When you buy your first place, excitement tends to take over as you dream of all the wonderful things you’d love to do with your new home.
Then reality sets in as you realize that with the expense of moving, closing costs, etc., you can only do so much and you have to set some priorities and do the things you want in stages.
This was the case with this 25 year old unit in Don Mills. Being an older unit it had the usual double edged sword – tons of space but horribly out of date.
From the hunter green carpet and terra cotta tiles to the battleship gray kitchen and bathrooms, this place needed help bad.
But, we couldn’t do everything at once. So we set some priorities and decided that the carpet and tiles had to go and the kitchen needed a makeover.
We didn’t have the budget for a complete kitchen renovation, so a minor makeover was decided on.
We began by removing the carpet and tiles.
In one of the previous pictures, you’ll notice the tiny pass through from the kitchen to the dining area. Completely non-functional and kind of silly looking. So we removed some kitchen cabinets and opened up the wall.
The next project was to do something with the ugly gray kitchen. The larger pass through had worked wonders in opening up the space, but there was too much gray.
We left the counter tops and painted the cabinet doors white. Then we installed a beautiful red glass tile backsplash.
Next came the installation of a gorgeous warm bamboo floor throughout the main living area and bedrooms.
Next up on the list is a new coat of paint (the gray isn’t working), some entry furniture and then the bathrooms. The kitchen backsplash was done in such a way that it can be left in place when the cabinets and counters are eventually replaced.
Here’s the finished product in the first phase of this tired old condo makeover. Stay tuned for more…..
