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Spent a tidy packet at IKEA: plates, bowls, duvet, and BILLY. I decided to go for 6x skinny over 3x wide because when you stack 'em up side by side it's a much more striking look. Repetition legitimizes.

Also I went for height extensions, but I didn't double-check the amount of headroom and... they should just fit. Just. I'll be dropping those into position once the main part is in place. If I'm squinting at the online version of the assembly instructions correctly I should have the extra 2 inches of headroom it takes.

I also coughed up the extra $30 to have them deliver to a room of my choosing. I could have probably just brought them up from the lobby myself but now I don't have to. The assembly (including drilling out extra shelf pinholes to make places for the connecting bolts to go) will be enough work. I might even put wood glue on the dowel joints to really reinforce things.

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Two more rounds of buying things, since neither Amazon or Duralex would let me schedule delivery dates into the future. And then that should be it, until the last invoices dribble in.

Unsurprisingly, my reno will not be done next week. The week after? We're shooting for it. They didn't account for the final coat of finish on the floors, apparently. Also the trades are grumbling because the visitor parking is closed for garage repairs, so they have to unload, park down the road, and then come back.

I called the contractor yesterday to get a feel for how things were going, and I impressed upon him my fervent desire to see the job done properly rather than to a deadline. So it was me who raised the idea. There will never be such wide access to the floors again, which makes this an essential step in my view, but it counts as an 'extra' because it wasn't in the original contract.

Soon, soon. Apparently the counters and backsplash are being installed Friday, which is the largest remaining aesthetic component.

There are still some things I have to decide on: mattress, towels, plates, flatware, glassware, bookcases. I have some ideas, allons-y.

Mattress: Shopping for mattresses online is somewhere between a mug's game and pointless. Last time I did this I took my pillow to Sleep Country and picked something I really loved, and I might do that again. Silk and Snow is probably the best of the online options AFAICT.

Towels: Simons Organic Cotton. It's not just good, it's good enough.

Plates: IKEA GLADELIG. As of right now, I can get service for 8 (dinner plates, side plates, soup/cereal bowls, pasta bowls, serving bowl) for $200, which is what I'd pay for a single place setting at some other places I won't mention. Plus, getting replacements will be easy...as long as they keep making this pattern, I suppose.

Flatware: This is proving to be the hardest, but only because I've decided to be exacting. My favourite flatware of all time is WMF's Action pattern, and I'm not just saying that because that's what we had growing up. The weighting is perfect (not too heavy while also not being insubstantial), the thickness just right, the design flowing yet minimal, the table knives a practical length, the necks of forks/spoons from handle to head not too thin (my complaint about a lot of modern pieces). It's also discontinued since 1997. The closest modern equivalent is probably their Boston pattern.

But also... in keeping with my desire to avoid white or nickel, I'm hoping to find something acceptable in "champagne satin" or black. If I don't like it in the long run, I can always swap it later. Boston comes in either shade...but without salad forks for some reason? WMF also withdrew from the North American market, but that's a solvable problem.

Fable's flatware is...OK, I guess, but I don't love a handle that swells from neck to end. This is a bananas choice, but I might just buy something no-name from Amazon, like the Alata Cube or the Herogo Black. This from AliExpress is also not contemptible but virtually guaranteed to become unobtanium within months if not weeks post-order.

Glassware: I haven't decided if clear glass runs afoul of my "no pure white/silver metal" colour scheme. If it doesn't, for juice/rocks glasses the play here is almost certainly the Duralex Lys. But... Fable's "ion-toughened" glassware is suitably minimal and comes in smoked grey. Element Events and Libbey both sell smokey grey wine glasses that are close enough to match.

Bookcases: The original plans were for a built-in bookshelf 91"/230cm wide. 3x BILLY is 240cm...and $300. Sorted? Don't forget McMaster-Carr sells brass Chicago bolts to link 'em.

I still have various small things to get as part of the reno -- towels, plates, flatware, glassware. I have sheets that I got on Boxing Day sale.

