Archive for 2019
Keep your little ones safe
In the excitement and chaos of a brand-new renovation, family safety is of utmost concern. If you’re a parent, you know how especially important this is with young children. But you can and must have a safe renovation, even if you’re also juggling toddlers and preschoolers in the upheaval. In particular if your home is…
Read MoreHow we as a city need to plan to renovate our homes (Part 1)
I spend the majority of my time in this space on planning and development, and what the residential construction industry talks about when we’re at city hall. This necessarily means talking a lot about new homes and new development projects, both inside and outside the greenbelt. But, there’s another side of housing activity that also…
Read MoreWhere summer lives
What’s a room that isn’t a room? It can be your most favourite place of all: outdoors on the deck. This is a place for family and friends, meals and long chats, a refuge, a retreat. It’s where summer happens (spring and fall, too, if we’re lucky). But it has to be built professionally and…
Read MoreThinking about the needs of current and future homeowners
One of the unheralded things GOHBA members do is think about the needs of future homeowners – those who’ll buy a home not only in the next year or two, but five, ten, twenty years down the road. How to ensure that there will be a variety of homes to choose from, that they’ll be…
Read MoreChoosing the best roof
It’s not as snazzy as renovating a kitchen or landscaping your backyard ‒ and not exactly a place for cocktails when you want to invite the neighbours over. But sooner or later, your house is going to need a new roof. You might decide the time is right when you’re in the midst of a…
Read MoreOpen up to beauty — beautifully
Sometimes the first thing you want to do when spring arrives is to open your windows. That first fresh warm air after an Ottawa winter is one of the sweetest experiences besides spotting the first robin or watching the geese return. If renovation is also in the air, you might also think about replacing those…
Read MoreBuilding Homes Up, In and Out
Often when I speak with people about the Home Builders’ Association, they picture in their mind new subdivisions – single family homes, semi-detached and townhouses mostly. And while subdivisions are an important part of new homes in Ottawa, GOHBA home builders also build every other type of home you can think of: condos, both in…
Read MoreHere comes a happy summer
Can you see it? It’s so close you can practically touch it. Summer is just around the corner. With summer comes outdoor living and entertaining. With summer come friends and neighbours and family visits. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have all your summer meals outdoors, especially when the days are long and the sun stays…
Read MorePlan a space for children
Renovating a bathroom or a kitchen is one thing. Creating a space for kids is quite another. When you are planning an addition or renovating a floor in your home, this is probably the ideal time to come up with a special child-space. But it needs careful consideration ‒ more careful, perhaps, than choosing appliances…
Read MoreDear to your sewing heart
Has the time finally come? To do something for you and only you? Some people are lucky enough to buy a home that already has dedicated space for their favourite hobby. An art studio, for instance. Or a workshop. Or, dear to the hearts of people who sew, a full sewing room with everything at…
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