I felt like we haven’t done too much since our 6 month update, but then when I started listing them out, I guess we have done a lot!

Downstairs Hallway

We finally removed the wallpaper from the downstairs hallway, repaired the plaster and painted it (thanks for all the help Dad!).

It was a messy project and I’m definitely thankful it is done. We still have to do the stairs and upstairs hallway, but one thing at a time!

Bedroom Closet

We bought an Ikea closet to put in our bedroom. We had a tiny closet for the 2 of us and it just wasn’t working. Now we have lots of storage and places to hang our clothes. Definitely worth the investment.

Kitchen Hardware

I updated the kitchen hardware to black pulls. I love it so much.

Christmas

It was so fun to decorate this house for Christmas, I had been dreaming of it since we moved in. We had 3 trees in total.

Roof

We finally got our metal roof done between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. It’s so nice not to have to worry about leaks when it rains, and since our metal roof has a 40 year warranty, we shouldn’t have to worry about it for quite some time.

Entryway

Ryan’s first tile project! He tiled our back entryway (the door we use most often) and it looks great. A huge improvement over the old linoleum flooring that was in here. 

Personal

I went on my first plane trip since 2019, to visit my best friend in Ontario, unfortunately during that trip our sweet dog Ellie’s health started going downhill quickly. I changed my flight to get home a few days earlier and we said our goodbyes to her on Dec 10th. We miss her beyond words. 

We also hosted Christmas Cookie Baking weekend, and the annual Gingerbread house, which are two things I look forward to all year.

What’s Next

As we’re closing in on a whole year here, Ryan is currently working on building our kitchen island. We’ve also ordered a new sofa for the living room. I plan to paint the upstairs hallway and maybe even the living room as well. 

We’ve ordered 6 new windows to be installed sometime in the Spring, which will mean that almost all of the windows have been updated

On my project list is getting quotes for solar. You can probably imagine how much it costs to heat a huge old house, and while we’ve done things like updating the windows, blown in insulation, etc. it’s still hard to heat. Also I would love to be able to live lighter on the planet as well. 

It’s been a busy 6 months, and we’ve done a lot of work. I thought it would be fun to do a little look around at the changes we’ve made since living here, and what our plan is to do next.

Kitchen

The first thing we made over was our kitchen! We put in a new dishwasher on day 3 of living here, and we’ve painted. We have plans to build an island, which we should do in the winter (by “we” I mostly mean Ryan, of course). 

Dining Room

Still one of my favourite rooms in the house. We pulled the wallpaper down and did our first plaster repair (on a curved wall, no less) and sampled a few reds before we found one we loved. I have loved hosting friends and family here for dinners, game nights and brunches! 

Den/ Library

A little sneak peek at our library project! We’ve only painted in here, but the dream is to turn this room into a library with built-in book shelves. It will be a while before that is done, but for now this room serves as an extra bedroom for guests (and storage of course).

Living Room

We haven’t done too much in here, we’re still waiting for furniture to arrive from being back ordered, and we still have to decide on a paint colour (we’re in between 2). We did swap out the light fixtures for something more modern though. 

My Office

I just love my office. It’s the perfect pink, and gets lots of sunny light. Storage from Ikea helps me keep stuff organized and out of sight. Ryan fixed the floor and the room is basically done!

What’s Next?

That’s basically all of the changes that we’ve made that you can see so far. We’ve also upgraded our electrical panel, got 7 new windows, replaced some cedar siding, and more.

Up next… We’re waiting on our new metal roof, which should hopefully be on soon. We’re excited to get that done and not worry about the roof anymore. Lots of painting is on our docket (every room will be painted eventually, probably before our 1 year mark). I think next up will be Ryan’s office and our living room. The main hallway downstairs needs wallpaper removed as well.

Long term, I’d like to gut the downstairs bathroom, build a closet in the mud room, build or get more clothing storage for our room, and refinish the floors upstairs. 

Tupper house is a big project, but it’s been worth every second (and every penny).

Need a reminder of how it looked before? Check out the Tupper House Tour:

Colour Choice

My husband Ryan envisioned a red dining room from the very beginning, and I was on board until we sampled two reds: 1. Benjamin Moore Dinner Party and 2. Benjamin Moore Caliente. I hated them both (Ryan liked Dinner Party, but it was too brown for me), and so that threw us into a tailspin.

