My Background

In “real life” I am a freelance Multimedia Content Designer, with a focus on branding, graphic design, web design and social media.  If you want to find out more about me outside of the Home Design/DIY area – check out my personal blog at www.ncmtq.com.  Feel free to check out my Portfolio Website, Pinterest, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Background

So what led me to get into home renovations, designing and DIY?  I’ve always been a creative and crafty person, and in high school I started on a couple of room painting projects at my house (well, parent’s house of course).  I even applied to all the post-secondary architecture programs in my province, and I remember telling one of my admission interviewers that I wanted to design houses (although he did mention that Architects design more than houses…)  But alas I was accepted into Art History at Carleton University and then subsequently into Interactive Multimedia and Design.

When I was in Ottawa for school, my Mom purchased a house there and rented it out to my friends and I, and that’s when I really got creative control on everything to do with the house.  Because my Mom had only purchased it for a short term, and because we were renting out the rooms, she didn’t want to have to put a lot of money into updating things.  The biggest projects I took on were ripping out carpets and linoleum floors, tiling a portion of the basement, helping with landscaping/staining the deck and finishing the laundry room.  And of course, we painted everything when we moved in, and a couple of times after that too!

My boyfriend at the time (now my lovely Husband :) helped with the laundry room update, and I think he really enjoyed doing the work with me.  He graduated a year before me, and moved up to Northern Ontario, near where he grew up (I of course followed him when I was done school).  He’s against paying money for things that he can do himself (as am I), so of course when we were looking for our own house together, I knew I could count on him to help with some DIY projects.

We knew we could save some money, and get a better return on investment, by buying something that needed a few updates rather than getting something complete, essentially paying for someone else’s renovation costs – and that’s how it started!

You can always catch up by reading the latest Family/Life Updates:

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