Welcome to our new house!
We bought a house! Holy cow! It’s been more than six months since we bought and moved to Prince Edward County and some days it still feels completely surreal, in the best possible ways. It’s impossible to say what my favourite part of The County is or the best part of moving here is, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that leaving Toronto mid-Pandemic is one of the best decisions we have EVER made! From the mornings when open my eyes and look out our bedroom window to watch the vibrant pink orange sky as the sun starts peeking through or the evenings we spend on our back deck star-gazing, and knowing there are wineries, beaches, and rolling, crashing waves less than 5 minutes away.
Now, let’s get to THE HOUSE!
Our PEC House
I’m going to tell you what the listing of the house and then tell you how we’re actually using the house. If you simply read the listing, you would think that Topher and I are CRAZY for owning a house with too many bedrooms and so many bathrooms. As we’ve settled into our house, we’ve made it our home and it’s not as overwhelming or huge as it was when we first moved in!
The Details
5 Bedrooms
3 Bathrooms
Built in 1986
3/4 of an acre
3,000 Square Feet
Previously operated as a Bed & Breakfast
Attached garage
How we’re using all this space
So, let’s be honest with each other, after reading those details you’re probably thinking, Elizabeth, what the heck were you thinking, that house is WAY too big for TWO people! And at first glance, you’re right. I think everyone gawked at us when we told them we’d fallen in love with a FIVE BEDROOM house! But, when you consider that we left Toronto and Topher’s family is in London, we needed to have enough room for guests, friends, and kids, eventually. You don’t buy a house as a two-year plan unless you’re buying it as an income property or to flip it, you need to think long term!
Let’s compare the listing details to how we’re using the space.
3 bedrooms
1 flex space
2 home offices
3 bathrooms
Garage has been converted into a home gym and workshop
No longer a B&B except for family and friends
That summary makes it sound a bit more reasonable, don’t you think?!
House Tour - Main Floor
Now comes the super-duper, mega exciting part! The TOUR!
Entry Way
Let’s start with the entry way! In here, we currently have cream coloured square tiles, I’ve painted the walls Simply White by Benjamin Moore. The plan is to do a ship lap ceiling, paint the front door a blue/grey colour, hang some artwork and make it feel a bit more fun! Off the entry way we have our coat closet and entrance to our Crawl Space, opposite that closet, houses a little alcove with a dresser that is in need of a facelift. Stay tuned for a Double Dresser DIY!
Dining Room
Next comes the Dining Room. This room is one of my new favourite rooms. We recently moved our outdoor table in here, we actually made this beautiful table last summer. This room is so light and bright thanks to the corner windows. In here, I’m going to add trim to the walls to add some more interest, give the bookcase a bit of a re-do to lighten it up, and swap out the light fixture. We will be changing out this table for a custom dining table in the Spring and this table will return to our back deck for lots of Summer Al Fresco Dinners!
Kitchen
Personally, honey coloured wood is NOT my preference especially not mixed with dark laminate floors and brown counters, but for the time being, we’re going to make-do with the style of the kitchen. Our plan is to do a bigger renovation next year (2022) and that’s when we’ll tackle this space. There are lots of ideas that we’ve been throwing around but we will see what we end up doing. That renovation will absolutely be documented, so stay tuned for that! For now, this kitchen is completely adequate, it’s roomy, both Topher and I can cook and hang out at the same time, we removed the bulky hood vent which used to be over the “island” and stove and that has changed the space SO much.
Sunroom
Our sunroom was the thing that sold my mum on the house and while we love it, it isn’t our favourite space in the house, mostly because it’s underutilized space. In the winter it’s WAY too cold to sit out there and in the summer it’s WAY too hot because the sun just beams in. We’re still figuring out how to make use of that space and what we want to do out there, we do have some ideas for when we renovate, but we’ll need to see how viable they are. Off of the sunroom is our back deck and back gardens, which you’ll get to see more of in the Spring and Summer. We will definitely be filming deck makeovers, gardening videos, and all that jazz, we can’t wait!
Guest Bedroom #1
This is the only bedroom on the main floor, it’s just off the kitchen. This room is the largest room in the whole house and was the principal bedroom for the previous owners. As I mentioned in the listing details, this house used to operate as a B&B, so this bedroom placement gave separation between the owner and guests. We decided to have our bedroom upstairs so that there was some separation between the bedroom and living space. Topher is a very early riser, so it means he can get up and play in his office or make coffee in the kitchen without worrying about disturbing me. This room is another space that we’re not going to do very much to because it will change when we renovate next year. The plan is to take some of the space from this room to make a walk-in pantry off the kitchen and rearrange where the bathroom is, so it’s more accessible, and you don’t have to walk through the bedroom to use the washroom.
Laundry Room
This is one of those little luxuries that we probably never could’ve had in Toronto and boy oh boy, I LOVE having a laundry room! It’s seems so funny to say, but having a spot where laundry, cleaning supplies, and utilities can live is just so nice! This room also has a small porch off of it and a clothes line, which is dreamy in the summer. There’s nothing like the smell of sun-soaked, air-dried clothes! In this room, we’re going to swap the open shelving for closed cupboards above the washer and dryer, I’m going to swap these peel and stick tiles for a white hexagon tile with grey grout (I think) and we’re going to get rid of the big cupboard that you see when you walk in the room. In addition, I’d love to swap the plastic sink for a stainless steel sink or farmhouse sink with more countertop. I’m also toying with painting some of this beadboard, what do you think?!
Garage/Gym/Workshop
I’m actually so excited to tackle this space which will probably happen this Spring/Summer. In here, I’d love to seal the floors to make them easier to clean. I also want to bring some COLOUR into here and make it a fun space to be in. Given we’re using it for a gym and workshop, I think it’s the perfect opportunity to be creative. I’m thinking a bit of a mural would be amazing, but before that happens we have some drywall that needs to be patched and LOADS of cobwebs that need to be cleaned. In addition, creating a more organized workshop area for Topher and I is definitely important and adding bike hangers to the wall will help optimize floor space in here. You may be wondering why there’s a beer can on my mood board, we have an empty can of this beer in the garage (I’m not sure why, ask Topher…) anyways, midway through a workout it caught my eye and I loved the colours and illustration and I thought it would be amazing to do a mural in the garage using the design of this can as inspiration, I was thinking about it for the rest of my workout…suffice to say, I could’ve worked out harder if my brain would stop running a million miles a minute.
Topher’s Office
Topher’s office is in his hands. When we renovate, the layout of this side of the house will change. Topher’s office will become the living room with the wall between the kitchen and his office coming down and his office will move to the other side of the house where our living currently is. So for now, this room is just staying as is, I mean unless Topher wants to do something to it in the meantime! ;)
Living Room
So, you know how I said that the Dining Room is one of my favourite rooms right now?! Well, the lviving room is actually my all-time, ultimate favourite. I can’t explain it, but even though there are a lot of elements that I’m going to upgrade, change, and play around with, I just love spending time in this room. The double windows at both ends of the room means it’s always filled with light, in the morning we get the most gorgeous orange light and shadows, and at night it glows pink from the sunset. When the fireplace is on it’s so cozy, and it’s just my favourite room. Anyways, in here, we’re going to add some textiles, textures, and light! I’m thinking a new rug, to new sconces, replacing the ceiling fan with a light fixture, and window treatments, and we’ll see what else!
Well, there you have our main floor tour! I’ve decided to split this tour into two parts because it was just TOO long, so stay tuned for part 2 of our house tour with our second floor. For now, I’d love to know in the comments which room on the main floor you’re most excited to see transformed?
