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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, thereā€™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 wasnā€™t fit for our growingĀ family. Nacho didnā€™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 weā€™ve definitely been learning how to work as a team, and to ā€¦ gulp.. COMPROMISE! LOL ā€¦ (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.

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To give you some background information on our renovation ahead … the house was built in the early 70ā€™s. Itā€™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!!Ā  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 donā€™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 wasnā€™t QUITE what we need ā€¦ 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 …..
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And this is what it looks like now ….

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We have been working with a few designers and architectsĀ to make sure that the exterior of the house still says ā€œrancherā€ but with a bit of a country update ā€“ I love the rancher look but thought it wasnā€™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 ā€“ canā€™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 ā€“ heā€™s always telling me I canā€™t do something ā€“ 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, sheā€™s the one who takes my creative vision and transforms it into realityā€¦. She basically wrangles me which is good and also has a great European sense of style which I love ā€“ so we are in good hands to make this dream become a reality! Because of my travel schedule and Leoā€™s arrival, Iā€™ve also enlisted in a local designer Carley Dawson to force me to make decisions and guide me along the way. new-house-plans-jj drawings-of-houseblog-new-house-3

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 InteriorsĀ 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 Iā€™ll continue to update you on who and what we are using throughout the process!

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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!!


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      1. Jillian, I am following your journey of your new home on instagram and absolutely love our flooring! Just wondering what the name and make of it is? Thanks!

  1. I would love it if you could drive up to Blue Sky at Black Mountain and have a cup of tea with me and give me so of your genius ideas as decorating my home?

  2. Thanks for sharing, on the opposite end of the spectrum, my husband an I sold our house in September to downsize, we move January 30th, and have been scouring every on line store for decor items, with the new/smaller townhouse that we are having built, I have changed every aspect of the decor from red’s, creams, earth tones to the new whites, grey’s, blues, with a contrast of some industrial looking fixtures & furniture, I’ve been glued to Love it or List it Vancouver (my hubby & son too) to mimic and inspire my new space. My next hunt is for closet organization & a way to create storage with not taking up to much space! Looking forward to your next blog on your beautiful home. (Oh, and thanks for the names of the decor shops you posted…Google here I come!)

    1. Glad to hear you’re coming to the Reno show!!! Looking forward to meeting you next weekend @federicapetraschuk:disqus !!! XOXO

    1. Eeeeeepppp!!!! I’m so excited to share more with you @chelseafilipovich:disqus XOXO Thanks for following along!!!

  3. What a wonderful project. Your home will be beautiful and functional I am sure of it. Love your style and choices When I watch Love it or List it Vancouver.

  4. Congratulations finding your dream home! It really is one of those great milestones in life that is so fun and fulfilling! Can’t wait to see the finished product! Good luck!!

  5. Congrats Jillian. So exciting! I am married to a home-builder in Kelowna and we are building our own home right now as well. Do you have a suggestion on a cabinet colour? A light, creamy-white with a hint of grey maybe???

  6. Congratulations! What an undertaking. It will be breathtakingly beautiful when it is completed. Thank you for sharing the process. I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds:) Your experience would have made great TV…Just saying!

  7. Congrats on everything, Jillian!

    Will this project be shown on a new show? Hope so or at least some more peeks of the process.

  8. Loved reading about your house renovations. We just finished renovating our kitchen and it took 6 weeks. Before the renovations started we discovered some leaky pipes underground. Plumbers called in and they said too much to excavate to find the leak, so they bypass the pipes overhead and cut off the water underground.

  9. I’m so happy for you Jilliian and your adorable little family!! …Carol S. is a family friend of mine and when I found out she was being a part on your home renovation I was so excited!!! Hopefully We can meet again! closer to the final stages of completion!! šŸ™‚ or be part of a helping hand. it’s going to be beautiful!!

  10. I still can’t believe you bought this house!! I must have sent this to my husband 100 times! So so so excited to see what you guys do with it — it was such a diamond in the rough! Xo

    Candace Martyn

  11. Hey Jillian! I’m a huge fan and my family and I are also building a home this year so all the links are super appreciated! Just as an FYI, In our current home we have PurParket flooring, and as much as we are obsessed with the look of them, unless they have changed they way they are manufactured and the recommended care for them in the last 3 years (since we purchased them), I would suggest a more durable floor. The oil finish is gorgeous but everytime Leo drops a piece of cheese on the floor and you don’t see it for
    more than an hour, you’re gonna have a grease stain. Muddy water left in-mopped the mud sinks into the grain and can’t be sucked out. Too bad because the floors are so beautiful. Who has the time to oil all the floors in their home once per year? Anyway, have one of the “open grain” kinds, maybe there’s an alternative now. Just a heads up! Best of luck and I’ll be following along! Xx

  12. love this post! you are gem for letting us into your life like this. I personally appreciate the honesty behind the project’s manifestation and i love that you are giving specific resources. It allows us to duplicate elements of it in our own design and home work. thank you

  13. Her disclaimer on the site clearly states that she may receive reimbursement for links you click on BUT she only posts things she believe in.