One of my goals is to harmonize with the colour palette of the designers, particularly by avoiding pure white or silver. This is easier in some things but for flatware a challenge: everyone just assumes nickel forks in either satin or shiny. The Crate and Barrel empire to the rescue: across their various brands, they offer "satin gold" and "brushed black" as options. Today I lean towards CB2's "Rebbio", but there's still time to change my mind. (See also)

For plates, I find the IKEA GLADELIG the most appealing option so far. The deep blue glaze is great, but even for stoneware it still feels a bit...cheap? Too light, maybe? I'll have to think about this some more.

Glasses are glasses, I'll pick some up somewhere. Ye olde 10.5oz rocks glass is what I think of when I say "drinking glass", and finding something in a smoked grey or even a colour instead of plain clear is not hard. (ETA: Fable's stuff is not bad)

One thing I have no idea where to go for is towels. Simons, maybe.

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And a mattress, too. I guess I could try one of the mattress-in-a-box options. Last time I had to do this I took my own pillow to Sleep Country and wound up buying the first one I tried (after trying something like eight more to confirm my choice).

It seems I am playing email tennis with my contractor and his electrician. I'm being...specific about what I want, and based on what I'm getting back in an electrical quote, I'm not sure they're getting it. The process is particularly slow in that it took a week to get some simple answers about the initial quote.

The designers also sent me an invoice for all the stuff they'll be purchasing on my behalf: flooring, fixtures, furniture, etc. They sent my their bank details so I could wire them the six-figure amount, but my bank refused to accept them because apparently while TD lets you keep your transit number when your branch closes, CIBC's system interprets this as an input error. So instead I got a bank draft and sent it to their office Xpresspost.

I have no confidence that we're going to finish by the end of June (which was our original timeline) at this point. Around two months in and we're only done demo and ceiling rough-in.

In the end I acceded to the designers choices for dining room furniture. I cut built-ins (and their hardware) throughout the living room (bookshelves, media console, room divider panels), the dining room (a cabinet on the west wall), and the bedrooms (benches against the windows). I also vetoed a $2k floor lamp (indefensible, especially when I have one), $2200 on four throw pillows (what, are they made from bespoke weaving?), and furniture for the bedroom's sitting area (I'll furnish this myself later without a, er, $1200 hand-tufted rug I didn't care for). Outside of the millwork, did this save any money? Well, maybe $10k. That's not nothing!

Will I regret my choices in time? Maybe. I have come to the conclusion that there was no way this process wasn't going to result in some choices that I'm just not jazzed about. I don't love their end tables, for example, but who loves an end table? The whole point in hiring designers was to make someone else carry the cognitive load of choosing every tile, every knob, every item of furniture. Will these end tables hold up a lamp, a glass, a magazine? Good enough.

This hard part is over. There will be other hard parts.

Part of me still wants to just buy things from IKEA, probably the same part that wants to be a 90s yuppie. I may yet do so for some items, like the aforementioned bedroom sitting area and bookshelves. They also have my favourite plates so far.

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I don't regret the giving away of my furniture but is notable in the end that I am replacing some pieces 1:1.

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In theory the millwork is "deferred" instead of "declined". Will I call up my contractor in two years' time to build in a bookcase, construct a cabinet, redo the interior of the office closet, and put up some walnut-veneer MDF panelling? Today I am doubtful about the whole kit and caboodle but some of those items are genuinely quite interesting so maybe.

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One way I justified the cost to myself was hoping that NewMegaCorp stock price recovers and the imminent refresher grant is generous in number of units if not current book value.

Sorting out furniture continues. The question I wrestle with currently is if I should spend five figures on dining room furniture (table+chairs+sideboard) or try my luck on the secondary market. What's out there? Sideboards, plenty. Tables, with careful shopping, available. Chairs? Well, maybe eventually.

I don't dislike the designers' choices at all, I just recoil from the cost when secondhand vintage pieces are available so cheaply in comparison.

