If you have decided to upgrade your home to hardwood floors, fantastic! You can't go wrong with the timeless look that hardwood floors offer. However, some regular cleaning and care will help protect your investment. Here are three easy ways to help you prevent scratches, keep dirt away and keep your hardwood floors looking new. 1. Vacuum without a beater bar Some vacuums contain beater bars that are designed to pick up hair and other fine particles that conventional vacuums may not be able to pick up. While the beater bar may work great on carpet, but on hardwood floors, it can contribute t ..read more

Your home is a place of refuge. It is the place you ultimately go to after a long day out or weekend away. The last thing you want is to go home to a messy house after a relaxing time away. Creating a calming space at home is easier than you think. Here are three easy tips to help you create a peaceful sanctuary in your home. 1. Spend time decluttering There is a saying that "a messy room equals a messy mind." When a house becomes cluttered, it is more than the physical pile of mess in front of you, it can make you feel overwhelmed. When there is chaos in your space, it's hard to feel relaxe ..read more

There have been many talks lately about climate change due to the major wildfires in the Western parts of Canada and the USA and severe flooding in parts of central Europe. Simultaneously with these events, the Group of 20 rich nations just met for their G20 Summit in Naples, Italy, last week to discuss actions on battling climate change. A central part of these discussions has been "Net Zero". But what does this actually mean? What is Net Zero? Simply put, Net Zero means to offset the amount of greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere by removing the same amount. This keeps the total ..read more

As the pandemic is seemingly coming to an end, and as lockdown restrictions ease, you're probably excited to be less homebound. But with uncertainty still lingering, no one really knows when things would go back to the way things were pre-pandemic. Is working-from-home here to stay? Or is return-to-office inevitable? But one thing is for certain, after being stuck at home for over a year, you realize your home can be more than just a place to sleep. It is a place to work, play, sleep, and so much more. The pandemic has inspired many to renovate their homes to accommodate this new way of livin ..read more

When thinking about energy-efficient heating and cooling, heat pumps quickly become part of the conversation. Heat pumps are commonly used in well-insulated new builds and therefore also commonly used in Passive House buildings. There is no doubt heat pumps are saving on energy and reducing your carbon footprint when compared to conventional heating and cooling systems. But when researching the topic in more depth, there appears to be some confusion about heat pumps counting as renewable energy... What is a heat pump? In basic terms, a heat pump extracts heat from one side of the system and t ..read more

As you may recall from our last blog, floor tiles are a great option in kitchens, bathrooms, and foyers because they are water-resistant. But when it comes to choosing the exact tiles to install in your house, the number of options (i.e. size, color, pattern, texture, finish) can be overwhelming. To help you make a decision, it is always best to visit a showroom to see the tiles and feel the samples because what you see online may differ in person. In this blog, we go over some of the things to consider when choosing your tiles for the kitchen, powder room, bathroom, and foyer and our top til ..read more

While hardwood flooring is often a great choice for your home, it may not always work in all circumstances, nor your budget. In this blog, we go over some alternatives to hardwood that look like real wood but are actually made from materials, such as laminate, vinyl, tile, bamboo, and cork. Let's check these out! Laminate Laminate is one of the most widely used types of flooring. It is affordable, easy to install, and can be made to look just like natural hardwood. Essentially, the top layer is simply a high-resolution image of wood that looks ultra-realistic on the surface. This image is pr ..read more

Wow, our blog is now exactly one year old! When we started a year ago, the Covid-19 pandemic was still in its first wave. Nobody knew what was going to happen, or what impacts it would have on everyone's lives and the process of building a house, from delayed government permits to supply chain constraints. Building a house and writing a blog about the process has afforded us to research and learn a lot. On average, we have published around one post per week. From the beginning, we wanted to share what we learn along the way of building our new family home, and this is still our mission today ..read more

When it comes to choosing the flooring inside your home, many homeowners choose hardwood. It's timeless, durable, and often adds to property value. Once you have decided to go with hardwood floors, there are still many things to consider before making your final selection. As our Passive House construction is currently underway, we have recently selected our floors. From our experience, there are six main things about hardwood that we had to consider. These are 1) type, 2) color, 3) grade, 4) plank width, 5) texture, and 6) edges. Let's check these out in more detail! 1) Type: Solid vs Engine ..read more

Does a small powder room really deserve any design attention? We like to think it does. While the space itself is tiny compared to some of the other living areas, it is a room that can have a mighty impact. As we are lucky enough to experience a powder room on the same floor as the main living areas (together with kitchen, dining, and living rooms), this small space is more than just a space for guests. As a matter of fact, it's probably the most used bathroom in the entire house. The average size of a North American powder room is approximately 20 square feet. In a real estate listing, it is ..read more