Author: mommaintraining

The thing that sold me on my house, which we bought in 2014 believe it or not- was the kitchen! That’s also the first thing we changed when we decided to renovate in 2020. After having two babies we realized how important and functional an open concept layout was, and I had wanted a huge island forever. So in July of 2020, after what seemed like years of discussing our dream kitchen we finally did it. We completely demolished our old kitchen and custom built a new one. We also broke down a wall between the kitchen and living room to create an open concept space and added built in shelves in our living room and I’m so glad we did. My dream was white, bright and open, and I think we nailed it!

Now let’s talk about where we started. We had a very small island and a wall between the living room and kitchen. We also had red walls which I used to love and realized soon after we moved in, that it actually made the kitchen feel small and a little dark.

Before

For the new space, I opted for white cabinets (chantilly lace), white walls (decorators white) , a ten foot island (with a little Country Inspo on the ends). Finally we went with beautiful blue velvet stools. Stools were the hardest thing to choose, it literally took us months. We found nothing we loved and then my husband custom ordered these ones and although he chose them, I ended up loving them! The process to custom order was very tough though because we were basically ordering without actually being able to see or feel the material or the colours, so we had to trust that the pictures and descriptions we sent were good enough to achieve the look we wanted. It also took months for the stools to arrive and in fact we are still waiting for one more!! If you want more information about the stools and where to order them let me know in the comments below.

After

While designing our dream kitchen, my husband and I honestly didn’t agree on a lot! I love the traditional farmhouse country style kitchens with gold finishes and my husband really wanted a modern look so we compromised and in the end we were both happy. I ended up changing my vision right before we had to choose our finishes which really helped. I ended up liking a more modern style after all, and changed from gold to chrome finishes which is exactly what my husband wanted. The chrome really completed the look and although sometimes I imagine what it would look like if I had gone with gold , I know the chrome is more feasible (I’ve heard the gold can fade) especially in a house with two energetic toddlers! This brings me to the pieces that I love the most in the kitchen. The beautiful lighting and the stunning faucet.

For lighting , we went with Kichler lighting . They have exquisite lighting fixtures and their customer service is exceptional. I changed my mind multiple times and each time Monique (ask for her if you need a hand choosing your fixtures) was so kind and helped me find exactly what I was looking for. I get serious anxiety making decisions and choosing our fixtures was no different, however speaking with them via email truly made the experience enjoyable. For over the island I wanted something modern but light so I opted for the Kichler Linear Chandelier in chrome from the Crosby collection. It’s contemporary look with clean lines and metal accents was perfect for my bright and traditional/modern vision! We also have a little spot at the end of the island where I might eventually add in some benches so I wanted a light fixture for the end as well and for that space we went with the Kichler 5 light chandelier in chrome, also from the Crosby collection and it’s just perfect.

For the faucet we went with Pfister faucets. They have such a great selection and incredible price points ! We went with the The Stellen Touchless Faucet in Stainless Steel (Model: LG529-ESAS). We love the touchless feature especially right now where germs are our biggest concern!

The React^TM touchless technology turns the faucet on and off with a wave of my hand and is the perfect way to reduce germs and create a more hygienic home environment. The faucet is also gorgeous, it combines sleek, simple lines and contemporary curves. I am so happy with our choice.

Last but not least let’s talk floors!! We searched hard and long for the perfect floor and again I am beyond happy with what we chose. We chose Arizona white oak and I highly recommend it. We paid extra to get wider panels and we love how it looks.

Now let’s get to the not so fun stuff! We overall had a good experience with our contractors and I’ve tagged them in my story highlight called “House Reno” if you’re interested ! there were a few small things I wasn’t very happy with which I wish we had known ahead of time but overall I would say they did a good job.

After everything is said and done I love my new kitchen and although I wish I chose different hardware I love everything! Let me know your thoughts below. Have you had a renovation done? Did you have a good or bad experience ? Were you happy with the outcome ?

This year we decided it was finally time to upgrade our house! We took the leap this past summer and renovated our entire main floor. We put in a beautiful new kitchen and oak hardwood throughout the house and now that the renovation is done, we have moved onto upgrading our furniture-my absolute favourite part!

The first thing we wanted to change was our sofa! Our current couch is dark and dingy, and we have had it since we bought the house 6 years ago. As soon as we decided to upgrade our furniture, we headed straight to Direct interiors and that was probably the only decision about the house that both my husband and I agreed on! My husband and I have completely different styles and bumped heads a lot during the renovation but when it came to furniture, we both knew Direct Interiors was the way to go!

Showroom

Firstly, we love their showroom and that you can actually see the furniture in person. I love being able to actually touch and see the furniture and I love how they have so many different styles and all of the furniture is laid out with the perfect rugs and accessories. It really helped me narrow down my choices by seeing the sectional laid out in a way that I could picture in my house. Seeing the furniture lay outs really made choosing the style I love easy, especially since I am a more visual person!

Selection

Their furniture showroom is not only stunning, but it is huge. There are 2 floors with every style of room you could imagine. They have such a wide range looks, from Traditional dreamy bedrooms to the most modern living rooms I have ever seen, to the cutest nurseries around! I love every single set up and love how they offer something for everyone, and the best part is, a lot of it can be customized to what you want!