There's a place called Mostly Danish out near Cornwall which appears to be one guy with a warehouse full of vintage MCM pieces that he refurbishes and flips. His website is a pain in the ass because he never delists anything he's sold, only marks it "sold out" leaving it mixed in with what's actually available, but maybe it's worth driving out of a weekend to see his horde in person, since he has easily the best inventory in the country.

One then presumes it's possible to get movers to haul stuff 400km for less than the promise of a firstborn, but that seems not impossible. I bet he even knows a guy.

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The IKEA BERGSHYTTAN is close enough to the right shade of brown and only costs $400. Add some BERGMUND chairs, cough up for some Etsy-special slipcovers, and even tossing in a sideboard that's a whole-ass collection for under $3k.

As nice? I mean, technically no, there's no solid wood there. But still.

As I promised the contractor, I annotated the electrical diagram prepared by the designers with part numbers from my preferred electrical supplier (LeGrand, specifically their "Adorne" series).

This was more work than I anticipated.

Then I thought I'd do a nice thing and printed off a hard copy for tomorrow. This was a mistake, the black and white printer produced output that is both too small (it really ought to be 11x17" for legibility) and dithered into illegibility (because my annotations are in red).

Oh well, there are like three print shops within a five minute walk from the apartment if for some reason they can't produce their own printout. Personally, I'll use my iPad to go over it with them.

I am tentatively hopeful that after last week's bomb-throwing that the designers will come up with a revised plan that doesn't cost (without exaggeration) seven figures. Originally they claimed they'd have something early this week but unsurprisingly they punted to next week as I basically forced them to start again from concepts, which normally they allot six weeks for. I guess we'll see.

The contractor hit his first milestone, declaring demo to be complete, so I have prepared the first of six very large cheques, the kind that could buy a perfectly respectable automobile in different circumstances. I guess that means they wrestled the bathtubs out. The next phase is asbestos abatement, which became necessary when it was pointed out to me that modifying the kitchen ceiling, taking down the crown molding, installing cabinets to the ceiling, doing anything with blinds and/or drapery, or changing closet doors would all be affected.

As for me... well, if I get bored on the weekend, I may go look at some tableware at West Elm or Stokes. Secretly one of my goals is to wind up with zero silver or white anywhere in the finished result, and West Elm has some flatware in a "champagne satin" that might do, since all black feels a bit odd and brass/gold is too ostentatious. IKEA has some pretty blue stoneware in their current collection, but I suspect I might be able to do even better.

I have purchased appliances. Strictly speaking, I have agreed to purchase appliances and only made a down payment, but it's as good as done. It's a good thing I have a lot of money saved up.

In the end I wound up with everything recommended by the designers (they chose well) with one exception: trading the Bosch microwave for a Fisher & Paykel meant that I qualified for the ultra-mega package discount because I agreed to buy F&P's fridge and stove as well, and three pieces meant more savings. Every drawer microwave is ultimately made by Sharp anyway because they hold some key patent, so any difference will be marginal since it's the same stuff under the skin. Toss in a Bosch DW, the fancy Falmec flush-mount exhaust fan, and an LG WashTower™, and that's a full set of large in-home machinery.

The shopping experience was not quite everything I had hoped for: while I could poke at various items, none were operational, so I couldn't tell (e.g.) if the induction coils will buzz or not. The dishwasher has touch controls instead of discreet buttons, but at least they appear to be membrane switches (which are better than a touchscreen).

I also purchased an extended warranty, which includes a single preventative maintenance visit. I'll have to make a note to get that done in 2-3 years' time, but I've done things like that before. I've been using the same calendar for nearly 20 years.

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I also have new sheets, since Bed Threads had a big Boxing Day sale. It took a couple of weeks for them to get shipped here from Australia, but that's OK. I have laid them up for future use.

I still need plates, glassware, cutlery, towels, and a mattress. All in good time, there's months until the place will be done.