We considered different colours like teal, dark green, and gold, but ultimately decided that red was the colour we wanted to go with. I discovered Benjamin Moore Burnt Peanut Red on Pinterest, and we got a sample from our local store. 

I think it’s the perfect red for this space. It’s not too bright, and it’s a classic colour for this regal dining room. The room is quite large, and can definitely handle a bold colour. 

Benjamin Moore Dinner Party on the left, Burnt Peanut Red is circled on the right.

Taking Down The Wallpaper

This room was wallpapered, so we wanted to take that down. Luckily for us it came off easily, however there was wallpaper residue from previous generations of wallpaper. Under that was plaster that somehow had never been painted in the last 170 years. 

Read More: Tupper House Before Tour

Repairing The Plaster

Some parts of plaster (especially on the curved wall) were damaged, so repair work was needed. This was our first time actually repairing plaster… and it won’t be the last! After many YouTube videos my husband started the repair work.

The first step was to take away the broken plaster and clean the lath, so there’s a good surface to work with. He used plaster of Paris to fill in the holes, layer by layer and finished it with a top layer of drywall compound. Lots of sanding later, we had a smooth surface to paint.

Painting

We started with giving the ceiling a fresh coat of flat white. It was definitely yellowed in some areas!

For the walls we went with Benjamin Moore Regal Select in Eggshell, since that is my favourite paint to work with. Most of the room only needed 2 coats, but in a few spots it needed 3.

We then painted all of our amazing trim in Beauti-Tone Designer Series Trim & Door paint in High Hide White. It gives great coverage and most of the trim only needed 1 coat.

Putting It All Together

We didn’t buy too many things for this room, my husband made our dining room table in 2016, and I LOVE it. The table in the window was left by the previous owner.

We did buy a refinished sideboard table, which is gorgeous, and last we replaced the light fixture for a much more modern option. 

We also changed out the plugs, and changed the light switch to a dimmer switch

I love how it all came together!

How Much Did It Cost?

Plaster Repair: $158.04
Paint: $180.17
Electrical: $44.57
Sideboard: $300 from Facebook Marketplace
Light Fixture: $158.46 from Wayfair

TOTAL: $841.24

What do you think of our dining room makeover?

We recently moved from the “big city” of Halifax, back to our hometown. Although the driving distance is only about an hour and a half, I was quickly overwhelmed by the thought of moving all our stuff. We owned a 2000 sqft house in Lower Sackville, and had quite a few pieces of large furniture. After lots of thought we decided to hire movers.

Tips When Hiring A Mover

To make sure you hire a reputable company, follow these tips:

Do Your Research

Doing your research will help you hire reputable movers, which will make the whole process so much smoother.

Ask Friends and Family

The first thing I did was put a post up on Facebook asking my friends for a recommendation. One of my friends had recently moved and put me in touch with the person she dealt with when she was moving. We ended up booking with them, and I felt better knowing that my friend had a good experience.

Check the Better Business Bureau

I usually check reviews on BBB.org before booking any company for major work. If they have any negative reviews, I usually take them with a grain of salt, but also read into how the company has responded to bad reviews. 

Check Google and Facebook Reviews

My last step is to check Google Reviews and Facebook Reviews. Always keep in mind that people are more likely to leave a negative review than a positive one, but you can definitely learn a lot about a company by how they respond to complaints.

Read all about our 1850s house right here!

Questions To Ask When Hiring A Moving Company

Asking the right questions will save you a lot of headache down the line.

Will You Do A Free Estimate?

The first thing I wanted from any moving company was a free estimate, which most companies will do. Right now during a global pandemic, the company I dealt with did this by going through our real estate listing to get a sense of the contents, and by chatting with me on the phone about our stuff. At other times, companies should come to your home to do the free estimate.

How Is Your Price Determined?

Most companies charge by the hour, but some charge by weight. Ask for a detailed estimate breaking down how the price is determined, and what factors could cause your price to increase during the actual move.

What Is Your Payment and Cancellation Policy?

