Come on in! Don't bother wiping your feet - it's a wreck right now!

Hi there!

I'm Danielle and this is the first post of House Heart & Home, a blog about home reno, home decor and family life! I suppose a little background information is in order:

I'm in my thirties, married and have a nearly-two year old son who is both very willful and very wonderful.  My husband and I bought our first home in 2009, pre-baby.  It was an1100 sq ft townhouse that we were insanely proud of and loved but knew it wasn't going to be a long-term gig.

Ours is that one in the middle with the tiny garden.  The land it was built on was completely made of clay so it was not easy work to dig out the sod and bed the garden properly.  Not to mention we used our G6 to cart the dirt, plants and rocks in and out.  We thought it was the gem of the neighbourhood at the time.

We ultimately moved on to a slightly larger home in 2011: a 1750 sq ft. detached house just one block over

We loved the house and were very comfortable in it.  We brought our son home to this house and made him a little nursery there!  Kids change things though - while I used to be okay with my 90 minute one-way commute, once we had our son it no longer seemed feasible.  We wanted to move closer to my office (which also meant closer to my family as a major added bonus). 

So in July of 2013 we bought this house just a two minute walk away from my sister!  It was built in 1984 with a rear addition in 1997.  We're unsure of the size due to the addition, but we estimate somewhere close to 3,000 sq ft.  The photos below are the listing photos that don't really show the condition the house was/is actually in.  Let's just say, if this house was taking a selfie, it would have used some heavy filtering.

Living Room

Kitchen looking into breakfast area

Breakfast Area

Family Room

Master Bedroom

Dining Room and Bonus Space

Main Floor Powder Room

Master Bathroom

This is the first home we have bought that wasn't builder-fresh.  The finishes are all a bit rough and every professional we've had come through here gently tells us there has been some "Creative [wiring/plumbing/gas lines/facade]" happening in this house.  Slowly but surely we're taking apart the things that were done either quickly or haphazardly and redoing them the way we want to see them.

In the nine months we've been living in this house we've done a bit and I'll show you the progress we've made, but there is still a long road to go.  I hope you'll come by again to see how we're keeping up!