BEFORE & AFTER: KITCHEN SIDE DOOR

In my kitchen there is a side entry with a charming old door. I wanted to make this a functional area – an extension of the kitchen with the BBQ and a small porch off of this side of the house.

I wanted to keep the original door (I even have the old skeleton key for it), but pretty well everything else around it changed. You can see it here in the “before” picture – this is pre-renovation.

At this stage there was a wall to the right and a sink on the left with a washer. There was a drop ceiling, the floors were uneven and the great views at the back of the house weren't visible.

When the renovation started and the place was being gutted, opening up the wall on the right hand side made a huge difference to the light in the house.

This end of the house required some structural underpinning so the floors were actually completely removed as that work was done from the inside and outside of the house.

Then came a new subfloor, beams, wiring and insulation. Bigger changes are visible after the new drywall is up. Things start to feel like a house again!!

Finally the new floors are in and the cabinets and counter go in back here. There is a coat closet, pantry and the two chairs in front of the window. The sun rises here and there’s an ocean view out the window, so it’s a great place to sit in the morning.

DEB'S TOP THREE: SPRUCING UP THE BEDROOM

I love small, unique accessories around the house. In a bathroom, you can incorporate some interesting décor items too.

1. Old bottles: antique medicine bottles have that old fashioned pharmacy look. I love the old blue bottles in the window. These are usually easy to find at flea markets or antique stores and you can also use them as small vases.

2. A large jar of shells. So simple and easy to showcase shells in a glass jar. In my case I have a lot of them, but even a few shells in a jar in the bathroom give it some sea side charm.

3. A fringed hand towel. I like a fringed hand towel over the sink because it has a relaxed look. This one sits on top of a couple of other towels and is personalized with a “D” on it!

DEB NELSON DESIGN ON DESIGN SPONGE

In case you missed the third floor makeover of my Chester, Nova Scotia home, it was featured on DesignSponge this week! So excited to see it! The whole house was renovated and it was a huge project, but this continues to be my favourite place in the house. I can sit here and look at the view all day long, and I still have to pinch myself. You can see the full transformation here: http://www.designsponge.com/2015/01/before-after-deb-nelsons-nova-scotia-getaway.html

Thank you Grace for including me!

ANTIQUE DISPLAY CABINET

This antique cabinet is a great place to display small objects. Possibly this is a piece from an old hotel – each box is numbered, so could have been where the key to each room was kept.  Now makes a great place to show off some small, unique antique accessories. I'll be sharing more on those tomorrow!