I WANNA live there # 57 ( my home sweet home )

I live in a pretty incredible area - in Montreal, It's an historical neighbourhood loaded with tons and tons of charm - and 20th century architecture, just steps away from the city center, it's also a pretty expensive neighbourhood ( in which I live in servants quarters basically compared to what I'm surrounded by ) 

Because there are days I don't have furniture makeovers to show you - I've chosen Wednesdays to showcase and feature one or two homes that are for sale around here.................( or apartment - or duplex - or teepee )
Keep in mind this is in the heart of the city - so the prices reflect that  - think Manhattan - where these places would cost 3 or 4 times what they're listed for here!
On occasion I'll showcase beautiful homes in other areas - countries - continents - the one thing most of them will have have in common will be their age - because I love old homes with stories to tell, join me won't you?
________________________________________________________________________

Well guys - it looks like I may be leaving my " pretty incredible area "
Our home is in the final stages of being sold - a few loose ends to tie up and we're done.
The good news?
We broke a record here for quickest sale ever.
The bad news?
My heart is broken in pieces over leaving it....................
New posts on I WANNA live there - may be revised to I HAFTA live there lol

I promised you the professional photos a while back - but couldn't upload them for some reason - now I can - so here they are :)

Price : 495,000$

Listing :
15045182

Type :
Apartment (Attached)

Asking price :
495,000$

Address : 81 Hallowell Street
Westmount (Montréal)

Near : Ste-Catherine W.

Date of occupancy : 60 days

REALTOR - 

I know a lot of people share photos of their homes - but for some reason I'm a little uncomfortable with it - I'd much rather show little sneak peaks - there's something that leaves

me feeling too vulnerable doing this - my style is not everyone's style - I tend to put a LOT into my homes ( crowding ) because I find solace in being surrounded with things I love.

Plus there's a couple of items that should not be in the photos at all - furniture that's waiting to be sold lol - but this is more to show you the home itself and not my style at all...............

The above photo should not have that desk plunked down in the middle of the bookcases - it's for sale and I had no where to " stash " it - normally the entry would look like this

my little farmhouse table bought with this house - and this little kitchen - in mind
( you can see how it doubles in size HERE )

The buffet hutch I bought and redid because of lack of storage 

Lots of huge meals were lovingly prepared in this impossibly tiny 100 year old city kitchen

The bathroom - that was going to be the next room to be completely done over in white marble and chandeliers - I guess that job will be for the next house - there's the branches that sparked this conversation HERE

our bedroom - and this is the only photo - where I prefer mine ( sorry Mr. Photographer )
my crappy unprofessional photo

The professional one

and this people - this is where I started my blogging journey from - this tiny little office

Where I'm sitting right now - under that Paris picture - fighting a terrible urge to cry like a baby.

A LOT of love went into this place ( I have to keep reminding myself that a lot of love has gone into everywhere I've lived - and will go into the next one too ) 

SO..................we're making appointments to look at these next 2 homes this weekend.
To possibly purchase - and flip - ( while living in them - wish us luck - again ) 

A rare chance to own an affordable waterfront home in Hudson...a charming ancestral cottage on the Main Road in Como with a private garden leading to a private beach. Cozy pine paneled walls, hardwood floors and a field stone fireplace.Some important updates have been done and it will be yours to restore to its glory days of circa 1850.

• Lot Frontage:
• 87.0 Feet
• Lot Depth:
• 409.0 Feet
• Lot Size:
• 19936.0
• Bedrooms:
• 4
• Bathrooms:
• 1
• Lot Assessment:
• $222,300.00
• Building Assessment:
• $145,200.00
• Total Assessment:
• $367,500.00
• Municipal Tax:
• $3,435.00
• School Tax:
• $778.00
• Annual Tax Amount:
• $4,213.00
• No. of Parking Spaces:
• 2
• Built in:
• 1850

PRICE - 334,900

Realtor - MARGARET LAGIMODIERE

Before you gasp - and think OMG Suzan - whatever are you thinking - I have to let you know that this house ( above ) looked horrible when we first visited - and the home before that - well ....everyone thought I was insane to buy it - including John ( and that one sold in 8 hours ) you're going to have to put on your imagination cap - and I'll help you out a little in the process..............I think most of you may see the potential but I'm warning you - it ain't pretty !!!

( I also promise you I could turn this into something pretty spectacular - I just KNOW it )

This is a very trendy little village - and lakeside properties sell for a fortune in this district - and private lake access is impossible to get for under a million or two................

We would probably build an extension on to this - making it a little larger - 

I featured another little house like this a few weeks ago - and most of you fell in love - (HERE)

so I'm going to show you a few of those photos again as well - to show you how the transformation could happen !!!

This is the OTHER HOUSE

I'm actually giggling to myself picturing your reaction to the next photo - 

John says - What the hell is the floor made of 

Suzan says - It's just carpet it can be easily lifted - and it's wood underneath

John says - It's God Awful............