Make sure you understand when payment is due. For us, we had to give our credit card information to hold the date, which was then charged after the move. Some companies might require a deposit. Also check the cancellation policy just in case you change your mind!

Do You Have Insurance?

Insurance might just seem like an extra cost that you don’t need, but insurance is always a smart decision. Content insurance will insure your belongings, and make sure they have workers compensation insurance so that if one of the movers is injured on your property, you aren’t on the hook.

Will You Store My Stuff?

Depending on your move, you may have your stuff delivered same day, or at a later date. We had a few days from the time we moved out of our Sackville house to the time we got the keys to our new house. Our movers stored our stuff on the truck for a few days at an extra cost. 

Will You Pack?

You may want to have the movers also pack your stuff. Obviously this service will be more expensive, so you’ll have to decide if it’s worth it to you. Sometimes if the movers haven’t packed the box, it affects the insurance if the box contents get broken. Be sure to ask the company about that policy.

Do You Provide Blankets / Wrapping?

In order to protect your furniture, the furniture should be wrapped. Our movers wrapped our furniture for free, however there was an extra cost for plastic mattress bags to protect the mattresses. 

Will You Disassemble Furniture?

Furniture like bed frames, dressers with mirrors, etc. will likely have to come apart before they are loaded onto the moving truck. Check if the movers will do it for you, or if you should do it yourself. In our case they did it for us, but of course that takes extra time and we paid per hour. If you have time to do it yourself, it’s probably best if you do, so the screws don’t get lost!

How Many Movers Do I Need?

Our moving company had the option to have 3 or 4 movers. Hiring 4 movers was more expensive per hour, but they can get it done quicker which can end up saving you money. We went with 3 since that’s all they could fit in the cab of the truck, and it would have ended up costing us more in the end to send a second truck on the 90 minute drive. 

If you have a local move, it may be worth it to have things done quicker! Chat with the company and see what they think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tips To Prepare For Movers

Once you’ve picked your company, it’s time to get ready for the move. These tips will help you be ready on moving day. 

Read Their Policies

Make sure to read the policies sent to you by the movers. It should outline what they will and won’t move. For example, most movers won’t take any chemicals like cleaners or pool chemicals. They also wouldn’t take any perishable food, or plants. Make arrangements to move those things yourself!

On moving day, label anything you don’t want them to move with “DO NOT PACK”. I put everything we were moving ourselves (including our cats!) in a room in the basement with the door closed, and put a sign on the door so they would know not to pack anything in there on their truck.

Use Appropriate Boxes

Sturdy boxes will be the best thing for you to use. Our movers required we taped the lids on any plastic totes, to make sure the lid didn’t come off. Our mover also told us horror stories about showing up at a house and the owners had everything packed in plastic bags – don’t be that person! 

Label Boxes

Label your boxes according to what’s in them AND what room they’ll be moved to in the new house. This will make unloading your stuff so much faster. Our movers were quick to memorize the rooms, and carried all of the furniture and boxes to the correct room while unloading the truck. It made unpacking for us a breeze!

Don’t Make Boxes Too Heavy

It’s easy to overload a box, especially when you won’t be the one moving it! Most moving companies will tell you the maximum weight of boxes. 

Is Hiring A Moving Company Worth It?

Hiring movers is definitely not the most frugal option, but all in all, it was worth it to us to hire a moving company. We originally planned to rent U-haul trucks and do it ourselves, but all of the time we saved (not to mention the prevention of injuries haha!) was worth it to us.

I won’t lie, it was expensive, but that first day we were able to get so much more done because we didn’t have to spend hours unloading a truck. 

What do you think? Would you hire movers?

It felt like it took a million years for the day to get here, but the first 3 months of 2021 also went by in a blink of an eye.

If you haven’t been following along, I’ll give you the coles notes version…

Secretly in September 2020, my husband and I started looking for a house in our hometown. We didn’t tell anyone for a few months, and we snuck down in October to look at a house that wasn’t the one.

On Thanksgiving weekend my husband found an expired listing for a house that we fell in love with. It had so much character! The curved stairs! A marble fireplace! It wasn’t currently listed but we couldn’t get it out of our heads. 