    1. Dear, it has zero to do with a disclaimer and fully to do with what the law says someone must do if they receive free items in exchange for advertising about them. Educate yourself.

      1. Hi Justine, those rules and regulations are just in the United States as of right now. They are going to be coming to Canada this year which is why we always put at the bottom of our blog the disclaimer. We are working on including this in ALL of our social posts moving forward as well. Thank you for your concern, we appreciate the feedback XO

    2. Hi Caz – I posted this on your comment on the Christmas post as well. The disclaimer you’re referring to actually doesn’t address Tori’s point, above. The Canadian Code of Advertising Standards sets out the guidelines for advertising in Canada, and posts like these do violate those standards, as do most of Jillian’s instagram posts. Even blog posts that are personal like this need to identify the “material connection” between the author and the company or product that is being promoted. The code defines material connection here:

      “”Material connection” is defined as any connection between an entity providing a product or service and an endorser, reviewer, influencer or person making a representation that may affect the weight or credibility of the representation, and includes: benefits and incentives, such as monetary or other compensation, free products with or without any conditions attached, discounts, gifts, contest and sweepstakes entries, and any employment relationship, but excludes nominal consideration for the legal right to identify publicly the person making the representation.”

      So if Jillian got a discount for shopping at these places or using their services, or received any kind of compensation from them, she is obligated to state it here, even if she is endorsing their products. There’s no reason to construe this as “negativity”. As I noted below, I love Jillian’s posts, including her sponsored posts. I have learned so much about great new products and retailers from her, and I think her marketing strategy is on point and to be respected. But it is accurate to say that posts like this are deceitful; they need to be clear about what the material connection is. And her instagram posts need to do the same and rarely – if ever – do.

      I think Jillian’s media team does a great job of balancing her more personal posts about her life with her sponsored posts – it’s why she is such a successful “influencer”. But whoever is in charge of writing these posts needs to exercise more vigilance. This is obviously not a criticism of Jillian unless you believe that a woman as busy as her – new mom, tv personality, wife-to-be, and obviously-committed family woman, and someone who spends an ungodly amount of time commuting! – actually sits behind her computer and writes every single one of these posts from scratch.

      So Team Jilly – please keep up the great work, but please please PLEASE make sure you are advertising ethically and honestly! Best way to support your brand!

      1. I realize you r team Jillian but she wrote a blog referring to my father in laws business and no pyment or discounts were ever discussed! Have a little bit more faith just because she is a celebrity doesn’t mean everything she posts is a sales pitch

  14. I’m so excited to see this post! My husband and I just purchased an old ranch style home and we are working on developing plans for renovations. Can’t wait to follow your blog and get inspiration — I love your style!

  15. Love your post! Looking forward to seeing more pictures as your reno progresses. It looks like your new home is in a great setting!

  16. Too funny, I am also building a house this spring. So very excited to follow along with you on this journey!! I don’t think we will have as quick of a timeline as you, as we are building it ourselves – my dad and my husband. It’s so wonderful for you to share this with your readers. I think my friends are starting to tune me out as all I ever talk about it is stuff related to the house build and it’s becoming white noise to them. Great to be able to relate to someone else šŸ™‚

  17. You are my inspiration Jillian! Your house is going to be gorgeous. I am also renovating our 1.5 story 1940’s house. We are adding a full second story and completely gutting the main floor with an addition out back. Exciting times! We pick our exterior finishes this week…I’m so nervous

  18. Congratulations Jillian! Your home is going to be so stunning, comfortable & tranquil! Everything you do is amazing!!! I look forward to your home renovation journey & am so excited for you & your beautiful family!!!

  19. I would love to see the show with Jillian and Justin continue on for a whole season. Best of luck you are such a nice family ??????

  20. I love the fact that you are willing to share your life with that gorgeous man of yours and little Leo, oh yes cannot forget Nacho. I have enjoyed the show but 4 parts is not enough, you should consider more. I also think it is awesome that you are living in, I am gonna say West Kelowna. One day I do hope to run into you and your little family.

  21. LOVE your laundry room. I’m green with envy. If you’re ever out Victoria way, can you drop by & gimme some suggestions for my tight little laundry room? You’re a doll, thanks!

  22. Hi Jillian! My husband and I are done with the hustle of city life ((live in Toronto) and want to raise our young family near nature and mountains and a slower pace…what are your favourite family-friendly neighbourhoods in Kelowna? Thanks xo

  23. Hi Jillian!!
    Trying to figure out what colour of hardwood floors you have and where you got them from?! Iā€™m in love ?

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