It could be said, and not only because I’m saying it here, that buying a home in Toronto is a fearless feat in and of itself. The market is high, always. Even when it’s not high, it’s high. And because of these soaring prices owning a house in Toronto can be the ultimate showdown between your mortgage and the financing needed to renovate. Somehow we managed to purchase one of these Toronto homes and with this single fearless act found ourselves immersed in the temptation to take this act one step further.
Just before we married, my now husband and I purchased our first home. It was distinctly distinct with head to toe wood paneling. Think 70’s apres ski without the ski. We loved it. The home was perfect for our family of 2; 1.5 storey, detached home on a fairly large lot with a Toronto address. Despite it’s perfection we found ourselves dreaming of what the house could be. Night after night we would dream side by side. Our conversations would escalate from simple statements like “it would be nice to have a bigger kitchen” to hauling outside mid winter in the snow with the measuring tape to dream up our proposed extensions. We would build and build in our minds, combining practicality with purpose, dreams with desires and we couldn’t get enough. Some of the discussions would inevitably bring us to financing and execution and when those days came we would attack both subjects with the same energy as the design itself. We came up with solutions for every obstacle as if they weren’t obstacles at all. All of this was cloaked in naivety but more importantly showed just how much conviction we had for our dreams. After a few years in the home, with refinancing on our doorstep the time had come to make the choice. Could we take the plunge and renovate the home?
Perhaps it seems like a gentle decision but believe me we were well aware of the risks not only to our finances but the strain a project like this could potential have on a marriage and most certainly on our mental health. Do you dive right in, despite the risks, knowing your dreams are on the other side? You do my friend, you do.
Initially the project was relatively simple; change the location of our front door, knock out the back of the house to extend the kitchen and add square footage upstairs. Not surprisingly, the project heavily escalated for the better and just 18 months after our first meeting with the architect we were standing in our brand new custom home. All new. Except 1 room was changed. We jumped from a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom 1500 square foot home to a 4+2 bedroom, 4 bathroom 3200 square foot home. What I came away with, besides the knowledge that renovating or building a home is most definitely not for the faint of heart, is this project was not only rewarding but gave my husband and I pride. Truly invaluable.
During the process itself there were no shortage of times where we felt incredibly overwhelmed. There are obstacles at every corner and just about 23728957 design decisions to make. For those reading, should you be interested in renovations, large or small, do not underestimate the amount of planning, decisions and negotiations that need to be made to see through to execution.
You could of course, and likely should, hire a designer to help with the spacial planning and ultimate decor inside the home. In short, over and above the contractor, a designer will guide you through the process and ensure the home works for your family. That is an option we declined however, for a couple of reasons. One is that we really felt equipped to take on those tasks ourselves, and two because it was (thankfully) my father who was our contractor we understood the build at a more granular level ultimately helping us think through the home piece by piece and gaining a secure understanding of how the home would function in the end*. The true take away is that building a home, as with any project is step by step and most definitely attainable. Don’t shy away because of the obstacles. Don’t shy away of the midnight crying sessions. Embrace them and enjoy it!
*As an aside, at this point, this was only the second home my father had ever project managed. The first was for my sister. Writing this it’s clear to me that the fearlessness of my father to take on home building without experience is the same fearlessness that runs through my sister and her husband who built a home as well. Go family risk takers!
See the video below for a tour of our renovated home as well as a second video where we recount our top learnings and stories from this build.
Looking back I don’t ever think we distinctly made a choice to jump into the renovation, it was always on the road map. Was it a love of renovation budding that was the flame for this undertaking or was it just because I just loved sharing a dream with the person I loved? Either way, building this home was a massive accomplishment, one that I take pride in, one that has inspired other projects, one that has made a dream come true. I’m happy to say that we are now in the midst of our second house build after selling this first project and moving North of the city. I so very appreciate my husband for fuelling this passion inside of me and nurturing this hobby that we both share and love.
