Anchovy World Headquarters
In spite of the lofty name, Anchovy World Headquarters is really our small two-story house in the St. Clair and Caledonia area of Toronto. We've been here about 6 years, and for much of that time, we've been kicking around the idea of doing a major renovation to make the house bigger. Behind the original house, there is a single-story addition that sits on a slab without a basement. This space is our kitchen and a little room behind the kitchen. The idea we had in mind, at its simplest, is to bash down the addition, dig a basement, and rebuild a two-story addition.
Well, we're going to do it, starting hopefully in the spring. We've been working with an architect to develop the design. We had a meeting with her tonight to discuss the plans in progress. There is a lot to think about, but we're making some decisions. Some of our goals are to make a nice basement studio for Tuffy P. and to create some good storage space in the basement for paintings. Upstairs, we want to create a modest music room for me, to house my instruments, and to provide a place to play where I can make some noise without the world hearing me. This may be used for recording down the road as well.
There are questions about the current stairways, about how best to use some of the spaces, about how much attention the washrooms need, what the kitchen should look like and more. To answer some of these questions, we'll have to develop a better understanding about cost for different options and play that against our budget.
The whole business is tremendously exciting.
7 comments:
That is exciting! I always love shopping for flooring, fixtures, etc. Figuring out the budget is not one of may favorite things though. Math! Hate.it.
It is exciting! It will be fun to watch the progress. You will love having spaces for you & Tuffy P's creative pursuits. I think you will enjoy the process of the creation of these spaces as well. Just don't work yourself to death in the process.
I don't know about Tuffy P. gettng anew studio. I've always got a chuckle out of her making those powerhouse paintings in a 4' x 4' room.
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I fijnd looking at building books and decor magazines to be helpful. Sometimes copying or cutting out what you like as a good way to show yourself and others. I think you guys are gonn ahave a lot of fun with this big change!
This months Elle Decor had a couple pages of book shelves and I thought of you guys.
http://www.pointclickhome.com/elledecor
There are a few ways you can extend your budget. Consider some renos that might save you money in the future, like solar panels,reclaimed materials (like flooring from other buildings, lights, windows) A lot of people forget you can mix second hand, vintage building materials with new materials in home renovation.
Some other sites that might be of interest or help:
http://www.amazon.ca/Xs-Small-Structures-Green-Architecture/dp/0789315254
http://www.renovatorsplace.com/dsp_articles.cfm?l_article_id=416
http://www.thegreenguide.com/books/cat.mhtml?id=5
http://vancouver.ca/Greaterdot_wa/index.cfm?fuseaction=GVTV.storyDet&storyid=536
Another way to save some money...is once you see the plan and make some decisions...there are quite a few jobs you could do instead of paying someone else. Like, if you have a weeeks holiday during the reno...you can be a contractor.
http://www.lendingtree.com/smartborrower/Maintenance-and-renovation/How-to-survive-a-renovation.aspx
http://blog.ecolect.net/
Wow, very exciting. If the garden is any indication, the renos should be very successful.
Very cool. I hate home renovations, even the smallest ones; they're just so damn disruptive. But it's great when all is done and dusted.
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