Off to the appliance store tomorrow morning. Have I made my selections in advance? Well, kind of. I have the big ones. Every microwave is more or less the same these days and I'm happy to pick in the store. For the style of vent fan the designers have gone with, they're all featureless rectangles, so whatever.

I have notes on the things I want to examine specifically, but my general guidelines are "knobs/buttons over touchscreens", "no wifi/app", and "OK, but who really made it" (because so many marques are just labels now). For example, Kiwi stalwart Fisher & Paykel is just Chinese brand Haier in a nice suit (sort of, multinationals are complicated; I'd believe they do their own aesthetic design since they're not a total shell).

While I won't take delivery for several months (likely May?), it's still a good idea to lock this in now, not least of all because prices are going up February 1st, apparently. Also lead times on deliveries can be long.

This morning I went to the condo for what was described as a "kickoff meeting" with both the designers and the contractor. It seemed to me a little redundant, with the designers walking through their drawings with the contractor, since most of it would have been obvious if he had read them, but some good discussions did eventually develop.

Demolition has started and they haven't wasted any time. I thought we would be able to pore over drawings on the kitchen counter, but the cabinetry is all removed, the half-wall of the half-assed last kitchen reno already fully demolished, just straight up knocked over. The closets have had their millwork removed, and they were midway through pulling up flooring and ripping out door frames as I was there. The old closet interior in the main bedroom took up quite a lot of floorspace; there was a surprising amount in there. Everything I stored has been moved to the office, which is now completely full.

I took a small chunk of the now-trash granite counter the size of a paperweight that evidently broke off when the whole half-wall was pushed over. Sentimentality, I suppose.

I also approved the first change order to the scope of work, and now the ceilings will receive full asbestos abatement after the bulk of the demolition is completed. I was hoping to avoid this but it became fairly obvious that there's no way we'd get anything approaching a satisfactory result if this wasn't done.

My homework is to complete my review of furniture and decor items prepared by the designers before Monday, to go to Caplan's to review appliances once they set up an appointment for me there, and to prepare what I would call a "bill of materials" but what the contractor calls a "tick list" for outlets and switches, in which I will determine which light switches will be "smart" (the answer would be "all of them" except that the smart ones are 50% more expensive).

Actually, that last one should be the most fun. Also I can be super-duper clear about the keystone jacks I want run for A/V purposes.

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At the end of the meeting I invited the designers to the local NewMegaCorp office for lunch, and they were pretty excited to look around. The speakeasy in the library was more popular than I expected.

First of what I plan on being weekly trips to the office today. Did I accomplish much in-house? Well, it's review season, so no. But I did work more on my review.

And then in the afternoon I went up to the condo for the first walkthrough with the contractor. Already we have scope creep: looks like I'm going to have to cough up for asbestos abatement of the ceiling at least in parts because their definition of "not disturbing" means "no touching of any kind": no skim coat, no taking down sliding door tracks or curtain rails, no removing crown molding, no installing cabinetry to the ceiling, no demolishing walls that run up to it.

So I said the thing I will probably say a lot, which was "get me a quote". I won't pay, say, $20k for the whole place to be remediated, but some targeted work is not out of the question.

It was over an hour each way on the TTC, and commuting has not improved since the last time I did this. Intriguingly, even getting over the UP Express saves no time at all according to Google Maps.

It has occured to me that it's going to be time to part ways with my tableware, too: the plain white plates in two sizes from Loblaws (a gift from my mother), the sort-of matching bowls from Tap Phong and Amazon, the glassware of varying provenance, the mugs various places gave me as swag, the mismatched flatware I inherited from my great-aunt's platonic life partner.

If for no other reason than it's (mostly) only service for four. Four dinner plates, four side plates, four soup plates, four noodle bowls, four cereal bowls. An indeterminate amount of cutlery. None of which I could get more of, even if I really wanted to.

I've had most of this stuff for 16 years, but maybe it's time for a full set of matching forks?