Quality

As I walked through the showroom, I was literally in awe of not only the look but the feel of each piece of furniture. You can really tell and understand the quality of furniture when you actually touch, feel and test it out, and even with Covid-19 going on, I felt comfortable in the showroom! They have excellent safety protocols in place, and I felt extremely safe and comfortable physically visiting their showroom and looking around. I also feel that when buying something like furniture, it’s basically impossible to actually know what you are going to get unless you see it in person and I highly recommend going in person to truly experience their show room.

Service

Last but not least I cannot say enough about the impeccable service offered by their staff. From the moment you enter you are greeted and helped right away or left to look around if you prefer. I usually have to search for someone whenever I am shopping in a furniture store and when making such a huge purchase it is so reassuring to know that within a minute, I can get someone to help me! Furniture can be a big investment and I want to ensure that I understand everything and with the professionals at Direct Interiors I feel great about my experience and I had every question answered. I cannot say enough about their exquisite interior design services.

We have been working with Katie, one of Direct Interiors highly talented in-house interior-stylists and it has been such an incredible experience. They help with floor plans, room layouts, color coordination and furniture selections and ensure that it suits your lifestyle and your preferences. In our case we wanted something light and airy yet something that would be comfortable and durable for life with two toddlers. Katie was so patient and really took our needs and wants into consideration to help design our dream sectional. She was able to combine my husband’s style with mine and show us options that we both loved. She was even able to design our dream sectional made with a durable and stain resistant material that will fit our space perfectly. Scheduling appointments was easy and so enjoyable. I loved being able to see samples of the materials and designs and even see similar pieces in their showroom. It was also wonderful to be able to call or email her whenever we had ideas and she welcomed changes and feedback without hesitation. Her professionalism made the decision-making process so easy and I am such an indecisive person so that means the world to me.

I can’t say enough about my experience thus far with Design Interiors and I can’t wait to show you our final design. If you are looking to make your dream a reality, then Direct Interiors is the place for you!

Working from home is not easy- add in homeschooling a toddler and having a 2 year old bouncing around- definitely no walk in the park. What has helped me though, and what has truly made my days so much easier has been my Huawei Matebook X Pro. I really struggled with my previous laptop, it was bulky, the screen was tiny – it really strained my eyes and it died within an hour of taking it off of its charger. It is unbelievable the difference a laptop can make. The Huawei Matebook X Pro laptop has been a serious game-changer, and not just because it’s beautiful and incredibly fast. You can login with the touch of your fingerprint, the battery life is amazing and it is extremely lightweight and portable which is key when working from home without an office!

Design

The design is just stunning- there is a 91% screen to body ratio, which makes it perfect for reading- key for research, writing- all I seem to do these days and watching- what I love to do these days! It has a 3K full view display with a near borderless experience, making everything so much more vibrant and live. It also includes a recessed pop-up camera which sits discreetly on the keyboard and pops up as needed- excellent for privacy. One of my favourite thing is the touchscreen – it is of the highest quality- no more tapping something to make it notice you- you can quickly unlock and access your laptop with one quick touch, and the Huawei Matebook X Pro has 10 point multi-touch- fine-tuned for sensitivity- it responds to your every touch with complete accuracy. The display is 13.9inches with an incredible colour range and 3000 x 2000 resolution and it adjusts the white balance and colour tone to avoid eye strain. It also has quad speakers for the highest sound quality- specifically woofers with deep and resonant bass and tweeters with clear treble. The beautiful metallic body is only 14.66 mm thin and weighs only 1.33kg. The display and the design on its own sold me completely!

The Huawei Matebook X Pro has been an actual lifesaver for my work-life and has helped me with my work-life balance by allowing me to work quicker and therefore smarter. It has incredible multi-taking efficiency, faster image processing and smoother gaming and viewing experiences. The upgraded high-speed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 ensures a worriless connection-also key when working from home and an incredible battery life- up to 13 hours of non-stop video playback!!!

Huawei Ecosystem

Huawei has been building its own ecosystem of products that integrate and work seamlessly across one another.My favourite part of the Matebook X Pro (after the near borderless experience) has to be the Huawei Share capabilities. For those that don’t know, with a quick tap, I can easily transfer files, photos, and anything elsebetween my Huawei P40 pro smartphone and my Huawei Matebook X Pro within minutes to seconds. With some of the recent announcements of new wearables and audio products coming to Canada from Huawei, I can’t wait to test this out and truly experience the full ecosystem of products and how they work together to create an easy and efficient experience for customers like me.

Specs

• Intel Core i7 10th Gen 10510U (1.80 GHz)
• 16 GB Memory 1 TB SSD
• NVIDIA GeForce MX250
• Touchscreen
• 3000 x 2000
• Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
• Includes HUAWEI MateDock 2 Docking Station

Final thoughts

Final thoughts: If you are looking for a laptop that has an incredible display, unbelievable sound, and is also beautiful and lightweight, then the Huawei Matebook X Pro is for you! To learn more about pricing and availability click here