So we contacted the listing agent and asked if the sellers were still interested in selling. She agreed to let us see the house and we fell even more in love, but also got a bit nervous of all the work that needed to be done. We made an offer in early December, and then waded through the buying process (including selling our house in Sackville) for the next few months, and finally closed on March 29th!

And that brings you up to date. We moved in, and have been getting settled into our new home, and routines.

FINALLY, I can show you some photos of our house! These are all before photos, so that you can get an idea of how it looked before we got our hands on it. We have many, many projects and ideas, so stay tuned!

pssst. you can take a video tour on my YouTube channel:

Introducing: Tupper House

I’ll be sharing with you soon WHY we call it Tupper house, but that’s a story for another day! This house was built around 1850, we don’t have an exact year. I imagine some parts have been added later, and there’s been various renovations done over the years. The previous owner we bought it from lived in another province, and never lived here full time.

Outside

We plan to change the paint colours, and there are several parts that need new wooden shingles. Not to mention part of the roof and many original windows that we plan to replace (many have broken glass panes). The yard was definitely overgrown but we are working on it! 

Entry / Mudroom

The main door we will use is on the side of the house. The small entryway has the back staircase, and off to the side is the mud room where we plan to put builtin lockers. There’s also a storage room off the mud room.

Kitchen

Off of the entryway is the kitchen. It’s been pretty newly updated but I HATE the paint colours (it’s already primed over, and we plan to paint very soon – stay tuned on Instagram for the colour reveal). We are also planning to build an island, since the kitchen is huge but it lacks storage and prep space. 

Off of the kitchen is our laundry room and pantry.

Also off the kitchen is a main floor full bathroom. We plan to gut this eventually. 

Dining Room

From the very first day, this has been my favourite room. It gets amazing light and the bump out windows are a perfect place for my plants. We plan to paint this room soon but can’t decide on a colour! 

See The Dining Room Makeover!!

Den

This is the only room in the house with the natural wood mouldings instead of painted white. We plan to keep them and turn this room into a library with built in bookshelves and a LADDER! My inner Beauty and the Beast loving child is SO excited. Probably going to be a while before we get that project going. For now we have a bed in here for guests.

Living Room

I have such a love-hate relationship with this room! I love it, but I have no idea how to style it. We are currently looking for new furniture for in here, and have moved the TV that was left in the den to this room. Someday I’ll figure this room out!

Main Entry

This is the main door on the front of the house. We’ll probably never use this door, except to get out to the covered porch. It does have a really fun old doorbell built in though! 

Here is the amazing curved staircase. I just love it so much and can’t wait to decorate it for Christmas! The coloured window is also one of my favourite features of the house. At some point there was a 3rd floor tower, as we’ve seen it in old photos, so the curved staircase would have kept going, but sadly that is now gone.

Main Bedroom

Up the stairs, the first room you’ll find is our bedroom. The bedrooms are huge in this house, but have very few plugs (like 1 plug. For this entire room). We plan to very carefully remove the mantle, and move our bed to this wall, and get some plugs added for our bedside lamps, etc. We’re also planning a bigger closet space in the future. 

Spare Bedroom

Next you’ll find our spare bedroom. Also only has one plug! I definitely find this room a little dark, it doesn’t get much natural light, but otherwise it’s a perfect guest room.

My Office

The magic happens here! (Not really. It’s a mess right now!) I’m planning to paint it very soon, a nice shade of pink. It gets lots of natural light from the 2 windows and surprisingly has more than one plug. It’s a great room that I’m happy to spend time in.

Bathroom

My dreamy bathroom. I didn’t know I could love a bathroom so much. It definitely lacks storage which we are trying to rectify. But this room is basically brand new and won’t be touched for quite a while.

Ryan’s Office

At the end of the house upstairs you’ll find my husband’s office. It gets some great light from the patio door that leads to over the carport (yeah a little dangerous). 

That’s It!

In front of Ryan’s office you can take the back staircase down to the side entrance that we chatted about first. 

It’s a huge home with lots of great aspects + more than enough projects to help keep us busy for years to come. We’ll be taking you along for the ride, so keep posted here on the blog, on YouTube and on my Instagram page!