The right thing to do is probably put it all in a cardboard box and drop it off at a thrift store, but I am attached to it and find the idea, ah, challenging.

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The foundational Stoic text the Enchiridion of Epictetus actually mentions this case more or less directly:

[I]f a Neighbour's Child happen to break a Glass, we presently answer, that this is a very common Accident. Now the Application fit to be made from hence is, that, when one of our own happens to be broken, we should no more think it extraordinary, nor suffer it to give us any greater Disturbance, than when it was another Man's Case. Transl. George Stanhope, 1721

He then goes on to say that we should not mourn the deaths of our family members more than those of strangers, but no one ever accused the Stoics of being sentimental (I mean, it's in the name). Indeed, this is considered "Advice for intermediate students"!

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The cooking accoutrements, on the other hand, no way: from knives to mixing bowls to spatulae to measuring cups/spoons to pots, the tools of making are staying.

The couches are listed on FB. I've had a couple of nibbles but we'll see if they pan out.

If nothing happens in a week or so... I may skip right to the part where I phone the Furniture Bank to arrange for a pickup. They'll send burly lads to do all the hauling, clean 'em up and send them on to someone who really needs 'em, and then give me a tax receipt for an in-kind donation at generous valuation.

If it comes to that, they'll get the coffee table, the TV bench, and the bedframe, too.

Hopefully they'll pick up during the final week of December, otherwise I'll be spending the last few days in this place sleeping on a mattress on the floor, watching a TV also sitting on the floor, while I perch in the only chair left.

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In the listing I called the blue couch "my favourite piece of furniture I've ever owned", and that's not an exaggeration for marketing purposes. The Eames lounger, the Aeron chair, the curved-headboard bed, they're all good, but man, that couch is great. Comfy without too much sink, wears like iron, doesn't creak. For the space I originally had it in, the perfect size (my current living room arrangement is literally my California living room transported here).

It's not perfect: the bump out is one long cushion which is constantly needing to be pushed back in. Without a cushion behind the head the angle of the back is a bit off for the ideal lounging angle. But these are nits.

But we can't keep things forever, and that goes double for large pieces of soft furniture. I'd like to say I'll miss it when it's gone but... well, experiences are fickle. Perhaps I'll think of it 25 years from now. Even though I liked now-departed my vintage green sectional a lot, I'm not sure I ever think of it idly at all.

One can only hope the next couch will be as good.

Lo, I did wake up quite early (for me) on Friday, and yea, I did make it onto the GO train with plenty of time to spare, thence onto a Burlington Transit bus perfectly timetabled to give just enough time to make it from the train before it departed. And literally to the minute of my appointment, I did walk into the studio of my interior designer, to see what she (and her junior who probably did most of the work) had wrought for first concepts.

And I gotta say, aesthetically, they pretty much nailed it. I attribute this to a combination of careful listening to my litany of "here are all the things on my mind" from the site visit, and the Pinterest boards I assembled. The colour schemes, the restraint, the use of woods, the details like floor-matched baseboards, LeGrand Adorne switches and outlets.

Functionally... it's an 85% from me on reflection. On the one hand, they have suggested some truly good ideas for the foyer and the weird wall next to it. The choice to convert the bedroom walkin closet to an alcove, then use one of the edges to define a partition creating a defined separate seating area, is inspired. On the other hand... the layout of the living space (kitchen/living/dining) actually survives almost unchanged, just redone with new floors/cabinets/appliances and furniture chosen for the space (so it fits better). Is that what's best, or have I just left them no alternative?

They also seem to love a low builtin in front of the windows. Given that the sills are only 18" above the floor, I mean, I guess so.

I gave them some small tweaks, some rooted in "this is a hard requirement because of building stuff" (like "can't put anything fixed in front of FCU access panels"), others in "not quite my style" (like "no banquette seating please" and "put this chair over there"). It did feel a bit like Kim Jong Un giving "on the spot guidance" at times but I think it's important to put that feeling aside: this is mine, ultimately, and now's the time to make sure I'm happy with how it's going and how it will be.

