Glebe House Tour

You know how sometimes you’re out walking the dog and you pass a house that catches your eye and you wonder what it looks like inside?? Well, today was the perfect opportunity to satisfy that curiosity — six houses in a neighbourhood just south of downtown Ottawa were open for the public to visit.

The Glebe House Tour featured six beautiful character-filled homes — a couple of traditional homes, a couple of contemporary homes, one new-but-looks old home, and one home that used to be a convenience store and is now a true work of art.

Interior by Maureen Coates — Ottawa Magazine

We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the homes, but I did find pictures online of some of them. So let’s start the tour… (Exterior pictures from gnag.ca)

Classic Beauty

This house is typical of many red brick houses house in the Glebe.  I really like the black porch and railing. And these pretty planters:

The main floor has been opened up, with the living room to your right when you enter and the dining room in front of you. The staircase up to the second floor is pretty narrow and steep, and then it gets even narrower and steeper going up to the third floor. (Kind of reminded me of the Belfort Tower in Bruges.) The third floor is sort of a mega-master suite, with a bedroom, bathroom, and dressing room. There’s also a nice skylight at the top of the stairs.

Entertain with Elegance

Love the combination of stone and grey wood on the exterior of this home. And the hardwood floors inside are gorgeous. The two kid’s bedrooms are painted in bright colours, including the ceilings. (Interior pictures from Ottawa Citizen)

The dining room also has a beautiful painted ceiling, as well as wallpaper and silk curtains.

The kitchen island has a really unique countertop made from granite that came from a riverbed in Brazil. Not sure why they have three family rooms!!

Painted Rocks

As you can see, this is one of the contemporary homes on the tour. The interior is mostly white, with accent walls in some rooms. The kitchen has a fabulous red tile backsplash — large tiles (maybe 12” x 18”) in a horizontal stacked pattern. Really sharp with the dark maple cabinets. The home has dark oak floors throughout.

Engraved House

This was the most unusual house on the tour. When the current owners bought it, the building was a convenience store. It’s now the wife’s business on the main floor and the family’s home on the second floor. The owner, Christopher, told us a bit about the home’s unique exterior. He used this tool made from a bone to create all sorts of interesting carvings in the concrete. (Important note: Never ask a man if you can take a picture of his tool).

Here are some of Christopher’s carvings…

The wood on this wall is from the original building. It adds wonderful history and character to the home.

Even the driveway has carvings :-) The couple’s daughter is also quite artistic :-)

Back of the house. The whale carving represents water.

Love the river rocks between the wood walkway and the driveway:

The horizontal wood slats are carried through from the house to the walkway to the fence…

Christopher agreed to do an interview with me, so I’ll be writing more about this artistic and unique home soon. Stay tuned!!

Renewal

On Hallowe’en 2008, the house that was on this lot burned down. I’m sure it was devastating for the homeowners to lose their home and all their possessions, but luckily everyone escaped unharmed. And two years later, the family lives in this absolutely breathtaking contemporary home. I love the combination of exterior materials — steel, brick, and wood. And the front porch is great:

Now let’s go inside!! (Pictures from Renewal on Morris Street)

This sitting are is to the left of the entry. Love the blue on the back of the shelving unit, the ladder, and the huge wall clock.

The kitchen is in the center of the house. The backsplash is back-painted glass.

The family room…

Love the everything about the dining room!! The stone wall, the chandelier, the combination of the old table with the modern chairs…

There’s a bar and small seating area at the back of the house. See the garage door to the left?? When it’s open, it creates a fantastic indoor/outdoor space — perfect for parties!!

View from the back of the house to the front:

The ensuite has one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. See the wood frame in the middle of the mirror?? That’s a window!! As someone pointed out, the large window to the left of the vanity doesn’t open, so this small window in the mirror allows fresh air into the room. Genius!!

Love the bright colours in this girl’s bedroom…

The TV room is at the top of the stairs. The rug in this room made my feet soooooo happy!! It’s amazingly soft & cushy — I want one!!

