Jillian & Justin’s New Project

Wow, when it rains it pours. I feel like EVERYTHING in our lives is changing, and I am SO grateful that it’s all GOOD changes! I mean, there’s been some stressful moments lately, but from a bird’s eye, life is good. This summer, Justin and I realized that our beautiful home wasn’t fit for our growing family. Nacho didn’t have space to run and when the babe was born, there was no yard for he/she to play in! We started to look for a bigger property, and ended up finding our dream home!! Well … dream property, the home, well it needed a little love. If you are looking to build a new home then take a look at the home builders from Icon Building Group.

So, If you weren’t already aware (from Snapchat) … Justin, Leo, Nacho and I just purchased our first home together! We took possession of it on September 1st and have already jumped in head first. There is A LOT of work to be done … 3 more months to be exact (hopefully lol)!!! With my busy schedule, believe it or not, I have let go of a ton of control and Justin has been taking the lead and keeping me up to date and working directly with the build team … SOOO much more than I thought I would be comfortable with!!! It’s amazing having a PARTNER in this process and we’ve definitely been learning how to work as a team, and to … gulp.. COMPROMISE! LOL … (good thing he likes white LOL). But, all in all, with the great team I have helping me on this … I am SO excited to see the finished product along with the journey.

To give you some background information on our renovation ahead … the house was built in the early 70’s. It’s a two story rancher style home with an ACRE of property!!! WOOOO!! So much yard for Leo to learn to ride, walk, run, and play!!  There are three gorgeous fruit trees in the front yard and a huge pool in the back!! There’s even a lake view!!!

BUT … there was also a rotten old jacuzzi in the basement, pink and blue carpets, bright colored bathroom fixtures and I don’t think it’s been renovated since it was built. It was also FULL of asbestos … WAY more than we had budgeted for … which we just finished removing thanks to Stutters. If any of you are looking at buying an older home and renovating, make sure you budget for asbestos remediation. More times than not, an older home will have it and you don’t want to be out of pocket when the time comes! Stutters were quick and easy to work with and I would definitely recommend them if you’re in the market. Last but not least, the layout wasn’t QUITE what we need … I think when we are done with it … it will be the PERFECT place for our little family to call home.

This is what it looked like when we bought it …..

And this is what it looks like now ….

We have been working with a few designers and architects to make sure that the exterior of the house still says “rancher” but with a bit of a country update – I love the rancher look but thought it wasn’t looking too inviting so adding this new front porch and higher roof line focuses the entrance and makes for a great hang out space at the front of the house – can’t wait to sit on a rocking chair here and watch the kids play under the cherry tree out front!

With this HUGE project on our hands, I looked to who I trusted most to help us out: Kenny Gemmill and Francesca Albertazzi from Love It or List It Vancouver. You all know Kenny from the show – he’s always telling me I can’t do something – I trust him to get this project off its feet and to keep it (and me!) in check! And Francesca is the behind-the-scenes head designer of the show, she’s the one who takes my creative vision and transforms it into reality…. She basically wrangles me which is good and also has a great European sense of style which I love – so we are in good hands to make this dream become a reality! Because of my travel schedule and Leo’s arrival, I’ve also enlisted in a local designer Carley Dawson to force me to make decisions and guide me along the way.

We are in full swing with the reno now and I have been meaning to post this blog for literally MONTHS! We have SO much to pick out and order but we have a good handle on things! To give you an idea, we have been working closely with the Best Buy Canada team to pick out appliances and electronics, we have been picking out light fixtures from Arteriors Home and Visual Comfort, choosing hardware from Emtek & Schaub, the millwork is being done by Home Image Interiors and Kelowna Innovative Cabinet Company, picking out paint colours from Benjamin Moore in Kelowna, we are still trying to decide on tiles from some of our favorites (Olympia Tile + Stone, Ann Saks, World Mosaic Tile, Cement Tile Shop), we have nice white windows and siding from Ply Gem, countertops by Caeserstone, lighting by Sylvania Canada, we are discussing heated flooring options with Nuheat, and picking out hardwood floors with PurParket … just to name a few … there are still more decisions to come!!!!

I can’t wait for the decor stages to come and to be able to update you with some of our inspiration!! So far we have been scouring Wayfair, The Cross Decor & Design, Q. Design Centre, Pottery Barn Kids, Petite Vigogne, Arianna Belle, Lulu & Georgia, Pom Pom At Home, and Minted for decor items. We are FAR from done this project! I will make sure to keep you all in the loop on the renovation process and I’ll continue to update you on who and what we are using throughout the process!

We are working on creating a dedicated page on JilianHarris.com for all of your renovation questions and needs. I will let you know as soon as it’s up and running (hopefully soon!!) …

xo

Jilly

Justin and I are so excited to work with all of the above-mentioned companies throughout our renovation and we’re so grateful for partnering with some of them on this huge project of ours!!! Stay tuned for more updates!!