Also, they showed me their budget projection, and, uh, well, it's a good thing my initial estimate included a healthy cushion, because this is going to be expensive.

Anyhow, I guess this is happening, and the result is going to be quite gorgeous.

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Turns out Facebook Marketplace is filled with people looking to flog those 102L storage bins for cheap. That's one option for packing stuff up. There are also divers listings for free cardboard boxes in varying degrees of nick.

I suspect a rolling garment rack with a drop cloth over it would also not be amiss.

I should write out a list for myself of what's getting packed and what's being relocated with me for the duration. Unlike a full move-out, I will have access to my things if I should really need anything while the process is underway.

Had the kickoff meeting with the designer this morning. They promised an entourage, but in fact sent... one person. Which is fine, she seemed nice enough. It would have been nice to meet la jefa, but I'm not sure I believe that she would have been doing anything. Truthfully I don't mind being pawned off on a junior, since it means there's lower risk of an attempted pushing around.

They also a guy who produced a detailed set of measurements that no doubt will be translated into drawings (if not a full 3D render of the place), but he seemed to be from a third-party service. Apparently those will be ready in 7-10 business days.

I've given the "here's what I'm thinking" spiel enough times that I was able to just lead the designer around and spew forth what I was thinking based on where we were standing, which took about an hour or so. I think I hit all the highlights... flooring, colour scheme, desires for kitchen and bathroom, layout consideration. I explicitly ruled out some things I don't like, like blond wood+pastels or open shelving in the kitchen, while also highlighting things I'd like to keep, like the oak doors and the lounge chair.

I have decided the fussy extras I will ask for are a 240V NEMA 6-15 outlet (often seen for import espresso machines) so I can get a 3000W kettle (I'll use a UK one with plug adaptor) and LeGrand Adorne switches and outlets which I have liked the look of even since I saw them in a hotel (the Hotel Nia next to FB, but that's neither here nor there). I should also decide if I want to make any switches/outlets "smart". Maybe in a few spots; it would be nice to have a bedroom light come on at sunset, for example.

We'll see how their first presentation goes in a couple of weeks, which will no doubt come with sticker shock. As I said in closing, ultimately the job is both easier and harder than it first seems: easier, in that there's not really that much to it (a kitchen, a couple of bathrooms, flooring, colour scheme), but harder, in that coming up with layouts (one of the biggest reasons I hired the designer really) could be a challenge.

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January 5th start date for demolition was also confirmed. So I know what I'm doing after Christmas: packing up what won't move and then moving out.

The contract and schedule for fan coil replacement has landed. Alas, my end of the building drew the short straw and I don't get new FCUs until December. Presuming there's no schedule slip.

But... I suspect this means I have to bump the beginning of renos into January. We can do design work starting next month as planned. This makes more sense anyway, I can spend my end-of-year break the way I really wanted: packing up the entire apartment.

Not. But needs must and all that.

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Part of the design discussions will no doubt be how much of my furniture survives this process. The lounge chair, the desk chair, and the antique banker's chair in the bedroom are all shoo-ins. The red couch, the IKEA IVAR bookshelves, the dining room chairs/table, and the mismatched bedside tables are obvious cuts. But things like the blue Joybird sectional, the bed, and the TV console will be tougher to lose.

Things that aren't staying I will attempt to sell, if only because I would rather that than cart them to the landfill.

Feeling good about today's contractor, but... at the end of his visit he told me that rough estimate is a six month job, with costs to come next week.

This does not give me confidence I'm going to get away with sticking to the budget I had in mind.

Second contractor meeting was... not a success. This guy does a great project management presentation, but what I really need to know is a ballpark cost estimate, and he seemed disinterested in doing anything without a design in hand, whereas I need to know if it's going to even be worth getting a design in hand. You see the impasse.

Man, I dunno. As I've observed before, the alternative is doing nothing, which is...okay for a while longer I guess?