Delta Faucets

Moving into an older home always poses a couple challenges, and when I found #HeaveninHighPark I had a feeling a lot of work was needed in key areas like the kitchen and bathrooms. Initially I wanted to rip everything out in all 3 rooms but that quickly became a project that went way beyond what I could handle budget-wise and time-wise. Renovations are a huge undertaking, and in my limited experience they always end up way more complicated than you plan for. The last thing I wanted to do was get in too deep right off the bat, so I compromised – rip out the kitchen to start from scratch, and do what I could with the two bathrooms without any demolition.

Turns out there is a lot you can do to update an older space without ripping things apart. I was worried the wood-handled melamine cabinets were a lost cause, and though I lucked out on mostly white tiling in all three rooms, the sink situation definitely left something to be desired.

KITCHEN //

When it came to the kitchen, I really went for it. With the help of my landlord and a trusty handyman, I swapped the backsplash for white subway tiles, the countertop for a faux marble slab (quartz based) and the old melamine cabinets for clean white wood with gold hardware. The real show stopper? This epic Delta Smart Kitchen Faucet! Everything really came together the moment this champagne beauty was installed, and showing guests my “faucet magic tricks” when they come over never gets old. You can turn the sink on and off by touching anywhere on the faucet’s body!

Check out the before and after here! Who doesn’t love a good makeover story?

BATHROOMS //

In both bathrooms I chose to work with the existing cabinets and sinks. We painted the cabinetry pink (see full details below if you’re wondering how!) and drilled holes to add fun knobs to the doors. Details like bright towels and a patterned shower curtain added some life to each space, but the biggest transformation really came down to the hardware. I replaced the faucets with champagne bronze single handle bathroom models to match the kitchen, and then swapped out the towel racks and towel hooks to match.

IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS //

If you want to spruce up your old melamine cabinets it’s not as difficult as you think. First, give them a rough sand to create a bit of traction. Next, do a base coat of Zinsser Bulls eye 1-2-3 primer, and when you’re selecting paint make sure it’s alkyd enamel based (they can mix it any colour!) I was super happy with how ours turned out, especially with the addition of some fancy knobs at the end.

The word “renovation” tends to come with a degree of negativity to it. Personally disaster zones and shelves ripping out of walls come to my mind, and there’s no shortage of tales concerning projects that were scheduled to take a week stretching on for years. When I decided to renovate the bathroom in my rental unit – an idea that snowballed from a wish to upgrade to beautiful golden Delta faucets – I made the same mistake so many had before me: I thought my renovation would be different.

It all started out as a total dream. As previously mentioned I picked out the most delicious shiny gold faucets for my shower and sink from Delta, and of course I couldn’t resist a towel bar and toilet paper holder as well when I saw how perfectly they matched as a gleaming set. Seriously, this gold hardware was enough to make me want to redo the whole room – so elegant and royal!

Next Jo and I took a field trip to the Ciot showroom to pick out new tiles, a must considering our old tile and grout was cracking and crumbling with each shower we took. We had the most wonderful time exploring all of the finishes and learning about different types of marble, and in the end we were able to fit floor and wall tiles into our budget (thank goodness for marble-printed porcelain!)

Of course a room can’t feel fresh without a new coat of paint, so we turned to CIL for an elegant yet subtle update. We were immediately sold on the “bathroom and kitchen finish” (easy to clean and mould-resistant), and colour-wise we went with “Barely Blush” and “White on White”.

Last but not least we picked out a new sink to match our new Delta sink faucet and offer us more space to organize all of our beauty products. We went with this super cute vanity unit from Canadian Tire and it literally doubled our storage space. Win!

A new white shower curtain rod here and some candles there (Currently obsessed with TOCCA and Paddywax’s Library Collection) and we were ready to get things underway. Unfortunately that’s where we ran into speed bumps.

We decided to work with an app (which will remain unnamed) that helps match contractors to projects, and we immediately matched with a company who could come in the same day the tiles arrived! Score! The team of two arrived a few hours late, which didn’t bother us much, and told us they would likely finish the project in under ten hours. Score again!!!

Five days, two 3am stop times, and endless tears later, the construction duo informed us that they had accidentally destroyed all of our tiles. More tears, more panic, and a angry version of myself that I never wish to see again followed, and ultimately the team simply left. The app sent another contractor to survey the situation, and we were told we needed to start from scratch. All new tiles needed to be installed, plus demolition of all the botched work. The app would only pay for the demolition and the new tiles.

Before //

I was a MESS. As someone who takes a lot of pride in their home and never leaves a project unfinished, this was a total disaster. How could my fun little reno have gone SO wrong?!

Enter R&B Group (que the superhero music!) This team came in, laughed for a bit in pity at the horrible original outcome, then tore it all out and started from scratch. They worked quickly, and the end result was nothing short of perfect. It was truly a pleasure to have them in our home, and I am pretty sure I’ll never even considering hiring someone else. THANK YOU RICARDO AND BRUNO! You can get in contact with them here if you have a project that you need help with: randbgroupinc@gmail.com.

So what did we learn? I mean other than gold faucets automatically make everything prettier and marble tiles beat all other tiles? We learned that if you want your renovation to be quick, easy, and painless, you need to hire the right people to help you! It was literally night and day between the first team and R&B Group, and when Ricardo and Bruno rolled up with photos of their past work and a reasonable quote for how long the job would actually take (about a week btw) we realized how unprofessional the first guys had really been.

And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for: meet the new #RAOPpowderroom!

After //