He's not visual

At all

Ok - so now that I've shown you what it looks like - let me show you what it COULD look like with very little effort - really this could be all done with paint - and we all know how much I love paint lol

French doors out into the garden perhaps?

some built ins - a beautiful chandelier - the pine painted out and voila - another room could be made into a charming country dining room - I love that there's beams already in place.

Admittedly the kitchen would take a little more work than paint - 

but that's the beauty of buying old - that you get to put your stamp on it, right ???

It needs a new floor - without question - and it needs to be reconfigured slightly 

but it has room for a farmhouse table ( and that may be the most important criteria of all ) 

LOVE the wood ceiling - and again, the beams

Does anyone else see a dutch door replacing the one that's there?

( although I have to admit I DO like the one that's there ) 

Check out the phone all the wall - talk about a blast from the past lol

They may, however, need to include that cuckoo clock in the sale - I've always wanted one 

Laundry room off the kitchen - I've NEVER had a laundry room in my life - EVER - 

I actually may be most excited about this room LMHO

and I can see this so perfectly 

( Donna from An Anglo in Quebec ) her little laundry/pantry beside her Kitchen

I may ask you to help me out with this one Donna !!!

Bedroom - again - carpets lifted - wood painted out - chandelier hung - and I could sleep quite comfortably I'm sure

and three tiny rooms upstair - guest room - office - little library - whatever -  ( they all basically look the same so only showing one ) 

But again a little paint can turn this - into this

What do y'all think?

And there's this one I'm booking an appointment for also - but NO photos of the interior which tells you something in itself lol

I will of course be trading my beloved city street

but the trade off's not too shabby - this private part of the river might just be what this hectic soul needs a little of right now.................down the lane, Maryjane !!!

I'll keep you updated :)
If you want to see what a difference professional photos make - you can see my terrible ones
HERE

Much love,

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Chambre a Louer

Good Morning everyone !!!

I seem to always owe everyone an apology - once again I'm behind in replying to comments and visiting - but this house selling has kind of kept me busy - it may have worked - we are waiting to hear back today with the final acceptance in writing ( we have it verbally ) so if I thought life was frantic the last 2 weeks it's about to get a lot more so.....................

Anyway I found a little time last night to work on my door :)

I decided to make it an old door from a small hotel in Paris :) 

Aren't you all completely thrown by my decision LMHO ???

I started off by painting it with a quick coat of ASCP COCO - 

and as soon as it was dry ( probably an hour or so - I put a coat of Pure White on it - 

THEN................while it was still wet - I took a damp cloth ( warning - kind of messy ) 

and started " washing " off the white paint - while it was completely wet -
Not the same thing as applying a damp cloth to a dried surface and washing a layer off which gives the effect of sanding  - the outcome was completely different and exactly what I was going for!!!

make sure you have a bucket of water close by if you want to try this technique - there's a lot of rinsing out involved - but the outcome is this faded worn look of the 2 colors ( I think I invented this technique by the way - I've never seen it done - so I'm off to the patent office this morning - please don't burst my bubble and tell me you've been doing this for years !!! )

I had found this small package of stencils at Michaels which I highly recommend you all run out and buy immediately - today - this morning - as soon as you finish reading this post :)

there's like 3 million shapes and designs in this package - lots of fleurs de lys - scrolls - flowers - amazing - 

I think it may have been 10.00 ( remember I'm in Canada - so you Americans can probably pick it up for 3 or 4 dollars - DO NOT TELL ME IF YOU DO ) 

I chose the one shown below to make the outline for the room number

and then used a stencil I had on hand to make the room number 3 ( I have 3 kids - you know it's that disorder again coming into play )

Then I went down to the middle panel - and created this

You see that darling little chandelier?  That comes out of the magical little red box of stencils !!!

Room to Let :)

Those corner scrolls are metal - also found at Michaels :)

I bought them to apply on drawer corners - but I kind of like them on this too - they stick on, which is great in case you change your mind ( which I may still do ) until you decide you want to permanently keep them there - then I would glue them.

Aren't they great?

By the way it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to spell permanently - had to go check it finally - blogging is not as easy as you think LOL

AND that's how I created my Parisien Hotel Door - care to book a room for the night?

Room # 3 is available mes amis :)

Now - who's on their way to Michaels LOL ???

Much love - and many apologies for my absence - it's something I owe my friends in these here parts as well.

I'm off to clean up the mess in case the real estate agent has to come by again today - it's not easy living in an immaculate house - let me tell you !!!
And then I'm off to book a few appointments to look at houses - panic is officially setting in - I have nowhere to live and I'm not ready to change my blog name to Simply Homeless............by Suzan

Have a wonderful kind of day,
Much love

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Savvy Southern Style                             No Minimalist Here                          Stone Gable
I Gotta Create                                       Shabby Creek Cottage                     Bloom Designs
Common Ground                                  The Charm of Home                         French Country Cottage
Shabby Art Boutique                             My Turn for Us                                My Romantic Home
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I Heart Nap Time                                 Funky Junk Interiors                          It's Overflowing
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