Downsizer’s Dream

And finally, my favourite home on the tour — which just happens to belong to my friend, Maureen Coates :-) Maureen is an interior decorator here in Ottawa and her company is called Modecor. Her home was featured in the September issue of Ottawa Magazine.

I absolutely adore the coffered ceilings that Maureen designed for her dining room and living room. (Pictures from Modecor)

I love her mantel and the built-ins — simple and elegant.

How gorgeous is the wall colour in Maureen’s dining room??

And Maureen’s beautiful kitchen…

 

And that’s the Glebe Home Tour. Hope you enjoyed the virtual visit!! If you live in Ottawa, I highly recommend checking out next year’s tour.

Closer: Treasures of the sea

I’m really excited about this week’s Friday Photo Challenge, hosted by Chania at Razmataz. The topic this week is CLOSER. Zoom in close to something and see if it becomes unrecognizable…

Can you guess what this is?? (OMG, I just realized it looks like a nipple!! It isn’t, I swear!!)

It’s made from a delicate material, but it’s withstood the elements for thirty or more years.

Here’s another one:

They’ve travelled thousands of miles, but never on a boat or plane or car or train.

Do you know what they are yet?? Maybe this shot from a bit farther out will help you…

Did you guess yet?? Here’s one more:

They’re Japanese glass floats.

I first learned about glass floats on Maya’s blog, Completely Coastal. She wrote this post about Kamichia. Kamichia collects glass floats from beaches along the Alaskan coastline. The majority of floats that they find are Japanese. Some are Korean. I’m not a glass float expert, but I think the difference between them is that the Japanese floats are one solid piece of blown glass, whereas Korean floats are made in molds and have a sort of dappled finish and seams where the sections of the mold met.

Norway was the first country to start producing and glass fishing floats around 1840. Fisherman started using them in 1844 when small egg-sized floats were used with fishing line and hooks, and to support fishing nets. By the 1940s, Europe, Russia, North America, and Japan were all using glass floats almost exclusively.

Today, lucky beachcombers can find Japanese and Korean floats on the West Coast of North America, and European glass floats can be found on the East Coast of North America and in the Caribbean.

I would LOVE to have a float like this one, but from what I’ve read, they’re really rare:

Yep, it’s purple!! But it most likely started out clear — this float has been sunturned. The sun literally turned the glass purple over the years that it was exposed to the elements.

Isn’t it amazing that these floats, made from something as delicate as glass, were able to withstand the force of the waves and arrive safely on beaches thousands of miles away from where they started their journeys?? The glass is actually quite thick, and the floats are heavier than they look.

My three floats are Japanese. The large blue one and smaller green one were discovered by Kimichia — she sells them in her Etsy store, GlassFloatJunkie. The third small netted float came from Etsy seller lightinawormhole.

I love the net markings on the larger blue float. They were created as the wind, water, and sand wore down the exposed glass over the years and

I like the bubbles in the small green float, and the fact that it isn’t perfectly round. It’s cute and stubby :-)

The small blue netted float came with the name Bluebell.

I love how each float is different, yet they all relate to each other — two are blue, two are small, and two don’t have nets. I think they make a beautiful vignette :-)

Here are some examples of how glass floats can be incorporated into your home decor. A collection of glass floats looks great in a large bowl or dish…

This living room has lots of lovely elements — especially the three large floats on the coffee table :-)

The sunlight shining through these floats brings out the beautiful colours of the glass.

Don’t they look beautiful hanging outdoors in the sun??

Huge netted glass floats in designer Jeffrey Bilhuber’s 1920’s Nantucket cottage.

The large netted glass float on the floor and the knotted ropes and glass floats in the basket add a touch of beachy beauty to this entry designed by Carter & Company.

Every time I walk by my glass floats, I have to stop and admire them. They’re so beautiful and look so delicate. Then I think about all the years they spent traveling across the ocean, and marvel at their strength and resilience. They truly are treasures of the sea.

Be sure to head back to Razmataz to check out more close-ups!!