that night. We said that was fine and we would wait until this afternoon to hear back. Well my realtor just called me and apparently the father just didn't go home last night so he won't be meeting with his agent until ten tonight and then they'll fax over the counter. Our agent won't get it until the morning and then she'll call us and we'll meet up. FH and I really want this house! Its exactly what we want and the location is perfect! It only came on the market the other day and as of last night we were the only ones to make an offer. I'm afraid now that we're going to get into a bidding war with someone and lose it. I am so not happy with the seller right now, and I've never even met him :crazy:

Sorry, just needed to get it out. My stomach has been flipping all day waiting to hear what they came back with and now I have to wait longer! AND not be able to do some planned things because we'll have to be in the office! argh.

It's moving day!!!

adegroot — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:25:51 GMT

Well ladies the day has finally come for us to take possession of our new house! I can't wait for noon when they hand the keys over. We are one hundred percent ready to go so all we can do it wait. We won't have internet at the new place for a while so I won't be able to post pics for a while. (It's in the country and telus does not offer high speed out there so we need to research our options.) I'll definitly be back asking for some design ideas though!!!:D

Prior to closing...

beaniebaby — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:22:54 GMT

Can anyone tell me what I'll need to do/have prior to closing?

I know insurance, although I haven't gotten it yet lol

Anything else?

We have a house!

BplusE — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:40:32 GMT

We have signed and delivered the last papers, so now we our bound to house, yay! I love it! There's nothing wrong with it. Except that we move in in 3 months.

It's a 3 bedroom condo in Orleans (Ottawa) and it comes with all the appliances and a fireplace. The renovations are 7 years old but look brand new. The condo is 25 years old but it doesn't show (in our unit at least). I can't wait to move in!

House Purchase Freak Out!

mindym — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:02:46 GMT

So FH and I decided to buy our very first house!! Yay!! Very excited b/c for the longest time, FH wanted to buy a YURT! (Whole other story!) LOL

I've called the bank to make an appointment to get pre-approved, etc, and see what would work for us (i.e. zero down payment, etc)

And now I've started to panic! "We're going to buy a house! We're going to have a mortgage! *gulp* What about repairs? What if something goes wrong? What if we can't get approved?? What if...... "

Haha Did anyone else experience this panic before they even started? I was sooo happy and waiting to get the ball rolling on this, and now that it's happening I'm getting nervous!! Any words of advice??

Deposit with offer????

aly74 — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:15:01 GMT

Ok FH own his own place that we will be putting on the market this spring to buy something together.

I have a question for those of you who have bought a place. Did you have to pay a deposit with your offer?? Friends I have talked to say they have had to give $5000.00 to the real estate agent with the offer to go towards the down payment when everything closes. Does that sound like something you had to do???

thanks

Anyone moving to Stouffville?

crazyinlov — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:17:46 GMT

Who is your builder? What upgrades did you get When is your closing date? tell us about your home

- our builder is Fieldgate

- we didn't do many upgrades since we can do most of the things ourselves.
- and our closing date is in 3 months :)

whoohoo can't wait! :hehe:

Trendy furniture stores

Lexy27 — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:50:53 GMT

I'm looking to purchase furniture that is urban and chic. I'm going for a very clean simple look and have checked out stores like Casa, EQ3, Urban Barn, etc. What other places are good?

Condo Shopping

4june09 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:49:40 GMT

My fiance and I have decided to bite the bullet and move out to Toronto. He has been officially transfered to Toronto from London (we knew it was coming and I am so happy!) and it no longer makes sense (financially or time-wise) for us both to commute to Toronto every day.
So we started to look for condos a few weeks ago and have narrowed it down to two places, but I cannot for the life of me decide between the two because they are complete opposites!! One is 26 floors up, with a gorgeous lake view on one side and literally looks into the Skydome on the other side. This one has a massive fitness facility, complete with bowling, tennis, pool, etc. The problem is, it is a bit smaller and the setup isnt the greatest - the dining room is far from the kitchen, it is all carpet and we have a kitty who is afraid of carpet (dont laugh im serious!).
So the other place is gorgeous in the condo, it is all hardwood and the set up is perfect and spacious. However there are few amenities (only an excercise room) and I was really looking for a pool. As well, the view is awful, and we are looking right into another condo building. Also, it is a little further from the financial district, where he works.
And to top it all off, I have to make a decision by Wednesday! OMG! So what do I go with - indoor beauty but may be isolated, or outdoor beauty with no space?! Oh decisions decisions....
I apologize for this being so long, and I dont expect anyone to actually read it, but it feels better to get it out! I've been so stressed about the whole situation!

SO EXCITED buying a new home in the N. Oshawa area

mohonnor — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:51:37 GMT

Hello

Were so excited we found a dream house with Tribute homes and were just about to go to the bank and see what we can do. Has anyone here have good news or bad about Tribute homes building in the N. Oshawa area?? We have so far heard nothing but good from others!

Oh and does anyone have any suggestions on things to remember either to get and purchase or keep in mind when moving... its been a long time since we've last moved and Im sure that theres things Im gonna forget to get on my list that others could think of.

Thanks

Dishwasher = Spots

jaclyn25 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:18:02 GMT

Ok, so now when we run the dishwasher afterwards there are spots all over the dishes. We have never put any kind of food in the dishwasher (dishes are rinsed completely before). We've changed detergents and that didn't help ... any thoughts! Thanks!

I am buying a house!!!

Bron — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:40:34 GMT

I am so excited, Fh and I just got approved for a mortgage!! now the fun part of searching for a house...luckily we have a very good real estate agent to help :)

I know that this post is kind of pointless, I am just excited, so I thought I would share :)

Green Cleaners

autumnblis — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:43:22 GMT

Hi Everyone!

Since Spring is (slowly) coming, I'm diving head first into some serious Spring Cleaning. However, I would like to know if anyone uses/recommends any Earth Friendly Cleaners, or recipes to make your own.

Any help is appreciated!

PS - I use vinegar and water for my windows and look 10 times better then a window washed with Windex!

House Poor

Lexy27 — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:06:00 GMT

Everyone who's in the market to buy a home should definitely read this month's issue of Toronto Life. There is an article called "House Poor" which describe the situation lots of young couples are in these days. With the inflated market and great demands for select neighbourhoods, these couples in the article are bidding way over asking price and then finding themselves in serious debt or in need to borrow more money for additional renos.

For myself who has been renting for a number of years, I'm also sick of paying someone else and making them rich but I'm beginning to realize all the EXTRAS involved in buying a home (insurance, taxes, maintenance fees, lawyer fees, mortgage interest, etc. etc.) It's all pretty scary when you add it up!

duplex?

JadeFleur — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:40:05 GMT

My husband and I would like to invest in a duplex in the hope that when we finish our mortgage in ten years we can keep it as a asset and build our dream house. Was wondering what experiences everyone has had with duplex.... worthwhile investment or risky headache? what kinds of things should we consider before committing?

Zero Down Mortgage?

missdish — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:20:33 GMT

Wondering if anyone did a zero down mortgage?

We hate where were living so much that this looks good to us over spending more time renting. I know we will pay a little extra but I just sum that up to being the same as paying rent while we bank a down payment.