BG Home Basement Remodel. The Method behind the Madness

We're exactly 5 days to our Home Tour at the BG Home Basement. We're all wrapped up and ready to go. The client had their big reveal party which coincided with Halloween and both Lynda and I were given a standing ovation as we entered the space. Granted they were all standing and milling around the bar, but nevertheless.....

When I first met the clients back in March at the Fenwick Home Tour, there was something that piqued my interest. This would be the first time I was being asked to take a perfectly fine basement and remodel it to the clients' needs. Their demands were unique and so was the challenge.

After visiting and dimensioning the space, it was evident that the basement was built by someone who didn't give a fuck. It's easy to build fast when you skirt around all of the problem areas without addressing them. I was as usual going to build a basement that the home-owners would be proud of for many years to come.

This is what the basement looked like when I started the process

This built-in was originally built to house a large CRT television and did not work with the client's large LCD flatscreen and his floor standing speakers. The right of the built in housed a bar sink and worked as a makeshift bar. All in, this setup did not work for the client's need to realise the full potential of his existing and yet to be upgraded sound system.

Looking towards the rear of the basement, there is a large closet and to the right a washroom. The brief was to remove the closet, reduce the footprint of the washroom and build a 12' wraparound bar.

The spare bedroom was to be turned into a gym housing the Boflex and a Treadmill. The small closet was to be eliminated in favour of a 16' reach in closet with mirrored doors.

The bulkhead in the bedroom/gym was the natural choice for the closet. Mirrored doors from ceiling to the floor would hide the bulkhead and give the illusion of added space.

There is a natural alcove that follows the walls of the house. I determined that this was not perfectly centred to the space and convinced the clients that a redesign of the wall was in order.

In all, we removed ceilings, added lights, moved gas lines, moved water lines, added features and subtracted a lot of useless ones. Stay tuned for the final pictures.

Visit our website to see more of the basements we have completed.

www.wildenorth.com

BG Home Tour

We are so excited to be hosting our second Home Tour in 15 days. We were under contract to not release any in-progress pics of this job so we are absolutely dying for you to see the space. 

This job has been especially different for us as we took a finished basement, redesigned and rebuilt the space allowing for the client to personalize and customize it to their very distinct needs.

Plus you gotta see the solution we came up with to house the Client's 300+ collection !! 

The HOME Tour will be held on Sunday, November 8th from 2 - 7 pm. Please contact us via email contact@wildenorth.com if interested.

Visit our website to see more of our work

www.wildenorth.com

Fall Decor Around Our Home

Subtle touches of Fall decor around the home makes it so warm and inviting. This year I used a sprinkling of white mini pumpkins and medium sized orange ones. This pretty brass bowl was a gift from our supplier and the white pumpkins looked perfect in them. While you're here have you noticed my new (to me) spider table ! I had been wanting one for evah ! Hunted one down at the Brimfield Antique show in July but they were beyond my budget. And while trolling Craigslist last week I found this baby and brought her home from Woodbridge. It was huge and oh so pretty, and my hunt for the perfect coffee table ends here.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving weekend !

  

Visit our website to see our other Interior Decorating projects

www.wildenorth.com

hugs
Lynda

Royal Mail New Release - Star Wars - The frikken Force frikken Awakens (What the Hell took you so long???)

So, Summer's behind us, and while today's weather would make it feel like we're somewhere in the middle of Fall, I've been assured by Frankie Flowers, that this is merely a small dip in temps. He's been wrong before, so.......

And while it looks like I've not been busy over summer, I assure you that I have. It's just that I've agreed with my current customer to hold out on the pictures till the final reveal. This one is going to be good. Just you wait.

I was intimated this morning of Royal Mail's upcoming Philatelic release to commemorate the latest Star Wars installment in December. Needless to say, I had a mild Nerdattack, followed by a Fangasm, followed by me frantically pulling out my credit cards and throwing them at the Royal Mail website..... Take my money!!!!!

Anyhoo, after coming to the realistaion that I do not have money, I chose 4 first day covers, covering the characters and the vehicles. They also have issues that are framed, have commerative coins and single issue stamp panels, priced higher than I am willing to spend. This one will sell out, and soon.

Like, Pre-Order now. What you waiting for??? 

The Vehicles

John Boyega plas Finn, a redeemed First Order Stormtrooper

Daisy Ridley plays Rey

Adam Driver plays Kylo Ren

A Stormtrooper 

 Empreror Palpatine

Boba Fett

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Harrison Ford

Luke Skywalker

Darth Vader

Carrie Fisher

Yoda

Dhiraj D'Souza

Our Summer Oasis

With D spending the last few weekends working on the side yard we have finally completed it and are enjoying every minute of it. Living in this house for 8 years we hardly used the space as it was fugly with a narrow rose bed running against the wall, one "walking dead" tree taking up the whole corner, an ugly concrete step and a gravel bed for no apparent reason.

In the early spring we said our final farewells to the tree and hacked what was left of it to the ground. We then moved the two lonely rose bushes to the back garden where we expected them to thrive and bloom in the sunlight. News flash - They did not. They died.

When it came to improving the space we came up with a custom seating solution with a wall to give us privacy from the neighbors and hide a boring brick wall. After that was built D then built a platform to cover up the concrete step as well as the gravel bed, with the same wood to tie the spaces in. The grey cabinet with sink and custom gate/fence was built in 2008.

We then decorated the wall with these gorgeous buffalo horns that we picked up last month at Brimfield. The majlis cushions were one of our Dubai purchases and they worked perfectly in this space. I threw a lot of rugs and cushions around to soften up the space. The Charmglow Bar cart was a perfect fit in the corner along with my faux fiddle fig tree garage sale find. Lastly I added the Navajo rug which was another Brimfield find.

We now use this space all day and all night. We light up the fire pit and watch the stars after dinner. Our own little piece of heaven.................

BEFORE

AFTER

 

This little corner was specifically created as a 'Reading nook' for our bookworm Aaliyah.

See more pics here the DIY before and after pics of this Vintage Bar Car that once was a 1970s Charmglow Master Chef BBQ

 

And then we added vintage filament lights ! sighhhhhhhhhhh

There you have it.............our summer haven.

Head to our website to see more of our outdoor work.

WWW.WILDENORTH.COM

Hugs
Lynda

From BBQ to Bar Cart

Our dear neighbour Pauline passed away last year and while clearing out her home, this vintage bbq was being thrown out. We saw it and saved it from the scrap metal dealers that roam the streets on garbage day. The beautiful iron work of the lower section was eye catching and we thought it would make a great outdoor bar cart. 

We took off the rusted bbq trays and sanded the whole thing down. The girls spray painted it with 'Whipped Apricot' and D built a rustic tray for the top. It now sits in our outdoor side yard just waiting for the next partay ! 

Sometimes you need to look right through the past to see the future.............

 

 

 

Visit our website for more ideas.

WWW.WILDENORTH.COM